Sunday, March 31, 2013

Wednesday Adventures

You may have already noticed, but today is kind of a catch-up on my blogging day. 

I also realized I had only been posting my pictures to my Facebook, so people who are Facebook haven't been seeing the photos from this break. 

These pictures were taken on Wednesday, March 27th, 2013. We went out just looking for a little walk to the Mount of Olives and ended up walking all over the place. Going into churches. Wandering through tomb complexes. Seeing Augusta Victoria hospital. It was a very eventful day. 

I apologize for the order. It is a little scattered. 


The beginning of the Tsurim Valley.


A semi-old looking fountain at Augusta Victoria.


Looking down into the Tsurim Valley. You can see The Old City on the Left, and all of the new city on the right.


This is looking at the Augusta Victoria Hospital.


A more complete view of Augusta Victoria Hospital.


Looking at the "separation fence" (WALL) from the grounds at Augusta Victoria.


Another photo of the "separation fence" (WALL) and some fence.


A section of road/trail at the Augusta Victoria grounds. 


The view from the lookout spot. On the right you can see the "separation fence" (WALL) and in the back you can see the desert. 


Stairs that led up to a lookout spot on the grounds of Augusta Victoria.


The doors to Augusta Victoria Hospital. They appeared to have been once on the outside, but now a new structure is being erected around it, so there will be two sets of doors to go through.


If you look in the hazy distance you can see some mountains. Yeah, that's Jordan. The Dead Sea is in between, which you can very faintly see.


Here is the King's Valley Trail. We somehow ended up hiking along this for about an hour.


A goat. Not really much else to say about this one.



A cool window on the grounds of The Church of Agony. 


A statue of Jesus, praying in the garden.


The windows on the outside of The Church of Agony.


The grounds of The Church of Agony. Really old olive trees


The front door of The Church of Agony.


Coming around the corner to see the door.


Inside The Church of Agony. It was rather dark in the church. 


The tiled floor at The Church of Agony.


Coolest. Tabernacle. Ever.


We actually never saw the front since you enter from the side of the church. When we finally saw it, we thought, "Hello, awesome façade." 


All the pointy wrought iron fencing around the church.


Here is the outside of the Tomb of Virgin Mary.


The archway above the front entrance of the Tomb of Virgin Mary. 


The massive steps descending into the Tomb of Virgin Mary.


No album of mine is complete without a shot a burning candle. So, here you go world. 


Fancy golden incense and/or candle holders. None of the holders were in use, so for let's just say they were only for decoration.


Church of Mary Magdalene (with the gold onion domes) and The Church of Agony.


The Church of Agony. This was taken across the street on our way towards the Mount of Olives.


Mount of Olives. Yes. Lots and lots of dead people. Those are all graves, not just sand. Definitely not sand. 


I still have yet to get to The Church of Mary Magdalene. It is only open for 2 hours, and only open 2 days of the week. 


Stairs leading onto the Mount of Olives. Many, many tombs. 


Some tombs. Tomb of Zechariah (the one with the pyramid on top) and Tomb of Benehazeir (the one with columns). 


One of nine (I think) domes at The Church of Agony. This was the most central and ornate of the domes.

That One Time I Realized I Haven't Posted Pictures in FOREVER

I guess I could call this round of photos "The Temple Mount: Part II."

Background: Austin and Angela had not yet been to The Temple Mount, so we decided to go. We also went to the Church of Holy Sepulcher and the Western Wall. Are motto for the day was to hit up the three heavy-hitting monotheisms. Mission accomplished. 

I may not go into great detail.

These photos are from Tuesday, March 26th, 2013. Also, it was 91 degrees with no clouds in the sky. We obviously couldn't tell it would get to 91 when we left home at around 10:30am, but by 2:30pm we were well aware. 



The Dome of the Rock, as see between the pillars leading up to it. 


Austin and Angela posing with The Dome of the Rock. Also, a random person got into the shot, so it looks at though Austin is presenting this man, but no. She is gesturing to The Dome of the Rock.


A view from further back on The Temple Mount. 


When you get onto The Temple Mount there are these things. We aren't fully sure what they are to be honest. The could by the caps to columns that have been excavated from somewhere. They could also just be based for flower pots. I have no idea.


The Dome of the Rock.


We were walking around The Dome of the Rock and came across this. We knew that many Muslims would come to pray, but this was the first time I saw The Temple Mount acting like a Muslim Community Center. These kids were just bouncing a basketball and a soccer ball against The Dome of the Rock. It was clearly fine, as there were many Muslims walking around just watching and not saying anything. It was a very interesting site, and I got to see The Temple Mount and The Dome of the Rock in a very different light.


Two kids playing soccer on The Temple Mount.


Church of Mary Magdalene. Funny story: I love seeing this church and want to go and take pictures of it. It is only open two day a week, and only for two hours on either of those days. I go to church with my friend on Holy Thursday for company, and we walk to the Garden of Gethsemane and end up literally at the door of this church. Of couse, as my luck would have it, I didn't bring my camera. My life.


The Dome of the Rock. This is when we were walking around the gardens on The Temple Mount.


Austin posing in front of The Dome of the Rock.


Church of Mary Magdalene behind some trees.


The Dome of the Rock.


A close up of a flower while we were walking in the gardens.


Same flower as above, different angle.


Angela posing in front of The Dome of the Rock.

So after this last picture was taken we started to meander to leave. We got semi-close to the door and then the guards started shouting at us in Hebrew. So we hurried to the exit. Well, the days are getting longer and the times of prayer are changing. So the hours shift a little bit, and we made it out 3 minutes before prayers started.