Day 2 - Jerusalem, A Convergence of Culture

Wow. Almost a month has passed since we departed for Israel, and the landscape there has changed dramatically. We drove fairly close to the Gaza Strip on our way south, but the tensions were not apparent to the casual observer. Though Jerusalem is an interesting convergence of cultures that surprised this Western observer. Here are a few snapshots...

The "Old City" is walled in (16th century walls) and quartered off between various religious groups: Muslims, Christians, Jews and Armenians. The groups coexist with reasonable order. The Muslims control the Temple Mount and the northeast quarter (with easiest access to the Temple Mount). Below is a picture of the Dome of the Rock mosque that sits in the center of the Temple Mount. I heard an Israeli archaeologist explain one time that even the religious Jews don't mind this arrangement much. He went on to explain that a religious Jew would never venture onto the Temple Mount for fear of stepping into the Holy of Holies. No one can say for sure how the Temple had been situated, and therefore the location of the Holy of Holies remains a mystery. So it is convenient that the Muslims tend to the Temple Mount, at least in some ways.

Just below the Dome of the Rock in the picture above is the "Western/Wailing Wall". The picture is looking east from the Jewish quarter. It is difficult to appreciate the size of the Temple Mount walls from any pictures I took. The wall is probably 60 feet high (or more) and surrounds the entire mount. Here is a close-up of the Wailing Wall.

As for the Christian part of Jerusalem, it is difficult to describe the experience. It is not what most would hope for. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is likely the site where Christ was crucified and buried, but it is now an ancient church with numerous rooms, chapels and relics. Here is a picture of the front door and a video to give you a feel. Not the windswept hill you picture when you think of Calvary.

More to come

Sorry to all who were looking for days 2-4 from Israel. Our internet access was not as good later in the trip, but more than that those sleepless nights earlier just caught up to me and I just didn't have the patience to sort through all the pictures. I'll post more after tomorrow (the last day of my semester). I appreciate your prayers in the meantime. I am still dragging a bit.

Day 2 - Jerusalem - New City

We had one day in the holy city and we made the most of it. It was an interesting contrast of the ages. We woke to a view out the window of this suspension bridge at an angle and curve. It must be a landmark, but I had never heard of it.

The drive to the old city was fascinating. After trying to make a shortcut, our GPS system took us through some really tight streets in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood during the morning walk to school/work. I wish I had a picture of it. There were kids of every age all over the place, and it was crazy how closely they walked to the traffic. I got honked at a few times for keeping my speed in check with all the people.

Day 1 - Qumran

(Here's the picture from the Dead Sea)

From Masada we drove north along the west coast of the Dead Sea to Qumran. Qumran is at the at the northwest tip of the Dead Sea. This little village was occupied at the time of Jesus' ministry and until the Romans put down the Jewish revolt in AD 70. Qumran is a little unique for it's interesting aquaduct system that runs through town and even right next to a central dining room of sorts. The aquaduct is pretty small, and there is debate about the function(s) it played. You can see it snaking below.

The aquaduct ran down from the mountains in the background of the next picture. If you look close, you can see a couple of the famous Qumran caves on the hillside. These are two of the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

We hiked up to get a closer look at the caves. We found the entrance to one of them, but the big cave you see was pretty far up there. We thought we were getting close, but it was still a good 100 feet above us. There is a marked trail for backpackers that starts at Qumran and goes back past the caves and through the mountains. You can make out one more cave from this picture.

We drove just a little further north and then cut over to the west to come into Jerusalem from the hilly east side. It was tough to see much at night, but still exciting to be in the city.

Day 1 - To the Negev

That is, to the south. That is where we went today, southeast from Tel Aviv to Masada first. It was almost a three hour drive and the terrain looked a lot like New Mexico and Arizona.

Karen will be proud to know that we hiked up the mountain to Masada. (Her guide made them hike the 1.5 miles when she was here) Most people take the cable car up and then some walk down. We took the cheaper option and rode the cable car back down. You can read more about Masada from the link on my last page if you want to. It was an impressive site.

We took a quick dip in the Dead Sea. I wasn't all that excited about this, but I have to confess that it is quite the experience. I felt like a fishing bobber sitting in the water. You just can't sink. If you flip over on your belly your feet kick right back to the surface. Our guide book describes one cruel Roman ruler following some sick tradition of binding and throwing in few men on arrival just to see if they would really float. Sick, but I have to tell you that they would indeed have floated. Even I, with no body fat at all, never even got my head wet.

Erev Tov

Erev Tov!! That is, "good evening" in Hebrew. Or maybe I should say boker tov (good morning). Right now the clock on my computer says 7:30PM and the clock by my bed (in Tel Aviv) says 3:30AM. I slept for a couple of hours this evening, and now I just can't fall back asleep. So I decided to break my blog silence on the occassion of my first trip to Israel.

Most anyone who would check this blog already knows the occassion for the trip, so I will just post a picture of the night sky from our hotel room on this dark and dreamless night.

Tomorrow we are heading south to the sites of Qumran, near where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found about 60 years ago, and Masada, the last standout for a group of Jews who were part of the revolt against the Romans from AD 66-73. Jerusalem was sacked and destroyed in 70, but the group held out on Masada for another three years!

We're staying the night in Jerusalem tomorrow night, and then in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee the next two nights. More soon...

GMT -8:00

I just finished watching the replay of Padraig Harrington winning “The Open”. It was a replay in two senses – one that he also won last year, and two that I had to leave for church just as Norman and Harrington were making the turn to the back nine. I think this is one of the biggest adjustments for me being on Pacific Time (GMT -8:00) – that the All-Star Game starts at 5pm and the leaders tee off for the British Open at 6am. After Joseph woke up at his usual 5:30 this morning, Mandy turned on the TV in our bedroom (a rare, and unnecessary luxury for us) for us to watch Norman try to become the oldest player ever to win a major. What a great wife I have!!!

I am always torn with the The Open as to how to watch the final round. Even out east I miss part of Sunday’s round, but to miss the conclusion of the round was difficult. Though I can honestly say that my excitement to worship this morning at Harbor’s Mira Mesa location easily trumped my desire to watch The Open live.

“The Open”, as the British call it, is my favorite of the majors. The Masters is a close second. I remember watching the Masters when I lived in Ireland and thinking how strange it sounded when the broadcasters called it the “US Masters”. ABC had a great line this year, “the only way to make the British skittish is to call The Open… British”. The Open is my favorite largely because my dad and I played three of the Open courses in 2001 after I finished my seven months in Ireland. I had enough frequent-flyer points to get my dad to Scotland, and we stayed for three nights in St. Andrews and another three in Glasgow. It was a golfer’s paradise.

We had tee-times at Carnoustie and Royal Troon, but the Old Course (St. Andrews) was booked months before we made arrangements. But like most courses, there is usually a way to get on, and we did indeed get to play. We went to the course the first day, put our name on the waiting list, and set out to play “The New Course” (built in 1905). We barely had time to start our sandwich in the clubhouse when they tapped us to tee off in front of the R&A Clubhouse (see the picture above). That tee shot is forever engraved in my memory. I took the picture in the header the day after we played the course. The funny thing is that the owner of the B&B where we stayed put our name on the list for the Old Course for the next day, and we got the nod again. But we passed on the second time to give others the opportunity we enjoyed the day before.

At the time, I remember enjoying the week – golfing with my dad at these historic sites. But I was traveling so much with work that it seemed in some ways like just another vacation. It was no big deal to jump on a plane wherever. I had more airline points than I had time to use them. But now I watch The Open each year and re-live one of the highlights of my life – playing golf with the guy who taught me to play in the place where golf first took place. Here’s to the 137th Open Championship, and to the Irish who now have a back-to-back champion.