Friday, October 14, 2022

Days 9,10, & 11

Back to day 9 where we docked in the first of two Israeli cities, Haifa where we hired a driver to take us to Nazareth.

Originally, we were not sure we had been there before and when we saw the first church, the Church of the Assumption, we knew we had been here in 2011.  So we revisited the church, which on the spot where the Angle Gabriel came done and told Mary that she was going to bear the Christ Child.

After that we walked to St. Joseph’s Church which was the place were Joseph, the husband of Mary had his carpenter shop.

After about 2 hours I Nazareth the driver took us back to the ship.

Dinner was with a new couple from England and it was fun sharing experiences.

After dinner the show was a singer who sang the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and he was pretty good.

Then it was onto the casino where Barb did not play and Ed had a quick win.

 

Day 10

So many of the passengers on the ship for the almost sole purpose to be in Jerusalem for two days.

Our driver met us at the pier at 9:00am for the 1-hour drive to the Old City of Jerusalem.

Words cannot describe the original city of Jerusalem and neither can pictures – but we will do our best.

The official name of our hotel is – the Pontifical Institute – Notre Dame – of Jerusalem Center and it was amazing.

The hotel was part of a larger building built in 1882 to house pilgrims coming to the Holy Land.   While the rooms were small by American standards, they were quite nice with all the modern conveniences, except a tv which we did not miss.  We also had a 2’ x 25’ Balcony that overlooked the city.

This hotel is the only hotel that is located right next to the wall of the Old City so it was perfect for us.

We first walked to the Hotel of the Holy Sepulcher, which is built on the site of Jesus’ Crucifixion and burial.

The hotel dates back to the 4th century and it is in the Christian area of the Old City; however, the Church as shared property with the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic, who all control parts of the Old City.

We then walked around and had an interesting experience in a German Lutheran Church where we met a couple who were running a small coffee shop in the cloisters of the church.  Turns out that she was a magician and did a trick with Barb that was quite good.   They also sang Happy Birthday to Ed and gave hi a candle to light in the Church.

We then ate dinner in a little shop on one of the streets.

Then our room was ready and we went back to the hotel to check in.

We found out that the 12th and 13th was a Jewish holiday so the Old City was to be very busy.

We had tickets to see a light show at the Tower of David.  This was a set of towers and fortress type of building where they were to have a light show depicting the various states of King David.  The first part of the Tower was built in the 5th century BC!!

We thought that if we arrived there from the hotel at about 6:00pm we would be early so we could walk around. 

When we got to the gates of the Old City, the police had closed the city and were not letting anyone if as it was already too crowed.

We walked along the wall and found a smaller gate and a policeman who believed us that we had tickets for the show.  We arrived just in time to see it and it was very good.

We then walked back to our hotel with what seemed like hundreds of people, laughing, playing music and just celebrating their holiday.

 

Day 11

This was our second day in Jerusalem and we traced the steps of Jesus and he was led through the streets of the Old City to his Crucifixion.  It was moving to see all the places that are part of the story.

Then we went to the Western Wall, sometimes referred as the Wailing Wall.

Hopefully the video will show you had crowed it was, but a great experience for us.

We had originally planned to be driven back at 4:00pm for an 8:00pm sailing; however, our driver called and said we had to leave by 2:00pm or we might not make it back to the ship. 

We took his advice and left at 2:00pm.  Coming the drive was one hour and going back to the ship it took 2 hours as the traffic had not gotten bad yet.

We had dinner with a couple from England we had met before and thoroughly enjoyed it.

After we went to a small entertainment area to see a couple of magicians up close and they were amazing.

At the casino, Barb didn’t play as Ed started out with a nice winning streak and got up a winner after only about ½ hour, plus we were very tired.

Our next and last port with be Limassol on the island of Cyprus.


                                                                    Ready to go to Jerusalem


                                                            Where Jesus was crucified

                                                        Inside the Luthern Church


                                                The entrance to the Old City


                                                         On our deck


                                    The front of the hotel - our room, 2nd floor on the far right



                                                            Going out for the second day


                                                            Why not a new necklace!!


                                                        Where Jesus fell against the wall


                                                            Amazing street food


                                                        The steps to the Western Wall


                                                        Barb's new friend


                                                                        Dinner


                                                        Of course Barb bought a new scarf or two!!



                                                    Snacks before dinner in our room


                                                                Tuna for dinner

                                                            and Lamb Chops - both outstanding


                                                                Our dinner partners

1 comment:

Mickie said...

Gram looks so regal sittin on that balcony! Def an all timer picture.

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