Jerusalem (continued again)

Sadly, TJ was still in bad condition on our next day in Jerusalem so he rested while I explored. I started my day with a city tour on a double-decker bus. I know, it sounds kind of cheesy, but it was an easy option that I was primarily interested in so I could get a better orientation of city and see some of the highlights on the outskirts of town. The tour was fine, although it was cut a bit short as the bus had to re-route and skip some attractions due to security concerns.

I made my way back to our room to check on TJ. He still felt terrible so he stayed put while I headed back out. I spent the afternoon and evening checking out the New City. The New City doesn’t have “attractions” so to speak but it is a nice area to wander around. It is an area where couples stroll, families dine and all sorts of people congregate at all hours of the day and night as is full of restaurants, bars and shops.

The following day TJ felt a little bit better! The two of us headed back to the Old City to catch a bus to the Israel Museum. It turned out the museum didn’t open until 4pm that day. We have learned that tourist sites in Israel seem to hold rather unusual and frustrating schedules! We revised our itinerary for the day and made the Tower of David Museum our first stop. The museum summed up the history of Jerusalem and offered lovely views over the Old City.

Since the Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock is located, was open from 12:30pm – 1:30pm this day we decided to try (my 3rd or 4th attempt) to see it. Instead of making our way across the crowded and hard to navigate city, we opted to take the Ramparts Walk, which is a path along the top of the city wall. Unfortunately, TJ was still too sick for this sort of strenuous activity so he headed back to our room to take it easy. I was on a mission to see the Dome of the Rock so I kept trekkin’. Little did I know I’d come across boys who threw stones at me! The boys they didn’t actually throw stones – they threw what looked liked Red Bull cans that I think they’d filled with pebbles. I felt like George Bush having to dodge objects being launched at me. No, I didn’t get hit but yes, it was kind of scary!

I finally made it to the Temple Mount and actually got in this time! The Temple Mount has monumental significance to Christians, Jews and Muslims. It is said that the foundation stone of the world has been identified in the Temple Mount. Furthermore, it is believed that God gathered the earth that was used to form Adam in the Temple Mount. This is also where the prophet Mohammed is believed by Muslims to have ascended to heaven where he joined Allah resulting in the Temple Mount being Islam’s third holiest place, after Mecca and Medina. 5000 people can be found praying at a time inside of Al-Aqsa Mosque inside of the Temple Mount.

The highlight for me was seeing the Dome of the Rock. I was really excited to see the Dome and it was a very impressive site. The Dome was built between AD 688 and 691 and continues to sparkle today. I was however a little disappointed to learn that the solid gold covering the dome was melted down long ago to pay off debts and has been replaced anodized aluminum.

After visiting the temple I went back to check on TJ. A little bit of rest did him a lot of good and he was ready to check out the Israel Museum. We took a bus to the museum to learn that main exhibit hall was closed and we’d only be able to see a couple of exhibits! Geez! What do you have to do to see the attractions?