The Old City of Jerusalem is walled in. Here you’ll find an introduction to the various ‘gates’ whereby you can enter the city. Jaffa Gate seems to be the busiest of all the gates – perhaps because outside it is one of the main arterial routes into the city with bus stops just below the gate so it’s easy to get to on public transport. It is one of the closest gates to the downtown area of modern Jerusalem too. Pictured below is the […]
Exploring
Dead Sea, Masada & En Gedi
Our day trip from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea with stops at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Masada and the En Gedi National Park was simply brilliant! The bus took us from the busy city of Jerusalem through the tunnel under the Mount of Olives and suddenly into the Judean desert. We dropped quickly in altitude down to 423m below sea level at the Dead Sea. But before floating in the famous salty waters we had some exploring to do. We headed south […]
Muslim Jerusalem
Dominating the views of the Old City of Jerusalem is the gold ‘Dome of the Rock.’ It is positioned in the middle of a large area usually refered to as the Temple Mount but for Muslims its known as Haram esh-Sharif / the Noble Sanctuary. The Al Aqsa mosque is also situated on the Temple Mount and it is considered the third most holy place in the world for Muslims (after Mecca and Medina). For ca. 3000 years the Temple Mount has been the […]
Christian Jerusalem (2 of 2)
Follow the route Jesus walked up to his crucifixion. See churches, his prison and sites where he performed miracles.
Christian Jerusalem (1 of 2)
Jerusalem has so many Christian hot-spots: where Jesus had his last supper (Mt Zion), taught, rested and prayed (Mount of Olives), did miracles, agonised (Gethsemene) and where he was crucified (now Church of Holy Sepulchre). I’ll cover these and more… but first something I should have mentioned in my Holiday Season post… I witnessed and accidentally got stuck in the middle of the Jerusalem March, an event during Sukkot that has people of all nations march for a few hours through the streets singing […]
Holiday Season in Israel!
It was one holiday after the next in our 3 week stay in Jerusalem! Great time to be here and experience the culture and festivities.
Jewish Jerusalem
It’s my frst time in Jerusalem – so here’s what I’ve seen and learned about Orthodox Jewish dress, the Western Wall’s significance and the Holocaust.
Traveling to Israel / Palestine
Normally I get pretty excited about traveling to new countries and cultures but for a few reasons the excitement just didn’t hit this time round. Not even when we were about to board the plane. In fact looking at the huge CO2 emitting machine that was about to whisk me half way round the world made me feel pretty bad, what the Swedes call Flygskam. Less than 48 hours before, I had joined the local Ashburton School Strike for Climate and felt super proud […]
Suva, Fiji’s Capital
So Day 1 in Suva didn’t go as planned, nor did day 2. It was bucketing down outside and I didn’t have an umbrella. Not ideal for a walk around the city. I finished off my novel while waiting for the rain to stop then walked a short distance down to the gardens by the Museum of Fiji. As it looked fine at that point I thought I’d go for a walk and save the museum for when/if it rained. Thurston gardens were small […]
Stress & Sweet Singing Rugby players in Suva
How did I end up in a lounge with the Fijian national rugby team, being asked if I wanted to lead their regular before dinner devotions? It was a random and rather beautiful end to an afternoon that had been full of stress and a few tears. I arrived in Suva as planned around lunch time, looking forward to my air bnb with a pool, hot water showers and a chance to do some laundry. I’d texted my host Elizabeth the day before with […]