Our final day in Jerusalem

Sunday morning we were up and out of the apartment by 8am!! We met our guide at 8:06 which is pretty darn impressive for us and started out final day in Jerusalem. We started with Bethesda and St Anne's Church. We were unable to find parking but our guide by some miracle talked some police officer into letting his diplomats park in a no parking zone just outside the Lions Gate to the city and just steps from St Anne's. We walked into St Anne's and were greeted by a beautiful garden space and the ruins of churches, and cisterns and pools. This is where Jesus was said to have performed the healing of the cripple miracle.

Ruins of the old Cities

a pool. This water would have flowed to other pools and one of the pools is where Jesus performed his miracle

We went into the Church and down in the basement it is believed to be the grotto where Mary was born.

Showing the original stone of the grotto

a painting that is in the grotto of Mary's birth.

After taking in the sites there we quickly returned to our cars and headed toward the Dome of the Rock. We waited in absolutely no line. We just walked in. It was great. We headed to the grounds and were pleasantly surprised to find that while it had many people doing study and prayer groups it was fairly empty. We took pictures and admired the intricate mosaic work that surrounds the dome.

ruins left on the temple mount

Dome of the Rock

We looked out upon the golden gate where Jesus is said to have passed through and those believers will be welcomed when Jesus returns. We headed through the cotton market and into the old city once more. We tried to get into the Tomb of Jesus once again but it was crowded with an even longer line. We then returned to the Temple Mount and visited the Western Wall or wailing wall as it is known.

 It was raining by this point and we determined we had taken in more than enough history for one day. We decided to end our tour and go find something to eat. We returned to the apartment and completed the check out process. Then walked up the street to the souk. We wandered through stalls of fresh fruits and vegetable, spices, meets, cheeses, and lots of wonderful smelling bread. It reminded S and I of our time in Barcelona. We bought some felafel. The largest Felafel we have ever seen but it was also the most delicious thing we had eaten. Then it started to rain even more and we headed back to the cars and started our drive back to Jordan. The boarder crossing was much simpler this time. Except a bit of confusion because S doesn't look like his passport photo anymore. He is due to renew it next year though I think we will while we are home this summer, and since we also have an Amelia and our names are very similar to Jon and Jess. Somehow this confused the crossing people and they were not too sure about letting us go. It was kinda funny. We then crossed back into Jordan during a Hail storm with some very impressive lightening and then heavy rain and fog. What a way to spend a weekend.