by Susan Jagannath | Mar 13, 2009 | Churches, Travel, Walks
With instructions like that is it any surprise that I got lost? At first I walked in a perfect square and landed up back at Jaffa Gate? But I finally found the Hospice, that is a haven of calm in the City, off the via Dolorosa. I also got lost in the heaving crowd...
by Susan Jagannath | Mar 13, 2009 | Places, Women
There are other reasons to visit Bethlehem too. There is the tomb of Rachel outside the town – couldnt get there. Rachel, the wife of Jacob, the mother of Joseph – him of the amazing technicolor dreamcoat? We saw the ruins of a tower that was built in...
by Susan Jagannath | Mar 13, 2009 | Churches, Places
As that’s the only way to get into the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square. You can see the three doors shrinking with each destruction, and the final one is to prevent Muslim invaders from riding their horses into the church. In the square a mosque and the...
by Susan Jagannath | Mar 12, 2009 | Places
On the way to Nazareth we drove across the coastal plain that used to be mostly swamp and sand dunes. The swamps have been drained by about a hundred years of planting gums – apparently in the early part of the 20th century, someone saw the Turks planting gums...
by Susan Jagannath | Mar 11, 2009 | Travel
Who should I see in Nazareth? In the Basilica atrium, the guide told us to go and look for the Madonna from China as her crown was pure gold. I went along, and who should I find waiting for me but our very own Lady of Vellankani. This statue was a bit more resplendent...
