I was so thrilled when the Captain announced we were going to Israel because of the Egyptian problems. Ellen and a couple of her clients went to work to put together a private tour since they knew about this one guide. A van which held 12 of us comfortably picked us up at 8:00 in the morning and we returned at 9:30 at night. We went as fast as we could go to see as many sites as possible. As you know I don’t try to do a travelogue but let everyone know what I am doing.

We viewed the Old City of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives overlook, walked down Sunday Palm road to the Kidron Valley to the Church of Gethsemane and visited the Garden of Gethsemane. Then we walked the old city Via Delarosa and visited both the Arab section and the Jewish section and had a great lunch at the Jewish Quarter Café. We went to the South and Western Wall and the tunnels , the Museum of all the archaeological digs and the Shrine of the Book. We visited the Pool of Bethesda and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where we sang Amazing Grace to test the acoustics. The acoustics actually made us sound good. We visited the Garden Tomb and then dinner at Olive and Fish Restaurant for a wonderful dinner. Both the lunch and dinner were served family style so we could taste everything.

The experience was wonderful and I fell in bed exhausted but it was worth every tiring step. Our guide, Nir, explained everything with humor and clarity and from a historical prospective. A was absolute evidence and 100% sure. B lots of indications that it is true but not conclusive. C call it tradition.