Ein Karem

Way back at the beginning of December, on a fine weekend of weather -- clear blue skies and full sunshine with daytime highs of about 20C -- Theresa and I took full advantage and did two big walks in the city. The Friday we spent on the west side of Jerusalem in and around Ein Karem; on the Saturday we were on the east side of Jerusalem, up the Mount of Olives. (I haven't any photos of Saturday's excursion since my camera disappeared (magically) when we reached the top of the Mount of Olives and suddenly found ourselves in a crowd of touts!)


Ein Karem is a charming village on the far west edge of Jerusalem -- it's now effectively an upscale suburb. Reputedly the birthplace of John the Baptist, the village is filled with Christian landmarks.  We took the bus out to the Hadassah Medical Centre Ein Karem (this is where you find the famous Chagall windows, but they are not open for viewing at the weekend). Then we walked down into the valley toward Ein Karem.

The view from Hadassah to Ein Karem

Terraced agriculture -- found throughout the Judean Hills

On the footpath to Ein Karem

Along the way we saw the Moscobye Orthodox Russian Church, begun before WWI and finished recently:

The golden onions of the Moscobye (photo credit: T Tribaldos)

And, we stopped at the Church of the Visitation.

Church of the Visitation

Pop Quiz!

What visitation? Who visited whom? When? Why? The hint is in the mosaic in the pic above. The story is that Mary was pregnant with Jesus when she visited her cousin Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist. I have no idea why: perhaps because pregnant cousins want to hang out and catch up? Um, sometime before Jesus was born?

Mosaics of flora and fauna decorate the floor of the church:

After the Church we stopped in at Mary's spring. This is meant to be where Mary drew water to drink on that same visit to Elizabeth.

In need of scrub -- Mary's Spring

Later a mosque (see the minaret) was built over the spring

After stopping for coffee we moved on to visit the Church of Saint John which is built upon the spot where John the Baptist is said to have been born.

On the way to the Church of St. John

At the church

At the church

Ceramic plaques of a prayer in multiple languages at the Church of St. John

From there we hiked up to Mt Herzl (near to Yad Vashem).

Follow the Jerusalem Lion (the trail marker)

On the path to Mt Herzl

From Mt Herzl we hopped on the tram to Mahane Yehuda (the shuk) where we went for lunch.

The next day we (Theresa and I) walked west around the south end of the Old City, past the Zion Gate and the Dormition, down into the Kidron Valley, up to the Garden of Gethsemane. We stopped at all the churches on our way to the top of the mount. And, I took some great pictures! Alas, they left my possession along with my camera. So, we are planning to redo that hike and get some great photos. The view of the Old City from the east is truly magical!