Thanks to everyone for all the prayers for my safe journey. The flight to Israel went smoothly. There did not seem to be any extra security. The greatest danger was the taxi ride from Tel Aviv airport to Jerusalem, with the driver going too fast and too close to the cars in front. The driver told me he knew the city very well as he took both hands off the wheel to look at the map and stopped twice to ask directions. He even gave me the map to show him where the street was.
There are 22 students on the course, from 10 different nationalities. The course is in English and apart from the usual English speaking countries the students come from India, Taiwan, Korea, Austria, Poland, Kenya priests, sisters and some lay people.
A flurry of snow caused excitement to the Koreans who stood outside to get their photos taken in the falling snow it was sleet really, and did not lie.
Ecce Homo convent, where I am staying, is in the Muslim part of the Old City no chance of sleeping in with the call to prayer from the local mosque at 4.45am. I have a great view of the Dome of the Rock from my window this is on the temple mount where the Jewish temple was in the time of Jesus.
Once a month a group of Jews who want the temple to be rebuilt process along the street outside towards the temple mount. Since this is a Muslim area this can cause tension. We were advised not to look over the balcony here as the marchers pass by in case the police mistook us for troublemakers! But otherwise walking the streets here feels perfectly safe.
Weather is cold and wintry. The sun has shone but mostly it has been cold and wet with grey skies and below freezing at night. Unlike Scotland though, we do know the good weather will come!
The place where I am staying
is built onto the Ecce Homo Arch. Ecce Homo means Behold the Man which are the words Pilate said as he presented Jesus to the crowd. People used to think it happened at this arch but the arch was not there at the time of Jesus. Underneath the convent, though, is a pavement that does date from Roman times
Jesus may have walked on some of these stones. Of great interest to archaeologists (and Christians) is one stone with markings of a game on it soldiers would have used this stone to play the King Game. Is this what the soldiers were doing as they dressed Jesus up in purple robes and put a crown of thorns on his head?
The road under the arch, the Via Dolorosa, is the traditional route to Calvary and every Friday the Franciscans lead the Stations of the Cross along the road. This ends at the church of the
Holy Sepulchre which is built over the rock of Calvary and the tomb of Jesus.
The tomb itself has been made into a small chapel. Six different Christian churches share the Holy Sepulchre site not always amicably each jealously guards their part of the church.
to avoid disputes among the Christians, for the past few hundred years the key to the church has been kept by a Muslim family.
On a visit to Galilee after Easter we saw Galilee at its best with the
countryside blooming with flowers in the spring sunshine.
Our hotel
was right on the sea and we woke up every morning to a beautiful
sunrise. Around the Sea of Galilee are most of the places of interest
to pilgrims.
Jesus made Capernaum his base. This is also where he
cured Peter's mother in law and a beautiful modern church is built
over the site of the house of Peter.
Not far away from there is Tabgha
and the Church of the Loaves and Fishes, traditional site of the
feeding of the 5000. In front of the altar is a famous mosaic dating
from the 4th century.
Further along the lakeside is the Church of the
Primacy of Peter,
where after the resurrection Jesus asked him 3 times"do you love me" and told Peter "look after my sheep". On the lakeside
there is a statue of Jesus forgiving Peter for his betrayal and
commissioning him as shepherd of the flock.
The site of the Beatitudes
is nearby on the hillside overlooking the lake. A few miles away in
Nazareth there are 2 main sites. A church is built over the well of
Nazareth,
where the water is still flowing today. Here Mary would have
come to fetch water for in those days getting water from the well
was woman's work. There is also a modern church over the traditional
location of the house of Mary, where in Catholic tradition the
Annunciation took place.
In the courtyard outside the church are many
mosaics of Our Lady donated by countries all over the world, including
one from Scotland.
We went to visit the town of Bethany, where Martha and Mary and
Lazarus, the friends of Jesus stayed. It is a couple of miles away,
within walking distance of Jerusalem.
The Israelis are building what they call a "security fence" that will cut Bethany off from Jerusalem the "fence" is 8 metres high and made out of grey concrete, so everyone else calls it a wall. The Israelis see the wall as being necessary for their security, keeping out the suicide bombers. The Palestinians see it as another sign of their oppression, being ruled by an occupying force, especially since the wall cuts through Palestinian land and can separate people from their fields and families. The wall is not finished yet and we are able to climb around part of it and take a short cut. From the graffiti on the wall we can see that some Scots have obviously been here before u
s (there is slogan and and Scottish flag). In Bethany there is a tomb said to be the tomb of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. The doorkeeper want 5 shekels each to get in
we gave him 3 each, take it or leave it. Next door is a lovely church built on the traditional site of the house of Martha and Mary, looked after by the Franciscans, as are a great many of the sites in the Holy Land.
The parish priest tells us he used to have 100 families in the parish, now he only has 35. People are moving out because the wall cuts them off from work in Jerusalem and from schools for their children.
Gallery section
Have a look at some great pictures of the beginnings of the church, feel free to send in any pictures that we can add to the gallery.
INDEX
Have a look at some fantastic interviews of Fr Ryan and Bishop Taylor.
where the water is still flowing today. Here Mary would have
come to fetch water for in those days getting water from the well
was woman's work. There is also a modern church over the traditional 
