We stopped for a quick picture of the rock commemorating the lowest place on Earth and Mark saw a camel and asked if he could ride it. Now when our guide announces a quick stop he says, no camel rides.
Model of Masada. A fortress built by Herod the great. He only used it for 15 days. Later used by the
Jewish zealots for 2 years holding off the Roman army. It did not end well.
Our wonderful Palestinian Christian tour guide, Mike.
It's a long way down.
Baths with heated water
I really enjoyed the tour here. It is really hard to imagine building this and even harder to imagine the suicide of over 300 people.
Stopping for shopping. Mark blowing a shofar.
A very beautiful but very expensive olive wood nativity. $80,000.00
Waiting to get into the Church of the Nativity. There were so many people.
Lots of restoration work in the church. There are 3 churches here over the traditional site of the birth and the manger, the Catholics, the Amenian and the Greek Orthodox. We got to go to the exit and work our way down. It was so crowded and people were pushy and cranky. It was hot and it was claustrophobic, but I went down to the grotto anyway. I hope Mary and Joseph had a little more privacy when they were there.
One of my favorite moments from the trip. Blair talking about Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus. We sang Silent Night together and didn't mind the crowds.
After dinner we went to the West Wall or Wailing Wall. It was the start of Shabat and people came to pray and celebrate. It was quite interesting. The men and women are separated. There was one woman wailing like I have never heard. She was in so much pain. Most were not so dramatic. I climbed up on a chair to watch the men's side because it was more interesting. Mark noticed me and motioned for me to get down, but I didn't.
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