My Kind of Hotels

On my last trip to Jerusalem I got to spend time at some pretty neat spots. I had the joy of staying at Casa Nova, which is a Franciscan Pilgrim House, like the ones found all over the Holy Land. I also got to visit Notre Dame, the Vatican's hotel/conference center in the city.

Here's the grand exterior of Notre Dame:

The Notre Dame Center apparently has a really interesting recent history, including takeover by the Israeli military for some period of time, not too long ago. I heard just snatches of this recent history from Patty, but I would love to read somewhere the whole thing.

Generally, Casa Nova is a little humbler, but it still has a great Jerusalem Old City feeling, and a really beautiful courtyard:

The other thing I noticed about both hotels was the beautiful chapels they both had! Obviously very different in style again (Patty is fond of saying Casa Nova is "very Franciscan"), but how cool to have the Blessed Sacrament so close. It's not enough that you can't throw a stone in Jerusalem without hitting a church; they put 'em right in the hotel for you. 

Here's Casa Nova's "very Franciscan" chapel (note especially the Tau Crucifix):

And here's the one Patty took inside Notre Dame...so beautiful!

Definitely my kind of hotels. As some of my friends are fond of saying, "Sleep with the angels."