A Riverside traveler who has just returned from a religious pilgrimage to the Holy Land is Marcia Radogna Capone, who traveled with a tour group of 40 led by the Rev. Charles Mangano and the Rev. Antony Stangenelli of Merrick, N.Y.

“We spent Oct. 27 until Nov. 7 touring the Holy Land,” she said. “Our first night was spent in Tel Aviv at the Bat Yam Hotel, one night was spent in Nazareth at the Golden Crown, and the rest of the time was spent at the Olive Tree in Jerusalem, by far the best of the three hotels.”

Inasmuch as it is the goal of all Christian visitors to the Holy Land to visit the sites of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, we will omit the travelog and concentrate on the interesting happenings experienced by Capone.

“Our bus driver was a Catholic Palestinian, and our tour guide was also a Catholic Palestinian named ‘Ramon.’ Both were highly educated but did not discuss politics. ‘We want to stay alive,’ one said.

“We visited the Tomb of the Resurrection, which is so small that our priests went inside to prepare for the Mass, and then we went in. We had to hurry because a Mass for the Eastern Orthodox parishioners was scheduled in a few minutes.”

The tour group was able to help out another visitor to the Holy Land.

“We met a young Carmelite priest from Linz, Austria. He told us he had been overcharged by a cab driver and had no money left. We took him under our wing and he became a part of our group for two days. Before he left us, we took up a collection for him.”

The trip offered many more experiences.

“A visit to the Dead Sea was very interesting,: she said. “We learned it is 35 percent salt. We were told to bring bathing suits and found it is quite muddy around the water. We floated. No one can drown in the Dead Sea. We toured the Sea of Galilee in a replica of a boat unearthed only 10 or 15 years ago that dated from the time of Christ.

“I helped carry a wooden cross on Mount Calvary. It was huge and heavy. We did this early in the morning before the shops along the way opened. That was a very long day and I went to bed early that night.”

Capone told of meeting the grandson of the man who found the Dead Sea Scrolls.

“I was denied visit to the Wailing Wall because I was wearing my gold cross. However, l hid the cross and did visit the Wall anyway.”

Capone found the food to be excellent.

“My favorite breakfast included halibut, tuna fish and herring, and I liked an Arabian dish made with tomato sauce and poached eggs. We were served a pita pocket stuffed with chopped garbonzo beans, then fried, pretty much like the dish we enjoy in our country, but the beans weren’t called ‘garbonzo.’”

Asked whether she had seen much advertising celebrating Israel’s 60th anniversary, Capone answered, “There may have been, but I can’t read Hebrew.”

Christmas presents sent home for her grandchildren arrived before she did.

“I arrived home just in time to celebrate my husband Vince’s birthday,” Capone said.

Vince stayed home to make the money for his wife’s travels. Happy Birthday to a good guy.