Today was a more chill day, but I am still exhausted. We’re approaching the end of our trip, but we still had a lot to fit in today. As always, we started with a wonderful hotel breakfast.
The first place we visited today was the Israel Museum. The highlights here are the giant model of Jerusalem in ancient times and some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. These were both pretty awesome, especially the scrolls. These are so importance in an archeological standpoint, and to see some of them in real life and so intact was amazing.
Our next stop was Herodium. This is technically not a biblical site, but it’s still very important. Herodium is basically the palace, fortress, and mausoleum of Herod the Great. The whole thing was very impressive, and I learned a lot about the history of Herod the Great’s reign of tyranny. It’s important to bear in mind that this is the same Herod who ordered to have all the baby boys in Bethlehem killed and who killed his own wife and child.
After stopping for lunch, we visited the Shepherds’ Field. This is the traditional site where the angels visited the shepherds and told them about the birth of Jesus. The place is actually a cave turned chapel, and we had a short service in there.
Our final stop today was a store in Bethlehem called Tabash Jewelry & Souvenirs. I had been looking forward to this for a while, as I was very excited to go on a shopping spree for new fancy occasion earrings. I found a very cool pair that I look forward to wearing. I got a lot of cool stuff there, and since it was most of my family’s first time in Israel, the owner’s son let me, Kate, and my mom get bracelets for free.
After we cleaned up and had a nice dinner back at the hotel, we took a walk around the Old City of Jerusalem. The scenery was very pretty, and it was a very nice night for a walk.
Tomorrow, we visit our last sites and head home. I’ve had a lot of fun, but I’ve about reached the end of my energy level (I didn’t know that was possible for me). I’m very excited for our final day of touring.