I didn’t take many pictures in Israel. My attention was focused on trying to grasp what life is like there and how it came to be that way. I have never experienced information overload like I did each day I was there. At night I would collapse into bed mentally exhausted, asleep before my head hit the pillow.

The streets of old Jerusalem

The Dome of the Rock, Islam’s third holiest site

A deep gorge near the dead sea

The Western Wall, the holiest site of Judaism

The tomb of Jesus, reputed to contain the body of Christ

A girl lights a candle in the church of the holy sepulchar

Looking up from the tomb of Jesus

Devout Jews pray at the western wall

The view from the Austrian Hostel

Valerie enjoying the view

In the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth

Also some of the most buoyant water on earth, ages of evaporation have led to incredibly high salt content