Text in blue is from Don's journal or letters.

Text in black is from Mary's.

Clicking on any of the small images will open up a larger version in a new window.


Here is a satellite view of the location of the Lawrence Hotel, just north of Herod's Gate.

The Lawrence Hotel was involved in a terrorist incident in April of 1996. A would-be Hezbollah suicide bomber apparently accidentally set off his explosives in his third floor room. No one else was hurt but the bomber blew off his legs and one of his hands and blinded himself. The New York Times article described the Lawrence as "a modest 30-room establishment on Salah-a-Din Street."

The 1971-72 Global Semester, Day by Day

Thursday, September 2, 1971

We got into Tel Aviv at sunset, about 6:30 PM. Passport check was a mess. The regular guys were on strike so the police were doing it and it went slow. We finally got on the bus and got going at about 7:30 or 8:00 PM. It was a wild ride to Jerusalem. We felt like we were in the Israel Grand Prix. It was supposed to be a 2 hour trip but it only took 1-1/2 hours thanks to our driver. Our hotel is situated in the Arab part of Jerusalem, sort of between the Mandelbaum gate and Herod’s Gate. It is also near the “Garden Tomb” where some people believe Jesus was buried. Our supper, which wasn’t arranged for due to some mix-up, consisted of bread, butter, jelly, cheese, and tea and orange juice.

Friday, September 3, 1971

Breakfast was the same as last night’s supper. Only tea is free at breakfast. OJ is extra (1/2 pound = 11¢). Three meals are provided here and lunch and supper are large ones. All drinks are extra and the meat is lousy but we get enough to eat. We were told not to drink the water so we put Halozone in it for teeth brushing.

Friday was a day of sight-seeing by bus. Our guide, Joseph, is a middle-aged, short, stout, very likable Jew. He is very informed and wants us to be also.

We saw the Mandelbaum gate, the Hadassah Medical Center, the synagogue with the famous stained glass windows, the Jewish War Memorial and World War II museum, the Theodor Herzl museum, the Hebrew University campus, the museum where the Dead Sea Scrolls are kept, the model of old Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, the City of David, the Pool of Siloam, the Garden of Gethsemane, the church on the spot where Jesus ascended into heaven, the valley of Jehosophat, the King’s Garden, and the Wailing Wall.

Saturday, September 4, 1971

Walking tour of the old city of Jerusalem. Through Damascus Gate into the days of the Roman empire. The area is dark, narrow and crowded. The smell is terrible – rotten fruit or something.

We have to take our shoes off at the Dome of the Rock. Our bags are checked by soldiers at the entrance. Inside there are thick red Persian carpets, mosaic work, and a shrine over the rock.

We walked along to the different churches where the stations of the cross are. They are really unbelievable: all garbaged up with lamps and statues and gilded junk. In the afternoon we had to go back through the awful Damascus Gate again. It turned out that the Damascus Gate was mild compared to things to come. The streets we went through in the afternoon were about 5 feet wide and like a tunnel – covered with cement. The people were so thick that I was afraid I’d get lost in the crowd. We finally reached the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and were relieved – until we got inside. We got back to the hotel about 5:00 and at 6:00 we went to Evensong at St. George’s Episcopal Church. We were supposed to have an audience with the Archbishop but he broke his arm in the afternoon so couldn’t be there.

One of the hotel waiters, Sukra, took some of our group to a disco tonight.

Sunday, September 5, 1971

Today was a free day. We went to the bazaar in the old city in the afternoon and shopped.

Monday, September 6, 1971

We saw all of Israel today: up through the West Bank, Samaria,

the valley of Jezreel, Megiddo,

Nazareth, Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee,

Capernaum,

a kibbutz (supposedly the oldest in Israel),

the coastal plain, and back to Jerusalem. We ate lunch at Tiberias and some swam for a few minutes. The lunch was fruit – good apples and grapes – some kind of popover and fried fish from the Sea of Galilee (fried whole, just scaled and gutted). We must have covered at least 300 miles today and it was a hot, dusty ride. We left Jerusalem at 7:30 AM and got back at 8:00 PM.

Tuesday, September 7, 1971

This morning we went to Bethlehem. This is actually a suburb of Jerusalem. It only takes 15 minutes to get there by bus.

Another dank, musty church from the 4th century.

We slept this afternoon and packed.

Wednesday, September 8, 1971

We left the hotel at 1:00 AM and got to the Tel Aviv airport at 2:10 AM. Because of the continuing strike, all the flights were delayed and there were people sleeping all over. After an extensive and intrusive check of our persons and baggage, we finally took off at 6:15 AM.

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