March 26A - Jerusalem

After an hectic afternoon in Jerusalem, the morning of the 26th shouldn't be any less. We saw the Old City and followed in the footstep of Jesus the day he was crucified (or sort of followed since nobody know exactly for sure).

	To the left, Martin at the breakfast table, ready for a new day. To the right, the entrance of our hotel.
	Knesset or the Israeli parliament. Very heavily guarded and not accessible. The landing area for VIPs coming to visit. Lots of Judas trees around. Some symbolism in this?
	In front of the UK gift to the Israelis in 1949. A token since the Jews suffered a lot in the hands of the British before 1948. Detail of this 7-armed statue with details shown. It is carved out of solid bronze.
	Another detail of the statue. Amazing. It cannot be cast. For that the details are to minute. And the ever present Israeli soldier on the ready finger correctly outside the trigger guard. Good boy.
	At the entrance of the new Holocaust museum in Jerusalem that was opened in 2004. Here they try to focus on the individuals that survived in the Holocaust. The main entrance to the museum with a quotation of Ezekiel.
	This is a special memorial, dedicated to the 1,5 million children killed by the Nazis. It almost completely of glass with candles and mirrors. Outside the statues symbolizing the unfinished children that never got a chance to grow up.
	To the entrance itself. If you look closely, you can see some reinforcing bars sticking up. If this was intended to symbolize the children, one is not sure. But it is fitting Uziel, killed by the Nazis in Auschwitch in 1944. His parents survived and donated the funds to this memorial of their child.
	The inscription at the entrance. The memorial itself consists of flickering lights with mirrors all around and you walk into the darkness on glass galleys, having the lights all around you. And then they read the names and ages. of those who perished. It takes more than a year to read them all. Another Polish memorial of a headmaster in Poland that volunteered to die with his pupils in 1944.
	The Norwegian underground have their tree in the garden. And the Swedes did something good as well, at least towards the end when they saw which way the war went.
	And the grove of the pure. Schindler also got a tree here.
	The New Holocaust Museum (the old one was Yad Vashem) is a prism-like triangular structure penetrating the mountain. And here you see the triangular form of it. It emphasizes the individual as opposed to numbers as the old museum did.
	It is set beautifully in the hills outside Jerusalem. And again as with the children's' memorial, it is a lot of glass.
	You are not allowed to take photos inside the building. And it takes a least 4 hours to take it all in. What you see is really heart rendering and using soft lights, videos and exhibits from newsreels etc, it give a depressing impression. One can ask oneself: Where was God then? He didn't lift a finger. And the contrast coming out is purposely made that way. From darkness to the light. And boys will be boys. A couple of Jew boys outside the memorial.
	On the way to the Old City, we saw Knesset from the opposite side. Entrance to Old City. The so called gate of Herod.
	The narrow alleyways in the city. Nice for muggers. Martin in one of the alleyways the comprises the old part of Jerusalem. Where the Arabs live. Watch out for pocket thieves was the advise our eminent guide gave us.
	Tourist from the group. Eva in the center. A sign for Muslim that has traveled to Mecca. They have to do that once in a lifetime if possible.
	Martin tourist in the Muslim quarters. Another church. All shades of Christianity are represented in this area.
	And in these narrow alleyways, the Israeli cops are wearing ported pistols with a shoulder stock. Much more practical for close quarter use. This is depicting Jesus third stop and first collapse with the cross. Or rather cross beam.
	This is stop 6 where Maria is comforting Jesus. And the sign of this way to Golgate, Via Dolorosa, the Road of Pain.
	A Lutheran church. The Germanic sign can be seen up to the left. After walking the Via Dolorosa, to sit down and rest your tired bottom was a real relief.
	Inside the church at the crucifixion, you have pictorials of what happened. This place depict the place the cross stood.
	Pictorial of the burial. And the symbol of Jesus' grave.
	The real burial sites are erased by an emperor from Konstaniopol. This is one that it may have looked like. And again, getting the butt down is a relief.
	Three stories up in the air was a very nice outdoor restaurant. This is the same place as on the previous picture. Having a beer and vegetable soup with a beer was very tasty. Note the hat I bought for my daughter, Tanya.
	The citadel was made by the crusaders around 1200. The square tower indicates that. And finally, we are off to the Dead Sea, dead tired.

Then it was time to travel down to the Dead Sea.

Go to the top of the page

Back to the starting page

Last updated on April 07, 2006 at 17:26 hours