Day 2 - Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, Bethlehem

First tour day in and around Jerusalem. Drove up to Mount of Olives which afforded neat views of the Old City, then drove down to the Old City and walked around all four walls, ending at the Western/wailing Wall. Toured the Church of All Nations and Gethsemane, then drove to Bethlehem for lunch and some shopping. Ended the day with a tour of the Church of Nativity to include the Grotto of the Nativity, Grotto of the Manger, and the Chapel of St. Jerome. Whew! Back to the hotel for a reception and dinner with our fellow Viking tourists. More tours tomorrow!

Intro

 


Old City view from the Mount of the Olives (looking due east) with the Temple Mount on the right.

At the base of the Western Wall...


Stones at the base of the West Wall, some perhaps from the temple that was destroyed above?

The Wailing Wall. Per our tour guide, January is the “low” season for tourism.  It was "busy" but not crazy.


More touring, exterior view of Church of All Nations...

...and an interior view.


Gethsemane...

... and a "Star & Bucks", of course!


Frescos inside the Church of Nativity. We lucked out and were able to quickly get down and tour the Grottos of Nativity and Manger as well as the Chapel of St. Jerome before the mass hoards arrived... 

Statue of St. Jerome (Hieronymus in Latin) outside the entrance to the Roman Catholic church at the Church of Nativity.


Outside the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, a little overcast but nice...

Grotto of the Nativity, inside the Church of the Nativity