Photo: Childhood Curiosity in the Church of the Nativity

According to Christian tradition, it was in the grotto underneath this Bethlehem church that Jesus was born. Since the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000, few tourists have ventured to this Palestinian town to visit the church. But this past Christmas witnessed a change, with all of Bethlehem's hotels full for the first time in years. Tourism is still not what it was, say, a decade ago. But travelers have begun to come back in larger numbers, discovering a troubled yet friendly town.