Picasso! And Great Views of Jerusalem

The Tower of David

Amazingly, the Dome of the Rock has not been the highlight of my trip to the Holy Land thus far. On Wednesday, we didn't have any classes so we all went out in the city for the whole day. I went to David's Tower, which had a fabulous view of the Old City, a Jewish market, and my favorite part...I got to see famous art for free! Kind of on a lark some friends and I decided to walk around West Jerusalem, and there was this art museum called the Ticho House, where an artist and her husband used to live. Inside there were 3 Picassos, 2 Renoirs, 2 Matisses, and a Warhol as well as a photograph of Kate Moss. I was so excited to stumble across this unknown house full of original, famous art! That's my favorite part of traveling. After that, we went to an Ethiopian Church nearby. It was completely circular and had all sorts of interesting paintings of fanciful creatures.

The Jewish Market. All of those are spices!
The only Picasso I could sneak a picture of ;)
A street performer on Ben Yehuda Street

On Thursday, we had a field trip where the classes went out on mountaintops and saw Jerusalem from different angles. We were at the Augusta Victoria Tower and could see the Dead Sea and Jordan from the top! Apparently, it is highly unusual for you to be able to see that far away. We also got to sing hymns in the actual church, which was so cool. I saw Bethlehem from far away and the wall that surrounds it now, and as I was looking into the distance at one place I saw what I think might have been a rocket. After reading the news I came to that conclusion because Gaza is relatively close and they were having a feud yesterday. Don't worry though; I'm safe, and nothing has ever happened to anyone at the Jerusalem Center. It's just so weird to me that I can see a "war" going on just a few miles away from where I live.

From this picture, you can see the path the Jesus took on the last day of His life. It starts on the left, where it is thought that He ate the Last Supper with his disciples, and then ends up on the right at the Garden of Gethsemane.

The view from the Augusta Victoria Tower. The white that you can see underneath the mountain range is the Dead Sea, and the the mountain range is Jordan!