Few weeks ago, my friends told me that we are to travel Jerusalem, Israel. I actually didn’t confirm that I’m going to accompany them because the 6 days holiday (including the weekend) was intended only for sleeping all day and mobile games (speak not, I know I’m no fun!). But a day after my friends told me about the trip, I received an email of a confirmed flight booking to Israel! Yes, they just love to drag me anywhere they want to. Kidding aside, this time I realized Jerusalem, Israel is a larger than life bucket. Let me tell you why.
One of the many highlights of our trip is actually the
Bethlehem tour for a day. Err, I know it’s not in Jerusalem but each experience
deserves a different blog entry. Let me first blog this 2nd day tour outside
Israel.
 |
| Part exterior of The Nativity Church |
 |
| This entry is about 1.3 to 1.5 meters in height only, perhaps due to raising level of the road. |
There are about a hundred of tourists on queue by 10 in the morning in the Nativity Church (exterior photo above); I was blessed that day as I’m the first person in line to touch the holy spot: an elevated marble finish floor with a golden star sign where Jesus was born. It was a monumental moment of the very fibers of my being, ah just pure joy! I whispered a quick prayer before my nonetheless quick photo opt. Oh boy, I’m not to miss a selfie to wrap up the experience! My photo inserted at the end of the blog. We were not allowed to take time though because of the long queue outside.
Here’s some details of the Church:
 |
| Part of a Romanesque colonnade when you reach the nave of the church. |
 |
| Closer look of the arch decorative column upon entering the hall where Jesus was born. |
 |
| According to a random tour guide, this was sculpted in the1920's, if I heard the info right, by a sculptor (who I missed the name actually, sorry haha) |
Next stop is a chapel called the Milk Grotto. It’s a few minutes away from the Church of Nativity. The souvenir and refreshment stores are for sure all over the place upon our way; my friends were even offered by the juice vendor to try their freshly squeezed orange drink. They promised to get back to this pushy juice vendor (because he was aggressive of offering his products) once we finished our itinerary.
The Milk Grotto is a small chapel where at the end of your journey,
you can pray, write on a paper and drop your wishes (in a wooden box) to offer
to the ever miraculous Mother Mary. By the way, it’s called milk grotto because
of the belief that a drop of the Virgin Mary's milk fell down onto the floor of
the cave and changed its color to milky-white.
 |
| Milk Grotto exterior. Built in 1872 |
 |
| Ah, one my favorite shot, the golden Virgin Mary that seemed to be smiling. |
Ah, such a wonderful experience as I was able to make a wish too.
Here's an odd experience upon our way to the tour bus, the pushy guy then offered again his orange juice. My friends bought some cups as promised. While that was happening, this souvenir guy (who I thought was a person of determination from how he looked) asked me to fulfill my alleged promise to him that I’ll buy products from his shop. I said bashfully, “No, thank you” because I didn’t promise anything to anybody. Unexpectedly, the souvenir guy with all his might, foul-mouthed “Go to hell” to me. I quickly tagged away Marclee, the 10-year old kid (I was with to get his drink) like I didn’t hear him cursing. I was flabbergasted to be honest not because I was frightened but because he sells a variety of holy pieces of souvenirs, and hello, we’re just a block away from the Nativity Church where Jesus was born! I mean, he could’ve pretended to be nice to random people he barely know about, but yeah, somebody was not in the mood that day so I shrugged it off.
Anyway, the Bethlehem journey for a day was a life plan indeed completed! I posted a lot of just about anything of the Jerusalem tour as well on my Instagram. I might have a second and third part of this trip because some photos and stories are intended only for this blog.
 |
| The moment I touched the very spot where Jesus was born was the moment where the fibers of my being rejoiced to the nines. Thank you Lord! |
I shall see you in part 2! xx
Comments
Post a Comment