THE MOST GRUELING DAY
THUS FAR~ BUT, WOW!
WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!!!
We were in the Old City all day today...
we must've climbed a million steps...and,
it was rainy & cold... We walked on the actual
streets pavement stones that JESUS & His
Disciples walked upon... but, that level of the
City is only exposed in rare places... but this
section was the main drag leading to the
Temple, so we know JESUS walked there...
Also, sat on some of the original steps that
led up to the Temple Mount that JESUS &
the 12 certainly climbed... Saw the ceremon-
ial bathing pools beside those steps, where the
3000 were most likely Baptized... We went down
into the tunnels that run along the foundation
of the Temple Mount...what an eire feeling...
I saw one our group take a loose piece of rock
out of the Temple Steps~ and as much as I
would've liked to do so, too~ I just couldn't...
But, when we were at the wailing wall there
were active archeological excavations going
on at the Ist Century level, and they were
throwing the waste or unwanted rubble
away in BIG Rumpke-like construction
dumpsters... So, I simply went up to them and
asked if I could pick through it (OH, YES I did)
and they let me... to my surprise I found a
couple of ancient potsherds, and they let me
have them... JESUS said~ "Ye have not,
because ye ask not." Sometimes I amaze
the others in our group...BUT! Hey! It might
be a while till I have the chance to come back.
The experience at the Wailing Wall was very
humbling and inspirational... The streets of the
city are so narrow & crowded... but, truly
wonderful... However, the Arab sections are
trashy compared to the Jewish sections...and
it has nothing to do with having more wealth~
it's clearly a cultural thing... The Jews don't
aggressively & offensely HAWK their wares
in the streets either... The Arabs stand at the
doors of their shops and all but bully people
into buying something... I will attempt again
tonight to download more pictures~ but, I
am rather ham-strung due to the low band-
width on the Hotel's internet server...