"I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked..." - the Via Dolorosa

(pictures will follow, I promise) Stop #2 - the Via Dolorosa I got some quick directions and headed to the Via Dolorosa - or "Path of Sorrows" - one of the most important sites to Christians. It was ALL uphill and was a MILLION, JILLION stairs. I did a lot of resting. LOL It's also not easy to maneuver because it seriously is still just as tight, just as small as when Jesus was alive. No cars can even fit on the Via Dolorosa - I have a hard time imagining donkeys, camels, and such there. On the Via Dolorosa, there are 14 stops. Each stop has a Biblical significance that can be corroborated by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Here are the stops: #1 - Jesus is condemned at the place which is now called Madrasa el-Omariyya. #2 - Jesus takes up His cross after being beaten and crowned with thorns, and can be located at the Franciscan Monestary of the Flagellation. #3 - Jesus fell under the weight of the cross for the first time, and you see a chapel. #4 - Jesus meets Mary, his mother, on the road, and you can find this at the Armenian Church of Our Lady of the Spasm. #5 - Simon of Cyrene is ordered to help Jesus carry the cross here. #6 - Veronica wipes away Jesus' blood and sweat at this point. #7 - Jesus falls for the second time, and this can be found at a Roman column in a Franciscan Chapel. #8 - Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem that are crying over Him, and you find the Greek Orthodox Monastary. #9 - Jesus fell for the third time, and you will find an Ethiopian Monastery with a Roman column. #10 - Jesus is stripped of his clothes. The other 4 I will discuss later. As you walk, you totally get it - and take it from me - NO MOVIE has done that walk correctly. It is rugged, uphill, tight around the corners. In the movies, it is flat and on a slight incline. Wrong... all wrong. I think it was more incredible a thought that after being beaten, He could have carried anything at all. And if the cross was as large as the picture we have been painted, there's no way He could have made it easily. Another thought crossed my mind - there's no shade (and I have the burn to prove it). He would have been in full, burning sun the entire time. It's an incredible feeling to locate and follow that road. Numbers 11, 12, 13, and 14 happened at my next stop.