We are here! However, it is Shabbat and most everything Jewish is closed today. We decided to just follow our noses. We started at the Jaffa gate and walked...and walked and walked! There was a huge difference between the merchants in the Moslem quarter and those in he Christian one. Many of the same touristy stuff, they were all very friendly and wanted "just to show us their shop....free to look...", but the Armenians were significantly less aggressive, and there was a lot less crowds. This picture was taken in the Armenian quarter fairly early in the morning. We visited Christ Church Anglican, which is supposed to be the oldest Protestant church in the Middle East. We will probably go back there in the morning for Communion. 
We also went to the church of the Holy Sepulchre. There were hundreds of people there, many wanting to touch the stone of unction on which Jesus was said to have been anointed by Nicodemus; or to get a brief look into the Chapel of the Angels and the Holy Sepulchre. But even with the crowds, there was a great peace about the place. Mary and I sat in one of the chapels for a few minutes, and you could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. At noon the sun shines through the roof onto the Chapel of the Angels. It made for a really cool picture! 
The frescoes and architecture were also amazing. People have been building, maintaining, praying, and giving glory to God in these structures for almost 1700 years! I don't think that it really matters whether this was the actual site of the crusifixion and burial...or the garden tomb was. The geography isn't important. Jesus died within a few hundred metres of here...for my sins....that is the thing that everyone who comes to this place gets to sooner or later.
We are tired and hot, but it has been a wonderful day....thank you Jesus!
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