A great day of learning

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It was a great day--everything I saw was new!
Well, it was all ancient, but it was new to me.

First there was free admission (for International Museum Day) at the Bible Lands Museum.
Then at 4 p.m. I took a guided tour outside of Jerusalem, part of Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi's 3-day marathon of 120 tours.
Our bus took us to the Inn of the Good Samaritan and to Martyrius Monastery.
More on those in the coming days!

The ruins of the monastery are in the middle of a city of 39,000 Jewish Israelis.
The young city of Ma'ale Adumim is just 7 kilometers east of Jerusalem but all around it is desert, the Judean Desert.
Just before 7 p.m. the last rays of sun illuminated its white buildings high on the hill.

Less than 10 minutes later we passed this Palestinian village.
The green lights on the mosque's minaret, to the left, were already shining in the dusk.
For a good look, click on the photo, then click again on the image that opens up.
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I thought the layers of colors in the desert sky would be nice for SkyWatch Friday meme.
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(More about Ma'ale Adumim at the website of a resident and at Wikipedia.
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