JERUSALEM, ISRAEL'S OLD CITY (not what we expected)

From America.

Thank you very much.

Welcome all. The Messiah.

I hope I have as much energy as this guy.

You're welcome.

We're Karen Nate. We've been traveling the world full time since 2016, and we're currently in our 96th country of Israel. Last night, we took a bus from Tel Aviv to the incredible city of Jerusalem.

Wow.

I cannot believe we are finally in Jerusalem, the most religious, holy, historically significant place in the whole world.

If we're being completely honest, we've been really nervous about making this video because we know it's going to be impossible to do this city justice. A place with this much history, especially disputed history, it's just going to be impossible to scratch the surface in one day. So if you want thousands of years of history explained to you, this is not the right video. But if you want to see what you can experience as a tourist in one day in Jerusalem, let's do it.

So we started our morning here in Jerusalem at the Temple Mount because it's only open for a few hours every day, and it's one of the most holy sites in both Islam and Judaism. So it's one of the most highly contested religious sites in the world.

For the Jews, it's the area where the second Temple is built, which is the holiest temple in all of Judaism. So as far as the Jews are concerned, it's the holiest place in the entire world. And for the Muslims, it's where the Prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven, making it one of the top three holiest sites in Islam. However, the Dome of the Rock, the mosque looking building with the golden dome that sits in the middle of the Temple Mount is actually an Islamic shrine. And if you aren't Muslim, you aren't allowed to enter or go inside.

And what's interesting is even though it's the most holy site in all of Judaism, the Jews actually aren't allowed to pray or worship there.

So the Western wall used to surround the Temple Mount and now there's just a small section of it left. And since the Jews aren't allowed to pray inside the Temple Mount, this is the closest they can get where they're allowed to worship.

You can either stand up here and observe from these platforms like we're doing, or you can go inside and actually go touch the wall or pray or write a letter, as long as the men have their heads covered and the women are dressed modest.

So the men and the women are separated as far as where they're allowed to pray on the wall. So Kara and I both just went Our separate ways, went down and touched the walls and just experienced what was going on down there. And apparently we had very different experiences.

The women are all very serious, and many of them are crying.

Praying, like they have their children in there with them. There are a few people, like, texting and taking selfies. I don't know if they're tourists or not, but it's a very quiet, serious vibe.

I mean, like, the men are rocking and praying, but there's no weeping. Kara came back and said, I just, like, felt weird being down there with everybody crying. I was like, what are you talking about?

I mean, it's pretty incredible that, like, the most significant place to pray in the Jewish religion, like, anybody can just go down there and be a part of it. In addition to praying and reading at the Western Wall, it's just traditional to write down a prayer and stick it in the crack, and you can write it on anything. A bubble gum wrapper, a receipt, notebook paper, and anyone can do it, but it's against the Jewish law to throw any of them away. So we were wondering how we weren't just waist deep in paper. And then we saw people sweeping them up and putting them in trash bags. But we learned that they're not actually throwing them away. They're taking them to the Mount of Olives to be buried in the Jewish cemetery.

Another thing that was pretty fascinating was the contrast between last night and then, like, today, in the middle of the day when all the tourists are there. The hotel that we're staying at is actually inside of the old city walls, and it's only about 100 meters away from the Western Wall. So as soon as we checked in last night, we went over there, and it felt like we were the only people there who weren't wearing, like, the full Orthodox Jewish outfit. It felt like a much more authentic experience in the evening.

Now we're on our way to the Lions Gate. The city is a lot of fun to walk around, and it just feels like you're walking through history, but it is not easy to navigate. It's just made up of all these, like, little corridors, and then, like, you'll be in this huge horde of tourists, and then the next minute, like, you're all alone. I'm not even sure we're going the right way.

The best falafel in town.

This for you in Jerusalem.

Oh, yeah.

Wow. This is amazing.

Thank you.

So this morning I got a message on Instagram, and somebody said, you have to go get falafel from the sky with a picture of this man making falafel. And we just walked by this stand, and first we're like, oh, this smells really good. And we looked over, and I said, I think that's the guy that I saw a picture of this morning. So.

Apparently he's a popular guy. They look amazing. He gave everyone in line a sample of his falafel. It really is so good.

What do you think?

Are these the best in town?

100 dozen for falafel. The old city here. And he is the best man out.

Of all 100 people who make Blob Lair. He's the best.

And cheap price. And all the time, he's happy. He's very happy. And smiling.

Sorry. Incredible. So many flavors going on at the same time, but it's beautiful. Roasted vegetables, fries, pickles, salads, spicy sauce, tahini, a little bit of hummus. And the hottest, crunchiest, most savory falafel I've ever had. I'm glad we took this road. We've been talked into going into his shop.

He's Abu Karimi. He's the best fan of the.

So he makes the best juice.

Yes.

He makes the best falafel.

Yes.

They are a cousin.

Best juice guy is the cousin of the best falafel guy. That makes sense. What is your name?

My name is Adam.

Adam.

Yes. My name is Kara K. And your name?

Nate.

Nate.

Nate.

Nate.

Yes.

You're welcome.

All the bit.

It's like a mango slushy from America.

Thank you very much.

Welcome, all. The Messiah.

So if you want to find the falafel guy, you have to make your way over to the Muslim quarter. The old city is actually divided up into four different quarters. So we left the Jewish quarter when we were leaving the Western Wall, we made our way into the Muslim quarter. And then there's also a Christian quarter and an Armenian quarter.

So we've just entered the Lion's Gate, which is one of the entrances to the old city. But the reason that we've come here and the reason that this specific gate is significant is because it's the start of the Via Dolorosa, which translates to the way of sorrow. Because the Christians believe that this was the road that Jesus walked down carrying his cross on the way to his crucifixion.

So as Christians, this is definitely the most serene, real moment of being in Jerusalem so far. Growing up, reading the Bible, hearing the stories of Jesus, and literally walking the same road that he walked on the way to his crucifixion is just really hard to, like, take in.

Yeah, it's definitely a heavy feeling here. But at the same time, this road just kind of seems like any other road. Like, if you didn't know, they're selling sunglasses and souvenirs. And it just shows how complicated things really are here. Because as we've been walking down this road, we've been listening to the Islamic call of prayer.

At the same time. Like, almost getting run over by a.

Golf cart really helps you take it all in. I mean, it is. It's just another road in the old city.

And there are a few signs, and, like, we looked up, like, a walking guide that shows there are, like, 15 stops that are really significant and in the New Testament. And so we've, like, gone in a few of them. But.

At this point, Jesus lost his footing and he fell and caught himself on this part of the wall. So everybody comes and touches the stone. It's nice and smooth now.

So the road ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and it's a little bit of a mad house. This is probably the most sacred site in the Christian religion because there are two very important things housed inside.

And we are going to do our best to get inside.

I don't see a clear path.

No.

This is crazy.

Here we go.

This is crazy. We're trying to get to the spot where Jesus was nailed to the cross and crucified, but I can't even see it. There's so many people.

I feel like this is supposed to be a really spiritual experience, but for some reason, I'm just having trouble, like, being in the moment, breathing, enjoying it.

It's very hot up here as well. Smelling a lot of things, touching a lot of people right now. Not quite how I pictured this experience.

So you crawl into this little box to see the hole where the cross was set, which is a pretty. Pretty incredible experience, but it's also extremely unorganized. It was finally a guy with a beard who came and started telling everybody, two seconds, no photo. And we made it up there.

We've heard that this place opens at sunrise, so that might have been a more pleasant time to come.

This is one of those places that it's worth getting up early to come to.

This is chaos.

So after Jesus was crucified, they laid him on this stone and anointed him with oils and wrapped him in linen.

So a lot of people are bringing cloths that are soaked in oil and rubbing them on this rock. So it's very oily. People are also praying. I've seen Some scriptures written down and some prayers. We're not really sure why people rub it with cloth, but we'll see. I think we're getting out of here.

We found a road with no people on it.

This is one of those times, like all of a sudden it's just us.

Freedom.

In five minutes, we're gonna be swallowed by a tour group.

Again, we're attempting to get away from the crowds. We're gonna exit the city and head to the Mount of Olives because we've heard it's the best place in town to watch the sunset, but it's gonna be close.

Google Maps did not take into account our religion. And we tried to go the way it told us to go, that was the fastest. And they told us we couldn't go that way because of the warm up. Taking the long way. Gotta run. That's where we're going. It's already golden.

Well, we didn't quite make it to the very top of the Mount of Olives. We decided to stop before we missed the sunset. But it was so beautiful sitting behind Jerusalem. Now the lights are turning on. It's gorgeous up here.

110% worth the walk. Like, if you're, if you're in Jerusalem, you should be here at sunset for sure.

And the Mount of Olives got its name because it used to be covered in olive trees, but now it has over 150,000 Jewish graves.

If you're a Jew, this is the place to be buried. Because they believe that when the Messiah comes, the graves that are facing Jerusalem will be the ones to be resurrected first. And it also has a lot of Christian significance as well. But, like, the very apparent significance when you're looking at the mountain is it's just completely covered in graves. Wow.

Everything you thought it would be.

I mean, it's hard to believe that we're looking over the city of Jerusalem right now. Jerusalem. Like, we've been to so many places that I'd never even heard of my whole life. But, like, Jerusalem is somewhere that I've heard of since I was, since I could read.

It's just crazy. And I'm looking at it right now like, I'll never be the same. I'll never read the Bible the same. I'll never look at history the same.

I went through, like, very mixed emotions throughout the day. Like, in one moment I would be like, I cannot believe I'm standing right here. This is like the coolest thing. And then the next moment I'd be surrounded by a massive group of tourists.

Getting Hit in the face with selfie sticks.

I mean, I can't blame people for wanting to tour the cities. It's not that.

It's.

It does just kind of make it feel different.

It's. I just feel like there's no way we. We properly captured this city.

And it was like. It was an emotionally exact, exhausting day, both from, like, trying to, like, soak in the significance of the place that you're in and then also attempting to, like, factually present history as viewed from multiple different religions.

I think we would need, like a month here and, like, 30 vlogs to even start to capture this place.

And we are not the right people to do that.

But it is an incredible place.

And.

It'S one of the most holy sites in both. You do a I to a city with so much history, especially a city.

We'Re looking out over onto the I. I don't feel like I'm saying too many words out over. Like. That doesn't make sense. So the western wall used to surround. Is that too loud? Above him.

Apparently he makes them with a lot of love. That's why they taste the best.

Cafe.

Turkey. Turkey, yes.

Mango.

Mango. That sounds good. Spicy.

Two mango.

Two mango.

What a character. This is a great little corner.

Amazing.

Mango.

Welcome.

Honestly, didn't even want a mango juice. This guy was just so nice, and he let us sit at this table.

Thank you.

How many days you are here?

Two days.

Tomorrow you are leaving the next day.

Okay.

You come every day.

Dinner. Dinner, breakfast.

It is amazing.

What I'm trying to think of it as is compared to the suffering that Jesus went through, that was nothing.

That seems almost blasphemous. So the Mount of Olive got its olive. There was one sitting on top of the mountain, and that's how it's named. The Mount of Olives. I want to say Olive again. The Mount of Olives got its name because they.

It's the holiest city of two of the largest religions in the world.

3.

I don't think Judaism is one of the largest. I think there's only like 14,000 Jews. Probably Buddhism. Hinduism.

Stay like that anyway.