An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Playing Tourist On Day 3
To say that today was a LOOOOONG day would be an understatement. We started out at 8:30am and didn’t get back to the room permanently until 8:30pm. Needless to say, I’ve got a LOT of pictures, and this is only about half of them.
First stop, after driving past where we would go later, Masada! Talk about an impressive sight. You can’t see much until you actually get up to it.
View from the top. That’s Jordon on the other side of the Dead Sea.
One of the Roman encampments. I think there were 8 of them surrounding the mountain.
The bath house.
What the whole shabang would have looked like a couple of thousand years ago.
A quick stop at the lowest spot on the planet, also known as a spa with overpriced “beauty” items, a dip of the finger in order to taste the saltiest, nastiest, more horrible water in the world, and a couple of pictures of people floating and….well, water. There were a couple of things I could have lived without seeing….like old, fat men in speedos, and old, fat women in bikinis. Jeeez. Even I wouldn’t do that! But oh well, each to their own.
Turn and look in the opposite direction and the contrast is unbelievable.
We tried to go to Qumran, but it was wall to wall buses, so I had to settle for a picture of the actual cave where the discoveries were first made. See that little triangle to the left? That’s it!
Then came the fun part, Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity. Getting in through the infamous wall was fairly easy. Avi arrainged for a young man and his son, Dimitri, to pick us up to take us to the church and have a guide take us through. This was an experience that would have been a LOT better if the guide didn’t talk a hundred miles an hour and hadn’t kept pulling me along. Otherwise, he was a hoot.
The spot claimed as were Jesus was born.
That little stone looking thing is where the manger was suppose to be. Didn’t much look like a manger to me, but that’s ok.
We were told this is the oldest Christian Church in the country. I wish some of the other pictures had come out better, some of the walls, the mosaic floors, the fixtures….just fantastic!
The Armenian Christians are the ones who are authorized to come and go, be tour guides for the church, and hopefully, bring in some money. This is the only thing that keeps them going. There is no other industry for the Christians in the city. They do have what they call a souvenier shop. Not even close. This is real class workmanshp! Some of the most beautiful items I’ve ever seen, all hand made.
What I saw of Bethlehem was quite a shock. Some of the graffiti I saw, well, I would have taken a picture of one particular one, but the thought I might seriously annoy someone crossed my mind, and I refrained. Honestly, it was a lot cleaner than the Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem.
We went back to the ‘exit’, and that’s where the fun started. Oh, we got out of Bethlehem through the first checkpoint with no problem. It was being able to leave what can only be considered as No Man’s Land. The section between the one check point at the wall, and the second checkpoint to get back into Jerusalem. Avi was suppose to be able to come pick us up where he dropped us off. Well, one of the soldiers said she couldn’t see the people he was suppose to get, and there we were, looking like idjits. Now, I’m not sure why should couldn’t see us….we were standing right there….in the light! So, it went back and forth with Avi, the soldiers on one side, and soldiers on the other side. No, I wasn’t scared, believe it or not. Actually, I got quite a chuckle out of seeing the U.N. folks. There we were, two Americans, with no place to go, and Avi yelling so loud, we could actually hear him from the other side of the barricade.
Luckily, someone finally noticed us, and let Avi come pick us up. What was a tad unnerving was as we were leaving, seeing about 40 soldiers, and the barricades going up at the end of the street. I think I found out why they were taking such precautions after we got back and watch a bit of news. I guess the authorities were afraid of rioting, or something, after the execution of the Bali bombers.
Needless to say, we are EXHAUSTED.
I’m so jealous I could just spit!! Honestly, it sounds like you are having an awesome time. It must be very humbling…
@Chris from Racine:
No jealousy necessary.
I’m trying to share as much as I can. LOL
This is just so wonderful. Watching your adventures from Tennessee.
@newscoma:
Hey there. Glad you stopped by. I gotta tell ya, this has been a dream of mine for literally decades, and for it to finally come true, well…I’m in awe of everything I’ve seen….so far. Much more to come!