Day 8: Walking the Old City

Today started with an early rise and walk the to Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Sunday morning Mass @ 6.30am in Latin! It was sung and quite moving and surprisingly quick (45mins)! Obviously a very busy place on a Sunday, with other denominations competing for time and space. Nonetheless, not many about at that early hour, so we were able to enjoy a good look around.

We then returned to Ecce Homo for breakfast, and then we for a walk to the Mount of Olives. Here we came across by accident the tomb of Mary, during an Orthodox service. Next to which was the Garden of Gethsemane, which contains the place Judas betrays Christ. The remaining garden is now quite small, but contains a few olive trees. 3 of which have been scientifically dated to be over 2000 year old. Perhaps they witnessed some significant events one night?
We continued up the hill past the Jewish cemetery which contains approx 180,000 remains to the place where 'Jesus wept'. This is said to be the place where Jesus rose Lazarus to life. This site contains some old niches and ossuaries from the 1st century CE. This site also provides a magic view back over the old city.
We then had a walking tour of the old city with our guide Jared. This purpose of this walk was not sights, but the everyday lives of the people who inhabit this city. Amazingly, there are approx 37,000 people living in the old city. 27,000 (73%) of these are Muslim, 7,500 (20%) Christian (inc. Armenian) and 2,500 (7%) Jews.
We finished this big 'walking' day with a well earned drink at the Austrian Catholic Hospice.

Day 7: Home Day

Today consisted mainly of lectures, with a couple of free hours in the afternoon.

The day started with Richard celebrating Eucharist for the community in the Ecce Homo Basilica.

The lectures today focussed on Judaism, and the links with Christianity. It was quite amazing how much we share in common with out ritual and festivals, despite out theological differences.

The afternoon break, allowed a couple of hours to wander through the Old City and have a look, rather than a quick 'squiz' on the way somewhere else.

Day 6: Into the wilderness

This morning was an early start as we headed out of town for a 'desert experience'. A wonderful walk along a creek created from a natural spring and very hot conditions. Amazing and barren landscape of the Judean desert which somehow supports life for the early desert dwellers. The hike up a very steep hill in the extreme heat was a bit testing for some, but nonetheless we all made it back in one piece!
The evening brought a walk to the Western Wall which is the only remaining part of the 2nd temple (destroyed in approx 70 CE). 6.37pm was the start of the Jewish sabbath. A special moment to witness.

Day 5: Women's business

Today's morning lecture was an Introduction to Judaism with Dr Deborah Weisman who is an international expert in Judaism-Christian relations.
The afternoon was an excursion to the nearby town of Ein Karem which is a great spot with a very 'cultural' feel. This town is the place of the birth of John the Baptist and thus, where the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth.

Day 4: Lecture's begin

Lectures began this morning which was great to get the brain engaged in some thinking! After lunch we went our first excursion to David's citadel. This is an archeological site with a
Museum which traces the coloured history of Jerusalem. In all, a long day with lots of listening and standing in the sun - but nonetheless enjoyable.

Day 2: Stranded

Due to a sick passenger who had to be off loaded from our flight to Dubai, we were delayed about an hour from Melbourne. This meant we missed our connecting flight from Dubai to Amman, and with no further lights that day we had to stay overnight in Dubai. 7 hours later, we had new flights and accommodation and enjoyed a good meal and sleep. We started off early on Tuesday arriving in Israel and Jerusalem that evening.

Day 3: Arrival

A quick update... Will do more when I have time later this evening.
We arrived safely in Israel last evening. Glad to be here now despite some tight flight connections. Jerusalem is beautiful. Just to give you a taste - here is the view from my room at Ecce Homo for the next month!