Pilgrimage Itinerary

Here's our final itinerary

1 May Tue JERUSALEM
This morning we have a guided walk of the Old City of Jerusalem, identifying the four main sectors. We spend time at the Wailing Wall which is the closest location to the place where the Temple used to stand. The Wall we know today was a part of the Temples Western Wall, hence its name. We also visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is known as the church of the Resurrection and stands on the site that encompasses both Golgotha, or Calvary where Jesus was crucified, and the tomb where he was buried. This church has been an important pilgrimage destination since the 4th century and it remains the holiest Christian site in the world.

2 May Wed
We set off to the Mt of Olives where we visit the Church of Pater Noster. This church, belonging to the Carmelite Sisters, is believed to have been built over the grotto in which Jesus gathered his disciples and taught them ‘The Lords Prayer’. There is a panoramic view over the city as we wander past the tombs of the Prophets Haggai, Malachi & Zechariah before arriving at Dominius Flevit, where Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. We visit the Church of Mary Magdalene and then on to the Garden of Gethsemane to see the Church of All Nations which contains the bare rock upon which Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest. After lunch we proceed on to Mt Zion to visit the Cenaculum, room of the Last Supper and the Church of Dormition where Our Lady was assumed into heaven. We then go on to the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu where we commemorate Peter’s denial of Jesus after his arrest, before visiting King David’s tomb and tower. The remainder of the afternoon is at leisure.

3 May Thu JERUSALEM - GALILEE
Travel to Beit-Sh’ean the most exciting antiquity excavations in Israel. It dates to the Romans/Byzantine period when 50,000 people lived there. After our lunch stop we visit Yardenit- Jordan River site of Jesus’ Baptism and then continue to Tiberias on the shores of Lake Galilee.

4 May Fri
We set out for Nain to relive the story of the dead son Jesus returned to his mother, then on to Cana to the First Miracle Church, also called the Wedding Church, where Jesus turned water into wine. In the afternoon we ascend the narrow road leading to the majestic summit of Mt Tabor where Our Lord’s divinity shone forth in the Transfiguration.

5 May Sat
Our day begins with a visit to Nof Ginosaur Kibbutz within which is preserved the remains of a first century fishing boat as in the days of Christ. We arrive at Tabgha, site of the feeding of the 5,000, where we celebrate a special Mass at the outdoor alter down by the shore of the lake. We travel by road around the lake to Korazim to relive the parable of ‘The House built on the Rock’ and the ‘Persevering Widow’. We stop at Sowers Cove to reflect on ‘The parable of the sower’ before proceeding to Capernaum, the centre of Jesus’ teaching and healing and home to Peter the apostle. Onwards to the Church of the Primacy of Peter where Jesus challenged Peter “Do you really love me, feed my sheep”. A ‘St Peters fish’ lunch is included today. Then we set off in a traditional sailing vessel across the sea whilst reflecting on Jesus miracles of calming the sea and walking on water.

6 May Sun
Our day begins with Mass at the Mount of the Beatitudes as we take time in this special place of silence to ponder Jesus’ message of happiness. The adventurous may enjoy a stroll down the mountainside in the tradition of Jesus. We continue on to Sepphoris the original capital of Galilee. The rest of day is at leisure.

7 May Mon
Today we journey to Nazareth and see sights pertaining to Joseph and Mary. We visit the Basilica of the Annunciation and also see the Church of St Joseph, Mary’s Well and a traditional Jewish Synagogue. This afternoon there is free time to explore the historic bazaars and experience everyday life in Nazareth.

8 May Tue GALILEE – JERUSALEM
Our return to Jerusalem takes us through the lush Jordan valley to Jericho the ‘city of Palms’, which is said to be the oldest inhabited city and most famous oasis. An intriguing look at the excavations will assist our understanding of the successive stages of the town walls and its 10,000 year history. We ascend by cable car the Mount of Temptation, the site of Jesus fast of 40 days.

9 May Wed
We set off to visit to Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum and gardens) including the children’s memorial. Yad Vashem has been entrusted with documenting the history of the Jewish people during the holocaust period, preserving the memory and story of each of the six million victims. The afternoon is at leisure.

10 May Thu
Sightseeing in Jerusalem this morning includes the Dome of the Rock & El Aqsa Mosque. In the afternoon we enjoy sightseeing in Bethlehem taking us back to the first Christmas as we visit the Shepherds Field to commemorate the appearance of the angels to the shepherds on that first Christmas night. On to Bethlehem where we will visit the Church of the Nativity, (built over the site where Jesus was born) Manger Square and the Grotto of the Holy Manger. We continue to Ein Kareem, birthplace of St John the Baptist and the sight of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth

11 May Fri
Today we visit Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd boy. We continue south to Massada where, on arrival we embark on the cable car to the summit which offers spectacular scenery. Here we will have a guided tour of Herod’s fortress and the Zealot’s last stand. In the afternoon there is an opportunity to float in the Dead Sea at En Boqeq.

12 May Sat
Today we set off for Emmaus. The Church of St Anne, built over the place of birth of the Virgin Mary is a beautiful crusader church erected over the birthplace of Anne, the mother of Mary. The church is right next to the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the paralysed man. We continue on to Ecce Homo Convent where we view Lithostrotos and the Pavement and visit Flagellation and Condemnation Chapels.
The afternoon is free to do the Stations of the Cross in your own time and way.

13 May Sun ISTANBUL
This morning we will be transferred to Tel Aviv International Airport for our flight to Istanbul. On arrival in Istanbul we will be taken to visit Hagia Sophia .
Hagia Sophia was rebuilt in her present form between 532 and 537 under the personal supervision of Emperor Justinian I. It is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture, rich with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings. After completion, Justinian is said to have exclaimed, ("Solomon, I have outdone thee!").

14 May Mon
After breakfast we take a walking tour with a local guide to the Blue Mosque At the Blue Mosque you will be provided with plastic bags to slip over your feet before entering. The Blue Mosque acquired its name because of blue tiles surrounding the walls of interior design. The Mosque was built between 1609 and 1616. Besides being tourist attraction, it's also an active mosque, so it's closed to non worshippers for a half hour or so during the five daily prayers. From here we walk to the colourful Grand Bazaar.

15 & 16 May At Leisure

17 & 18 May Travel back to New Zealand

Following entries relate to our November trip

Hi,
This is an intentional break to separate the following entries that relate to our November trip to Germany.

Post script

After we wrote up the blog last evening we headed off to Marienplatz again to grab some dinner. Well, when we got off the subway there was tens of thousands of people, and as many police!!!! We can only assume that Munich won the football yesterday as there was much chanting, singing and drinking going on. What a sight and atmosphere.

It snowed again overnight. We're really surprised after such a warm day yesterday. This morning there is a thick blanket of pure white snow outside again. Very pretty, but Paul wants to be sure our plane will fly out! Don't think there's any chance of it being cancelled. It's stopped snowing now.

So, that's it for now. We've got the day to fill in as our flight doesn't leave until 9.40pm.

A day in Munich

We slept in this morning and about 8.30 woke to the sound of sirens - not something we've heard or seen much of on this trip. Unlike Rome where it's the norm!! I looked out our hotel window to see dozens of police vehicles screaming to a halt and personnel pouring out of them. We are opposite the main train station, and also a big police station as well. They didn't seem to be in a big hurry, so I figured it wasn't a terrorist alert!! Anyway, when we were ready to go out for the day we headed over to the train station, and just as we were buying our tickets there's this huge commotion and we looked up to see hundreds of young guys and an equal number of police!! A lady was able to tell us that there was a big football match on today - Munich v Basel and these were testerone driven fans (my description!!) on their way to the match. She said there'd be 1,1000 police on the trains with them. Quite a sight to see so many armed police in any one place.

We headed off to a new plaza today - Odeonplatz. What a treasure trove that proved to be! The Catholic cathedral was breath taking inside - Baroque style. Very ornate. We then came across another Christmas Market with a difference. It had stalls depicting different christmas, fairy tale stories etc. The best/funniest was the animated talking reindeer!! The photo you'll see can't possibly convey what it was like. Very, very amusing. There were lots of wee kindergarten children visiting and it was all very cute. Timing was good as they were only just opening up.

From there we walked up to the English Gardens which we'd viewed from the bus last week when they were under a foot of snow! We didn't go too far in as the snow has melted and it was mushy and muddy. The weather today has been so warm. Last week when we were here it was -12 deg overnight. Today it was probably +15 deg and sunny.

From the Gardens we headed off to find a shop that Paul had sourced before we left home. Wouldn't you know it - another huge flurry of speeding police cars ended up right in the street we needed to go down! It was obviously something at the University. We eventually got through and made it to our destination - only to find the shop was no longer in existence! Oh well - it was a good walk with plenty of sidewalk action.

This will probably be our last post before we start our long journey home tomorrow night. Unfortunately, I've now caught the cold too which is a bummer with travel. I'm not great at the best of times, let alone with sore throat etc.

It's been a wonderful trip and we hope you've enjoyed our travel tales.

Mary - I look forward to catching up with you. Probably Sunday night.

Love to all.
Marie & Paul xx

A day at the shops!!

We woke this morning to no rain and no snow and even eventually, some blue sky here in Munich. We'd come across a brochure for a Shopping Outlet Village in the outskirts of the city, so set off to get there by train and bus. Typical of us, when we changed from the train to the bus, we headed off in the wrong direction. It wasn't until we got to the end of the run that we realised what had happened. Never mind - we got to see the local surrounding village and it filled in the time until the next connecting bus!! The village was hugely under snow. It must have been really heavily snowing there last night. The ploughs were out, and around the shops they were constantly shovelling. It was a huge shopping complex, mostly high end designer outlet shops. The Lindt chocolate shop did well from us!!!! Sandy would have been in shoe heaven.

Marc - re the "cloaked ones" - conspicious by their absence. We've seen very few. In fact the airports would have been the only places, and hardly surprising when flying Emirates.

We've just come back from the Christmas Markets again. I wanted to see them at night - all very pretty and very crowded. Christchurch will seem like a little village when we get home.

Just a few photos from today's shopping outing.

BMW cured him!!

This morning we headed off to our scheduled tour of the BMW Plant. Paul was pretty excited, and despite a difficult night of coughing he was bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning. What a fantastic place. Before the tour started we spent time in the customer hall where brand new cars are on display, and on a floor to which we did not have access, private customers were placing their orders!! Alas, not us!! The Plant tour lasted two hours and took us through from where the metal is first pressed to make the panels, to the robots assembling and painting and the humans doing the finishing touches. It was definitely a "no photos" zone, but we were allowed to take them in the customer hall. Part of the entertainment there is a crazy young lad racing a BMW motorbike up and down the staircases!

Marc & Wendy - the chicken farm was battery. They get them in at six weeks old and kill them off at 14 weeks. Not nice. I swear I won't touch chicken for a while!!!

Also Wendy, Marc would be safe with you buying christmas decorations. The majority are what we can buy in Farmers, Ballantynes or The Warehouse - it's just that Made in China is spelt out in many different languages!!! The local German made wooden decorations etc are a real craft, but to us hideously expensive. To the South Africans they are an absolute fortune. But the atmosphere, the lights, the snow and the overall package makes for a truly magical scene.

We'll be on the watch out for Ashton. Thanks for the warning. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

Paul here: Some impressive statistics for those who like to be impressed by statistics - there are 9000 plant workers at the Munich plant and 9000 tech staff and that excludes the 600 robots. There are 900 units a day (there are 8 variants on the body shape for the 3 series we saw being made) and all 900 units are made to order - no stock is held.

Äll good things must end!

The tour is now over and we've made our way back to Munich by train from Zurich. Both these places are as bleak as!!! I found Zurich the coldest of all. Paul has picked up a cold so is a bit off colour today, but nothing a trip to BMW tomorrow won't fix!! Yesterday was another perfect day in Lucerne - a very beautiful place. Our day started early with a train trip up to the summit of Mt Rigi. It was stunningly beautiful. Snowing all the way up and then beautiful sunshine and diamond glistening snow as white as white can be. We then went by horse and carriage to a traditional Swiss farm for morning tea and a tour of the farm - not what we would call a farm. Pretty smelly too as the animals are housed in barns for the winter. I couldn#t wait to make a quick exit out of there. Then horrors to a chicken farm. Not nice. Put me off chicken!! The rest of the day was free for ambling around the city and shopping. Not much of the latter. Prices in Switzerland are horrendous. You don't get much for your Franc. Our travel companions were a great group - mostly Americans and just a few Aussies and some South Africans. We got on well with two young South African girls who were just delightful.