After two
weeks in Israel we are moving on to Jordan!
I failed to blog about Jerusalem or Bethlehem…. But it was predictably
incredible. In a nutshell, we explored
the Mount of Olives, Garden Tomb, Via Dolorosa, Dome of the Rock, Wailing Wall,
Church of the Ascension, Church of the Sepulcher, Church of the Nativity etc.
etc. and learned a lot about the history of the Jerusalem and it’s many past
rulers. Everything is very walkable but
it is a hilly city so our legs got a good workout every day!
Anyways;
yesterday we traveled from Jerualem to Eilat, Israel where there is a border
crossing into Aqaba, Jordan. On the way
we made a pit stop at the Dead Sea for a final dip (the weather was
cooperatively warm!) and a nice hike in a nature preserve.
We spent the
night in Eilat at a FABULOUS hostel- hot water for showers, warm rooms, quiet,
it had it all!
In the
morning we walked to the border crossing – about an hour hike- and found to our
delight it was deserted (unlike our crossing from Egypt to Israel which was
chaos due to massive tour groups) we were through the checkpoints and in Jordan
in a matter of minutes. From Aqaba we got
on a bus to Amman where we will spend time at my cousin’s home, and are riding
on the 4 hours journey right now!
The desert
outside the window is beautiful and barren.
Since I have time and since I don’t feel I did Jerusalem/Bethlehem justice,
I will make a list of highlight experiences from that portion of our trip
below:
1.
Hiking up the Mount of Olives… 3 times… because we kept on going up
when the Church of Ascension was closed and we really wanted to go inside! 3
hikes later and sporting newly toned legs, we got in and were duly rewarded by
the views from the tower there- the highest point in Jerusalem. There were also some really crazy paintings
of what one artist envisions the end of time to look like.
2.
Eating some “chalky white substance” from the
walls of the Milk Grotto Chapel where legend has it Mary and Joseph stopped to
feed baby Jesus and some milk dripped onto the once red rock turning it
white. Legend also has it that eating a
bit of the wall will guarantee your fertility, so how could I pass up an
opportunity like that?
 |
| Guaranteeing the expansion of my family |
3.
Couchsurfing with a Palestinian man in the West
Bank and learning about Palestine’s history and present day situation. Feeling outraged at the ridiculousness of it.
 |
| Nick and I with Zafer, our couchsurfing host |
4.
Cooking amazing dinners from food bought at the “market
of chaos” just outside our hostel in Jerusalem- street vendors all hawking
their prices at full volume!
5.
Eating delicious pastries from a bakery in the
Jewish Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem
Now we are
on the embarking on our fourth country on this tour, a new currency, and many
new adventures around the corner!
