Old Jaffa

I chose the Drisco Hotel because it is within easy reach of Old Jaffa.......
It was an easy walk to the Mediterranean beaches....

Jaffa was one of the original ports of this area.......

The frontage leading to the port had interesting buildings...

..with the odd piece of graffiti!

From the port area one has to climb up to the residential part of Old Jaffa. with its distinctive lighthouse...

St Peter's Church dominates the top plaza......

... a charming street leads down.........

...to the House of Simon.....

...and this was a sunset very close by!

On to Tel Aviv....

My main interests in Tel Aviv were to see the White City/Bauhaus area..... and Old Jaffa!  Achieved both!!
I stayed in the Drisco Hotel which has just been re-opened this year but has an interesting history...it used to be called the Jerusalem Hotel and one of its guests then was Mark Twain!

The Bauhaus area is interesting to walk through...

...these buildings show the unusual thermometer windows...

The area was built by German Jewish architects who moved there in  the 1930s.....

.... some of the buildings are now being remodeled....

...but some look as though they may be being demolished......

Rothschild Avenue is great!

Visiting Masada and the Dead Sea....

It takes about 1.5 hours to get to Masada from Jerusalem....
One passes a lot of date tree farms and sees the Dead Sea along quite a part of the route.....

.....apparently the level of the Dead Sea has been dropping annually.....  less water is coming into it from the Jordan river......

One can see Masada for quite a while before arriving.....it is quite high and the surrounding countryside is around sea level... the Dead Sea being below actual  sea level!

There is now a very large cable car to go up... thankfully!

However quite a number of people do still choose to walk/hike up! With 40 degree weather(104F) walking up could lead to sunstroke... no shade en route!

Once at the top the view to the Dead Sea was spectacular ....

It is truly amazing what the Romans constructed at the top... taking into consideration that the only way up was by the 'snake road'.. .. now used by those walking up!
There was a 3 tiered palace..... this model shows what it looked like!

.........what one sees today......

...the Romans could not do without their bathhouse......

...and one sees evidence of the Roman camps surrounding the top when they were determined to win the Siege of Masada!

... and the ramp used by the Romans to gain final access..........

Returning to Jerusalem we stopped at a Dead Sea beach area.......

...and I felt the need to indulge in the lowest bar in the world!!

And on to Bethlehem.....

Bethlehem is very close to Jerusalem...but worlds away.....

One goes through a security wall.... a little forbidding!

and then on to Manger Square.....
The Church of the Nativity  there is shared by the Greek Orthodox church, the Armenian Church and the Catholic church.

Entering through a very low door.....

we were faced with a long queue of people lined up to go to the cave (stable) where Jesus was born.......apparently this could take up to 3 hours!  We were not joining it!

The painted columns have not changed since the time of the Crusades!!

The Greek main altar was very ornate.......

..and we were intrigued to see that all was ready for a wedding......

....and indeed saw the bride and groom arrive......

Checking out the Catholic side our guide showed us that we were actually in the stable/cave area where Jesus was born....and showed the wall behind the alter that he said had been erected by the Greeks.....and they now have queues to access on that side!!

So we avoided a long queue.......but on this side all was calm!