We got a chance to see some new things in Jerusalem today, and the streets were packed for the celebration of "Jerusalem Day," which commemorates Israelis taking back over the Old City in June, 1967. On our way to our first stop we saw some festivities outside of Jaffa Gate.
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| Some festive dancing |
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The Western Wall was quite abuzz, as well
Our first official new stop today was the Temple Mount, a place I've really been wanting to go for a while now. You can only visit for very limited hours, but today we made it happen. |
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| The top of Al-Aqsa Mosque |
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| The entrance to Al-Aqsa mosque; unfortunately because we aren't Muslim we can't go inside. |
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| And finally... the Dome of the Rock. |
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| As controversial as it might be, it is an incredibly beautiful piece of architecture |
Our last stop was the tower of the Church of the Redeemer. It stands prominently in the Old City, and you can climb to the top (LOTS of windy steps) to get a pretty beautiful panoramic view of the city.
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| Looking to the east (Mount of Olives in the far distance) |
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| The two big domes part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre |
We are certainly starting to experience some Israeli heat! We have counted ourselves lucky so far as the weather has been fairly mild, but summer is now starting to arrive in full force. We are also seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for the end of the semester. Zach is in final exams right now and only has school for the next 2-3 weeks.
And...just because she's cute... :)
Wow! What a great opportunity to see the dome of the rock. Did it feel weird to be up there?
ReplyDeleteThe little princess is looking like she is ready to move! So, so cute!!!