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Our last day began at the Mt. Of Olives, where we were able to see all of the Old City of Jerusalem as well as the City of David, the Garden of Gethsemane, and more than I can list here. It was good to end here but I wish we had also started here.
Our second stop was at the Jerusalem Archiological park. We saw the different levels of stone that had been uncovered by the archeologists. We walked on the ancient streets that Jesus and Paul walked on, and sat on the steps to the Hulda gate, where Peter preached.
Next, we went to the wailing wall - the western wall - where I had to use a shawl to cover my shoulders. Each of us had an opportunity to place a prayer in the wall.
After a short drive we stopped in the valley where David fought Goliath. We stopped at the stream bed to pick up stones. Then, we had lunch at a food court in a mall. The main attraction was a McDonald's.
On the way to Abraham's Tent we made an unscheduled stop at the tomb of the prophet Samuel. In order to see the tomb we were divided by gender then went down a short flight of steps. From the room below we could see the tomb and several women praying around it. There was a divider down the middle of the tomb so that men and women could not see each. Women had to cover their shoulders and men had to cover their heads.
Our final stop was at Abraham's Tent. Here I made the poor choice of riding a camel. My camel had to be coaxed to even get up. And, the camels were all tied together. Our "guide" tried to reassure us by saying that the camels don't want to fall any more than we do, but he followed that by saying that if one fell we would all go down. Riding that camel may be the only decision I made on this trip that I regret. Once I got off we had a pretty good dinner, but I had to sit on the floor to eat it.
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