Now we are headed to another major bucket list item, Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. For those of you who don’t know, Bethlehem is located in the West Bank, which is controlled by the Palestinian authorities, ie: Hamas. Getting into the West Bank is not a problem but getting back into Israel is a much bigger challenge. In any case, we enter into Bethlehem to find a much different place than Jerusalem. Traffic, noise, narrow roads and lots of graffiti. To our surprise we also find 2 original Banksy murals. Wow!

When we come across the church that houses the manger and the actual spot where Jesus was born, we are shocked to see that the entrance door is so small. I have to duck down to fit. Once inside the church is buzzing with excitement. People from all over the world are here to visit the site. As with other major holy sites, the line to view the manger is hours long.

Once again, my private guide comes through for us. He has a major connection through the Armenian church and they grant us special permission and priority to skip all lines. We are granted a private viewing of the manger and then a private visit with Jesus’s birth site. If that wasn’t enough, we received permission to have several items blessed on the site. We were shocked and extremely grateful.

This was probably one of the most beautiful moments I have ever experienced, for numerous reasons. Thankfully we were able to have our moment. Another lifetime memory.

We do a bit more exploring before we leave the church area and head off for lunch. Our guide Iyad has a favorite place he likes to eat, and we oblige. We let him do the ordering and are we pleasantly surprised. Along with all the sides of vegetables, hummus, salads, etc., there is grilled meat and chicken livers. I’m not a fan of liver from any animal, but these are surprisingly good. Who knew?

Time to head back to Jerusalem. The ride back is uneventful other than the usual chaos at the checkpoint. It’s just the way things work here. Just a part of life for these folks.

Ciao till tomorrow –