Our evening flight from Aberdeen Airport to London Heathrow is delayed. Bad weather has caused difficulties at Heathrow all day and there is a huge backlog of delayed flights arriving, and so it is after midnight when our luggage is delivered to Terminal 1. The hotel bus service has stopped, no taxis are available and at 2-0am British Airways tell us

Today we are going to Bethlehem. We drive the five miles that separates the town from Jerusalem, five miles that is being increasingly built up, and come to the “security” wall that now entirely surrounds Bethlehem. Our bus is waved through and no passports are needed this morning.

We travel out of Jerusalem for seven miles to the village of Abu Ghosh and, at the top of the village, we go to the site of Kiriath Jearim, which means the town of the forests. This was where the Ark of the Covenant rested for 20 years in Old Testament days, before King David brought it to Jerusalem. We visit the Church of our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant, with its roof top statue of the Virgin and Child, and admire the views toward Jerusalem. The Sisters of Saint Joseph built the church in 1924 on the foundations of a 5th century Byzantine church, itself built over the remains of a synagogue.

Sunday morning in Jerusalem! It’s a city which has many guises - there is Holy Jerusalem, with Judaism; Islam and Christianity all looking to it as a centre of faith and a place of hope.

There is divided Jerusalem - the Israeli city, where earlier this year was celebrated the 40th anniversary of Jerusalem’s “unification” after the Six Day War, and the Arab city, bravely hoping that one day it will be the capital of an independent Palestine.

We drive along the Kidron Valley and pass the south-east corner of the walls of the Temple Mount, known as the pinnacle of the Temple. It was here that Jesus thought of himself being brought by the devil during his temptations in the wilderness, and it was from here that Saint James, first Bishop of Jerusalem, was thrown to his martyrdom. In the foot of the valley are ancient tombs, the only buildings still standing in Jerusalem which were there when Jesus passed this way.

We make the short journey up the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives to Bethphage - the name means house of unripe figs – and we are very close to Bethany, although separated from the village by the Wall. It was at Bethphage that Jesus is said to have mounted the donkey to begin his Palm Sunday ride into Jerusalem.

We travel along the Kidron valley beneath the walls of the Old City and just before the Dung Gate turn down the hill to the City of David, the place which King David choose as his capital.

David’s city runs along the Ophel ridge from the Temple Mount. The Jebusite city which originally stood here is mentioned in Egyptian texts of the 20th century BC but was not significant enough for Joshua to

We leave the bus at Herod’s Gate and take the walkway at the foot of the wall round to Saint Stephen’s Gate, which is also known as the Lion Gate. A few yards inside the gateway we visit the Pool of Bethesda, the sheep pool, where Jesus commanded the sick man Take up your bed and walk. Just beside the remains of the pool and porticoes is the Crusader Church of Saint Anne, which was built in 1140 over a cave which a legend says was the home of Anne and Joachim, parents of the Virgin Mary. Saint Anne's was once

These are free days in Jerusalem with the opportunity to explore new places, return to favourite ones or shop in the souk. They are important days for our pilgrimage as they provide the opportunity to experience the city in new ways, to be caught up in its life and enjoy its culture, architecture and cuisine, or to take time to reflect on all that has been seen and experienced over the past days. At our final evening meetings and Night

An early start for the pilgrims returning to Aberdeen (and a noon start for Kate going to Lugano). Breakfast just before 4-0am and the drive to the airport. Jerusalem is quiet as we pass through, although there are some people already on the streets.