Artimi - your comment about the cobblestones in Jerusalem remind me of exactly how I felt when I was walking the Appian Way earlier this summer. I have a nice picture looking straight down at my feet on the large stones that made up the base of the 2000 year-old road. I also couldn't help but feel a little awe at where I was...and what had come before me.
Interesting what you write about the Acropolis. I think I'd definitely feel a little loss if I wasn't able to be IN the building itself. Being able to walk through the Colosseum, and see what so many had seen long before me, made the visit quite special. The Pantheon was just magical and touched me more than any other site in Rome or Venice (as you can tell from my icon, eh?). To be in a building of such renown, that's been continuously in use for 2,000 years. 2,000! That's almost more than one can truly understand. And the space itself is just so dramatic.
I was in Israel many years ago...too young to truly appreciate what I was seeing. The Wailing Wall was unique, but much different than the image I'd expected. As I'm sure you know, the site is split because women can't pray in the same place as men. In '83, there was kind of a cheesy faux paneled wall that separated the genders. I didn't expect there to be any separation (I guess I'd never thought about it) and the divider was so incongruous with the wall itself and other surroundings. There were also military personnel all around. And coming from America, you simply don't see soldiers with machine guns protecting public spaces like that. It was jarring.
Our tour took in the Wailing Wall. There was no separate walls, people just seem to know where to go once told about the 3 areas, women, mixed, men. I didnt go up to the wall, there many people there and some having religious experiences. If there had been no crowd I would have. and yes our purses etc were checked etc. and there machines attached to people.
I envy you your visit to the Pantheon in Rome. There is something truly emotional/even spiritual about that place, even in pictures.