I spoke about how quickly things return to normal.... I forgot to mention the saddest thing that happened yesterday. I came into worked, plugged in my laptop and remembered the randomly generated 14 piece password first time. That is VERY sad!

Necia, my flatmate asked me a question that no-one else had last night and I was completely thrown by it! She asked me what was my favourite bit of the whole trip...

Well, where do you start??

In a ten day journey that had not only seen us grow individually but also bond collectively as a group, when we had experienced so many different things, where do you start is a serious question.

Was there anything I could strike off the list of probables immediately? Well, for me there did come a point where I was over all the churches that had been designed by Antonio Barluzzi... All the endless, utterly OTT mosaics are just not 'me', but I know they do suit others - its a personal taste thing. Though I have to admit the final one we went in the Church of All Nations on the Mount of Olives redeemed him in my eyes. The interior of that building was almost other worldly. It certainly transported me to a place where I could imagine myself waiting whilst Jesus prayed alone.

That doesn't get me too much further in my quest to eliminate things or promote even.

We saw two cities close up, Tiberias and Jerusalem. The former modern, the latter ancient. I went out on my own in Tiberias but not in Jerusalem. It wasn't that I felt threatened but I knew I would get lost, I needed a good map to venture out in Jerusalem! I fell in love with Jerusalem, the tiny streets and the hurly burly of the souks. (The second photo is a rather empty little street, they were usually so crowded it was hard to stay still long enough to get a photo!) I adored the glimpses through doors and up little alleyways. In fact I photographed lots of them! I was and still am fascinated by the different quarters and how they all mix and match - or not as the case may be!

I found the dark tunnels and the heights we climbed personally challenging so they slip down my list a bit, however that's just me and some of my more obvious 'phobias'. I was annoyed by the grumpy monk at the monastery on the top of the Mount of Temptation, but thanks to Fr Derek we did manage to get in and it was well worth the wait and long climb up there in stifling heat. (The first photo is a shot of the monastery from the cable car. You can't see all of the route we walked up but you can get an idea of how remote it was!) We later understood that some of the grumpiness was due to a battle of wills between the monk and the cable car owners - who refuse to allow him to bring up bottled water by cable car...

So, what spring into my mind when Necia asked the question? What was my gut reaction? Well it was the very last experience we had on Saturday evening when the four of us, Mhairi, Michael, Jonathan and I went to Syrian Vespers. (The third photo is of one of the monks afterwards) It lyrical simplicity, lack of hordes of tourists and connectivity with something ancient was just a fabulous experience - a real high to go out on!