Today we spent time looking at old Jerusalem. We were also underground for part of the day.

We started the day by going to the top of the Mount of Olives to take a look east into the West Bank and the rift valley. If you look very closely you can see the Dead Sea and the mountains of Jordan.

We then went to the area of the Mount of Olives where many people go to get an overview of the city. Here we can clearly see the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock.

This is a beautiful spot and where many tour groups will take a group picture.

In the foreground you can see some of the tens of thousands of graves on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. You then see the Temple Mount and then beyond the city of Jerusalem.

We then visited the Garden of Gethsemane that is by the Church of All Nations. Some of these trees are very old and some believe that the roots are thousands of years old.

We then stopped by the Mount Zion Dig. We had expected to visit an active dig site, but found out it does not start until the end of the week. However, the site has been cleaned so we were able to get some good pictures.

We then took a nice slow walk down the hill to the City of David. The City of David is currently undergoing a major construction project that will incorporate an impressive multi-media presentation. We did look at a few areas within the City of David, but our main goal here was to visit the tunnels.

Here my friends Paul and Emily are walking down into Hezekiah’s Tunnel. You initially have water that reaches mid-thigh, but soon it is only ankle deep. However, the tunnel continues to be very tight and you have to duck down for most of the walk through the tunnel.

For more see a post that I wrote two years ago: Hezekiah’s Tunnel

We had lunch in the Jewish Quarter, and then visited a series of sites. One of my favorites was the Broad Wall of Hezekiah.

I will write more about these sites in the future.

For now, I need sleep 🙂

Steven