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After leaving the Mount of Olives, we parked in an accessible parking garage at the Mamila Mall near the Tower of David. We toured the Tower of David and found it to be fairly accessible. Cobble stone-like pavers were used to help make the site more wheelchair-friendly on walks and ramps, but take it slow. The pavers are still bumpy. The Director of Tourism and PR was quite accommodating as she took on a private mini tour and shared that soon the upper levels of the Tower will be accessible via an outside elevator. Quite an impressive site and the accommodations were very much appreciated.
From the Tower we trekked over to get inside the walls of the Holy City. Not only was it surprisingly accessible, but most of the storefronts and restaurants and even holy places were, too. I found it fairly easy to push my wheelchair around inside the Holy City mostly unassisted. Being adventurous with a never say never attitude, I did venture off the beaten path with the others from time to time and although I encountered very steep small streets, alleys and even stairs, my tour mates jumped right in and either pushed or lifted me to make the inaccessible possible.
Once inside the Holy City, I was taken back in time – centuries to be precise. The original stones and wood were still in place. We walked along the Via Dolorosa – the Stations of the Cross- and entered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which can take your breath away. The church is in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem and contains two of the holiest sites in all of Christianity: Calvary, the site where Jesus was crucified, and the tomb of Jesus where he was buried and resurrected.
The Aedicula, a nineteenth century shrine, is built around the tomb and is guarded by Greek Orthodox priests, a tradition since the 12th century. There were hundreds of people waiting in line to enter the Aedicula but as soon as the Greek Orthodox priests knew I wanted to enter, they asked the line of people to wait so that I could go in. The inside is very small, literally room for just a few people, very ornate and adorned with candles and small paintings of Jesus on the walls.
The entrance to the tomb of Jesus is quite small, with literally just enough space to squeeze my wheelchair through the opening as I leaned forward to clear the short height of the entrance carved into the huge stone. Only one person at a time is permitted inside the tomb for just a couple of minutes. For me, it was a lifetime of reverence, belief and faith shooting through my body as I quietly recited the Lord’ s Prayer while my