Day 142: Views from the East.

To saw we've seen some pretty amazing things in Israel would be an understatement.  Friends and family that I've talked to during this time know the amount of processing that our time here will take.  The intersections of culture and religion here are pretty fascinating, and we've been so thankful for the experience.

One of our last forays around Jerusalem started at the top of the Mount of Olives.  From here, we looked out on two sides of the mount - to the east, the Judean wilderness, and to the west, the Old City.

After a bit of marveling, we walked down to Gethsemane, or "oil press". This place is full of some pretty large and pretty old olive trees, and would have been a social center back in the day.  

Lastly, we visited the Garden Tomb, one of the multitude of places that archaeologists and historians debate over as the tomb of Jesus, but still an extremely meaningful place.  The scene was beautiful and peaceful and the accompanying weather made for a perfect last stop of the day.