We left at 8:30 again today, with our first stop being the Haas Promenade lookout to see the city from the south. Flocks of tourists again. We headed further south to Herodium, a man-made mountain fortress built by Herod the Great in 30s BC, and where he was buried. This is quite close to Bethlehem which was our ultimate destination. We had to leave our Israeli guide along the way as he is not allowed in the West Bank.
Our new guide George took us to a shop full of woodwork and other souvenirs. I bought and Kath will get a parcel. Then we went to the Church of the Nativity, which is 3 in 1. Unfortunately for us it is undergoing restoration
inside and there was scaffolding everywhere. An Armenian Mass was going on in their section and there was a small crowd. Still we made it down into the grotto underneath which is traditionally the birth place of Jesus. We had just finished looking around the R.C. church when they closed it for a service, so our timing was good.
We went back to the bus and off to the Shepherds' Field, where there is a chapel, a cave church and some ruins. Then we had lunch and came back to the hotel about 15:00. David jarred his knee as we left the bus so while everyone else went wandering and shopping we spent the afternoon doing nothing.
One of our leaders has been learning Hebrew on the Internet and tonight someone from the school came to the hotel and gave us a 45min lesson in saying "I am Kay. Pleased to meet you." etc. It was fun, but we won't be enrolling.
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