Insights in Israel

We just got back from our 10 1/2 hour tour in Israel. We docked in Haifa early this morning and jumped on a bus for a tour to Jerusalem. I wasn't sure what to expect. I always imaged Jerusalem as a small, old and quiet city. I was in for a surprise. It is a large busy, modern city surounding the older city centre. Once we entered into the old town centre, we visited the area where Jesus was Crucified and buried. As you can image there were thousands of people from all walks of life visiting these shrines. The ancient winding narrow streets which lead from one historic site to another were lined with small shops. The shops are compressed into the tightest spaces one can imagine and sold everything from carpets and jewlery to t-shirts. The winding streets lead us next to the famous West Wall or Wailing Wall. Inorder to approach the Wall, men and women have to be separated. The area infront of the Wall is split down the middle with a fence. The women enter and stay on the right side and the men on the left. The fence that separates the sexes is high enough so you can not see the other side. Next we ventured off to the top of "Mount of Olives" where the view of the Old City of Jerusalm is breath taking. The wood from the Olive tree is valued for its' symbolism due to the fact that the cross that Jesus was crucified on was made from Olive wood.

The bus ride to and from Jerusalem was approximately 2.5 hours each way. Along the way we were able to see a fair amount of Israel's country side. What is amazing is the variety of different terrain. We went from a stark beige desert surrounding to a lush green forest within a few yards from each other. My overall "one day" impression of Israel is an extremely productive land, as what was once arid desert has been turned into lush pine forests, vineyards, and modern towns and cities while still maintaining the ancient ruins and history of the area. The modern architecture is not what I would call beautiful but functional, white stone modern, block buildings.

Tomorrow we will be in Cyprus!