Day 2: Garden of Gethsemane and the Garden Tomb

Today was another amazing day in the Holy land. It began with a nice morning run with my sister in law, Kari. We then spent the rest of the morning shopping for food at the market, enjoying delicious Middle Eastern pastries and grabbing a few necessities at the mall. Which by the way, is very similar in look and feel to those in the US including many of the same stores (Zara, Gap, Forever 21,American  Eagle... Etc). 

Around noon we headed to Hannah and Haydin's school to pick them up. Their campus is beautiful, so we spent some time enjoying the playground and the big grass hill.

We then headed to lunch in this amazing square which used to be the old train station. The food was incredible!

The rest of the day was spent visiting 2 of the most spiritual Christian sites in Jerusalem. Our first stop was the Garden Tomb. This is where most Christians (Protestants) believe Jesus was buried and later Resurrected. Other Chrisitians, including the Catholics, believe he is buried inside the walls of the Old City in the church of the Holy Sepulchre. This site was amazing... The tomb was hand chipped out of the rock.

This site actually had a scavenger hunt for the kids which they loved. It kept them entertained and they got a bookmark from the gift shop at the end.

At the end of our day we headed to the Garden of Gethsemane, the garden where Jesus is believed to have been arrested. The garden has some of the world’s oldest olive trees, a few of which have been scientifically dated as being over 2000 years old. 

Next to the Garden of Gethsemane is the church of the Agony aka the Church of All Nations. It enshrines a section of bedrock where Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest and crucifixion.

A close to this day with one final view on our way home...