My Favourite Holiday: Author David De Freitas says the architecture of the Holy Land takes the breath away

The Dome of the Rock, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, is a stunning edifice (Linda Johnsonbaugh / Getty Images)

TURRIFF-based author David De Freitas has just published his debut novel.

Revelations 12:12 (Troubador £8.99) is about a youngster, suspected of murder, whose destiny is looked after by a mysterious doctor.

David, 49, pictured below with his mum, also a keen traveller, has a son, Daniel, with his wife Lindsey.

I’ve travelled all over for work and as a family we’ve had everything from British seaside holidays to trips to Las Vegas and Walt Disney World in Florida.

But the place that stands head and shoulders above anywhere for amazing memories is Israel.

My mum and dad are Christian people and they had always wanted to go. So, a few years ago, I thought I’d take them before their health deteriorated.

To be honest, I didn’t have much interest in going – but it just blew me away.

We did all the usual religious things in Jerusalem and went over to the Palestinian side and it was a world away from the perceptions that people have about the place.

Everyone went beyond what might be expected and they were all so decent.

It wasn’t so much the religious side as the archaeology that fascinated me, though. It takes history to a level I couldn’t even appreciate.

Everyone had heard of King Herod, but the structures he built that are still around today are absolutely astonishing.

The Temple Mount, for example, where the Dome of the Rock sits in Jerusalem.

The mount is 36 acres.

And he built palaces and fortresses in the desert that are quite simply monumental.

The extreme engineering he undertook in the most hostile environments just takes the breath away.

We were there for five or six days and that just wasn’t nearly enough time to see everything. Every day was jam-packed.

I was conscious of not tiring my mum and dad out too much and if we had a big walking day then I’d try and plan the next as one where we were mainly driving to see things.

Even so, we missed so much that we all just had to go back.

That time I think it was about eight or nine days – and we still never got a moment to even step into one of the famous museums to see artefacts.

So I guess we’d have to try and make it third time lucky on another trip to do that!

Turriff-based author David De Freitas has just published his debut novel.

Revelations 12:12 (Troubador £8.99) is about a youngster, suspected of murder, whose destiny is looked after by a mysterious doctor.

David, who is 49 and works in the oil industry, has 16-year-old son Daniel with his wife Lindsey.

I’ve travelled all over for work and as a family we’ve had everything from British seaside holidays to trips to Las Vegas and DisneyWorld in Florida.

But the place that stands head and shoulders above anywhere for amazing memories is Israel.

My mum and dad are quite Christian people and they had always wanted to go to Israel. So, a few years ago, I thought I’d take them before their health deteriorated.

To be honest, I didn’t have much interest in going – but it just blew me away.

We did all the usual religious things in Jerusalem and went over to the Palestinian side and it was a world away from the perceptions that people have about the whole place.

Everyone went beyond what might expect and they were all so decent.

It wasn’t so much the religious side as the archaeology that really fascinated me, though. It takes history to a level I couldn’t even appreciate.

Everyone had heard of King Herod from the Bible with the killing of boy children, but the structures he built that are still around today are absolutely astonishing.