Today is the Jewish day of rest, but not for us! Our fantastic bus driver was able to arrange for us to go to Bethlehem and Jericho. We went to the Church of the Nativity and were able to visit the cave where tradition says that Jesus was born. Three religions share this site; the Greek Orthodox, the Armenians and the Catholics. We just happened to be there when they were officially starting the Christmas season (which lasts for 2 months). The mayor of Bethlehem is always in attendance and for the very first time the mayor is a lady!
Outside the city are the shepard's hills from which they heard the good news about Jesus' birth! They were the first ones to see him.
From there we boarded the bus for our trek to Jericho. By the way, both Bethlehem and Jericho are both in the West Bank which meant that we had to pass through a checkpoint. We had lunch right next to the tel for Jericho. Afterward we saw a video about Jericho which is the oldest city in the world and also the lowest. The ruins date back to 10,000 b.c.
I am having difficulty posting pictures, so those will have to come later.
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