photos

magda tomb jesus.jpg

This is a Coptic chapel right off the back of the Tomb of Jesus

Church of the Holy Sepulcher

The shaft of light -- sign from God?

Al Aqsa Mosque

The Muslim holy sites on the Temple Mount were closed to tourists

Russ Hiking in Gamla NP

This is the location of a Roman era synagogue that was the scene of the battle between the Jews and Romans. All that is left are ruins, a great place to hike and see birds of prey.

sea of galilee.jpg

This is the view from our hotel room in Tiberias. It's way below sea level and was very hot. The sea -- which is really a lake -- has party boats on it at night. We preferred to sit on shore and drink with the lovely view...

tel aviv beach.jpg

This is the view from our room at the Dan Tel Aviv hotel. Great beach and great hotel.

russ jaffa gate.jpg

We walked part of the ramparts over the old city walls of Jerusalem. The views were average. The main religious sites like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Western Wall, or the Temple Mount are not really that visible from the ramparts.

gamla ruins.jpg

It was really hot at this location and we really did not have enough water... but we still had time to play around the ruins. Supposedly 9000 people killed themselves here rather than surrender to the Romans.

muslim christian.jpg

This photo was taken from the city walls looking toward the old city. It shows the close proximity between the world's major religions in Jerusalem.

western wall.jpg

This -- of course -- is a very holy site for Jews. It sits just below the Temple Mount.