Day 6
Today we woke up in Jerusalem, the Holy City and what a contrast to Galilee! It’s all hustle and bustle here with a real emphasis on hustle! Handbags, jewellery, rosary beads, purses, hats, everything starts at US$20 - 25, then if you hold out long enough, you can get the lot for US$10. Whereas in Galilee the only hustle seems to be the random arcade games that pop up where you least expect it.
After enjoying my favourite breakfast, Shakshuka, we grabbed our passports, hopped on the bus and headed for Ein Karem, which is the birthplace of Jesus’ cousin John, (who was “that kid” at the local swimming pool with a penchant for dunking anyone he could lay his hands on), and also the place where Mary (pregnant with Jesus), came to visit and help out her elderly cousin Elizabeth (heavily pregnant with John) while her husband Zachariah or Zechariah, was working all hours of the day and night trying to smooth things over following an incident at work. As Elizabeth confided to Mary, “He’s been impossible to talk to! All I know is that he had a disagreement with someone called Gabriel; who by all accounts is a real angel. But he won’t talk about it! Literally! Not a word. It’s like trying to get blood out of a stone.”
Around 1,600 years ago our heroine of day four’s post, Helena (Roman Emperor Constantine’s mother) was at it again, walking hither and thither around Ein Karem, entourage in tow, asking any locals she could find where John the Baptist was born? As you know she mainly spoke Greek, and as luck would have it, a few of the locals did too, so she didn’t have to go through the rigmarole of hand gestures, and speaking slowly and loudly in Greek while attempting a Jewish accent that unfortunately made her sound less like Golda Meir and more like Fran Dresher. She simply rattled her Gucci coin bag and in one fell swoop, not only managed to locate John’s birthplace, but also the site of the Visitation. Negotiations took place, the purse strings of her Gucci coin bag loosened and Voilà, it was church building time.
The Church of Saint John the Baptist was the first place we visited. It belongs to the Franciscan order who between 1941–42 excavated the area west of the church and monastery and discovered graves, rock-cut chambers, wine presses and small chapels with mosaic tiling. The southern rock-cut chamber contained ceramics that dated back to a period stretching from approximately the first century BC to 70AD. So it is considered very likely that this is the area where Zachariah or Zechariah, Elizabeth and John lived. The church is undergoing a lot of restoration at the moment and there was scaffolding everywhere throughout the interior of the church. When it is finished I’m sure it will look breathtaking.
The grotto where John was born is still accessible however, and is one of those places that makes you want to “pinch yourself” to make sure you are really there. I had a few of these today.
We then walked up to the Church of the Visitation. This is the site where tradition says Mary recited her song of praise, the Magnificat. We spent about forty minutes here wandering too and fro. The courtyard contains a stunning statue of Mary and Elizabeth, and on the wall opposite the entrance to the lower church are a whole heap of ceramic tablets bearing the verses of the Magnificat in forty-two different languages.
The lower church contains a narrow medieval barrel-vaulted crypt at the end of which is a well that, according to tradition, is the well from which Elizabeth and the infant John drank.
From here we journeyed through the Wall of Separation and into the Palestinian Territories where Bethlehem is located. Our first stop was a shop, where we were all encouraged to buy a Jerusalem Cross, which we dutifully obliged. Then we were off to check out the Shepherds Fields.
We visited a shepherd’s cave dating back to the time of Jesus’ birth, which was pretty cool and not at all what I expected. Most poor people in those days lived in caves. Even Jesus was born in a cave and not the free standing wooden and mud brick structure portrayed in every nativity scene and Christmas Special I have ever seen.
We spent some time in the little Chapel and sang Christmas Carols for some reason. Then walked through the fields where the Shepherds watched their flocks by night all seated on the ground and had lunch.
To keep things simple and always on schedule, we have been eating lunch daily at Israel’s version of Guzman y Gomez called Ravi Shawarma and Falaf Phil’s Takeaway. The proprietor of the one we ate at today was named Boaz and interestingly it was his wife Ruth who took our order!
We then went to the Church of the Nativity, or as it is also known, “Everyone-for-themselves-ville”, “Get-the-hell-outta-my-way-land” “Manhandle City” and “Push-me-pull-you-town” to visit the site of Jesus’ birth. I think Father Ed (our wonderful Octogenarian Priest) summed up the experience (the heat, the constant jostling, the pushing in) best, when he suddenly blurted out while waiting to see this sacred site, “WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE AND WHAT THE HELL ARE WE ALL DOING HERE!!!” Touché Father Ed.
Then Mourad, our tall shepherd, wrangled us our own viewing, so it was “Yallah, Yallah, Yallah” (which means go, go, go and has become Father “They Call Me Mellow Yallah, That’s Right” Wim’s favourite commandment at the moment), down the stairs into the grotto, touch the star (signifying the spot where Mary gave birth to Jesus), turn around, have a quick look at where the manger was, then “Yallah, Yallah, Yallah” up the stairs and out. Even though it was a bit rushed, it was truly beautiful because we actually got to spend more time there than most people get. Boy that Mourad sure can pull some strings.
We walked around for a bit and then some of us spent some time in reflection while others went to see the Milky Grotto.
Now I didn’t go, but apparently Mary was in this cave for some reason breastfeeding the baby Jesus, when a drop of her milk fell onto the floor and changed it from gungy red to milky-white. I had never heard this story before and I have no opinion one way or another as to it’s authenticity, but you can buy a white powder there that is supposed to have healing properties and gives one a sense of euphoria. Sounds a bit dodgy to me, particularly when it comes in a little white packet which you have to purchase round the corner at the end of the alley.
The last item on our agenda for today was Mass, which was held in the very cave where St. Jerome lived and translated the Bible into Latin. It was just lovely.
When we got back to the hotel we headed straight to the bar where we relaxed, enjoyed a drink together and reflected on the day. We have christened this little ritual “Re-cappy Hour” and I thought it was a great way to end the day.
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