Slept in a bit this morning and then toured "Christ's Tomb" which is the other reported spot of his crucifiction and resurrection. Its a lovely garden once believed to have belonged to Joseph of Arimithea. After that I wandered on to yet another tomb, the tomb of the Virgin Mary, which is really quite lovely and sits at the base of the Mount Of Olives. I then proceeded to walk up the Mount of Olives, which is quite steep but very beautiful and well worth the trek up, even in the heat of the day. The olive trees are magnificent and the views of the Old City are amazing. I will try and post pics if my laptop allows. THere is also a large Jewish cemetary to the right, where its rumoured that Oskar Schindler is buried.
At this point I decided to head back to Damascus gate to catch the 21 bus to Bethelem. Its quite easy, only a 20 min ride or so and getting in was no issue, its just getting out that can be problematic if you are not a tourist.
This was by far one of my favorite places. The Palestenian people are wonderful and I loved just wandering the streets of Bethlehem as the afternoon sun set in over the century old buildings. I eventually made it to the Church of the Nativity and then the Church of the Grotto. I had to take a cab though to Shepards Field, which is lovely garden about 2 km east.
The gray security wall is quite depressing and the security checkpoint, cold and oddly automated.
After taking my bus back into Jerusalem I bought some fresh veggies and some hummus for dinner.
All for now, heading to the Dead Sea tomororw then to Tel Aviv!
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