Monday, April 17, 2023

Sunday April 16 - Israel/ Palestine

I feel woefully unprepared for the Holy Land tour.  Today was Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  
The first stop was to visit the king: 👑
The Elvis rest stop was one of many surprises in the day 
We went to Bethlehem first which is in the Palestinian area.
The Church of the Nativity 
In the grotto under the church is the star that marks the place where Jesus was supposedly born. The term manger was explained to us as really being the first floor of the house or where the animals lived because there was no room in the second floor of the house where the people stayed for Mary and Joseph
The church of the nativity in Bethlehem. Birthplace of Jesus. wiki
Our tour guide for Bethlehem was an orthodox Christian girl who grew up in the area and whose family went to the church of the nativity.  It was interesting to hear her describe the ceremonies and the rituals that occur around the holidays at the church.
Back on the bus and through the checkpoint down to the old city of Jerusalem we parked near the Tanner's gate to enter the old city

 our first stop was the western wall
After our visit to the wall we walk into the via dolorosa to walk the path of Jesus 

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