Overnight in Jerusalem!

Finally what I have waited for my whole Christian Life! The Holy City of Jerusalem! Jesus lived His final days there and was crucified in Jerusalem. There are many Old Testament and New Testament historical sites there. And the best way to see many of them is an overnight shore excursion to Jerusalem. YEAH! So we get up very early 5:30am and have a quick breakfast with Travis and Carleigh and Brittany. Brittany is going on an independent shore excursion for the day so we say goodbye to her as we go down through immigration on the 4th deck. We are given an bus number and that is the bus with the guide Moishe for the two day trip into Israel. Our guide is so awesome and is constantly giving us historic, political and economic facts about Israel.

Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, captured and recaptured 44 times. It has been the Holiest City in Hebrew tradition since King David of Israel established it as capital of The United Kingdom of Israel in 1000BCE. Christians deem it a Holy City since Jesus' was Crucified there around 33CE and 300 years later, Saint Helena identified the pilgrimage sites of Jesus' life.

Today the status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the areas captured and later annexed by Israel. While East Jerusalem including the Old City was captured by Jordan. Israel captured East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War and annexed it later. Currently Israel's Basic Law refers to Jerusalem as the Country's undivided capital. The international community has rejected that later annexation and calls it illegal and treats East Jerusalem as Palestinian territory held by Israel under military occupation. No foreign embassies are in Jerusalem. All in all a very complex state of affairs but I guess that is what makes life so interesting! But what a whirlwind tour full of bright sunshine, white buildings, intense heat, busy streets full of Moslems celebrating Ramadan, Jews out saying prayers at The Western Wall, curious tourists like ourselves trying to understand all the cultures meeting at this one beautiful city that all want to call their own. It was undeniably one of my most precious days in my life! Here we go, hold on cause it is a very fast trip through time!