My world tour

[Flying Fish]

So a few weeks ago I was in Nurnburg. Much to my disappointment, when we arrived, it soon became clear that this was NURNBURG, not Nuremburg, so faced with a 6 day work week with one day off to explore and no race track to make a Pilgrimage to, I went and wandered round the city.
It may surprise you that I am fairly ambivalent about European history. Didn't give much of a st at school etc. I didn't know much about Nurnburg's history before I arrived, but quickly found out about the Nazi parade grounds and heard the stories and watched the films of Hitler rallying troops and civilians into a frenzy, gaining support for the Nazi regime and world domination. I felt pretty disgusted at the way people behaved under this group mentality / mob rule excuse and my faith in humanity was shaken somewhat, if not completely shot after that.

Fast forward a few weeks, and today I went to Jerusalem.
Raging middle eastern sun, sweating before you've left the house hot and a city the size of Canterbury, with about 30,000 population within the city walls.
Houses literally falling into each other and the Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Armenian quarters each a stone's throw from each other.
We walked in the gardens of Gethsemane and paid our respects at the tomb of the Virgin Mary.

All this left me feeling pretty underwhelmed at first - I mean the Virgin Mary is sort of a big thing for you God fearing Sky-Fairy-Believers, but the tomb wasn't covered in gold leaf with a multi-lingual guide hoisting a yellow umbrella about and demanding that you pay 8 quid for a coffee or buy the map / post card / cuddly toy from the gift shop as I expected. No, the place was staffed by a tired looking caretaker-priest, who welcomed us at the entrance and left us to our own devices. They keep their ladders in the corner of the tomb, and the exposed wiring was at best imaginative, if not potentially fatal, even by Israeli standards.

What struck me on the journey back to Tel Aviv, however was the overwhelming sense of peace in within the city walls. It's hot. I mean properly sun burn, 2 litres of water, dive for every available bit of shade, mad dogs and Englishmen hot, and it's tiny and densely populated. And it's Ramadan, so the Muslims are irritable due to having had no food or fags all day. but still, the overwhelming feel of the city (which has been invaded and captured more times in living memory that Belgrade) was Peace, harmony and a "live and let live" vibe.

Made me think on the way home, about group mentalities, and how they can inspire otherwise decent people to behave in an abhorrent way, and how an even larger group delusion (e.g. Organised religion) can stand for peace and harmony - which evidently at it's epicenter is possible... and yet cause so many wars and bloodshed, spanning centuries.

Also made me think about the grandeur or Rome and the Vatican, where the Churches and chapels seem to meet the sky and there is gold leaf and Michelangelo's paintwork for acres versus the true belief of the caretaker-priest, who is just sitting there, doing his best, trying to keep the tomb tidy for the faithful.
Seems odd that the Vatican, which GEOGRAPHICALLY at least isn't that important in Christian religions would be so much more touristy and money grabbing capitalist compared with the sites which carbon dating can prove existed at the time of the Books (Gospels) being written.

Faith in humanity restored slightly. Cynicism at group mentalities and delusions at an all time high.
If you sat through that, well done. Thanks for listening, PH.

[Huntsman]

One of the most interesting posts I've read on PH in nearly a decade.

Its a great shame that so much of the middle east is in turmoil, its the most interesting area of the world in my mind.