The ride to Jerusalem takes about two hours. Our first stop was at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. We got to see the rock slab where they laid Jesus after he was taken down from the cross. We walked along the Via Dolorosa which is a shopping street in the old town. As we walked we visited the stations of the cross.
When we entered the area, we passed this modern mall.
A view of the city.
Outside the Church of the Sepulchre.
The shopping area by the Church. This is both Muslem and Jewish.
The walk to the Church.
Outside the Church.
More of the outside.
This is the slab that they say Jesus was laid on after he died. Many people come and kneel before the slab and kiss it.
The Mosaic by the slab. The following three pictures are the complete mosaic. This section is them taking Jesus down from the cross.
The mosaic. Then this one is of them preparing the body for his entrance into the cave.
They tell the story of the killing of Jesus. And this is them placing Jesus into the cave itself.
We then walked the stations of the cross. For those who don't know, the stations of the cross are places where they say Jesus stopped along the route to the his death.
The outside of the Church.
And along the walk, we passed the markets.
Where they sell everything.
Station number 7.
And station number 10.
This is where they say Jesus placed his hands on the wall as he carried the cross up to the mount.
We visited stopped at the Western Wall where the men pray on one side and the women on the other. From this spot you can see the Dome of the Rock Church.
The Western Wall or Wailing Wall.
This is the side for the ladies. Some ladies sit at the wall and pray while others just stand.
And the men's side. All the men must cover their heads. They provide skull caps if you don't have something for your head.
These are all boys from the local school.
And the Gold Dome.
Next we stopped at the Church of all Nations and the Garden of Gethsemane.
One very old olive tree here in the Garden.
Inside the church a mass was going on.
We drove up to Mt. Olives for a photo stop. And then to lunch at a local hotel.
After lunch we drove to Bethlehem. Bethlehem is Palestine so we had to get a local guide to continue with the tour. He we visited the Church of the Nativity and the cave where Jesus was born. Yes, a cave. All these years we have been told it was in a stable but in reality it was a cave. We only got to view the cave through a hole in one door as the line to the actual cave was long. We saw it from the cave where they kept the animals. Or so they say.
Overview of Bethlehem.
The Church of the Navitity.
This is the cave next to the one where Jesus was born. The line to enter that cave was too long for our tour. You do get to peek into the cave but that is it.
The last place we stopped at was a shopping stop. Here we were able to purchase some gifts for the folks back home.
Then a long ride back to the ship.
Dressed for dinner and for the first time on this entire trip, we had no cocktail before dinner. We had gotten home late so that was the reason. Then to bed as we were tired.
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