I love it in Israel. I can not believe how many places I have been to, places I have taught about and written about for years and other sites I would never have thought to come and see.

So far, I have taken one tour by myself. The rest have been with my brother Paul, some of which he narrated. He’s quite good and could probably get a job as a professional tour guide if he wanted. But Paul and I have also been taken around the country by 3 other guides who do this for a living.

In Jerusalem itself I have seen:

-The Western Wall
-The Southern Wall
-The Tunnels under the temple
-I was also up on part of the temple mount, from the Arab quarter, staring at the Mosque of Omar (located where the temple once stood) in the closest spot to where the Holy of Holies once was, that is, the closest spot a religious Jew is allowed to go.
-The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (allegedly built over the place where Jesus’ tomb was located
-The location of the Last Supper (where an Armenian church now stands)
-The Mount of Olives
-The Garden of Gethsemene
-The wall of King Hezekiah (the oldest structure in Jerusalem, dating back to the time of the first of the three nations of Israel
-A tour where Orthodox Zionistic Jews are building objects for the Third Temple (which they believe will be rebuilt someday) This includes, the High Priest’s robe, altars and a giant sized golden lamp, all to the Biblical specifications of size, shape and type of metal/fabric/wood.
-The stations of Christ on his way to the cross. (Via Dolorosa)
-The place where Pontus Pilate publicly spoke to the crowd of spectators about executing Jesus.
-Jaffa Gate
-Dung Gate
-David’s Citadel
-All four Old City quarters: Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian
-Roman Cardo Maximus
-Carved markets
-Walks a.long the rooftops. (Every roof in Jerusalem is connected. Not so, for the people of Jerusalem.)
-Mount Zion
-City of David
-Al-Aqsa Mosque
-Lutheran Church of the Redeemer
-St. Alexander’s Russian Orthodox Church

I have also toured many other locations in Israel:

-Bethlehem (the portion where Ruth is buried)
-Hebron (Where the tomb of Abraham, Issac, Jacob and Sarah were visited)
-Tel Aviv (Where the famous Israelite sojourners, Bob Siegel and Paul Siegel spent a good deal of time trying to remember where they had parked)
-Caesarea
-Masada
-Qumran Caves (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered)
-The Dead Seas Scrolls themselves (in a museum)
-The Holocaust Museum
-The Dead Sea
-En Geddi (where David hid from Saul)
-An ancient Jewish synagogue excavation (From Byzantine Era)

Coming up:

Sunday and Monday we will be in Galilee. On the way home we plan to visit Mt. Carmel, where Elijah slew several hundred prophets of the false god, Baal. We intend to take the ten-dollar tour. This means we will only be allowed to slay two false prophets apiece. To slay all three-hundred, one must take the thirty-dollar tour.

This is Bob Siegel, reporting from Israel.

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