Trouble in the Holy Land

So I happened to get in to Jerusalem right when there were riots on Temple Mount. Go figure! What timing.

We took a tour of the city today and it included Temple Mount. Everything seemed to be calmed down from yesterday, and there was definitely a huge Israeli military presence in the area. But by and large, everything seemed to be going on quietly. The Dome of the Rock is absolutely beautiful! Unfortunately, it is only viewable from the outside for non-Moslems.

We also saw some other sights, including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is huge and so foreign from my concept of a church. It's more of a maze of structures that seem to be slapped together, each marking a holy site where some important biblical event happened. We hope to return tomorrow morning to beat the rush of tourists and pilgrims and enjoy without having to rush through it.