Israel is beautiful. Jerusalem, especially West Jerusalem, is very modern and cool. There are lots of young adults hanging around the streets enjoying their time. One of our stops in Jerusalem was the Israel museum to see the Dead Sea Scrolls and the miniature display of Old Jerusalem (below).
The Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest known texts. They are non-canonized biblical writings dating back to the second century BC to the first AD. The scrolls are known as the greatest archaeological find of modern times because they were found in caves near Qumran (near the Dead Sea) in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd.
We ventured into Old Jerusalem for two days to discover the holiest sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims. It's hard to believe that all of these sites are within walking distance of one another. I guess that explains the trouble we see in the news over the land here.
Below is The Dome of the Rock, a very holy Muslim site. The shrine is built on a site that once held a very important Christian Church, the holiest Jewish Temple and now the holy shrine. It's actually not a Mosque at all, it's a shrine built to "house the rock inside it, held to be the very one where Abraham intended to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22:1-4; Koran 37:100-109)." You can only enter the shrine if you are a Muslim.
The Western wall or Wailing Wall is the holiest site for Jewish people. It is called the Wailing Wall because Jewish people traditionally came here to mourn the destruction of their ancient temple (which now holds The Dome of the Rock for the Muslims).
Only a few blocks away from the Temple Mount stands the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Church was built up around Calvary (the rock where Jesus cross stood) and his tomb. 
There is now a large shrine built around the tomb where Jesus was laid to rest. Even with all the tourist, it was a very holy experience.
One day on our trip, we traveled to Bethlehem to see the birth place of Jesus. Bethlehem is now inside a separation wall in the West Bank, so we had to go through a checkpoint.
The separation wall is built around most of the prominent West Bank areas. The West Bank is not just one area in Israel, they are little pockets of areas. Below you can see just how high the wall reaches.
The graffiti on the wall inside the West Bank is enormous and overwhelming. Poverty has stricken most of the areas because people no longer want to travel here due to the separation wall.
There was a Armenian church service being held in the crypt of the Church of the Nativity in the exact spot where Jesus was born.
Bethlehem and Jerusalem are absolutely the most influential and spiritual travels we have taken thus far. We were very lucky to have the experience.
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