Bethlehem is controlled by Palestine, and we entered a checkpoint before arriving in the city. How much of the land known as Israel belongs to Israel and how much belongs to Palestine is still a contentious subject. Our guide is a resident of Israel, a Palestinian by nationality, and a christian by choice. We found all the Palestinians we encountered to be kind and friendly toward us. Of course, we stayed in the tourist areas, otherwise we possibly could have met others who would have acted differently.
First stop: The Shepherds’ Field in Bethlehem 
There is a church with three beautiful paintings.
There is also a cave which has been converted to a place of worship.
We boarded the bus to travel to the Church of the Nativity. On our way we saw interesting graffiti. (Recognize Donald Trump?)
The Church of the Nativity is occupied by three different denominations, Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and Byzantine Catholic. The Byzantine chapel is the most ornate one in the building. The clergy from the different denominations don’t always get along. Did you ever have to share a bedroom with a sibling and draw a line to separate sides? Well, they sometimes need a better defined line. There is an interesting youtube video where two Orthodox groups are cleaning to get ready for the Christmas season and they get into an argument. It ends up in a broom fight and police are called in.
The building used to have a tall doorway, but it was closed up to keep people from bringing horses and carts inside. 
Sculpture of St. George and the Dragon
When walking through the Church of the Nativity, we came directly to the Church of Saint Catherine which was built above a series of caves where Jerome translated the scriptures into Latin. A statue of Jerome is in the courtyard of this church building.
Mural: Map of Bethlehem showing Jerusalem in the distance
Our next stop was for Palestinian Bar-b-Que. We left the motor coach and walked through the streets to a restaurant which is popular with groups. We had basically the same types of foods as we have enjoyed all week with some variations on seasonings: Pita bread with a variety of options for filling. After we enjoyed this for a few minutes, they brought beef, lamb and chicken.
Believe me. We never went hungry on our tour, and I found it interesting to try all the different fillings – especially the different variations of hummus offered at the restaurants.
Our next stop will be the Israel Museum. Watch for that post coming soon.