Day 7: Free Day

Today was our first "free day" of the trip. Basically we got to do whatever we wanted! And we got to sleep in :)

So we woke up around 7:45 and left for the Dome of the Rock at 8:45. I actually felt really rested and feel like I have finally gotten used to the time change here.

There are only certain hours that the Dome of the Rock is open to visitors, which is why we had to go in the morning. It was great to finally be right in front of it after looking at it from so many different locations. It was really beautiful. Lots of blue, yellow, and white tiles made the intricate design. We were not able to go inside the Dome of the Rock, but it was still great to see it.

This picture is our Taylor group in front of the Western Wall/Wailing Wall. The Dome of the Rock is on the other side of the wall.

Afterwords, we did a little shopping in the Christian Quarter. We also went back to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre since we were not able to see all the sites the first time we went. This time, I went up the stairs where Golgotha was - where Jesus was hung on the cross. They had this box on the ground where you could stick your hand in and feel the bed rock where the cross may have been placed. We were also able to go see the tomb of Jesus. We had to wait in a long line for that. It was a beautiful structure, but evidently not the tomb we always picture with a big rock in the side of a hill. Apparently, there is also a garden tomb which we are going to see some time which is more aesthetically appealing.

In the afternoon, we also went to the Temple Mount Museum. Here, there were many replicas of pieces that existed in the second Temple, which will apparently be used when the third temple is built. They also had lots of murals for us to look at to demonstrate what the second temple looked like. It was really fascinating to learn more about the Temple and its significance, as I didn't really have a great understanding of this before I came to Israel. Before we left the museum, we also talked a while with the Jewish man who worked there. It was really fascinating to talk to him about what he thought about the rebuilding of the temple and his faith; essentially, it was really sad, as he felt that he was closest to God when he was closest to where the temple was (the Wailing Wall - many of the Jews go there because they believe God can better hear their prayers when they are close to where the Temple used to be). However, I left that museum with a great desire to really read the Old Testament more and better understand the history of our faith.

For the rest of the afternoon, my friends and I enjoyed the warm sun on top of the roof as we journaled. Everything about it was perfect.

Around 4:20, our Taylor group left for a church called the King of Kings. It was about a two mile walk into the New City. It took us a little longer than expected to get there, but we made it! This was essentially my first time walking in the New City, and I enjoyed it! It is definitely a lot different from the Old City. It's pretty dirty, and there's lots of construction going on. We passed a lot of clothing stores along the way, among other shops.

The church service we went to was absolutely amazing! It was definitely a more modern church. We sang about 30 minutes of worship. Most of the songs were in English, and a couple we sang in Hebrew. The Pastor's message was about Christ being our Shepherd. I really enjoyed this message, especially as I better understand what the Wilderness is really like and how the Shepherd leads his flock. The analogies definitely came more alive to me. Just the idea of worshiping in a church in Israel was incredible in itself!

After church, our group headed to a restaurant called the Foccacia Bar. It was really neat, and kind of had an Italian feel to it. Verity and I split Foccacia that had tomatos, mozzarella, and olive oil on it. It was delicious! It was kind of like a pizza, and nothing that I had ever tried before. All the food that I have eaten here is very fresh which has been nice.

So that was pretty much our day! It was nice to have a more relaxed schedule. Tomorrow will be pretty easy too. We have our exam in the afternoon, and then class for a while. But other than that, the rest of the day is free.

Thanks for keeping up with my blog! Hope you are enjoying it :). Talk to you soon!