Not quite the religious centre I expected, more of a flea market in a dusty town.
Anticipation grew as I sat in the coach for the 2-hour coach journey from Haifa to Jerusalem.
Not being religious, but more inquisitive, as the stories from my R.E. lessons stood firmly in my mind.
I quietly hummed the tune to Jerusalem, as many a rugby fan would, as the coach pulled into the designated parking spot, alongside some 50 to 100 other coaches.
Here we were met by a guide who was rather Jolly! And reminded me of a character from it aint half hot mum, more than a figure of great knowledge.
We were taken to a small building where Jesus was alleged to have lived for a while, but were then told that he may not have as scientists and historians could not agree where he lived.
We were then taken to another building, but were denied entry as it was of sacred importance?
The guide spent most of his time telling us about his views on where and how Jesus lived, and then went on to disagree with himself!
After an hour of traipsing through small alleys, pausing only to stop at certain “designated” shops on the way. A friend and I decided it was time to escape.
We sneaked off and went for a tour of the local market.
Hostile is not the word, hold on to your wallets like it’s a cork in a whirlpool!
The inhabitants are a bit rough and boisterous to say the least.
After looking at many interesting carpets and T-shirts saying I Love Jerusalem! we hiked over to the whaling wall.
At last, a place that did live up to its reputation.
You could sense the strong draw it had on the religious followers who had made this their Pilgrimage.
We could not get very close, as some people had been killed there only a few days earlier by some religious fanatic.
All in all, Jerusalem has a lot of old and authentic buildings, but has been abused by the commercial element of the money seekers.
I guess this was the last place I would expect to see cheap T-shirts and the like.
Only for the die-hard religious believers, not really for the idle curious.