Jerusalem & Bethlehem

At the 3.00am in the morning the Israeli Fighter jets or the equell of this started flight training, which woke me up and they were just oging round and round I think before the commercial airlines stated to fly. I had done a load of washing the previous night, and that had not finished till 11.00pm. So after I hung that to dry out on the balcony then being woken up by the planes my beauty sleep was really hard done by.

But bright eyes and bushy tailed Marita and me half pie awake took off to the meeting place earlier than we meant too, and off we went to Jerusalem. My perception of Israel had been that it was going to be brown, dry, dusty and not very well off. Well the truth be told it was mostly Green even thought it is summer now, full of agriculture fields as far as the eye can see with crops such as corn, vegies, grapes etc. dry and dusty The per capita income in this country must be high ( which we looked up later and it was th 16th highest in the world per Nov 2022 stats well before NZ and Germany) going by the high rise buildings already in existance and being built, the restaurants and cafes that are full this news is no surprise. We were told that the education was very good and so was the Infrastructure well maintained etc.

Came in to Jerusalem at around 9.00 am in the morning was like entering anyother capital in the world, meaning all the roads were blocked. Luckily buses have a seperate lane. Jerusalem is on a hill, so first we stopped at a cafe/ rest room where we got a fantastic view of Jerusalem. In the bibble Jesus has a look at Jerusalem at one point and cries over it obstinence, sure the view Jesus had in its time is totally different to the view in front of me today, but you do under stand the terrains. Interesting fact Telaviv which I thought was very highly populated had half a Million people, but Jerusalem on the other hand has one Million.

After that we made our way to the Western wall, (The Wailing wall) and to think that this was over 2000 years old WOW!!!, the mind boggles. Jewish cleaning rights are that you wash each hand 3 times and then proceed to the wall. you have note paper to write on, then insert those notes in the cravices of the rocks. once you have touched the wall and prayed you do not turn your back to the wall, you come back facing the wall. Some people have got their chairs right by the wall praying, some are lamenting, some are seated scattered around the area. The females have one side of the wall, and the men are on the other side. The reason the wall is so important to Jewish, Muslims and Chritians alike is that this was the place the first ever permant resting place for the Arch of the Covenent and was built by King Davids son King Solomon. God did not want king David buiding it, as he had blood on his hands, so the resting place for the arch of the covenant was to be built by the son.

After that we made our way up the Via Dolarosa. The way was lined with shops on wither side, we were taken to a tourist souvenir shop and fed some garbage naunsence about how they were authenticated dealers in coins whih were scarece among other things, but this shop seemed to have a truck load of these coins. mmmm......... then it cant be scarece huh!!!. I looked at getting Shanalee a star of bethleham pendant which also turner to Mary's crown and was told they had a 50% sale it was now down to $240.00, but in Bethlehem I saw it and asked the price and it was $98.00 down to $90.00. Good job I did not buy it in Jeruslaem. In case your wondering miss James I did not buy it in Bethlehem either. didnt think you would wear it.

After that we went into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The annointing stone is there as you enter, this is where Jesus was taken down from the cross and washed and cleaned and prepared for his buriel. From there you could stand in que to go to the tomb of Jesus, but Marita was not interested as there was a long que, and I could do it when I was on my own next week. We then went to the true cross of Jesus, and Golgatha. Here too there was a que, I will do it next time. I had read in Fr James Martin's book about booking with the Franciscans to stay the night at the Holy Sepulchre. Found out where to do that and got my name in to stay there on the 17th of June. One item on the to do list ticked.

Then we went off to Bethlehem. Crossing over to Palestine had been a concern, but no issues as we're in a tour group bus. Entering Bethleham there are some drawings done by Banksy. Very poignant the dove holding a olive branch in an iron vest, a man throwing a bunch of flowers towards Israel, instead of a molotov cocktail.

Lunch at a hotel restaurant in Bethleham, then to the Church of the Nativity. No ques we were very lucky. We were going to see the birth place of Jesus. We went off to the catholic church in the nativity church complex. It also has the orthodox church. You enter the complex through the humility door, where the door is small you have to kneel or bow down to show respect to our lord. Then you have the Armenian church, and finally the catholic church. Due to this 3 churches, Christmas is celebrated 3 times each year.

Catholics on the 24th December night, Otthodox on the 6th of January and the Armenians on the 16th of January.

We had a lovely Jewish young guide from Tel Aviv to Palestine,in Palestine we had a new Guide by the name of Marion, then when we left Bethleham the original guide took over again. His name was Itamar. Hoping to meet Marion when I hope back to Bethlehem next week.

It was a very long day, as the trip home should have been around 1.5 hours, but it took 3.5 hours. This because Guns & Rose's were playing in TA.

We then went off for dinner and a drink, came home feeling very tired, but having enjoyed our day.もっと詳しく