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| A trip to remember |
| Saturday, May 17, 2008 |
I visited Jerusalem yesterday. It was an intriguing, emotionally exhausting, thought provoking and finally, haunting trip.
I know not many like to read winding tales with minute details of the trip, so I will try to keep it short and precise.
Drive
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is about 60Kms only, it took 45mins to reach Jerusalem. It is very near Palestine border, infact they wanted to split Jerusalem into two parts and then somehow they decided to keep the city whole. Lot of police on the highway and lot of security, as Mr Bush was visiting and he was due to go to the airport, fly to Saudi. Israel Museum in Jerusalem was closed as thats where he was having his meeting. Jerusalem is beautifully set on top of mountains. We had to drive between Mt. Judea and Mt. Samaria. The drive was beautiful in its own way. Not lush green or magnificent, but it looked like it had seen a lot, endured a lot, if you know what I mean. We drove past the place where Jesus was supposed to have appeared to two of his disciples after his resurrection. We also drove past the place where Elizabeth, John the Baptist's Mom and Dad had lived. It was mind blowing to think that characters that we read in the Bible, images of whom are in my mind from the Episodes of Biblical stories shown on TV, lived and walked in this place, over 2000 years ago.
Holocaust Museum
The museum was made to look like a concentration camp. I knew what to expect, as I had read about it a lot. I kept my heart hard and went. I held my forte, my emotions for most of the museum. But I broke, when I came to some videos and pictures. Videos that break your heart, that trigger anger towards those who did not treat human beings like human beings. I shed a few tears. 6million Jews were murdered apparently. The guide said not to think of it as just a number. For reference, there are currently 6 million Jews in Israel. Calculate the magnitude. A whole country was murdered. There was a Children's Memorial as well. 1 yr, 2 yr old kids were killed as well, and they were used for medical research. This quote I remember "There were no Children in the camps. only little Jews".
New Jerusalem
We drove past new Jerusalem. It mostly had the parliment house of Israel and all the other important, but uninteresting buildings like Defence Ministry, Foreign Affairs etc. As Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. We drove past the rich neighbourhood of Jerusalem where all the big politicians, actors etc lived. More importantly I was able to observe the homes in Jerusalem. They were different. All the homes are made of stone. And built like in the olden days. All buildings were stone colored, the uniformity is beautiful.
Tomb of david, Room of Last Supper
 King David built Jerusalem about 3000 years ago, 900BC. The Star which is the Jewish Symbol and which is in the flag of Israel is the Star of David. This is the only place where there is a Synagogue, a Church and a Mosque in the same building. The ground floor was the tomb, which is a Synagogue, first floor is a church, the room of Last Supper. The actual place where Jesus and his disciples sat and ate the day before Jesus was crucified! The church here is also the first ever Gothic structure built. Gothic structures are characterized by the arches, you see in most churches. I didnt any any magnificent structures, because most of the structures are of historic significance. I saw a group from India, Christian Tamilians on a Bible Tour, aunties in sarees. My parents will also probably do this trip once.
Old Jerusalem Streets
  We got out of the bus, and entered the Old Jerusalem through the gates. They have tried to keep Old Jerusalem as old, save the old structures as much as possible. We passed through the Armenian Quarter and went into the Jewish Quarter. Old Jerusalem is split into four Quarters, Armenian, Jewish, Muslim and Christian. In the Jewish Quarter we saw the Cardo (cardio), which means 'heart' of Jerusalem during David's time. the road which was the main road of Jerusalem, was preserved. And yes it is over 2000 years old. It is very easy to get lost in the Old City, as its all tiny streets, what we call 'sandhu's. We also saw remains of the Jerusalem Wall, also built thousands of years ago. We passed the Muslim Quarter and then went to the Christian Quarter. Here we had our Lunch at a local shop. Shawarmas are supposed to be very famous here, I had Falafel in Pita for 25 shekels. The cheapest meal I have had in Israel, if I dont count the times I skipped meals.
Tour group
 Let me stop to say a little about the tour group itself. The guide was ok, cannot match our Guide, Luc, in Europe, but still ok. There were two other Indian guys. One guy came and talked to me, the other didnt. I made friends with an Aussie Lady. She was good company. Atleast I was able to talk with her and relate with her. She was quite well travelled, made me want to travel more. There was a Polish guy I made friends with too. He looked very lost, and geeky. Others were from UK, South America, Turkey, Italy and US as far as I knew. Yeah, the friend, wasnt interested in coming, so I went on my own. I thought I would feel like a loser, but surprisingly I quite enjoyed the tour.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
 After lunch we set off to the Church of the Sepulchre or the Church of Resurrection. This Church is built on top of the stone on which Jesus was crucified. Again, pullarichifying. Saw various places of significance with respect to the crucifixion. The Church is being fought over between many Christian denominations apparently. Its pathetic. I have to visit this Church again, some other time, without a tour guide to rush us. This is supposed to be the Holiest of places. We could get anything blessed here.
Via Dolorosa
 Via Dolorosa also known as Way of Sorrow is the path taken by Jesus from where he was sentenced, to the Golgotha the rock on which he was crucified. They are the Stations of the Cross. Every Friday before Easter, we pray concentrating on the different Stations in the Church. And now I actually walked the real, stations of the cross! I have no words to describe what went through me. The way is now filled with shops and all, but still. The image that came to my mind is from movies. I have to come here too again.
Western wall
 We passed through security to visit the Western Wall. For those who are lazy to click the link to know what it is, here is a gist. So King Solomon son of David, built the First Temple of God 3000 years ago. It was destroyed. And then Herod rebuilt it. That was also destroyed. I dont know how many times it was destroyed but now, there stands a Mosque,called Dome of the Rock, which is actually once converted from a Church. So much for the holiness of the place itself. Of the destroyed Second Temple, which is Holiest of the Holiest place for the Jews, only the Wall remains. The belief is that God resides in that Wall as well. The Guide said it is the Almighty God, not specific to a religion, so anyone can go and pray. There were separate entrances for Men and Women and I had to wear a shawl to cover my arms before entering. I touched the wall and prayed for the well being of everyone. People stick notes in the crevices of the Wall. God reads them apparently. The bottom of the wall, is very old, and then over it for some height was the wall built second time, and then the top was all rebuilt and not so old as the bottom part of the wall.
Mount of Olives
 Here on we got into the bus to drive to Mt of Olives. This has much significance in both Jewish and Christian faith. This is where Jesus was praying when he was arrested. I havent been to those places yet. I have to make another trip to Jerusalem. For some more History, the Guide said this, I am not sure how true it is. Adam and Eve when they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, came into this world here, the place where the First Temple was built, and where the Dome of the Rock stands now. So Jews and Christians also looks like believe that God will come to the Valley between the Mt Olives and the Jerusalem, on Judgement Day, and hence the Mt Olives side looking the City of Jerusalem is a Cemetery with lot of Jews buried here.
Last but not the least I saw a real Camel for the first time in my life! I wanted to go on a ride, but I will have to do it another time.
There is so much history, most sites here are Archeological Sites. I was awestruck when I visited the Vatican City, the St Peter's Basilica, but this experience surpasses that. It was a wonderful, thought provoking, one-of-a-kind experience, that I will remember for years to come.
Phew! I thought I will never be able to finish this post. But I did. I left out a lot of details, but atleast I could write this much. I wanted to post lot more pictures but I am losing patience with blogger's picture upload.
Err.. and I just saw the size of the post, it is huggge. A special thanks to those who reach the end. I guess such trips can never be written concisely. Sigh! |
posted by SK @ 9:26 AM  |
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| 14 Comments: |
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have been some experience - especially doing it all alone. Envy you :)
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ok, donno why but the words "that must" got swallowed! :\
The line ought read "that must have been some experience... " :)
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Wow SK! It must indeed have been a great experience! As for the length of the post, considering the no. of places that you have visited, I would have been surprised had it been any shorter ;)
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Wow tats one nice post. If you can manage why dont u try going to cyprus for a weekend. its hardly 45mins flight. i know i still miss that place.
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Hmmmm.. You do travel out a lot. I suggest you travel out into the country to get a feel for the place. Tourist places do give you a flavor, but it is not authentic.
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Why don't you rename your blogspot to 'Israelonly.blogspot.com' :)
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pretty travelogue...liked the commentary style with the right dose of history & culture wrapping it! :D
is this western wall same as the wailing wall? remember watching some of the places on History Channel. :)
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Nice. Jerusalem has so much history deep inside that it is a must visit place on the globe. Above any of the natural beauties of Europe.
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That's a nice description. Thanks to you I learnt more about the place. :)
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i need to get outta chennai...NOWWWWW!!! :(
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SK-
first time visitor here....really nice travelog on ur Jerusalem trip. Enjoy.
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Radssss, Going alone is not so much fun :--( But it was good.
Aparna,
:--)) It was amazing!
bbm,
Bah, I have visa issues. I would have liked to visit Egypt before Cyprus if I had the choice.
Ok,
Hey I work with Israelis everyday, I do get to hear stories from them. And man! its scary to go out to non-touristy places alone.
Arun, hahha, the next post is just for your comment ;--)
WT, yes yes, they are the same! :--))thankoo.
Gradwolf,
yes, its a place to visit for those interestedin History. Egypt Greece too.There is stuff more than 2000-3000 yrs old! Amazing!
joy, my pleasure :--))
Preeeti,
hahaha you just had a vacation! :--)
Mitra,
Welcome here, thanks!!
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I felt like I am experienceing this place with you..very nice post. Oneday I tool want to visit there with my kids especially the way of the cross..thank you for the experience
shy
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Shy, of course! It will be a great experience, you should do it once.
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have been some experience - especially doing it all alone. Envy you :)