Today, we took the bus to Jerusalem. We only have this one day, as Susanne’s time is limited, but we wanted to maximize everything we could see.

We’re both history geeks, Susanne being a real expert in British history (she can easily name the kings of England and Great Britain, explain the stories, feuds, heirs, traitors….)

So we were both excited to see one of the oldest cities, and surely one of the most important, in the history of mankind.

We had a beautiful day, sunny, blue skies, but not too hot and with a bit of wind… We took the tram into the old city, and headed straight through it, for the Western Wall.

Sorry to say, but I wasn’t that impressed. Somehow, I expected it to be bigger, more impressive… and somewhat more … solemn? Not with ugly plastic chairs all over the place, barriers, construction, that weird bridge over to the Dome of the Rocks…

Susanne did walk over, but I preferred to sit in the shade and have a look from far. I wasn’t really sure why I would go there.

 

We were a bit lost (signs are few and far…), and tried to go see the Dome of the Rocks. Alas we came during prayer time and it was closed for a while to non-muslims. Fair enough, we could use a break with falafel and humus.

Back there, they told us that now we had to use the bridge over the Western wall, where we queued for 45 minutes just to find the door getting locked when we were about 3 meters from it. So no Dome or Mosque on this trip.

Over to Via Dolorosa. We started at St Anna’s Convent, first listening to some beautiful songs being rehearsed for an evening concert, and then walked through the ruins of the cisterns and pools.

The Via Dolorosa, in this part, is really beautiful, and quiet. Not many tourists, only a few shops, families living in the side streets… it was beautiful and quiet, and not the overcrowded mess I expected.

Further along the different stations, the number of shops and merchandise being sold multiplied quickly, and in the end we felt like we are walking through a big bazaar, with a few hidden hints of the actually history of that street. We needed a few minutes to actually find the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, our main goal for the day.

 

It is a nice church, indeed a funny conglomerate of additions, different styles and decorations, according to which ‘branch’ of the Christian faith is responsible for the part of the Church you’re looking at.

Eastern Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, and Roman Catholic Churches, with the Greek Orthodox Church having the lion’s share. The Coptic Orthodox, the Ethiopian Orthodox and the Syrian Orthodox acquired lesser parts of the building in the 19th century. I have to admit I have never even heard of most of them.

I find it fascinating, but the different churches and entities are being so distrustful of one another, they have a very elaborated schedule of paring time and church usage.

Sometimes, a monk moving his chair into the shade has resulted in a fight with several arrests. The ‘immovable ladder’ has become a famous sight. A leftover from a renovation, it is totally useless today.

Due to an understanding that no one may move, rearrange, or alter any property without the consent of all six orders, it has become a symbol of the situation. By the way, it was first mentioned in 1757.

Oh, and the keys to the Church are kept by two Muslim families, locking and unlocking the building and keeping the keys for centuries now, as no one trusts the other…

Inside the church, I witnessed what to me seemed like the strangest behavior. With all respect to people’s faith, but I am a bit baffled to see people kiss a marble plate and weep (but making a selfie or having a family member placed in order to record it), crawl in under some altar to touch a certain stone or slip backward on their knees.

I was baptized as a protestant in southern Germany, a thoroughly catholic region, but religion has not played a big part in my life.

I am interested and fascinated by the historical aspects, and I do relate to many stories in the bible, or other religious texts, that try to teach compassion, love, companionship….

But I cannot relate at all to the whole surrounding buzz of virgin births, miracles, saints, and especially not relics who may or may not have been touched, possessed or been part of someone holy.

I do believe in the human mind, in enlightenment, in humanity. But walking through Jerusalem, I had no religious feelings at all. A certain historical interest, sure. But mostly I felt like I did not understand what was going on around me.

And I have to say all the soldiers with all the machine guns, it just really reminds you that you’re in the middle of what is one of the most fought over places on Earth.

And I’m still not sure what to make of this beautiful, interesting and informative day.