twenty2.

I celebrated my 22nd birthday on March 18th!  I woke up for the first time in our new home on my birthday and spent the morning at work rocking sweet baby Kathryn.  When I came home, Patrick had all kinds of goodies for me including a few plants, a birthday sign, and almost everything moved into our new home!  Patrick and I had wanted to find a Mediterranean restaurant close by- reminding us of our trip to Israel!  We went to {Terra Mediterranean Grill} on West 7th in Fort Worth for my birthday dinner.  We LOVED the restaurant and the entire West 7th area!  We are going to try {Fireside Pies} next time we go!

{Paciugo Gelato} followed the deliciously fresh meal at Terra and was equally wonderful.

The next night Patrick took me to a Josh Turner at the crazy Billy Bob's Honkytonk.  Josh Turner was great and Billy Bob's was packed and wild, but we had a blast!   What a special birthday!

Knesset

Below is Knesset, an important Israeli government building.  The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.

 This was our final stop before the "farewell" dinner and the airport.  We were all getting hungry and a little over the site-seeing... so unfortunately I can't tell you much about this place.  Below is a sculpture of the Menorah.  Click {here} for more information about this sculpture that was donated to Knesset.

wandering the streets of Jerusalem

Room of the Last Supper

The Upper Room is called the Cenacle which is a derivative of the Latin word cena, meaning dinner.  The Cenacle was the site of the Last Supper and most likely where the Apostles stayed in Jerusalem starting the Church.

Mark 14:12-17

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?"  And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?" 

"And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there." 

The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.  When it was evening He came with the twelve.

Acts 1:12-14

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.  When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.  These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu

Just outside the city of Jerusalem, the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu is located on the eastern slope of Mount Zion.  This church commemorates Peter's denial of Christ, his repentance, and his reconciliation with Christ after the Resurrection. 

Beautiful gardens surround the church and a golden rooster sits atop a black cross on the roof.  Galli-cantu actually means "cockcrow" in Latin referring to Matthew 26:34:

"Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you that this very night, 

before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times."

All four Gospels note Peter's denial and three of the Gospels also record his bitter tears of remorse in the courtyard of the high priest Caiaphas.  The Church of St. Peter was built over the ruins of a Byzantine basilica, which is believed to be on the site of the Caiaphas' house.

Matthew 26:69-75

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, "You too were with Jesus the Galilean."  But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you are talking about."  When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth."  And again he denied it with an oath, "I do not know the man."  A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away."  Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know the man!" And immediately a rooster crowed.  And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, "Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

There is a dungeon underneath the church where many believe Jesus was detained the night before he was crucified.  The prisoner's cell was shaped out of bedrock and the guardroom contains fixtures to attach prisoners' chains to the wall.  As you can see in the picture below, holes in the stone would have been used to hold a prisoner's hands and feet while he was flogged.  The prisoner would have been lowered/raised into the cell through a shaft above by using a rope harness.  There is a mosaic on the side of the church that depicts Jesus in this type of harness.