Had a nice trip overseas to Tel Aviv last night. Stops in Atlanta and New York, then overnight to Tel Aviv, Israel. Traveling with a Catholic church group of about 30 total people including 2 priests (Father Parham from Memphis) and a Franciscan Friar. Everyone has been very nice, polite and easy to travel with.
Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv is very modern and beautiful. We saw many Orthodox Jews traveling here. Many mixed cultures. On the drive from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (about 1 hour), we could see concrete walls where the highway passed through the Palestinian West Bank territory. The walls were to provide some security as during one of the past intifadas there was some sniping of cars driving on this highway. We had absolutely no trouble at all and passed through 1 or 2 check points without having to stop the bus. I would not have thought much about the walls until the friar explained them.
We are staying in a Catholic pilgrimage building built around the late 1800's and then apparently abandoned between 1948 and 1967 because it fell within the Jordanian controlled east Jerusalem. It has now been restored and is just lovely. See photos! They are the photos which look like a castle. There are also a couple of photos taken during the drive here.
After a long day (two days?) traveling, I asked to purchase a local beer while sitting down to write this blog. The server informed me that there are 2 local beers: Israeli and Palestinian. In the spirit of peace and reconciliation, I plan to try both! First I felt compelled to try the Israeli beer (see photo).
Tomorrow, Bethlehem!
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