On our first day in Jerusalem we decided to follow the final steps of Jesus on the Via Dolorosa. The Old City is completely surrounded by thick walls and is divided into three parts- a Muslim Quarter, a Jewish Quarter, and a Christian Quarter. We wanted to begin our walk at the first station of the cross, so we entered the Old City at the Lion's Gate in the Muslim Quarter and made our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I had a great guide book, so we made finding the station markers a game for the children (they are not always easy to find), and then once we found the station I read what happened at that particular spot. Here we are at the beginning of the Crucifixion walk:
I do not have a photo, but my favorite part on the Walk of Jesus was a spot where legend says Jesus stopped to rest and he laid his hand on the wall. There is a spot on the wall, and the children and I all touched this spot. You know, I was tired, and pushing a stroller, and lugging this big backpack around, and the way I positioned my hand made me think that it was exactly the same way Jesus would have done. And I had such clarity when I laid my hand there. Jesus had walked this exact path, with a crown of thorns on his head, lashes on his back, and a very heavy cross. And he did this for me. The excruciating pain of Jesus's last day was a topic we talked of often on this walk. It made such an impression on us, and Colin was in awe of what Jesus had gone through.
The last few stations are inside of the Church of Holy Sepulchre, which is the exact spot where Jesus was crucified.
Before I begin, I have to be honest and say that Jesy and I were a tad nervous about going in to Palestine. You have to cross a very well armed border and we drilled in to the kids "no talking! No fooling around or arguing! Let mommy and daddy handle everything!" Yes, Jesy and I were super uptight. And for nothing. Not that you shouldn't take crossing the border seriously- this is a land of serious troubles. But I think I expected to cross in to Bethlehem and be met by protesters, children throwing rocks, and tent cities. Absolutely not- the city of Bethlehem is quite pretty and the people are lovely. They were quite friendly and seemed genuinely happy to have us there. I do not plan on going to the Gaza Strip any time soon, but Bethlehem? Americans should go there.
We started our tour of Bethlehem at Shepard's Field, the biblical spot where the angel revealed herself to the shepards and announced the birth of Jesus. Look at these beautiful photos- I can so picture the shepards here all those years ago.
There are also caves at Shepard's Field, and our guide explained to us that they are exactly like the one Jesus would have been born in. We did go on to see the actual birthplace of Jesus, but it is filled with adornments. This cave looks pretty much like it would have 2000 years ago.
If you ever watch TV on Christmas Eve, you may recognize this as Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity- the birthplace of Jesus.
And now we go inside the Church of the Nativity.
To find the actual spot where Jesus was born, you have to go down steps to a grotto. There, the spot is marked by what I would call a silver sun star. The room itself is covered in many old tapestries, which John wanted to pull down on to the floor. Got to love a toddler. We did manage to bless ourselves in the spot and I love how Jesy was practicing the sign of the cross with the girls.
Our next shop was a Christian souvenir shop in Manger Square. This shop made me happy for many reasons. One- John fell asleep in his stroller in the corner, and I didn't have to worry about him breaking everything. Two- I never shop for fun stuff in Moscow, so this was a real treat. Finally, the treatment of Christians in Middle Eastern countries is very alarming to me and a cause that I believe deserves much more attention. Don't believe me or maybe you have not heard of this? Look it up. See how Christians are being forced out of Iraq, Iran, Egypt, and other countries. Places they have lived for over 2000 years. It's very disturbing. I had a very interesting conversation with the owner of the shop. His family has been in Bethlehem for centuries. His father's family was Italian and came with the crusaders as workers. And ever since they have been carving beautiful crosses, and nativity scenes from the olive trees inside and around Bethlehem. I was more than happy to shop at this store and take some pieces home to Russia. And he gave the kids bottles of Sprite, which made everyone happy.
After emptying our wallets, we walked through the town of Bethlehem. It was very pretty and I love the outdoor markets. We also had lunch at a local place that served delicious falafels and chicken. I loved our guide in Bethlehem, and one of the things I loved about him was that he seemed to know everyone in the city. We were never bothered by salesmen on the street, but if we needed to get behind the rope in a church, he knew all of the guards, so it was possible.
Our last stop in Bethlehem was the Milk Grotto. It is said that Mary was feeding Jesus here, and a drop of milk spilled on the floor and turned the stone to a milky white. This is also where the Holy Family lived for two years.
I love this last photo; the one above. It says to me "Yeah, I love Jesus. And yeah, I am finished with this tour. It's time to be crazy!"
Bethlehem was only a half day tour (I know. All of that by 1pm), so we were able to go home and gear up for our trip to Galilee, which is a bit over 2 hours from Jerusalem. I cannot explain why, but something just drew me there- I really wanted to see the sea.
At first we stopped at the town of Capernaum. To be honest with you, it was just another town, but they did have a lovely promenade along the Sea of Galilee that we all enjoyed walking along.
The Sea of Galilee is truly beautiful, and it became even more so when we went to Tabgha, the traditional site of the feeding of five thousand by five loaves of bread and two fish. I was so excited to visit this spot. When I was a little girl my grandmother, Nee-Nee, used to tell us Bible stories, and this was one of my favorites. It was so worth the trip to stand in this spot. We put our toes in the water and the kids were rather still. And for five minutes I gazed out at the Sea of Galilee with the sun on my face and felt such peace in my soul. I am so grateful for those moments.
I am also extremely grateful that I was in Tagbha to experience one of the funniest exchanges ever. We arrived at the same time as three tour buses. In Jesy's defense, one bus was full of Korean tourists and the other buses had visitors from Central and South American. Anyways, the tourists were all older ladies and gentlemen, so they were enjoying looking at children play in the water and sand. One man came over to Jesy and I and asked in Spanish, "where are you from?" As I was formulating my answer in Espanol, Jesy answered for us. "I'm sorry, we do not speak Korean". I about died laughing. And Jesy, you have so many inane stories from me over the years, so it's ok that you have this one. What a great ending to our day in Galilee.
The Yeates family believes you've got to keep on truckin', so the next day we went to Masada and the Dead Sea. The Dead Sean is actually only 30-45 minutes from Jerusalem, but using a GPS in Israel is quite tricky. If the GPS believes you will be ANYWHERE near Palestine, it sends you on some crazy 2 hour detour. It took us a long time to get to Masada, but we got smarter on the way home and went the short way. It was fascinating, though, that the GPS never recognized where we were until we came into the city of Jerusalem. Countries in a perpetual state of disagreement are fun.
Masada is beautiful, and the story of the Jewish people that lived there is amazing. And they did not have a nice cable car to take them to the top. John was not interested in looking at the ruins, so he decided to plop himself on the ground and play in the sand. Jesy took the older kids around the site. While I was sitting with John I happened to be next to a Jewish college group that was receiving a lecture on the history of Masada by their professor. I was happy to listen in, so all in all it was a win-win situation for everyone in the family.
The view of the Dead Sea from Masada was breathtaking and got us geared up to go swimming there. I also have no idea what brought out the disco in Amalie while at Masada. Perhaps Jewish history really inspires her.
Swimming in the Dead Sea was great fun. I was the first one to sit and float, thank you very much, and once Colin and Amalie got brave enough, they enjoyed it also. Kathleen wanted nothing to do with that salty water and therefore stayed on the edge. We decided not to bring John in because it is quite dangerous to swallow any of the water. As in you must seek medical attention if you swallow any. John also had a good sized cut on his hand, so imagine the ouch of putting that in salt.
By Thursday our entire family was cooked. I mean it- we were an exhausted group. But Jesy and I felt that a trip to Israel would not be complete without visiting the Wailing Wall and the Garden of Gethsamane, where it is believed Jesus and his disciples went after the Last Supper and where Jesus was arrested by the Romans.
I wanted to say thank you to the Wailing Wall for giving me Amalie (see Amalie's February birthday blog). And it was nice to visit Old Jerusalem one last time.
The lovely trees and flowers in Gethsamane were worth the walk.
Of all of the trips we have taken the past 18 months, I feel that Israel was the closest to my heart. To walk the steps of Jesus, to see His birthplace, to visit ancient Jewish sites, all of the places that I had read about and learned about since I was a child- it was very dear to me. And to take my four children was a dream I never thought would be realized. What a great week in the Holy Land!
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