Bethlehem

This is a continuation of my previous post of our time in Jerusalem. After our questioning and walking through metal detectors to enter Israel we boarded our tour bus and headed for a scenic lookout to take pictures of the city of Jerusalem.  After visiting the traditional Garden of Gethsemane site, we boarded our bus and started to make our way to Bethlehem. It was fascinating for me to go to Bethlehem because we had to enter the West Bank. To get into the West Bank (which is a Palestinian territory within Israel) we had to switch tour guides. Our tour guide was an Israeli, and we had to have him get off and wait for us while a Palestinian tour guide got on our bus and took us in to see Bethlehem. We had to pass these huge walls in order to get into Bethlehem....we even had Palestinian soldiers enter our bus with large guns hanging off their shoulders (it was a bit intimidating!!). Driving inside you could instantly see a difference. We went to the church of the Nativity first. We had a short walk to get there and it was interesting to see the people walking around and shopping (women in full Islamic dress). The Church has three groups that govern the property the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic churches. You can see a difference in various parts of the church (it has branches which each groups altars and monks/ priests are). Afterward we went an shopped at a Christian store inside the West Bank (that is apparently a requirement that every tour group that comes into Bethlehem has to visit a gift shop). I got a scarf and a cool hat for my dad from little boy selling things while we entered the bus to head out. It was pretty neat to see the city of Bethlehem. Although it was sad to see it all developed and not really Christian. 

The entrance/exit to Bethlehem

The wall....and the West Bank

The wall....it was HUGE!

A minaret

 A John the Baptist Souvenir Shop! haha

The church of the Nativity

Some monks outside the Church of the Nativity

A mosque /minaret across the street from the Church of the Nativity

Thought this sign was interesting

The entrance to the church...the opening was low so you had to bow to walk in (being humble)

The entrance from the other side

The church/ The Orthodox part

The front of the church

My favorite person :)

An altar

Pictures of saints with incense holders in front of them

Another portion of the Church of the Nativity

This was very strange to me.....there is a small fake baby inside the glass there

Chad being cute

Like!

Relaxing

I liked the mosaic in the background

The Jerusalem cross

Streets inside the West Bank

The border check to get out

Alright....well I have some more from Jerusalem....probably two more posts! Hope you are all having a great Thanksgiving week :)



~N