After the Western Wall tunnel tour, we met Jessica, a former colleague of mine now living in Jerusalem. See her smiling face above. We met her at Lions' Gate, after avoiding an incredible traffic jam. Picture cars inches apart going in different directions with a lot of loud negotiating (e.g. yelling). After that narrow escape, we worked our way down Via Dolorosa, which by tradition is the route Jesus took from his condemnation to his crucifixion. The street leads you to perhaps the holiest church in the world - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Jessica is standing in the courtyard to the church, which is really a mix of churches. As Jessica ably explained, five different denominations uneasily coexist within the church. See that wooden ladder in the second picture? That ladder, (or its replacement) has been sitting there since the 1860s because no one knows which denomination put it there, so no one can agree to remove it. Luckily, two Muslim families are in charge of opening and closing the church every day or there would be battles about that.
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