Jack+C

Hello I'm Jack. This year of 2009 I traveled to the Middle East and saw many historical and religous sites.

 June 3 I went to Jaffa in Israel today. Back in 1913 it was actually Palestine but now it is Israel. We had a guide take us to some excellent sites. The Tomb of David is where King David was buried and the casket can't be opened because there is a golden lock on it. The tomb is guarded by christians and priests. We also saw the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is huge and it marks the spot where people believe Jesus died and was buried. We also saw the Russian Mission and other churches



[]  June 4 Today was a warm summer day - about 82 degrees and sunny. A.M. our guide took us by car to the Mount of Olives where we can see the Old city of Jerusalem. Right down the hill is the Garden of Gethsemane & the Virgin's tomb so we walked down. P.M. we drove to Bethlehem and toured the Church of the Nativity. We had lemonade later.



June 5 A.M. drove to Jehrico on the West Bank in The Palestinian Territory. We walked around this very old city**.**

June 6 Early in the morning we left to cross the desert plains to Jordan. It was about an hour away. The River Jordan is the border between Israel and Jordan. Next we drove to the Dead Sea. It's called the Dead Sea because nothing can live there. Then we drove back to the hotel for lunch and stayed there the rest of the day.

June 7

Today we drove out into the desert. We went by the Tomb of Moses which has a Mosque at the site. When we were up in the hills we could see Mt. Hermon in the distance. In the evening we

June 13 Back in Jerusalem we went to see the Via Dolorosa which is a long walk in the old city. Priests lead people along the Stations of the Cross. The walk ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

June 14 We left at 8 A.M. to go to see the Wailing Wall. Left to do some shopping and bought postcards.

June 16 We joined a tour group and at 9 AM took two busses to Nablus in the Palestinian Territory. 2 mi east we arrived at Shechem, an ancient capital of Israel. Saw the Tomb of Joseph.

June17 Drove north today and arrived at Nazareth and on the drive we could see the huge Mt. Carmel. Today the city is the Arab Capital for Israel's Arab citizens. It's still hot.

June18 Another hot day. Ate breakfast and toured Nazareth. Saw lots of holy sites. Church of the Annunciation and Mary's well which is under it.

June 20 Took a short ferry trip across the Sea of Galilee from Tiberius to the ruins of Capernaum. A tour guide showed us around and we had sandwiches and Coke on the ferry ride back.

June 21 Today we left Israel for Syria. We took the 10AM ferry from Tiberius across the Sea of Galilee and boarded a bus to cross the 1949 Israeli - Syrian Armistice Line. We should be in Damascus for dinner.