A word from me as well

Welcome to Appenzell

Jeff was great to post the days highlights for me last night.  Now it is 3 am here and I am up.  I just read Jeff's notes and only wanted to add that beside good food, I would claim the Appenzeller Region should most be known for the friendliness of the people.  I will only share one experience, but it does sum it all up:  at breakfast this morning, the woman who graciously brought us our hot milk and coffee, said to me in broken but heartfelt English with a beautiful smile on her face, "You have four princessen!  No, you are five!"  Then in her exuberance, gave me the biggest hug.  I did feel then that we were so welcome and the tone continued throughout the day with one warm encounter after another.  In German this feeling is called Gemuetlichkeit...it is an atmosphere of comfort and warmth.  It makes me feel at home here and I definitely want to come back and visit again, I know we will continue to see impressive sights as we continue our tour of Switzerland, but any other place will be hard pressed to overshadow the Gemuetlichkeit of Appenzell.

Dinner together

Appenzeller

Janna did a nice job recapping yesterday.  I will add that the girls have done very well since Wednesday.  We have been able to muscle thru the time change with very little issue.

Today we woke up to rain in the beautiful hill and mountain country of Appenzeller.  This region is known for its humorous people, manure aroma, and strong smelling cheese.  Appenzeller cheese.  The views are amazing.  Everywhere we go the mountains add perspective and the houses dot their way up the hills.  Distant peaks are covered in snow while short green grass covered everything.  All perfectly mowed.  I am not sure how.  Is it because it is spring?  Or do the cows and sheep eat down all the grass?  I don't see any tractor marks; nor would I expect to on some of these steep slopes.  And yet all the grass seems recently shorn.

We had yogurt, granola, fruit and breads in the hotel cafe before walking out in the rain to the train station.

First stop: St. Gallen.  We had no intention of visiting this town at all on our trip.  But with the rain, we figured we had to cancel our two hiking options.  A little train time couldn't hurt - and it didn't.  By the time we reached St. Gallen 45 minutes later, the rain had cleared up for good.

On the train enjoying the view

The door to the St. Gallen church

St. Gallen is known for it's 1400 year old monastery.  Yeah.  14 hundred years ago.  Like 800+ years before Columbus accidentally ran into America on his way to India.  This makes historic Fort Snelling seem like the least historic place on earth.  "Yeah, nothing cool really even happened here at Fort Snelling.  It is about 160 years old.  Did you want to see our barracks with the boarded up windows?  Real plywood."

The Beautiful Interior

Anyway.  It was neat.  It was like a lot of old religious historical places in Europe.  Old, well preserved, and full of interesting facts, legends and artifacts.  The Cathedral happened to have an opera singer and orchestra rehearsing.  That was awesome.  Nothing like Cathedral acoustics.  Then we visited another, more recent cathedral with dozens of hand carved, wood confessional booths in it.  That place was somewhat dreary.  The neatest thing, by far, was the library connected to the Abbey.  Since ~600 AD monks had been storing up hundreds and hundreds of books.  Then they built themselves a library that looked like it was set in the hull of a pirate's ship.  With a wood in-lay floor (that required slippers to be worn upon entry) and hand crafted wood book shelves that held hundreds of books that were all worn out.  Paintings on the ceilings depicted Jesus and Mary and others.  Oh, and a huge globe of the world that looked like it probably showed up around 1500 (due to the inexactitude of the New World).  The library wasn't big - maybe 60 feet long and 25 feet wide.  But it was tall - maybe 30 feet high.  The shelves went almost all the way up.  I could have stayed in there for a couple of hours.

All the crosses in the church were covered for Lent, Shelby asked if we could stay
for Easter when they will be removed.  

However, as it turns out, kids are not super in to old libraries.  So we took off.

After grabbing some delicious street food we got on a bus to Stein - home of Appenzeller cheese.

Everyone said our kids would't like
Appenzeller Cheese, but they love it, really.

Totally a waste of time.  We saw the cheese factory in action (included a robotic lift that was systematically moving cheeses around for aging).  But it was not worth the bus ride there.

That said, I would have taken the bus ride just for the views.  Amazing.

Happy to be on the train looking at the beautiful sights

Cowbells on display

Urnasch

Bus and train got us to Urnasch.  This seemingly fake little town has "the cutest museum in all of Europe."  Yeah, cool.  But not nearly worth the 20 Francs.  However, once again, the town itself was worth the stop.  Old buildings, a big church steeple, and everything so well kept.  Side note: I have to give it to the Swiss.  They a run a tight ship.  Everything well kept.  I have yet to see the Swiss "hoarder".  You know who I am talking about.  Every neighborhood has one.  The neighbor who seems to think that an old fence gate belongs on the side of his garage for the last 4 years.  Or the pickup truck parked in the driveway with 4 flat tires.  Or the bikes parked in the back yard all throughout the winter  - wait, that's us!  Never mind.

Anyway, the Swiss houses all look like the are kept up.  The grass seems mowed.  No rusted out cars anywhere, no scrap piles or brush piles.  It is the Truman Show.  Set in heaven.

Back in Appenzell

From Urnasch we went back to home to Appenzell.  After walking the town for a couple of hours, we settled in back at our cute little hotel and ate dinner in a 500 year old cellar.  Fondu.  I hate fondu.  But it was better than the lame American version of it.  No oil.  Here in Switzerland it is just a hot cauldron of melted cheese.  And you don't "cook" your stick items in it.  You just use your stick to poke at a piece of bread or potato and then mop up some melted cheese.  Not super health conscious, the Swiss.  But the food is so rich that it is hard to eat too much of it.  Unless you are an American.  I ate a lot of it and I didn't even really like it.  We had other stuff too (surprising, I know) and it was all great.  The food here has been really solid.  If you just hop on board their high-brow, State Fair diet, the food is quite enjoyable.

Our Hotel, a 400 year old house.

Tomorrow we push off early with plans to meet Phil Nell, my long time friend and former soccer coach, in Luzern - his home town.

Traveling by rail.

Till then.

Reunited and it feels so Good!

Raclette to welcome us

As I said a few days ago, being away has made me more than I ever expected to appreciate my family.  My husband is a super star for taking care of four kids without one complaint and my daughters are totally my favorite people. I love their smiles, their personalities, their goofy selves.  So, it was about the best thing today to see their smiling faces and run to them in Zurich, hold them all, kiss Jeff again and again, and cry with joy.

Jeff and three of my girls on the train to Zurich Hauptbahnhof

Now, there is also the possibility that I was crying with joy for other reasons on top of seeing my family.  Number one:  the Zurich airport when you walk out of the gate area into the shop area smells like chocolate.  Chocolate smells better than just about any smell I ever smelled in Israel (sorry people at the yummy bagel shop on Ben Yaruda).  Germany smelled fine, but not chocolatey, so if I were to totally go on chocolatey smells, Switzerland has it in the bag.  

Anyway, we are here!  We are together and it is good.  Jeff, the girls and I all landed in Zurich only minutes apart.  Apparently, the girls only slept an hour or two on the flight through Amsterdam, even though Jeff had carefully crafted a plan of getting the girls up yesterday morning at the insane hour of 4am in order to make them so tired they would sleep the whole night on the flight.  It didn't happen, I think they all were too excited, and really, in Hamburg this girl was excited, too, and barely slept last night in anticipation of seeing them all again.    

Our little cafe for lunch in Zurich

The plan was to walk around Zurich, grab some lunch and then take a train around 4 to Appenzell in eastern Switzerland.  We ate lunch in a little place that was recommended in the Rick Steve's guide and it was good.  We dove right into Swiss style eating with roesti, sausages, raclette and bread for lunch.  Totally great.  The girls and Jeff at this point were not zombies, so we decided to walk some more after lunch and peeked into the Frauenkirche which was beautiful and then rambled our way up the streets of Zurich back to the main train station, looking in all the windows of the upper end shops and taking all the picturesque architecture in.  It really feels (sadly) like you are in Epcot but it is for real!  

We made it back to the train station after a pit stop at a chocolate shop (of course) and a cool toy store that had a slide that went from the main floor all the way down to the lower level.  That was a highlight.

We hopped back on the train and made our way to Appenzell with a transfer at the Gossau station and had no problems at all thanks to the Deutsche Bahn app for my cell phone.  We are now in Appenzell, have walked around this cute town, got a delicious dinner at a little empty restaurant that didn't look promising at all, but was great.  When we got there they even had to turn on the lights for us, that's how empty it was, and because we were breaking my personal law about eating only in crowded restaurants I really thought it would be awful.  But, we had just about the best appenzeller cheese macaroni and cheese and dried beef (sounds yucky, but we all loved it), and a vegetable platter that had so many good things on it that I have been craving.  

Dried beef and gerhkins. awesome appenzeller chese

Anyway, you'd think I only care about food, but what I really meant to say this whole post was that life is good, my family is awesome and being on this long journey makes me appreciate not only my family, but the fact that we are all really just the same the world around, we all long to know peace and to possess hope.  That is what I've learned.  

Hamburg mach Spass!

I am just at the Hamburg airport preparing for my flight to Zurich and a reunion with my family.  I barely slept last night so excited.

Martin Luther at St. Michel

Just a minute to write, I wasn't able to log on while I was in Hamburg but I survived the HORRIBLE security experience in Tel Aviv, which left me in tears and which will also take me a long time to recover from.  I have a new appreciation for the American ideal of being innocent until proven guilty which is not the mod is operandi of the Israeli airport security.  After two hours of interrogation and inspection, I was ready to leave without looking back.

Thank goodness for the respite in Hamburg.  I will post photos later, but I have spent the last three days with my German sister, Karen, and we have had so much fun talking together, visiting markets, cooking, taking a tour of lovely Hamburg and just relaxing.  Every morning as well I was able to bike with her children, Alex and Sophie to school and take in the pastoral beauty of their small town on the outskirts of Hamburg.  I even managed to shop in a supermarket all by myself so I could find ingredients to prepare an American meal for the Ehm family.

I have gotten to practice my German quite a bit, but it still has a long way to go, I considered it small victories when I could make a small conversation with Karen's children.

Now to Zurich and I then will complete the last leg of this journey.  I have grown, and learned the people of this world are not so different, we all have our concerns, we all have our problems and we all need one another.

I will post photos hopefully tonight from my little hotel in Appenzell.

Neither have aged a day.

The last 48 hours, but not the end

Well, I know I said it was our last day in Jerusalem two days ago, and it sort of was, except we spent yesterday morning into the afternoon wandering around the city, visiting the Church of the Holy Seplucher and getting on a plane for our short stop in Jordan, to visit Petra.  Half the group went home, though last night, so we are just a smaller version of ourselves.

on the Via Dolorosa

We did get up early yesterday and Vicki, Julie, Andrea and I decided to take a walk to the Old City of Jerusalem one last time before we had to go home and it was great.  I really never really feel like I know a city until I get a chance to walk around and get my bearings.  Driving in the bus certainly has had its perks, but we then can't wander and figure our way around and really see the city.  So, we did.  We decided to walk from the hotel a few blocks to the Jaffa Gate and then make our way in the Muslim Quarter to the Via Dolorosa.  It was Shabat morning and therefore the Jewish Quarter was completely shuttered, but the Muslim Quarter was bustling, even early in the morning, full of tourists like us.  The streets in Old Jerusalem, and for all I know, all of Jerusalem, make no sense at all, so it is exactly like going to the corn maze, you wander and wander and start to see familiar sights again and again and eventually, you find where you are going.  The bummer was that once we made it through the whole Via Dolorosa, we discovered that the only way back to the hotel was to turn around and do it again in reverse.  I won't say I know the Muslim section well by now, but I will be able to tell you where the guy that sells the multi-colored incense is, because his shop is where an essential turn that you need to take is to get back to the King Solomon, that is if you ever need my help...I'm here for you.

the winding way in the Muslim Quarter

The Muslim quarter was packed and many people were bartering and shopping and looking at all the trinkets, jewelry, shawls, scarves, spices, etc...that is for sale there.  My favorite part was when we stumbled on the Jerusalem version of Home Depot in the alley where you could buy in the tiniest little stalls anything for home improvement you could think of.  It is loud and packed and smelly in there and sort of like the Minnesota State Fair without the stuff on a stick.  We talked with many sellers, they call out and tell you just to step into their shop where everything is half off, just today.  All the pretty things are tempting, but I wasn't in the mood to buy anything because I have two more weeks of travel and don't want to carry any more than I have to.
Not only was it a nice time to see again the Via Dolorosa (which by the way, is not as meaningful as I'd hoped it would be), it was really nice just to have some unstructured time to ourselves and just talk and continue to get to know one another.  We even ran into a familiar face up by the Dung Gate (I believe it was that one).  It was a man from our hotel who had helped Andrea charge her camera battery the last two nights of our trip.  A friend.  And that's the thing, I can say with only one exception, everyone here is friendly.  Everyone is excited to talk to us, everyone has been warm and welcoming.  It is pretty much across the board and makes this place so easy to embrace.

This boy was proud of his toy, it was disconcerting

Later yesterday afternoon, we all went up to the Church of the Holy Seplucher.  I didn't much like it.  The church was teeming with humanity and while I know that to someone it is a holy restorative place, I found it to be disconcerting.  The crowds were pushy and frantic, the church is dark and dank and it had nothing of the peace I am drawn to.  As a matter of fact, right when we walked in, we saw a little boy playing with his plastic machine gun toy, complete with bullets.  I don't even know what to say about that.

The Marble Slab in the Church
of the Holy Seplucher

The big draw for that Holy Site seemed to be a marble slab on the first floor which was said to have been the spot that Jesus' body was laid down upon after he was removed from the cross to prepare him for burial.  Women and men were crowded around that small 4'x6' plot and were kissing, laying down items for good luck and even lying on it.  I do think all of these places bring hope to the people that have come to receive their blessing, but I also know that for me, the spots are only remembrances of the past, the present still holds hope beyond reason, and it is a hope that exists everywhere, not just in Jerusalem.

A thing of beauty in the Holy Seplucher

After our escape from the Holy Seplucher, we broke off into groups for more wandering around the city, I was pretty done by that point, but followed along and eventually we landed (just 3 of us) in a little touristy cafe right at the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Muslim Quarter.  I had the yummiest grilled pita cheese sandwich I'd ever had.

Then, we packed up and headed to the airport where half of us went back to the States and the other half got on a place to Eilat, Israel for our day trip today to Petra in Jordan.  Look at where Eilat is on a map, the very southernest tip of Israel on the Red Sea.  We have so far visited that Mediterranean, the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea and the Red Sea.  All completely different but all beautiful, really.

Entering the Hashenite Kingdom of Jordan

This morning we got up at the crack of dawn and headed on a bus to the Jordan-Israeli border, about 8 minutes away, and we walked through customs and security and even had our irises scanned (wonder where that info goes??) and gained entry to Jordan for a two hour bus ride to Petra.  The landscape was brown, tan and brown, so pretty much the same as the view from the Dead Sea on for us.  Along the road on our drive I saw countless sheep and shepherds, camels, goats, and even a pack mule our two.  It is a distinctly different feeling there and while our guide assured us that it was lush and green in northern Jordan, it was nothing of the sort here and I had no qualms about closing my eyes for a bit because I knew I was missing nothing.

The approach to the Treasury

The treasury

Beautiful coloration of the rock in a cave at Petra

 Petra was awesome, of course.  We walked all the way in and it was spectacular.  I don't think, however, I will likely go back because the border crossing, both ways, is such a hassle.  I am so glad I did get the chance to see that place.  We were told by numerous guides we'd talked to in Israel that in no uncertain terms should we drink any water in Jordan or eat any fresh fruit or vegetables.  So, we each carried across the border food we had hoarded from breakfast and a 1.5 liter bottle which was heavy.  But, when we got down to the Crowne Plaza restaurant at the bottom of the hike into Petra, I couldn't help eating a plate of spaghetti, and I am sure it was fine, I avoided all uncooked stuff, and plus, frankly, it was the nicest, cleanest restaurant we have eaten in yet.  (Oh yeah, we went to a Lebanese restaurant last night and had a huge feast of guess what...hummus, falafel, cucumber salad with the addition of chicken kebabs, it was good, but LOUD!)  Connie and I walked all the way out of the ruins and it took us 54 minutes (it is about 2 miles all the way into the canyon with temples and caves all the way, of course, the tomb called the Treasury is the highlight and most famous of the Nabatean ruins).  Most of the rest of the group walked part way and rode donkeys or horses part way.

Feet that needed washing after the desert dust in Petra

After we got back through the border crossing, back into Israel (it really did feel more familiar being back), we packed up at the hotel and got on a plane back to Tel Aviv.  Because we had set a foot into Jordan, however, we were carefully screened before we could enter the airport.  Vicki and I were questioned separately for 15 or so minutes and then the two guards asking us questions got together to see if our stories matched.  It was intense and it is what makes El Al Airlines and all flight in Israel so safe.  However, because security is so tight, it certainly lends to more tension and a little bit of apprehension about safety in general.  I don't know, I look forward to feeling a little less nervous about my safety and so  it is one more thing I appreciate about being home.

I am now sitting in the Tel Aviv airport waiting to go through security at 1am for my 4:30 am flight to Frankfurt and then on to Hamburg.  Now it will be a completely different trip and I am up for it and excited.  I get to see Jeff and the girls on Thursday as well, so that is the best news yet, less than a week until I can hug my family.  Until then, I will keep posting when I can as I enjoy some down time with Karen in Hamburg.  Life is good...

Last Day, Jerusalem

Well, soon this rampage through Israel will be over.  We get up tomorrow and pack up and then after visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, we will all head to the airport with some flying back to the US and myself and 15 others will go on to Jordan for a day (Sunday) to see Petra.  I will probably not be able to write again until Sunday night, we'll see.

What an amazing opportunity I have had to be on this trip...I mean it is such a fantastic gift Jeff has given me by willingly taking over all parenting duties while I have been away.  I thought possibly while I was away my family would appreciate more all that me as their mom does for them, but truly the converse has happened.  I am over the top appreciative of what my family does and has done for me.  I miss them like crazy!!  I can't wait to hug you all next week.

Our day was emotional.  But first, educational.  Before, when we visited the Qumran caves, I have to admit, I was a little confused about why there was very little mention of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which I assumed was because they didn't want to add a religious bent to the exhibit, but it was weird because in Israel, everything has a religious bent.  I should have known that the scrolls were too big to be contained at the Qumran site, so far removed from access to the general public.  I missed the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Science Museum, and now I really wished I hadn't because we went to the Israel Museum (which is near the Knesset (Israeli parliament building) and other Israeli governmental buildings and it was just cool driving to it) where there is an awe inspiring exhibit called the Shrine of the Book.  We had something like 30 minutes to try to take everything in at the Shrine and because I have an addictive disorder in which I am compelled to read everything (just ask Jeff about this problem during Vikings home games, in which I keep getting distracted from paying attention to the game because the Popcorn box has writing on it and must be read) 30 hours should have been my allotment at the Shrine.  The exhibit told the story of the Essenes who preserved Scriptural writings and lived a rigid life of complete separation from society.  Because of their location in the desert, when they knew the Romans were coming and hid their many scrolls in the caves, they were preserved perfectly for upwards of 2,000 years. Not only is the fact that so many scrolls were found (40,000 scroll fragments from Cave #4 alone were discovered) astounding, but even more so that the discovery is the oldest evidence for the accuracy of the text of the Hebrew Bible.  The scrolls also the chronicled daily life of the Essenes, which is fascinating in and of itself, with directives from everything:  eating, ritual cleansing, anything to do with daily life.  They also catalogued the beliefs of this break away group.

All the books of the Hebrew Bible but Esther and Nehemiah were discovered at the caves but the Isaiah scroll was the only one preserved in its entirety.  When I was a young girl, I remember my dad had a book about the Dead Sea Scrolls and I also remember him talking about the historical and religious significance of this find.  I found walking through this building (which has a roof shaped like the lid of one of the jars the scrolls were discovered in) to be a walk of remembrance to my dad's own contagious excitement over the scrolls (even though they were discovered in 1947 and I was a girl much later they continue to be something that is exciting).  Anyway, I loved the museum. Also, outside is a model of Jerusalem from the first century.  It is huge and really helped put together many of the details we have been digesting over the past few days.

model of Jerusalem at the Israel Museum

The Holocaust Museum shaped like one point of a star

Then, we went to the Holocaust Memorial.  Nothing I could say could do an ounce of justice to the Memorial.  The way it is built zigzagging you through one room of photos, journals, personal reflections (filmed by Steven Spielberg), historical recounts, etc..to another with so much to read to look at and to ponder, then finishing in the room with every one of the 6,000,000 names of the Holocaust victims written in books reaching thirty feet up and encircling an entire room.  You are emotionally drained and feel the deep sadness over the loss when the doors open out to spill you onto a balcony in which the panorama of all of Jerusalem is before you.  As Gershon met us at the end, he explained that for those refugees that landed here, that escaped with all sense of self stolen to arrive at the place where they needed to begin again, for them Jerusalem holds the hope against the nightmare.  It was a well thought out museum and it will haunt me for probably the rest of my life, especially the two separate buildings on the grounds: one with the eternal flame and names of all the extermination camps written on the ground, but especially the memorial to the children of the holocaust in which 1.5 million stars, representing those children murdered during the Holocaust, shine in a darkened room and a voice reads the individual names of the victims taking over 6 months to get through them all.  It affected us all and there was nothing to say but ponder.

a solemn reminder of the 6 million killed

Then, finally, we went to a place called Gordon's Calvary.  It is sort of the Protestant version of the Holy Seplucher, and while it is in a different location, our guide and the site itself makes no exclusive claims on the site being the right one.  Our guide said eloquently, either one is right and one is wrong, or they could both be wrong as to accuracy of the location of the tomb in which Jesus was crucified, buried, the stone rolled away and the discovery of his resurrection.  Nonetheless, it is a beautiful garden with a empty tomb and other evidence that it could have been the location, but the point it is that it doesn't matter exactly where, it only matters that every grave where Jesus could have been is empty.  Really our great hope.  We had a short service in a little chapel there, and then were given time to walk around or sit and contemplate all of this trip, the empty tomb, and to listen to the variety of voices of all languages who had gathered to sing and proclaim hope.

Gordon's Calvary

We spent time this afternoon getting lunch on our own in a shopping area of Jerusalem (can't remember the name right now), and Julie and I stumbled upon a little bookshop and got a couple of books and met again an Israeli (owner of the shop) who was only so glad to talk to us about the place he loved, to welcome us here and to share with us his Jerusalem.  I can't explain it very well, but in spite of the tension that I have felt and seen in the various places we have been, there is a resoluteness to the people of this place, they feel inspired to live here because it means the world to them to have it.  The whole thing of who it belongs to is so complicated, but for the moments we have had with the kind, interested people we have encountered who are only too happy to welcome us, it is a blessing to meet them, that's all I know.

It was a beautiful day, sun shining, and I am grateful for it all.  I know that even months from now, little things that maybe I have overlooked or maybe I just couldn't totally take in, will bubble to the surface of my brain and what I have seen here and learned here with stay with me always.

Jerusalem

Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

"May those who love you be secure.

May there be peace within your walls

and security within your citadels..."

Psalm 122: 2, 6 & 7

I am so bummed because I actually wrote this post early this morning and lost it somehow.  So, I will have to try to sum up two days, which is fine but not the way I had it planned.

our first view of Jerusalem.  Dome of the Rock to the left

So, yesterday, as we drove up to Jerusalem from our hotel on the Dead Sea (which means that we went from drove up from 1,400 ft below sea level 4,300 ft up) it was like a time warp because of the camels and donkeys ridden by Bedouins who were also ascending to Jerusalem, and it was not hard at all to imagine ancient times when the people of Judah would go up to Jerusalem for the feasts of the Jews and sing as they went.  I was told to read the Psalms of Ascent while we drove in and I was struck by Psalm 122 and the eerie echo of the call for peace for this place.  As we drove, to the right there was a Jewish settlement and up ahead walls and a Palestinian camp then in the distance a Christian cross rises over the hill.  How can a city that has known such hope know so little peace?  I suppose because of the endless dreary news reports we hear about this place I was inclined to be overly aware of the disjointed communities that live here...yet after spending two days here, maybe they do coexist more than I have realized.  Regardless, there is a certain tension in the collision of so many ideologies.

Our bus pulled in outside the city on the Mount of Olives which also is at the crest of the Jewish cemetery that surrounds the old city and we were able to take in the panoramic view, which is breathtaking. And we immediately began our tour of Jerusalem.  It is packed in so tightly houses upon houses, churches/mosques/synagogues all in a jumble, and narrow streets at right angles zigzag up into the Old City.  We walked down the Street of Palms, which is quite a steep drop and went first to the church of Gethsemane stopping to see the beautiful olive trees that were hundreds of years old in the garden outside.  We got our first taste of the crowds of pilgrims as we elbowed our way into the church and frankly, I had to sit down and focus on the austerity of the place amidst millions of photo flashes and the hubbub of people from all over the world who all, every one, just wanted a glimpse.  

outside of upper room 

It is a tricky thing, I think, trying to keep your head about you when everyone else in the world, literally, seems to be losing theirs over getting a view of yet another church that commemorates a sacred spot where Jesus may have been.  It is a little crazy because every church is beautiful and every site is sacred, yet, the pushing and impatience gets in the way of the purpose of visiting some of these places and it for sure is distracting from what actually happened at each place.  Oh well.  

Psalm 121:  "May God bless your coming and going."
Caiaphas' House

A view of the Western Wall from above

We also visited Caiaphas' house and saw the dungeon type room where it is believed that Jesus was tortured over night, and while we were there, a pastor (Hagee) came along to do something and there was a big to do.   We also visited the Upper Room area, which is not a church, but a mosque now and then wandered around the Jewish quarter (which Jeff pointed out seems ironic, but it is true, it IS the Jewish quarter) enjoying all the sights and sounds, including a overlook view of the Western Wall (popularly known as the Wailing Wall), which we returned to today.  When we visited there today, there were many Bar Mitzvah's in the men's section and many women, presumably family members, surrounded it standing on chairs to get a glimpse.  It was crazy with boys getting ready to read their Torah portion while candy was being thrown at them and the excitement was high.   I also went to the wall and watched the many women there praying fervently, it was moving to see the emotion with which they prayed.  I prayed, too, for peace for Jerusalem.  

prayers

Holy Small World!

I forgot to mention also that yesterday we ate lunch (some of us) at a place called Holy Bagels...yum!  And wouldn't you believe it, but the man standing next to me in line noticed my iPhone wallpaper was my kids in their Vikings gear, so he asked me if I was from Minnesota.  He is the senior high Pastor at Grace Church...small. world.!!

Today we also went to the church at Bethesda and heard the lovely singing of a group from Germany, and then we saw the via Dolorosa.  We walked along it, with sellers hawking their wares on both sides, which they have done for centuries and got a real taste of the history of these busy streets always full of many different kinds of smells (lots of frankincense and breads) and too many colorful things to count.  And then, off to each side of the road are these little alleys leading up ever higher to who knows where. 

A street off the Via Dolorosa

The exciting part of our day was our trip into Palestinian territory to visit Bethlehem, which felt a little like we were being shoved and pushed along again to quickly view the little star on the ground under a Greek Orthodox church which marks the spot they think was where Jesus was born.  It was not awe inspiring for me at all, and I left feeling a little worn out from the experience.  

the birth of Jesus, in a humble place

There is so very much more...the Western Wall tunnels (amazing system dating back even before Christ of tunnels running the length of the wall), the Jewish Archeological Park, the Jewish Institute for the Rebuilding of the Temple, etc.... Our guide has done an amazing job of allowing us to see so much, we are always bursting with information by the time the day is over and I am pretty sure that I cannot pack one more thought/sight/fact into these eyes or brain, yet there is more to see in Jerusalem and we will attempt again tomorrow to see more.  

Until then.

The Lovely Desert Landscape

It was hazy all day today apparently from dust originating in Saudi Arabia.  The haze didn't stop us, though, it only prevented us from seeing any distance.  

Daniela

a Baobab tree like the one from the Little Prince

Our day started early with a garden tour of the Kibbutz we are staying on, Kibbutz Ein Gedi.  It is beautiful here, and according to our tour guide/part owner of the Kibbutz, the best growing environment, in spite of the fact that we are in the middle of a desert landscape.  Because of the low altitude (lowest on earth, remember 1400 ft below sea level), the air is just right for plants that grow quickly and beautifully with the watering system developed here and then now used all over the world.  Our guide walked us around the Kibbutz and told us all about the committed community that worked together to build the dream of a lifetime and to be a part of their homeland.  She grew up in Beverly Hills, and as she told us, came here to escape a life of excess and provide her children with a more meaningful existence.  It sounds like she and her husband and their EIGHT kids dug in and did all they could to make the Kibbutz prosper.  They had never farmed and yet, today you see the fruit of their labor.  Her husband managed the date tree farm over the fence from the Kibbutz (it is surrounded by a fence to keep away the wild animals, Yikes!) and she was the nurse who was responsible for all the children in the children's houses.  The Kibbutz is covered in beautiful vegetation and she lovingly showed us much of it.  Plants from literally every part of the world bloom and grow lushly here, and it is so picturesque.  But, truly, the most wonderful part of our tour this morning was Daniela herself when she said goodbye to us all.  She thanked us for coming, not for the tourism dollars we were spending here in Israel, but because she loved it here, too, and wanted us to love her homeland.

We all then hopped on our home away from home on wheels and drove a few miles to Ein Gedi, where David spared King Saul's life, but tailored his cloak in I Samuel 24 (a good story!).  We made a quick pass through this place and a few of us jogged a way from the group for a minute because we spied a pretty waterfall.  After only being here for two days, it is obvious why water is such a treasure in the desert.  We feel it's lack in our own throats and on our skin, too, that's why our bus driver's little side business of selling us water bottles is booming!

It is not known, of course, which cave David hid in, but there are many to choose from.

We spent the lion's share of our day at Masada (I highly recommend you read about the history of Masada ...google it) where we got an eyeful of an unbelievable high mountain fortress that is truly indescribable in beauty, but impossible to photograph well because of the haze.  Masada was the busiest tourist spot we've been to since we got here, mostly full of school field trips but also so many others from around the world. The fortress was destroyed in the 4th century AD, but was built in the 1st.  It is a true testament to the resilience of the people who lived there high high atop this desert mountain, it is truly a wonder.  We took a gondola ride up to the top (and it was high and it was a little scary for a few of us) and then everyone but me took the gondola ride down...I decided to hoof it.

The best part of Masada was not only seeing the vast area of structures, but also hearing Gershon tell us passionately the story of the people who ingeniously flourished on this high mountain range, defying all odds, they created 1 million gallon cisterns to hold precious water to sustain them, a system of maintaining and storing food for the community, plus several palaces...all and everything about Masada was meticulously catalogued by Josephus Flavius and verified to the detail in the discovery of Masada in the 1840's up to the complete excavation of the 1960's.  It is remarkable and also beloved of the Israeli people today as a symbol of resilience.

The group sits at Masada while Gershon tells us the amazing story of this place.

Doorway into a home in the wall of Masada

our new friends

Of course, we needed to end the day with another bonding experience!  It wouldn't be right to end it any other way and finally, we got to meet our camel friends and their Bedouin owners.  We were whisked by bus about an hour away to a bedoin tent area reserved for tourists just like us who want to be able to say that they have accomplished their long desired goal of riding a camel.  Well, I can proudly say, I am now a part of that population who can claim that distinction, even if it was only a ride up a small hill and back (and that was enough!), the goal has been met!  No one was spit upon and no one fell off, thank goodness, and the Bedouin guides put up nicely with our silliness.  It was lots of fun.  After our ride, we were taken to a tent and served a dinner similar to all the other meals we have eaten so far, but pretty good, just the same.  Our Bedouin friend, Mohammed, had a good sense of humor and kept telling us that he had three wives and was currently on the lookout for wife #4.  No one from our group jumped at the offer, probably because the coffee wasn't so good.  Not sure.

Rice, lamb, veggies and chickpeas for dinner

Tomorrow we head to Jerusalem where we will stay until it is time to head out.  Off to bed for now.