Monday, May 7 -- Israel

After an early breakfast, we drove to the Mount of Olives and visited the Garden of Gethsemane. One of the olive trees there is thought to be about 2000 years old, so could have been there when Jesus was taken prisoner from there. Next to the garden is the Church of All Nations (Basilica of the Agony) with wonderful mosaics. The Rock where Jesus prayed is in front of the altar. Next we drove to Bethlehem, in Palestine. The wall, the checkpoint -- all the evidence of the uneasy situation. But Moshe was able to stay with us and he was even able to get us to the front of the line in the Church of the Nativity to see the grotto where Jesus was born. We still waited nearly an hour before we could enter. It is down a flight of steep slippery stone steps and we had to crouch to get near the manger area. When we came up from there, we went around and back down to another part of the same grotto, where a later scholar worked on a direct translation from the original languages of the scriptures to Latin. We next visited a very classy souvenir shop in Bethlehem. There were lovely things to be had and most people bought at least a few. Interesting to see local handicrafts, including carvings and silver, gold jewellery as well as icons, huge decorative religious items and so on. From there we moved to a restaurant, still in Bethlehem, where we enjoyed a very good meal. After lunch we went back through the checkpoint -- much more stringent, including an inspection of all our passports by armed Israeli guards. The graffiti on the Palestinian side reflects high feelings. Back in Jerusalem we drove to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where we visited the site of Calvary, of the preparation of Jesus' body for burial and the tomb. It was crowded, confusing and hot in there to say nothing of the various climbs up and down worn, slippery steep stone steps. From there we passed through narrow cobbled streets and alleys of bazaars and tightly-packed dwellings, more or less along the Via Dolorosa, eventually arriving at the Western Wall again. Today it was much more crowded, and troops of young Israeli Army recruits were there awaiting their swearing-in. I wanted to tuck a prayer into the wall, so I made my way forward, found a crack and tucked it in. That was an extremely moving experience. When we left the Western Wall it was time to return to our ship, which had moved from Haifa to Ashdod. Then a beer, late dinner, a Motown show in the cabaret, and bed.

Photos 7 May