Day 8 - Israel Anniversary Trip!

Thurs. May 16, 2019
Jerimiah dressed like Eli our tour guide today. It's uncanny how much they looked alike. We walked through King Hezikiah's tunnel, his water system diverted Gihon Springs into the Siloam Pool for water use.  This is us exiting the tunnel. Half of our group opted out of wading through the water. But those of us who went through had an amazing experience in the dark chanting monk-like tunes.

 We went into the Tower of David, the same place we were at the night before for the light and sound show, but this time in the day and saw the beautiful views. It was a very quick visit!

We ate lunch at the Quarter Cafe. (again!) While in the Jewish Quarter we went to the burnt house museum, and we saw the giant menorah that the Jewish people will use in the new temple. We walked through the first-century Roman period promenade with columns where a marketplace would've been. We saw the first temple model of Jerusalem on a circular moving stage while a movie played. (We saw many models of the temple and Jerusalem during our time in here!) We walked by the outer wall where King Hezekiah's wall was and King Herod's palace remains and the Roman Cardo all within minutes. There's so much to see and so much history all in one place. It's mind-numbing.

Then we went back to the Temple Institute. We had tried to go before and they said we missed our time slot. There we saw all the pieces that are ready to go into the new temple. Although, in my opinion, they look very poorly made. There were chips and holes in the metal, the oil containers were leaking oil, nothing was that intricately made, and I don't know how they could have kept that much gold there without tons of security. Also, they said they have never lost the Ark of the Covenant!! They know where it is?! We returned to our hotel to pack, eat dinner and say goodbye to everyone. We went around at our table and told our highs and lows of the trip and prayed for our Eli. Then we packed the rest of our stuff and slept.