Israel – Day 25 « The Welly Trav-Ellers

Israel – Day 25

Mar 31st, 2019 by thetravellers

25/03/2019

Up early we were at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at 7.10am….however so were alot of other people. And there was a mass going on right next to the tomb structure, so they weren’t letting anyone in until mass was over and then the pews all cleared away – this is the 2nd time on the holiday I should have brought the walking stick seat for Mum but didn’t and I was kicking myself as it was 90 mins of standing around, however Mum is a tough chick and we eventually got inside. Not much to see after all that, just an empty tomb… but I guess what do you expect ?….He is Risen…so He wasn’t there ! Mosaic ceilings were a work of art. Must have taken years.

After that we went down to the western wall to line up for the security to get up to the Temple Mount. We were dressed very modestly and were well behaved. I’d read that some people get turned away by the Arab checkpoint if their pants are too tight or they look too Jewish ! The Israeli security check at the bottom was the standard bag through the scanner thing, but the Arab security at the top was non existent !! They were having smoko So we just wandered in. I could’ve worn my tight pants after all

It looks amazing from a distance, but up close the Dome of the Rock mosque actually is pretty dilapidated and could do with a lick of gold paint – or at least a clean! They don’t appear to maintain the outside much. The temple mount site is huge….but there isn’t much up there to be honest….very sparse.

It started to rain, so we decided a few indoor things were the next good option, so we went to The Burnt House just around the corner from our apartment. It is ruin of a house from the 2nd temple period where the final hours of the residents during the destruction of the temple by the Romans were re-created . They found a young girl’s severed arm and lots of household items. Must have been an horrendous end. Just amazing the artifacts on display.

We also went to the Hurva Synagogue, also close to the apartment. We were able to watch from the gallery the young men being instructed on the Torah and had a marvelous view over Jerusalem from the outside gallery. The synagogue also has an ancient ruins site underneath.