Fourth Day of Touring

Today was a very full day with lots of walking. Marian & I headed down to breakfast at 6am. I think the food and selections are better here at the Olive Tree Hotel.

Our first stop was a shop where high quality olive wood products are made and sold in Bethlehem. They also sell jewelry there. Although everything was of high quality, it was also expensive even with the 15% to 25% discount. I ended up buying two small olive wood necklaces (w/o chains). The two cost me $2. I think we spent well over an hour there. I would have liked to have spent more time at the sights.

Our next step was the Church of the Nativity. Currently the church is in the midst of major restorations. During the restorations Some mosaics on the walls were discovered. These mosaics are made of gold leaf and small fragments of glass called tessera. The ones we could see were beautiful. The line to see the place where Jesus was born was very long and moved very slowly (it took us almost an hour to get through the line). The long wait and jostling was beginning to wear on everyone's nerves. But then you were seeing and touching the spot and nothing else mattered. It was a deeply emotional experience for all of us on our bus. Many of the people were brought to tears. Although I didn't cry, I was surprised at how deeply I was affected. After that are looked at some more of the restoration.

From there we went to lunch and then went to the Shepherd's field where the shepherds heard the good news of Jesus' birth. There is a church on the property. Visiting these two sites will broaden how I experience Christmas and the images that will come to mind when I think about the birth of Christ.

From there we drove to Mt. Zion to see the Upper Room and the house of Caiaphas. The original building that housed the upper room was destroyed. It was replaced by another church. The original upper and the house of Caiaphas were in the same area. Jesus would have walked down the same path to get to the Garden of Gethsemane freely that he walked backup in chains. In Caiaphas' house we saw the jail Jesus was lowered into before he appeared before Pilot.

When we returned to the hotel, we had a little more than 15 minutes to change cloths legit ready to leave for our dinnerina Christian home. There was a long line to get on the elevator. I thought it would be quicker to take the stairs. It was quicker to take the stairs, but since we are on the 8th floor, it was anything but easy. Marian switched to an elevator on the 4th floor, but stubborn me continued onto the 8th floor.

109 members of the tour had dinner with 22 families. Marian, Pat, Janie and I had dinner together with one of the families. The dinner with the family was a wonderful experience. We met the wife, mother, 2 daughters (one married and one engaged), a son-in-law, a frience and the granddaughter. The food was very good and the conversation very informative. The family is a Christian Palestinian family. It was enlightening to hear them describe life for them. I really enjoyed this dinner experience.

All in all the day was great. I just wish I had not felt so rushed to get to the dinner.Read more