farewell from Israel

It is hard to believe that is was out last day and night in Israel. The 2 weeks have gone so quickly and we have seen so much. I know almost everyone is thinking that one day they will return as this land has touched our life and hearts in a way that you can only relate to once you have been here.
We had an early start to the day with wake up call at 6am, and leaving the hotel at 730am for our drive to the old city to see the dome of the rock. This is the traditional site believed to be where Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed. The muslims have built their temple on this site, and this piece of land has been fought over many times over the years. There is so much history and politicals involved in this city that for me it is hard to keep it all straight. From here we walked to the Davidson center that shows us how Jerusalem and the city walls were back before the time of Jesus and while Jesus was on earth. Very interesting. Then we walked to the southern wall and sat on some of the original steps that date back to when Jesus would have walked going up to the temple. These steps are one of 6 places that archeologists can say for sure are the exact steps leading to the temple. We then walked across the street to an active dig where they have found the city of David. Even as we were there they were removing more of the dirt. We then walked down to the pool of Shilom where the blind man was healed. We weren't able to go through Hezekiah's tunnel as it was too cold but again were able to see some new excavations. We then went to have lunch and have a view of Bethlehem, then continued on to see a scale model of the city of Jerusalem dating back to 70BC, and a walk through the museum holding the dead sea scrolls. We finished the day of touring at the garden tomb where Christians believe is the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. We were able to sing some songs and have communion. Another emotion spot. We drove back to our hotel to freshen up, then left for our farewell dinner at a great restaurant. Another great 4 course meal. A couple of thank you speeches, a funny song composed by a few in the group thanking Roni our guide and Simone our bus driver we returned to our hotel for an early night as our wake up call is at 240AM tomorrow. I really wanted to upload some pictures, but I'm sorry but I also need to get to bed. Once we get home I will post some final pictures of our final days.
Our flight leaves Tel Aviv at 725 am to London where we have approx 5 hrs before we catch our flight to Vancouver. We have heard the weather is turning cold back home so we enjoyed the warm sun today, although this evening was also very chilly.
So with mixed emotions it is time to say gooodbye to Israel. I know your family and friends will have many stories to tell and perhaps inspire some of you to one day travel to this wonderful place.
I hope you have all enjoyed following our days. This is only been a glimpse of what we did and saw and I know I missed some places we visited and I probably have some things mixed up but it did keep you in touch with our progress.
This will be the last contact we have with you until we see you back home.
Good night and God Bless.
Glenda