The beginnings of our Pilgrimage.

Jerusalem is the most amazing place. We arrived in Tel Av iv around 3:30 in the afternoon .We found our luggage after a good walk through the airport and then arrange to catch an airport van to our hotel on the Mount of Olives. We had a relaxing ride through the country to Jerusalem. Our hotel was called The Mount of Olives Hotel and it was very interesting in so many ways. It is situated at the top of the Mount of Olives where Jesus ascended into heaven and is to the east of the Old City. Our room was on the third floor overlooking a street that was situated on a very busy intersection. When I say that traffic was crazy I am not exaggerating in any way. There were a number of men just sitting around doing nothing. At one point we heard a commotion on the street and looked out the window in time to see a young boy on a camel. It was a dangerous place to ride but the boy seemed happy to show off his camel riding skills. Before I could get my camera out a few of the men yelled something to the little camel jockey in Arabic and he galloped out of sight. I suppose they told him that he should quit fooling around in the street with his dad’s expensive camel. The Mount of Olives is a steep incline leading down to the city of Jerusalem. If I could have tossed a bowling ball out of our hotel window it would have hit the street and rolled continuously downhill. In a few minutes it would have come to the Garden of Gethsemane.This is the garden where Jesus may have spent a lot of prayer time. There are eight olive trees in this garden that may be at least 2,000 - 3,000 years old. They still bear fruit. If they are not the actual trees in the area where Jesus prayed, then they could have been young saplings when Jesus came here with the disciples on that night after the Last Supper (Matt. 26:36; Mark 14:32; John 18:1).It was a very quiet place.There was no one in sight. The air was hot and dry and the sound of locusts were in the trees.The view of the countryside and of the wall of Jerusalem were beautiful.There were so many olive trees mixed with cedar and pine spread out through the rolling hills. A profound atmosphere of calmness and serenity are in this place.