Jersualem At Its Finest

I realize I haven't blogged in a very long time, but I wanted to wait until I was able to upload pictures, and I'm finally able to do so! Pictures make blogging so much better because I don't have to write as much and readers actually go through the whole post instead of getting bored by the first paragraph. At least that's what happens when I stalk others' blogs; I get super excited when I see a post full of pictures. So here goes:


Jerusalem is the land of hills and valleys. The Center is built on the top of Mt. Scopus, which is part of the Mt. of Olives. In order to go pretty much anywhere, we have to go down a very large hill into the Kidron valley, then up a very large hill into the city. Which means that on the way back home, we go down the hill we came up and up the hill we came down. Going into the city is not for the faint-hearted. And as proof, here is the hill right outside the lower gate of the Center.



I love the contrast of this picture. The wall in the lower right corner is the Western Wall, an original retaining wall of the temple during Jesus' time, and one of the holiest places for the Jewish people. Rising just above that is the Dome of the Rock, one of the holiest sites in Islam. Just a reminder of how people learn to coexist.



The Dome of the Rock, up close and personal.



Jerusalem is full of holy sites (surprising, I know), and here is one of the holiest for Christians, especially for Protestants: the Garden Tomb. There's something special about this place.



Wouldn't it be great if we could buy one of these for life?



I can't get enough of the colors here. Or the flowers. I probably have at least fifty pictures of flowers from Jerusalem. It just amazes me that such beautiful flowers can bloom in a place where it doesn't rain for seven months of the year. And they contrast so beautifully with the light limestone that most of the city is built of. I wish I could always be in such a beautiful place.



I'm obsessed with finding the Center whenever I can in the city. Here we have the Dome of the Rock with the Center to the left of it (that building with all the arches), and the picture was taken from the top of the Hurva synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. How awesome is it that Mormon University is visible from all over Jerusalem?



I also just can't get enough of the doors here. It's hard to refrain from photographing every one I walk by, but I try to keep it to only the most awesome. Like this door we stumbled upon when we were lost somewhere in the city (it's hard to keep track of where we get lost these days).



I was not a fan of going through Hezekiah's Tunnel, a water-filled, very narrow channel built in BC times. And then I went through it, and it was actually pretty cool. Here's the aftermath of the water on my pants.



This is a taste of Jerusalem's night life! Ben Yehuda, the place to be when the sun goes down. Well, really, it's the only place we can be when the sun goes down, so it's the best place.



The other day, we stumbled upon St. George's Cathedral in the middle of East Jerusalem. It's a church for Palestinian Christians, and it's message seemed to be about peace between all. Along the back wall, I found this little thing hanging. I think it's a lesson that more than just Palestinians and Israelis need to learn.

There you have it: Jerusalem at its finest. Well, maybe not its finest, but what I like most.