Day 2 of Israel trip, October 20th, 2016

August 25^th, 2016 – Day 2 in Israel

I’m deciding that I’m going to be blogging very loosely about this trip. It takes a lot of time to give play by play but also I’m just wanting to get through the Israel travels and start a new kind of “series” of blog posts.

What a big day it was! At the end of the day our feet were burning, our bodies were so tired but we had a great day. A funny thing happened at breakfast that day. I selected a croissant and eggs for breakfast, set it outside and headed back inside for my tea. I came back onto the patio and there was this huge crow that had eaten almost all of my eggs and there was a table of little birds around. It was so funny and I for sure learned my lesson! At breakfast we would watch other people do the same thing and come back to their plate with parts of  their breakfast gone… it was so funny! J The breakfast was so elegant and huge. It was the nicest breakfast I’ve ever had at a hotel. While reading in my Bible that morning I kept reading verses about the mountain of Israel and Jerusalem and I was so excited. The Bible came so alive during this trip. It was incredibly special.

That day we walked pretty much everywhere. If you’ve been to Israel before you probably know how much walking there is, ha ha! Oh, and there are so many cats on the road. Someone told us that when the British came they brought cats to take care of the mice problem. Now that they have taken care of that problem, they have all these cats wondering around. At the City of David we met up with a group and toured around the city. We learned so much during this tour and the Bible really came alive. The ruins were incredible.  I just kept imagining David walking the roads. Looking over on the valleys I kept imagining King David, King Hezekiah, etc. walking the roads and hills. We then hiked down to this area where archaeologist think they might of found King David’s palace’s It had an amazing view of the city and valleys. Plus the original walls were still there, pillars and a stone with a design on it that is on the 5 shekel piece of money. It was really cool to be standing over a palace from 2,000 years ago and it was KING DAVID’S! It was great walking past places that are mentioned in the Bible. After a lot of hiking around we eventually entered Hezekiah’s tunnel where, we had been warned, could have water up to 2 ½ feet high.  The water was SO cold when we first entered! Then, it felt like nice mountain water which was actually refreshing after hiking in the hot sun. It was amazing to be walking through the same tunnel that people from the Bible walked in; the same walls and writings that were from the time of the Bible. It was such a cool feeling. It was so great to be there with my family and to need flashlights as we walked through the dark cold tunnel.

 That morning when we had been walking to the City of David, we passed two Bar-mitzvah parades and a wedding that were all happening at the same time near the Western wall which was so cool and joyful! We had lunch in the Old City of the Jewish Quarter with wonderfully tasting Israeli food. The smells, sounds, people and tastes there are incredible! I always had so much joy walking the stone streets there. Our family then visited the Temple Institute where we took a tour. This was such a cool experience and amazing to think that the things in the cases that have been created according to His word are being saved for the next temple. These were the actual things… not demonstrations. Afterwards we visited a shopping area  below the main streets of the Jewish Quarter in  Jerusalem. There were pillars from the time of the Bible and beautiful murals. It’s inspiring to think that the original pillars, walls, roads, bricks etc. were right below our feet. Because Jerusalem has been attacked/destroyed many times they have had to keep building up the walls and the city.

After dinner and adventuring around we visited a shop that HaYovel usually visits. The owners name is Moshe and he was such a kind, loving Jewish man. Boy was he so wise! He talked with us for about an hour and I learned so much from him. He was so interesting to listen to  and we enjoying supporting his shop. We’ve been asking what the Israeli’s would like us to tell people  back to America and all they have said is, “Please tell people to come and see for themselves what a wonderful country this is. The news is not reported accurately. Let people know there that all we want is peace. We welcome everyone. ”