Third Day of Touring

This morning we loaded up our luggage and headed for Jerusalem. Our first stop was Qumran. There we saw the archaeological site of the Jewish sect called the Essenes. They are assumed to be the ones who wrote the Scrolls. We also saw one of the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

From Qumran we headed for a restuarant in Jericho. After lunch we visited the Jericho ruins. We saw a portion of a wall and a part of a watchtower. These ruins overlook present-day Jericho.

Then we returned to the bus and headed for Jerusalem. We drove to the Mount of Olives where we took a group picture (our group consisted of the 43 people on our bus - the Blue Bus). From there we walked down to a place where we could see the walled city of Jerusalem. Our guide, Victor, pointed out many of the Biblical landmarks like the places where Jesus was then to be judged, firstgth Jews and later by Pontus Pilot. Victori provided both the history, the current state other sites and the Scripture.

Then we continued down to the Garden of Gethsemane. The name comes from Gat + Shemanim which means rOlive Oil Press. It was actually a grotto. Next to the garden is a church.

It is hard to explain what I felt when I arrived in Jerusalem and later saw the Garden of Gethsemane. I was in Jerusalem!! I am looking forward to visiting all the places Jesus walked.

From Gethsemane we headed to the hotel. The Olive Tree Hotel is very nice. At this hotel Janie & Pat are in the room next to us.Read more