Holocaust Museum & Acropolis
Greetings
My apology to all who are following as I did not complete a blog last night. Actually went to bed around 8 PM as we had a 3 AM drive to the airport for our flight to Athens today.
Thursday was the final day of our stay in Israel/Jerusalem. The tour offered an optional one day trip to the Dead Sea. We passed on that and instead opted to do a little sightseeing on our own in Jerusalem. Specifically, we visited the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, which as you can imagine is very extensive. It is a huge complex made of a multiple different venues. It was very much worth the visit.
I have been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, which is an excellent one. Every time I am in the presence of images, stories, materials, etc. related to the Holocaust my initial reaction is "How?" How can a human being treat another human in such an inhumane way. The people who are perpetuated this genocide were some very sick, demonic people. Some of the images from the museum were beyond comprehensible. I have included one picture from the Wall of Records which is a circular room with volumes of books listing the names of the over 6,000,000+ Jews who lost their lives during the Holocaust.
We finished our time in Jerusalem going to the Mahane Yahuda Outdoor Food Market. I am not sure of its exact size but it contains over 250 shops covering probably 10 city blocks. It was an amazing place. Per the recommendation of our Jewish tour guide we got some dumpling soup and some marinated beef and potatoes. Oh my goodness - by far the best soup I have ever had. It was a scrumptious meal. We were pretty much totally into the culture as we took in a World Cup game as we dined.
We said goodbye to Jerusalem and Israel this morning. It is certainly a place I would like to visit again as there are many Biblical sites that we did not get to. While our tour was marketed as a Catholic tour it was very much a secular tour. That was very disappointing. If I return it will be as a part of a church group.
Still, having a chance to sit and reflect in the Garden of Gethsamene; walk the way of the Cross and be at the rock of Golgotha were amazing experiences. I also put right up there with that walking into the Sea of Galilee and around the areas of the Sea of Galilee, where Christ began that process of identifying the 12 that would be his apostles.
Today we traveled to Athens. We have just this one day here but we made the most of it. We started with a visit to the Acropolis Museum, which I have to say was one of the most impressive places I have ever seen. The amount of items they have discovered and preserved from over 3,000 years ago is literally mind boggling. The condition of so many of these items that are 2-3,000 years old is amazing. We have things in the states that are 100 years old and we are blown away. Some of these items were over 3,000 years old! The Acropolis is still a modern day archaeological site as they continue to unearth and preserve countless pieces of history. They are not far away from opening up an exhibit that will allow you to walk through a huge excavated site that dates back over 2000 years. It is in amazing condition. (A couple of pictures at the end).
For those that are "foodies" we had another phenomenal meal this evening at a very quaint, outside eatery here in Athens. Per the recommendation of the front desk of the hotel, it was another five star meal of lamb kabobs, stuffed peppers and Greek salad!
Tomorrow we head for Santorini where we will spend three days. This is admittedly not related to Angelo Roncalli but given we were this close Dave Gervasio would have never forgiven us had we not spend some time in one of the world's most popular sailing destinations. I will probably hold off on blogging until we get to Sofia, Bulgaria, early next week.
While the first portion of our pilgrimage has been superb, I must admit that I have mostly been looking forward to Bulgaria and Turkey as they are directly linked to 20 years of Angelo Cardinal Roncalli's ministry. We have contacts in both countries that have indicated they will be meeting with us and showing us different sites affiliated with Roncalli's time in their respective countries. So again, good bye for now until we reach Sofia, Bulgaria.
Please do say a prayer that God blesses our time in Sofia and Istanbul in much the same way he blessed our initial pilgrimage to Italy (Bergamo, Sotte il Monte, Venice, Assisi and Rome).
Peace be with you!
PS - Don't forget you can see more pictures if you wish from my wife's Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/jane.weisenbach
My apology to all who are following as I did not complete a blog last night. Actually went to bed around 8 PM as we had a 3 AM drive to the airport for our flight to Athens today.
Thursday was the final day of our stay in Israel/Jerusalem. The tour offered an optional one day trip to the Dead Sea. We passed on that and instead opted to do a little sightseeing on our own in Jerusalem. Specifically, we visited the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, which as you can imagine is very extensive. It is a huge complex made of a multiple different venues. It was very much worth the visit.
I have been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, which is an excellent one. Every time I am in the presence of images, stories, materials, etc. related to the Holocaust my initial reaction is "How?" How can a human being treat another human in such an inhumane way. The people who are perpetuated this genocide were some very sick, demonic people. Some of the images from the museum were beyond comprehensible. I have included one picture from the Wall of Records which is a circular room with volumes of books listing the names of the over 6,000,000+ Jews who lost their lives during the Holocaust.
We finished our time in Jerusalem going to the Mahane Yahuda Outdoor Food Market. I am not sure of its exact size but it contains over 250 shops covering probably 10 city blocks. It was an amazing place. Per the recommendation of our Jewish tour guide we got some dumpling soup and some marinated beef and potatoes. Oh my goodness - by far the best soup I have ever had. It was a scrumptious meal. We were pretty much totally into the culture as we took in a World Cup game as we dined.
We said goodbye to Jerusalem and Israel this morning. It is certainly a place I would like to visit again as there are many Biblical sites that we did not get to. While our tour was marketed as a Catholic tour it was very much a secular tour. That was very disappointing. If I return it will be as a part of a church group.
Still, having a chance to sit and reflect in the Garden of Gethsamene; walk the way of the Cross and be at the rock of Golgotha were amazing experiences. I also put right up there with that walking into the Sea of Galilee and around the areas of the Sea of Galilee, where Christ began that process of identifying the 12 that would be his apostles.
Today we traveled to Athens. We have just this one day here but we made the most of it. We started with a visit to the Acropolis Museum, which I have to say was one of the most impressive places I have ever seen. The amount of items they have discovered and preserved from over 3,000 years ago is literally mind boggling. The condition of so many of these items that are 2-3,000 years old is amazing. We have things in the states that are 100 years old and we are blown away. Some of these items were over 3,000 years old! The Acropolis is still a modern day archaeological site as they continue to unearth and preserve countless pieces of history. They are not far away from opening up an exhibit that will allow you to walk through a huge excavated site that dates back over 2000 years. It is in amazing condition. (A couple of pictures at the end).
For those that are "foodies" we had another phenomenal meal this evening at a very quaint, outside eatery here in Athens. Per the recommendation of the front desk of the hotel, it was another five star meal of lamb kabobs, stuffed peppers and Greek salad!
Tomorrow we head for Santorini where we will spend three days. This is admittedly not related to Angelo Roncalli but given we were this close Dave Gervasio would have never forgiven us had we not spend some time in one of the world's most popular sailing destinations. I will probably hold off on blogging until we get to Sofia, Bulgaria, early next week.
While the first portion of our pilgrimage has been superb, I must admit that I have mostly been looking forward to Bulgaria and Turkey as they are directly linked to 20 years of Angelo Cardinal Roncalli's ministry. We have contacts in both countries that have indicated they will be meeting with us and showing us different sites affiliated with Roncalli's time in their respective countries. So again, good bye for now until we reach Sofia, Bulgaria.
Please do say a prayer that God blesses our time in Sofia and Istanbul in much the same way he blessed our initial pilgrimage to Italy (Bergamo, Sotte il Monte, Venice, Assisi and Rome).
Peace be with you!
PS - Don't forget you can see more pictures if you wish from my wife's Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/jane.weisenbach
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