London

Descending into Heathrow, we admire the view of the Thames and London CBD stretching out before us. Familiar landmarks like Tower Bridge, Big Ben and the London Eye were all easily identifiable. Having a friendly face - Ed's sister, Maddy - waiting for us at arrivals was so exciting after two and a half weeks away from home!

After a delicious traditional Sunday Roast dinner and an early night we were ready to explore Stoke Newington where Maddy and Josh live. The streets are filled with beautiful terraced Victorian houses, with blossom trees framing the view. We stop for coffees on the high street, which get Ed's seal of approval. Then we walk through the local cemetery - a vast peaceful space, trees and vines growing slowly over the haphazard old gravestones. After a visit to the local church, we make our way through Clissold Park admiring the spring flowers and stopping to watch the deer in the deer park.

On our final day we spend the afternoon in the Tate Modern Gallery. An impressive building with a fantastic range of work on show. It's a pleasure to revisit some examples of our favourite art movements, including impressionism and surrealism, as well as more recent works.

After a wander through Covent Garden and its shops, and a London steakhouse dinner, we are treated to a West End musical: 'The Book of Mormon'. A hilariously inappropriate and action-packed show with catchy songs, it's a fantastic way to end our short stay in London and to ensure we're keen to return.

Galilee to Tel Aviv

We leave Jerusalem and head north into the West Bank once again, into the Rift valley. We pass through Jericho, the lowest city and one of the longest continually settled places on Earth. We stop to see the sycamore tree famous from the biblical story of Zacchaeus the tax collector.

Driving further we have a view of the Monastery of the Temptation, built on the area where Jesus was thought to have spent time in the Wilderness after being baptised by John. The Monastery looks as if it is bolted onto the side of the cliff, silently monitoring the landscape around Jericho and across into Jordan.

Soon we reach the Sea of Galilee and then climb up to Safed - the home of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism - for amazing views across the hills and sea from above. We spend time wandering the narrow streets, looking in the galleries and shops all with unique and colourful wares.

Back on the shores of the Sea of Galilee we stop at a church built on the traditional site of the miracle of the loaves and the fish. Then at Capernaum we visit the remains of the town and synagogue where Jesus would have preached and worshipped.

Finally we make our way to Nazareth, our base for the next two nights. We explore the quiet city with its quaint narrow streets and multiple sites of biblical fame, including Mary's well and the Basilica of the Annunciation.

Next day there's a drive to Akko (Acre) on the coast. Mostly famous as a Crusader port and fortress, significant areas of Crusades-era halls have been found and restored. Much was rediscovered by accident - for example, in the early 1990s, a woman's complaint about a blocked drain led to the rediscovery of the Crusaders' subterranean tunnel from their main structures to the port.

Next a relatively short drive up to the Lebanese border. Here a walk through oceanside caverns and grottos is accessed via a cable car down from the bright pale cliffs. There's also the remains of a railway from the era of the British Mandate.

Leaving Nazareth we head down the Mediterranean coast of Israel towards Tel Aviv. We stop above the Baha'i Gardens of Haifa for a view over city and sea, and later at the restored Roman ruins at Caesarea, where we eat lunch in the sun overlooking the Mediterranean.

Our hotel is a beautifully restored building in the international style, very close to Rothschild Avenue - the hub of Tel Aviv, full of trendy restaurants, bars and cafés. Tel Aviv feels a world away from Jerusalem - the atmosphere is relaxed and fun. Everyone seems to own a dog and be out walking them in the streets.

In the morning we take a walking tour of downtown Tel Aviv and we hear how the city developed from a few old houses to a modern vibrant city in fewer than 100 years. Many buildings are in the international style designed by architects trained at the famous Bauhaus school in Germany.

In the afternoon we walk to the beach and then stroll down the coast headed for the beautiful old port of Jaffa. It's shabbat so most of the shops are closed, but there is a vibrant atmosphere and many families are out relaxing in the sun for the last day of the weekend.

Jerusalem

We begin our time in Jerusalem with a view from the Mount of Olives. The golden Dome of the Rock gleams in the morning light and we can see the old walled city of Jerusalem spread out before us. After descending alongside the sprawling Jewish cemetery to the Garden of Gethsemane, we visit the modern Basilica of the Agony at the Church of All Nations there.

Entering the old city through the Lions Gate, we weave through the various Quarters, following the Via Dolorosa and stopping at the Pools of Bethesda and the birthplace of the Virgin Mary. Eventually we reach the sprawling Church of the Holy Sepulchre - a huge domed complex of smaller churches and chapels controlled by various Christian denominations, built to enclose the traditional site of the hill of Golgotha (Calvary) where Jesus was crucified, his body anointed, and then entombed. Pilgrims pray at the crucifixion site and the tomb, and imbue the artifacts of their worship with extra sanctity by rubbing them in the oil on the Stone of Unction.

In the afternoon we head to Bethlehem, crossing through a checkpoint into the Palestinian territories. We visit the Church of the Nativity, which stands on the site celebrated as the birthplace of Jesus. Bethlehem itself has seen better days. It's a depressed urban area, constricted by bureaucratic, political and military barriers.

In the evening we take the tram from Palestinian East Jerusalem to Israeli West Jerusalem, which has a much more European feel. After looking around the market and many hip little eateries with more international flavour than we're seeking, we stumble upon an Iraqi grill restaurant. Delicious dips accompanied by freshly made Iraqi flat bread for starters, followed by grilled meat, rice with nuts and lentils, and salad.

This is obviously a family business, and we watch the dynamics unfolding. One waitress is managing the whole restaurant and while at the tables is pleasant - although with us her English is limited; but when away from the tables her facial expressions and exchanges with the grill chef - who we assume is her mother - are entertaining. Meanwhile the father is making the bread in a furnace-like oven similar to a tandoor, and a son works at other general tasks.

The next morning we head back into the Rift Valley, on the Israeli side this time. The landscape changes as we descend: from the green of Jerusalem to rockier pastures, grazed by flocks watched over by their shepherds; then to rocky desert. We stop at Nabi Musa, a shrine believed by Muslims to be the resting place of the prophet Moses. It is a small complex and sparse, undulating cemetery surrounded by wilderness.

We ride a cable car up to the fortress of Masada. Built by Herod the Great, perched high on top of a mountain plateau - the orange stones of the structures blend into the desert landscape, and the views are spectacular. The builders' water collection and storage techniques are particularly impressive - as we wander through the site in the hot, dry spring air we realise how essential water courses and cisterns were in this climate that can reach 40 degrees Celsius in summer.

On our final morning we visit the courtyard of the Temple Mount - al-Haram ash-Sharif. Here we can approach - but not enter - the golden Dome of the Rock, that defines the Jerusalem skyline so iconically. The Dome is a Muslim shrine over a rock revered by all the Abrahamic religions: for Muslims, the rock is where Mohammed ascended to heaven on his Night Flight to Jerusalem; and for the Jews, the rock was where Abraham nearly sacrificed his son, then later the site of the Holy of Holies until the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, and where the Divine Presence still resides.

This majestic structure, like the smaller Dome of the Chain that sits close beside it, is adorned with ornate ceramic tiles covered in Arabic script, interspersed with large marble panels with metal inlays - though its appearance has been altered and repaired many times. The golden dome was probably an original feature when constructed in the 7th century by Caliph Abd al-Malik, but a later caliph likely replaced the gold with lead to finance other projects (and replaced Abd al-Malik's name with his own in the inscriptions relating to the Dome's construction...). The lead was replaced with gold leaf between 1959 and 1962, and gold plates finally restored in the 1990s, when King Hussein of Jordan donated 80 kilograms of gold.

After a break in a tiny coffee stall in the nearby market, where we tried delicious Arabian coffee flavoured with cardamon, we visit the Western - or Wailing - Wall. The holiest site in Orthodox Judaism, it never closes for those wishing to pray. We see the celebrations for several bar mitzvahs among the devoted crowds.

Back on the bus, we travel to Taybeh in the West Bank - home of the first Palestinian brewery - to sample their range. We eat at a local Palestinian restaurant where we try musakhan, which is chicken cooked with sumac and onions, served on a flat bread which is then toasted so the juices soak into the bread but it's all still crispy!

In the afternoon we try to see as much of old Jerusalem as we can before we leave. We visit the impressive archaeological park located on the south side of the Temple Mount. Excavations here reveal edifices from all the major epochs of Jerusalem's history back to the time of Kings David and Solomon.

Back at the Holy Sepulchre, we wait in the hour long queue to enter the tomb of Jesus. It's nice to have a few moments of reflection and quiet away from the bustle of the main church, albeit monitored by an impatient Franciscan, hurrying each group of visitors along once he decides their time for a quick prayer is up.