Day 1 - Tuesday 10

Tuesday morning saw us up bright and early (5.30am !) at Belfast's City Airport for our flight to London Gatwick which took slightly over an hour. At Gatwick we were met by a representative of our Tour Company who pointed us in the right direction for our onward flight to the Holy Land. This took a little longer (5 hours) and despite some interesting aerial views of Europe and the Mediterranean most of us were glad to stretch our legs when we arrived on a sunny evening at Ben Gurion International Airport about 19 kilometres (12 miles) outside Tel Aviv. Once though passport control and baggage reclaim we were introduced to Moshe who was to be our guide during most of our pilgrimage. A 40 minute coach journey brought us up the 2,500 foot ascent to the Holy City, Jerusalem and our hotel for the next 7 nights.


Day 2 - Wednesday 11

The coach took us from our hotel to the top of the Mount of Olives and the Church of the Ascension. From here we walked down the hillside to the Church of the Pater Noster, built according to tradition, over the place where Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer to his disciples. The walls of the cloisters and passages bear tiled panels on which are printed the words of the Lord's Prayer in every known language.

 
Church of the Pater Noster

Continuing down the Palm Sunday route we reached the Franciscan Basilica of Dominus Flevit, a tear shaped chapel, which symbolises the place where Jesus wept over Jerusalem. The views of the city from here are indeed magnificent and moving. En route to the Garden of Gethsemane we passed the Russian Orthodox Mary Magdalene Church with its stunning Golden Domes.

  At the foot of the hill we reached the small area of ancient olive trees, a poignant reminder of the larger garden that would have covered much of the hillside 2,000 years ago. Also here was the Church of All Nations with its brilliant mosaic façade on the outside and cool, dark contemplative interior. Meeting up with the coach again we were taken to the opposite side of the Kidron Valley to the church of St Peter in Gallicantu, the possible site of Caiaphas's house and Peter's betrayal of our Lord.
Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

A journey by coach took us out of Jerusalem to Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity marking the place of Christ's birth. We also visited the Shepherds Field, an area that today still conveys a flavour of the sparse, hilly countryside surrounding the town. The day concluded with a visit to Ein Karem, the birthplace of John the Baptist.  
Bethlehem

  Abandoning the coach for the next two days, our guide took us on a walking tour though the Damascus Gate and around the atmospheric streets and souks of the old city of Jerusalem. We eventually reached the Western (Wailing) Wall and the Temple Mount - the site where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac and where Solomon's Temple stood. All that is visible today are remains dating from the Second Temple built by Herod the Great around 20BC. Its enormous foundations supported by four retaining walls (of which the Western Wall is one).
The Western Wall

The Temple Mount is now capped by the Moslem Dome of the Rock and next to it is the El Aqsa Mosque. Our walking tour also took in The Tomb of David and two possible sites for the Last Supper - the Coenaculum on Mount Zion and the Syrian Orthodox Church of
St Mark. 		 
The Coenaculum