Israel

After a day at sea, we arrived at Haifa in Israel. We opted to go on the tours offered by the cruise ship as we wanted to visit Jerusalem with a guide. The 2 hour bus trip took us along excellent roads past beautiful beaches and many new towns. I was not prepared for the shock of arriving in Jerusalem. Being close to Christmas, the place was packed. The Jewish people were celebrating Hanukkah and the Mosques were full of people at prayer, as it was Friday. We visited the Wailing Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre and walked the Via Dolorosa. I am still trying to assess my emotions of being in this place where so many historical events from the Bible took place. The old city reminded me of the bazaars in Istanbul. Unfortunately it was impossible to buy any of their wonderfully cheap items, as we were being pushed along by the crowds from the mosque. I later found out that only 10 days before, 3 of the passengers from a previous cruise had stopped to shop and were separated from their guide. As a result they were left behind and had to fly to Athens to catch up with the ship.