Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Jerusalem - November 2009

On the road again - We had to take a short bus ride across the Allenby Bridge to cross from Jordan into Israel. Mick with our traveling companions, Richard & Wendy A.

Mick and Marie at the "Mormon University" in Jerusalem.


Pomegranates are in season. They will juice them on the spot for you. This vendor is just outside of Lazarus' Tomb in Bethany. It was delicious, but expensive - $3.00 per glass! (Do you think he saw "Tourist = $"???

Mick and Marie at the entrance to the Garden Tomb. This is one of our most favorite spots in this land.


The biggest change in this country since we were here in 2000 is the wall that has been built between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It is very reminiscent of the Berlin Wall. This wall is cement and in most places is 8 meters tall. Places that we could have walked to before, now require a 30 minute + ride around it. It has severely impacted the economy of the Palestinian side, i.e., in Bethlehem they used to have over 5,000 visitors a day at the Church of the Nativity. Today they are lucky to have 200 visitors a day.



Signs are posted where the Israelis are not allowed into Palestinian territory.

View through the windshield of our taxi taking us to Bethlehem. Here the wall is not only 8 meters tall, but notice the top is another 8 meters overhanging the wall.

2 comments:

Stephanie said...

That wall seems very inconvenient! Very sad that they felt that they had to build that. Glad you are enjoying your trip. The Garden Tomb was probably MY favorite place there on our trip back in '00. Keep the pictures coming!

Allison said...

Wow! What crazy changes in the past 9 years.

I love the pictures. It reminds me of our trip in '00. Wish we were there with you.