Jerusalem Cont...

...

We didn't make it up to the Temple Mount that day. The hours that they allow non-Muslim tourists is pretty restrictive.

We did, however, visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This, I have to admit, for me was the most amazing place I saw in Jerusalem. While our early morning (pre-trip to Birzeit) tour of the Temple Mount the next day was impressive, walking through that church was astounding.

Reading about it in the car with my mom the week or so before that didn't do it justice. We couldn't really understand all the chapels and naves that the tour book was describing. Being there, obviously, it made a little more sense. It is basically a huge building with multiple levels and different nooks and crannies. The line to get inside the sepulchre itself was pretty long so we decided that we could skip it - I will come back for sure - but it's essentially a wooden box, 30-40 feet high - 20 feet wide and long in the middle of a rotunda. This is the site of Jesus' tomb. For me though, seeing the stations of the cross that corresponded with the Greek Orthodox chapel on the second level was the most fascinating spot. In a style that we in North America would instanlty reduce to "gaudy" or "kitschy" the partriarchate had decorated their nave with a glossy metal crucifix and a weeping Virgin Mary with a dagger through her heart. But the life sized two dimensional metal Jesus on a cross actually marked the exact location that it is said he was crucified. I was surprised to find that I felt like the gaudiness of it all didn't come across as inappropriate. It sort of made sense in some way. The rocks into which the crucifix is embedded is protected with glass and you can crawl under an alter and touch the rock and say a prayer. It was far less busy than the sepulchre itself and for me I think just as moving.

We explored the rest of the church and found curious ramps and stairs that lead to different rooms with different relics bereft of the explanatory panels you would be sure to find in North America. The mystery of the church, I think, added to its impact.

After a nap, we regrouped and explored a bit of downtown West Jerusalem. We walked along Jaffa road and ate falafel on a pedestrian mall, then returned to the Hotel to get the sleep we needed to wake up to see the Temple Mount at 7 the next day and then get on the road for Birzeit.