Days 9-10: Nearing the End

This post focuses on the miscellaneous things from the end of Day 9 and the start of Day 10, which is our final day in the Holy Land.

This photo shows one of many shops in the Old City of Jerusalem.

A friend gave me some money to purchase a bag of rosaries from one of two places. If they hadn't told me the price, I could have paid twice as much for them. Because of what they said, I told the man what I was told and he agreed to the price without any further haggling. That was done outside of the Upper Room. They are nice rosaries. During the free afternoon, I looked over some other rosaries elsewhere, and the guy there haggled, and he was hesitant to match the price I stated, but he eventually dropped BELOW it. But they weren't as nice there. But I didn't know what these rosaries would look like, nor was I certain I'd see the guy, since the guy that might have been at a different site in Galilee wasn't there. I wasn't sure that I could get anywhere near the same deal the next time we had free time. I probably should have just tried to find the Upper Room on that free afternoon and seen if I could find a guy there, but I wouldn't have handled that quite right, I'm sure. It all worked out. But the experience did show me the harsh side of haggling. It's fine to haggle. But the guy in the shop (not the good guy that sold the good stuff) got a bit angry and offended when I rejected his generously low offer. Those are usually the shops you want to avoid.

I thought I'd take a shot of the hotel room in the final day. We would have a chance to have everything we bought or otherwise wanted blessed to be blessed at our evening meal in the hotel. So these rosaries that were made in Israel (Jerusalem, I think) were also blessed there.

I didn't recall if I took a photo of the thermostat. Other people seemed to know the actual temperature of their rooms, while mine had no such indicator. So I suspect mine was different. It had the special Sabbath mode and a very vague sense of heating and cooling, plus a fan setting.

We received a photo from our first stop in Jerusalem, when we visited the Latin Patriarchate for the ceremony to provide the shell to the members of the Knights (and Ladies) of the Holy Sepulchre. So this captured the full group.

During our optional (but what I would consider HIGHLY recommended) 5 AM walk to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, I thought I'd take some photos. Here is the city at night (in the early morning). It's full of closed up shops, and a few very narrow vehicles squeeze onto the narrow roads that we use as walkways.

This final morning in the Holy Sepulchre, I thought I'd spend much more time in the Armenian area. The Chapel of Saint Helena and the site where she found the True Cross would be my focus. Although I made my daily visit to Calvary and once again touched the bedrock there.

So this time, I tried to capture more of the artwork in this chapel, which is below ground level, and thus warmer than the nearly freezing main level air. This chapel was very quiet and I was alone there at times. This made it easier to take the photos I wanted.

This is to the left of the main chapel area. So if you go down the steps to this chapel and step to the left and turn to look the same direction you faced when going down the steps, you'd see this, but it's probably roped off (and thus why I didn't get closer).

Oh, the ceiling is beautiful, and there are windows to the outside up there. If you ever get to step into the courtyard above this, you will see a this dome sticking up out of it. I never made it to that area.

It was this morning that I guided some people to Calvary, after they were confused. They had wandered down to the site where the True Cross was found and couldn't find the spot where they could reached down to touch the bedrock. Fortunately, they came up and discussed their confusion near me. I didn't quite hear what they were saying, so I appreciated their respect and reverence by not speaking loudly. Recognizing that they seemed lost, I asked them if I could help. Then I guided them to Calvary. As much as I wanted to spend more time in this chapel, it left me with a pleasant memory as I helped them find the holy site. I went back down for a little more prayer before leaving.

Six months after the trip, a derecho (storm with strong, straight-line winds) ravaged Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where I was. A large percentage of the city was without electricity for more than a week. After the August 10th storm, I received power back on the ninth day, on August 18th. As it turns out, August 18th is the feast day for Saint Helena. Perhaps my extra time in her chapel was well-spent.

Here is another of the narrow vehicles.

The streets have steps, but they also have ramps to allow these narrow vehicles to pass along the roads.

The hotel has a scale for luggage that's hidden in a room that they tell you about if you ask.

Earlier on the trip, I noticed there were tons of these "No Blue" signs. I asked about them, and eventually had to show the guide a photo. It means no parking. Blue is supposed to mean parking? Seriously, I think any letter in any language would work better for me than that. But I guess if I had a license to drive here, blue is obvious, and I wouldn't have to decipher which letter I saw.

These miscellaneous things bridged the evening of Day 9 into the morning of Day 10.

Day 10 is a free day and will be summarized in the next post