After lots of discussion about where Bethlehem was and how you would travel there and what it would be liked, The Pioneers went on the bus to Bethlehem and it was quite remarkable. We discussed that it was all pretend. We were met by two Roman centurions and greeted warmly on Skinner Street. We entered Bethlehem and the Pioneers questioned the lack of sand. We were taken to the market square where we observed greetings and were signposted to the various locations. There were sounds and sights and smells to keep us all curious.
We got to find out about candle making, woodwork and the food that would have been eaten at the time of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem-no oranges apparently! We found out that Bethlehem means House of Bread. We looked at old woodwork tools for smoothing and drilling. Everyone got to dress up if they wanted and listened to the Christmas Story.
Juice and a biscuit was served in the Inn.
We had an impromptu singsong which was a bit of a mashup of our nativity songs. It was done with great energy!
The Pioneers were asked many searching questions and gave brilliant answers.
And we made it back for lunch but were a little late. The afternoon was quite quiet.