Day Six

Starting at the top of the Mount of Olives, Day 6 would be focused on sites around but not in the old city of Jerusalem. Walking the Palm Sunday Path we followed the route Jesus took from the Mount of Olives to the Kidron Valley.  On the path we passed a church to remember Christ's "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. . . how often would I have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings but you would not" (Mt. 23:37). The path ended at the Garden of Gethsemane and the opportunity to personally and quietly reflect on Christ's betrayal and surrender to His Father's will of the cross. 

The bus  picked us up and our next stop was the City of David. The bustling city life pressed in on us as we left the bus and took a 30 minute walk through the remains of David's city and down into Hezekiah's Tunnel. To our joy the tunnel ended at the Pool of Siloam and our bus. 

From the tunnel we visited an Olive shop with beautiful carved olive works. They even served us PIZZA.  

The afternoon began with a visit to the famous and awesome model of Jerusalem. Like a major lego land, we could visually appreciate Jerusalem in Jesus day. The temple, Antonio's fortress, the city walls and Golgotha suddenly were put into perspective.  A short walk from the model was the Shrine of the Book dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It confirmed the accuracy of our Bibles, 

The day ended at the Holocaust Museum which was a very moving experience (no pictures allowed). The famous quote by Martin Niemoller caps it all.