Appointment at the Western Wall – We started this day at the holiest site of Judaism, the western wall of the Temple Mount (also known as the Wailing Wall), where many of Jerusalem’s Jewish residents start their day in prayer.

For observant Jews, starting the day in prayer is not a simple practice. It involves donning a prayer shawl and tefillim. Tefillim are small leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment with verses from the Torah.

Our first priority was visiting the Western Wall tunnel, an excavated area from the time of Jesus which now lies underneath later construction.

The Herodian stones, some of the largest construction blocks ever used in antiquity, are still in place.

The stones fit together so smoothly no mortar is needed. The women’s prayer area is located at Warren’s Gate, the area that is believed to be in closest proximity to the location of the Holy of Holies of the ancient temple.

The Western Wall tunnel follows to path of the first century street, from Jesus’ time, but later takes the visitor through the remains of an ancient aqueduct, that brought water to the Temple Mount.

Along the tunnel you can see foundational construction for the homes that are located at modern street level, above the tunnel. We continued on through the aqueduct.

Back at the Western Wall plaza we found many families posing for Bar Mitzvah photos.

Another young family asked us to take their photo.

Nearby on Mt. Zion we visited the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, where we saw the remains of an ancient street that some say is 2,000 years old.

From the Temple Mount we drove to another holy site, Yad Vashem.

In previous visits to Yad Vashem I had never before visited the Valley of Communities, a memorial to each of the Jewish European communities that were wiped out by the Holocaust.

Back at the Old City I entered the Jaffa Gate to visit the Tower of David Museum.

It seemed like I saw a lot more people riding bicycles this visit, than ever before.

The courtyard of the Tower of David Museum, also known as the Citadel.

The Tower of David museum has a series of great exhibits illustrating the unique history of Jerusalem.

The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, and the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene on the Mount of Olives, seen from the Tower of David Museum.

While I was at the Tower of David Museum I could see some of our group on the Ramparts Walk, circling the old city atop picturesque 16th century walls.

Israeli army soldiers being photographed at the Tower of David Museum.

On the way back to the hotel I stopped at Ketef Hinnom, in back of the Menahem Begin Center, ancient graves where the silver amulet scrolls were found in an excavation in the 1970s directed by Gabriel Barkay. The silver amulet scrolls are inscribed with the priestly blessing from Numbers 6:24-26, the oldest copy of a biblical text, dating to the 7th century BC.

Final stop of the day, recently excavated Byzantine Church site at Haniya Spring.