The Mount of Olives

Hi =). A visit to Jerusalem is not complete without the Mount of Olives ('Ölberg'). I walked it down with T. and catched up with the sights on the way! The sun was crazy that day, but then - when is it not in Israel? Grab your scarf and sunglasses and follow me! =)

On top of the Mount of Olives. Check the video for the view of Jerusalem behind us! By the way, I am wearing sunglasses pair No.2 - my precious Primarks got lost on the bus...!!

The Western Wall (formerly: Wailing Wall). It it the most important sanctuary for the Jews. People come here to pray and cry and dance. You have to clean your hands before you enter and then you can lend books with prayers. Of course you can also leave your wishes on small notes in the wall. A special place in Jerusalem! Directly behind lays the Dome of Rocks.

A cat chilling in the Muslim quarter of the Old City.

Short break =).

Rose petals in a Christian churchyard on the Mount.

In this Christian church, the prayers Jesus taught his disciples can be found in about 50 languages (on the walls, see picture). It was founded by a French princess. It features also a cave where Jesus is said to have spoken to his followers. By the way, Mount of Olives is the place where Jesus ascended to heaven!

A Russian orthodox church on the Mount. A nunnery (cloister) in these days, not open for visitors. Beautiful cupolas!

WOW!! The olive trees here are dated back about 2000 years. This is the Garden Gethsemane. You remember, were Jesus spent his last night in freedom and was later arrested by the Romans after Judas betrayed him?

The Garden Gethsemane belongs now to a Christian Church. Sorry about all this religious stuff, but man we are in Jerusalem!! What do you exspect??! I find it pretty interesting to visit so many sanctuaries from the Christian, Muslim and Jewish religion.

Evening in the center of Jerusalem... Lilly had to climb this statue in a park. Pretty embarrassing that it was (even for me) too high to get on and I ended up with a guy having me placed on top of the horse (not that this was very much fairy-tal-y, nooo...).

Yummy, eggplant lasagna for dinner!

I hope you enjoyed the photos and there will be more of the Big Road Trip through all areas of Israel soon! For now I can't stop to listen to Beyoncés new song: Why don't you love me? Lalala... Wonderful Saturday to you! =)