1st Day: Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane and Ein Kareem

We began our first day in Jerusalem with a wake-up call at 6.45, for breakfast at 7.00! The trick, I find, is simply to avoid looking at your watch for the first couple of hours. Breakfast – a buffet with cereals, fruit, juices, all kinds of continental breads, eggs in various forms, and cold meats, not to mention tea and coffee, was excellent, and enjoyed by all the party. At that point, we met our guide, David, for the first time.

We got on the bus at 8.15 and drove to the Mount of Olives, where we visited the Pater Noster chapel, which commemorates Jesus teaching the disciples to pray. Whilst at Pater Noster David read the Lord's Prayer in his native tongue - Coptic

After hearing the gospel account of this, saying the Lord’s prayer and singing ‘Seek Ye first’. Around this church there are many different versions of the Lord’s prayer and Mike was pleased to spot that one of them was in Cornish.

We then walked on to the Dominus Flevit chapel, which commemorates Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. David pointed out various features of interest to us, as we looked across at the view of Jerusalem from the other side of the Kidron valley. We could not go into the chapel unfortunately as mass was going on, but instead walked down to the Church of all Nations, situated next to the Garden of Gethsemane. Our party was very impressed t the age of the Olive trees, some parts of which would have been there when Jesus was alive.

The church itself is very dark inside, deliberately so, as it commemorates the prayer of Jesus in the garden, which was by night. After hearing the Gospel account of this and singing ‘The Servant King’, we were picked up by the bus once again, and taken to the Church of St Peter Gallicanto (which means cock crow). This is built on the site of the High Priest’s house, where Jesus was imprisoned and flogged. We were shown a prison cell, where it is thought Jesus was kept. Not all of us ere convinced that this could be guaranteed, but there in the dark, it was easy to imagine the scene, and there in the cell we sand ‘When I survey.’ We also had an excellent cup of coffee in the cafeteria there, where the man serving was David’s cousin.

After visiting the church, we drove to the convent in Ein Kareem, where we were to have lunch. This was delicious, various salads with chicken in a spicy sauce, potatoes, cauliflower and carrots, then fresh fruit salad or sponge cake, followed by tea or coffee.

After lunch, David showed us the church where the nuns worship, which was very plain, and with beautiful, clean, simple lines.

The church of John the Baptist was a real contrast. It is supposed to mark the birth place of J the B, and is ornate, and decorated with white and blue tiles, which remind one slightly of a municipal swimming bath!

After this, the rain came down and continued unremittingly throughout our visit to the Israel museum. This was a pity, because it meant that people were not able to linger by the model of Jerusalem in the time of the second temple. But the shrine of the book, with the display about the Dead Sea scrolls was much appreciated. Then back to the hotel, after a tiring and very informative day with our excellent guide.

We shared an excellent dinner and then sat as a group chatting in the lounge which overlooks the walls of the Old City.