I have a whole day to discover Jerusalem, however, I am not too excited because the sun is really burning and it is scary to even think about stepping into it!! My plan is to cover all the rest of the Old city and then visit City of David – later on I realized that was too ambitious because of the heat.Surprisingly found that the 1000 local currencies was almost all gone after only 4 days – honestly it is really expensive in Israel, a lot more expensive than I expected. The price is close to Germany!
I first went to the Garden Tomb where Protestants believe was the real persecution site. It is very close to my hotel so I just stop by there. There are still lots of debates on which is the real Golgotha because General Charles Gordon in 19th century promoted the idea of Golgotha being outside of the city wall while the Holy Sepulchre is inside, and also the shape of the Skull hill. However, after some more research, I read that the city wall of Jesus time was actually different from now and the church was outside of the city wall at that time. But, to me its not really important which site is the real site. I truly believe Jesus was persecuted and he rose again after three days. Salvation is not depending on the certain location, but on the reality. I did like the site of the Garden Tomb though since its a lot quieter and not as touristy. People are able to walk around and sit and pray, memorizing the sacrifice that Jesus has done for us.I didnt want to take Damascus gate to go inside the Old City again since that was just too crowded. So I walked outside of the city wall until I reached the Herods gate. It is a lot quieter and immediately I was walking in the residential area of the Muslim quarter instead of the local bazaar. There were very few tourists along the way and I really enjoyed that.Although I was not too impressed by the food in Israel (maybe also because I didnt really want to spend money on restaurants so I just went to the cheap places:)), one thing I really loved was the fresh pita bread – I can just eat that for a meal, haha! That accompanied me for most of my drives on the way! So took a picture of the breads for memory!
Along the way looking for the Dome of Rock – the Golden Dome, I passed by the church of St. Anne close to the Lions gate, where also located the Pool of Bethesda – Jesus cured a paralyzed man (John 5:1-15). The church was built in 12th century during the Crusaders time replacing the original Byzantine church, in memory of the birthplace of Anne, Virgin Marys mother. The church was built perfectly for hymns: the acoustics was designed for Gregory chant. It is said that a soprano or a tenor solo voice will sound most perfect there. Groups and groups of pilgrims sing inside the sanctuary while they visit: I was there while two groups of American pilgrims singing beautiful hymns and you really felt that the sound was from heaven.Church of St Anne is also located at the beginning of Via Dolorosa (Way of suffering in Latin) – where Jesus carried thecross walking towards the persecution site. There are 14 stops on Via Dolorosa and the three falls were the third, seventh and the ninth stops.