Since we didn't have a boy in our group, we couldn't take the direct, more dangerous route. So... we wandered through the kidron valley, looking for some way to cut across, past the garden of gethsemane to find the church. Well, that process included this grand adventure:
along with a little fence-hopping, and meeting a pack of 10 wild dogs. The last encounter was definitely the most threatening!
The church of Mary Megdelene was built by Tsar Alexander III in 1888 in the traditional Russian style. The seven "onions" have been recently gilded, if you will, which make this site especially beautiful from the city.
We walked up through some gardens, and very tranquil land before reaching the entrance to the church. These signs reminded us to let go of the impulse to put a flower in our hair, and leave the plants alone:
The inside is filled with countless Orthodoz icons and many beautiful paintings. Buried here are the remains of Alexander's mother who was killed in the Russian revolution of 1917. Princess Alice of Greece (Queen Elizabeth's mother-in-law) who protected Jews in Greece is also buried here. 
Elyse was especially great this day. We had large groups of people who struggled making decisions together, and she just maintained the attitude "whatever works." And, Elyse is kind of funny sometimes too... I guess she can stick around. Oh, and she forgives me when I do mean things (details in a future post), and she helps me prepare for the GRE through her everyday vocabulary!
fyi: I sat down for about 5 hours with blogger.com, and there will consequently be a post every day this week!
3 comments:
I can certainly tell that those gileded domes would make the church much more a-peeling! Yea for five hours at blogger.com. Glad the wild dogs didn't enjoy shredded Stefanie for lunch!
Wasn't the Russian Revolution of 1917 the same as the Bolshevik Revolution upon which the movie Anastasia was written?
That is a very pretty church. Way to go Elyse for having such a "go with the flow" attitude.
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