The Old City

View of the Old City from the Orson Hyde Garden

Monday, December 26, 2011
The weather had cleared up a bit--it wasn't storming, but was still quite cold and windy--but we were ready for a day of exploring the Old City.  We left the Jerusalem Center on foot and walked down the steep Mt. Scopus over to the Mount of Olives.  We first stopped at the Orson Hyde Garden.  It was a beautiful peaceful place overlooking the Old City.  

Orson Hyde Garden

Ben overlooking Jerusalem

Rachel and Sarah in the Orson Hyde Garden in Jerusalem

We continued our walk down the Mt. of Olives and into the Kidron Valley.  There were lots of old olive trees growing along the path.  This area looked more like what I imagined the Garden of Gethsemane looked like at the time of Christ--more natural and less manicured.  It was beautiful.  We walked past the Garden of Gethsemane, but we didn't go in, since we had already been a few days before.

Walking down the Mt. of Olives

Olive Trees on the Mount of Olives

The Wall around the Garden of Gethsemane

The Church at the Pool of Bethesda

Our next stop was a possible location for the pool of Bethesda.  There was a beautiful church built there and we listened to a choir sing.  We walked around the area and talked about how Jesus compassionately healed a lame man here.

Ruins at the Pool of Bethesda

Ruins at the Pool of Bethesda

Rachel and Abby at the Pool of Bethesda

We stopped next at the Garden Tomb.  This was one of my favorite places.  Instead of a big ornate church, the Garden Tomb has been preserved as a garden area, and it is a very peaceful and beautiful place.  

Entrance to the Garden Tomb Area

At the Garden Tomb

This is an area that could possibly be considered Golgotha, which means the place of the skull.  Some people say that this area of rock looks like a skull.  Can you see it on the right side of the photo?

Our group at Golgotha

A wine press in the Garden Tomb area

We had an awesome tour guide at the Garden Tomb.  He was a cute man from Scotland, who comes several months of the year to volunteer there.  He told us how much he loves the BYU Jerusalem Center students who often come and spend time in the Garden Tomb area.  He invited us all to come into the tomb.

We were able to go into the empty tomb and see for ourselves, "He is not here.  He is risen."

Inside the tomb

Our Family at the Garden Tomb.

After the garden tomb, we explored more of the Old City.  We stopped for lunch at the Austrian Hostel, which was a neat building hidden in the Old City.  If Steve and Jennifer had not known to go in through an obscure wooden door on a certain corner, we never would have noticed it.  Our group took up almost all the tables in this beautiful arched hallway.

Having Lunch at the Austrian Hostel

The boys at lunch.  Notice David in the background.  He was really sick this day with fever, chills, etc.  He tried hard to be a good sport and smile in all the pictures, but he was not feeling good at all. 

 The hostel had roof access with a beautiful view of the city.

Grandma and Grandpa Harper

The Dome of the Rock.

Me and my mom in the Old City

After lunch we further explored the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem.  We went into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is where the Catholics believe he was buried.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

We walked along the Via Delarosa and looked in all the cool shops.   I could have spent days exploring the Old City.

We made our way out of the Old City and to Omar's wood shop.  You can see by his big blue flag, that he obviously caters to the BYU students.  There were pictures of Omar with Steve Young and President Hinckley.  We had fun picking out nativity sets.  I got one for our family, and the kids each picked out one for their Christmas present.  Rachel had picked hers out in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, and Kate found one at a different shop, but we still did quite a bit of shopping in Omar's shop.

After our adventures in the city, we all squished into Steve and Jennifer's van (Jennifer had driven into the city later with Grandma and Grandpa Harper) and drove home.  It was nice not to have to walk all the way back up the steep hill to the Jerusalem Center.

That evening, Sarah got her patriarchal blessing from her Grandpa Harper.  It was a special blessing in a special location--kind of a pinnacle to the spiritual experiences we'd been having for the last couple of weeks.  We took some pictures in front of the fountain in the Jerusalem Center.

Beautiful Sarah

Sarah and Grandpa Harper on her patriarchal blessing day

Grandma Hales, David, me, Sarah, Grandpa Harper, and Grandma Harper