Old City Jerusalem and Yad Vashem

Hotel concierge offered 3 different day tours of old city Jerusalem and museums, returning by 4:30pm local time to the hotel. Ideal for me as I catch a late evening flight back to the United States. I picked one of the guided day tours for about $100. Personalized and comfortable air conditioned van, only 4 other tourists and a loquacious tour guide. Perfect !

We drove for about 45 minutes from the hotel and through modern city of Jerusalem stopping at Mount of Olives before we reached the parking area of Old City. On way the tour guide explained that we were driving about 10 miles away from Israeli border with Jordan.




The panoramic views of old city from Mount of Olives is picturesque. The thought of visiting Jerusalem has been on my mind for a long time now and I was visibly excited. The fortified ramparts of the city could be seen as we approached the Jaffa gate.

As we walk through the Jewish and Armenian quarters, one notices changing cultural and architectural features.

Past the Zion gate, we walked to Mount of Zion. Here is the location of the house where Christ held his last supper. The large room about 15ft X 30ft has a combination of architectures indicating changes to the structure through the centuries.



We then walked to Mount Moriah and Western Wailing Wall (most sacred Jewish site). Men and women need to cover their head, knees and and shoulders to visit inside as sign of respect. Tour guide explained the wishing wall and suggested we make a wish and insert wish notes in cracks of the wall. Done ! Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock was next.



In the Christian quarters, I saw several groups of pilgrims walking the Via Dolorosa carrying a large cross. I must say the weaving thoughts from Passion of the Christ movie and traversing Via Dolorosa was a once in a lifetime experience due to the proximity of the original events here and reflection.



Chapel of flagellation and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre were next.




The atmosphere at Holy Sepulchre (tomb of Jesus) was surreal with pin drop silence as waves of crowd walked in and out with reverence. We exited through Lions gate.





Stopped for a quick bite of Shawarma at a restaurant in the alleys with a bazaar nearby presenting an opportunity to pick a souvenir or two.

I strongly recommend you walk the ramparts (close to Jaffa gate) for amazing views of both old city and new city, the alleys, the mysticism surrounding this historical place and a perspective of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Armenian confluence in this area.

Put on your walking shoes before you embark on this tour. You may walk for little over 5 hours.

We then began driving into the New City and stopped at Yad Vashem the Holocaust Museum on our return segment. I will write next on my tour and experience at this amazing place.

Our tour guide Gilli was outstanding! She was very well compensated in tips for a super effort.