We went for a walking tour this morning and we were reminded - once again - of how happy we are to NOT be on a guided tour. Our guide this morning was not too fabulous and I am pretty sure the 3 hour walk was taxing the upper limits of his physical abilities. Oh well - we did get to see some cool stuff.
The best part of the walking tour was Hezekiah's Tunnel (and our guide didn't even go on that part with us). It is about a 30 minute walk - through water (usually about calf deep, but sometimes up over our knees!). The water was COLD, but it was a fun adventure. King Hezekiah had the tunnel built in about 700 BC. He built it to bring the water source right to the city while concealing it's source. Neat stuff.
After lunch and a little shopping in the Old City, we headed back to the hotel to get our car. We drove to Yad Vashem - which is a memorial to those who were killed during the Nazi Holocaust. It was a VERY powerful and sobering place, but I am glad that we went. The museum was much bigger than I imagined. It includes personal artifacts and stories from survivors - very overwhelming.
After that we went to The Shrine of the Book. This is the museum built to house the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was especially neat because we had just been in Qumran (where the scrolls were found in 1947) a few days ago. The whole display is an amazing confirmation of the authenticity of the Old Testament scriptures.
We went back to the Jerusalem Courtyard (AKA downtown) for dinner. We ate at a place called Terra. Our wine was from the Ella Valley - we saved the cork and took a picture of the label. More good food and great fellowship with friends.
Not too many photographs today. We did get some at Shrine of the Book and a picture of our favorite security guard at the hotel. He is super nice and helpful - answering all of our crazy questions!
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