Cairo, Egypt

We left Tel Aviv on Sunday morning, rather than Friday morning as planned. We took a direct flight to Cairo. This was a special unmarked Egypt Air flight which only flies once per day. For political reasons, flights from Tel Aviv to Cairo, are almost non-existent. We arrived in Egypt two days later than our tour group due to Kurt's illness. Fortunately, we were able to rejoin our tour group. As we flew over the pyramids, we were able to take a couple of pictures. Due to our late arrival we thought this would be our only glimpse of these huge structures.

The Pyramids of Giza, Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, are the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World remaining.

Our transfer picked us up from the Cairo Airport and took us directly to the Nile Ritz Carlton, per our tour arrangements.

 

CAIRO EGYPTIAN MUSEUM

We arrived at the hotel about 2 pm, meeting our tour guide, Ahmed, in the lobby of the Ritz. After providing us with our room key, he gave us our tickets to the Museum, which was  adjacent and a short walk from the hotel.

Built in 1897 and opened in 1902, the museum's 107 exhibit halls hold over 120,000 items. This museum is being replaced by the new Grand Egyptian Museum to be opened in 2021.

We found the most interesting part of the museum to be the King Tutankhamen Gallery.  The Tomb was discovered in 1925 by Howard Carter with over 5000 artifacts. What makes this Tomb unique is that when Howard Carter discovered it, it was intact and not pillaged by tomb robbers. King Tut's death mask, shown above, is made up of over 22 pounds of gold.

These breast plates are one of the many treasures found in King Tut's tomb.

The Anubis Shrine was part of the grave goods of Tutankhamun.

More of the gold statues from King Tut Tomb.

Ramses & Nefertari in the Great Hall.

Psusennes, the Silver Pharaoh's Death Mask

Countless Sarcophaguses were on display

Ramses II, the busy man

Ramses II as a child

 

NILE RITZ CARLTON - CAIRO

We had a lovely room.

Our 7th floor room overlooked Cairo and the Nile River.

The sun set at 5:00.

It had been a very busy day and ended with dinner ordered to our room. Kurt was feeling better ordering Egyptian Style Stuffed Pigeon, of which he consumed every last bite.

Jerusalem Day 2

THE TOWER OF  DAVID

We entered the Old City from the west, via the Jaffa Gate. The Tower of David, also known as the Jerusalem Citadel, is an ancient citadel located near the Jaffa Gate. The Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem was opened in 1989. Located in a series of chambers in the original citadel, the museum includes a courtyard which contains archaeological ruins dating back 2,700 years.

The foundation stones for this tower were laid during the rein of King Herod.

View of archaeological finds in the courtyard of the Tower of David Museum, and the Ottoman minaret.

View of the Old City from the top of the Tower of David.

Church of the Redeemer Lutheran Church is in the Christian Quarter of the Old City.

Dome of the Rock. This is said to be the site where Abraham attempted to sacrifice his son, Isaac.

 

VIA DOLOROSA

We boarded the bus again and drove around the Old City to the east side to Lion's Gate. The Way of the Cross is a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem, believed to be the path that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion. The Via Dolorosa is not one street, but a route consisting of segments of several streets. The route ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is said to be built over the site where Our Lord was crucified, buried and rose again.

We entered Lion's Gate.

Street vendor selling fresh bagels and bread.

 

BASILIQUE ST. ANNE

This church is said to be at the location where Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was born.

The Church was built in 1131 AD.

The Main Altar.

An excavation outside the Basilique St. Anne. The ruins of the Byzantine Church, adjacent to the site of the Pool of Bethesda. The Pool of Bethesda was a pool in Jerusalem known from the New Testament story of Jesus miraculously healing a paralyzed man, from the fifth chapter of the Gospel of John.

 

THE CHURCH OF FLAGELLATION

According to tradition, the church enshrines the place where Jesus Christ was flogged by Roman soldiers before his journey down the Via Dolorosa to Calvary.

Church of Flagellation

"Crown of Thorns" mosaic on altar dome.

The Via Dolorosa walkway is narrow, congested and bordered by shops and street vendors.

 

CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE

The church contains, according to traditions dating back to at least the fourth century, the two holiest sites in Christianity: the site where Jesus was crucified, at a place known as Calvary or Golgotha, and Jesus' empty tomb.

Outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The altar is said to be built over the place where Jesus was crucified. The rock can be viewed through the glass floor of the altar.

The Aedicule is at the location where Jesus may have been entombed before He arose on the third day.

 

 

Dormition Abbey by Zion Gate

A church built over the site of the Upper Room.

We departed the Old City via Zion Gate where the bus was waiting to pick us up.

 

 

CHANGE OF PLANS

From here our time in Jerusalem took an unexpected path. Very early on the third day of our planned Jerusalem tour, Kurt developed extreme food poisoning and was taken to the Shaare Zedek Hospital by ambulance that afternoon. During our 22 hour stay at the hospital, our tour group moved on to Cairo, Egypt, without us. We stayed in Jerusalem two extra nights while Kurt regained functionality. We were able to catch up with our tour group in Cairo. Consequently, we spent one night in Cairo rather than three nights as planned.

Jerusalem Day 1

On Sunday, December 15, we left the Rio Grande Valley for a 17 day trip to Jerusalem and Egypt. Seeing the Holy Land and the Egyptian antiquities has been long on our bucket list. We booked a pre-cruise land tour in Jerusalem and Cairo along with a Viking River Cruise down the Nile River from Luxor to Aswan and back.

After a short flight from McAllen to Houston, we boarded our Lufthansa 747-800 flight to Frankfort then on to Tel Aviv arriving on Monday afternoon.

Our accommodations were at the King David, a five star hotel in downtown Jerusalem.

The view of the hotel property behind the King David.

This branch of the Y.M.C.A., erected in 1926, is directly across from the King David Hotel.

 

MT. SCOPUS, aka MT. OF OLIVES

After a good nights sleep and an eight hour time change, and a Kosher buffet breakfast with a plethora of food choices, we started out for a full day of touring with our tour guide Jo along with fourteen others in our tour group.

 

The Mount of Olives provided a vantage point with a broad overview of Jerusalem, the Old City and its famous Wall.

View of Jerusalem with the Dome of the Rock in the foreground.

Jo Lane led our tours around Jerusalem.

 

THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE

The Church of All Nations, also know as the church of Basilica of the Agony, is a Roman Catholic church location on the Mt. of Olives, next to the Garden of Gethsemane. This is where Jesus prayed before his arrest.

The altar inside the Church of all Nations.

We could walk among the olive trees which are decedents of the grove which was here 2,000 years ago.

 

WESTERN WALL aka WAILING WALL

 

Our next stop was the Western Wall. We entered the Old city via Dung Gate and walked to the Western Wall.

This wall is a remnant of the base of Solomon's Temple. This is the most holy site for the Jewish people.

Many of these stones were installed during King Herod's rein.

Excavation site adjacent to the Wailing Wall, near the temple site. This was the main entrance into the city of Jerusalem.

It is believed that Jesus overturned the money changers tables here along the main street.

A view of the Old City Wall outside Dung Gate.

 

BETHLEHEM AND PALESTINE

We boarded our bus and drove through the border wall to Palestine which is where Bethlehem is located. This secure, heavily guarded, closed border required us to carry our passports into this area. Our Jewish tour guide, Jo, was not allowed a license to work in Bethlehem, so we added a Palestinian guide to our group.

 

OLIVE WOOD FACTORY

Olive wood waiting to be carved.

Spraying completed pieces.

Beautiful hand carved work.

 

CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY

Built in 540 A.D. over the sight where Jesus was born.

This is said to be the site where Jesus was born.

In the courtyard of the church was a statue of Hieronymus, who translated the Bible from Greek to Latin.

The sun sets early (4:30) in Bethlehem in December.