Day 6

Today starts out in the Old City going through Herod's Gate. We walk the streets and note several of the Catholic Church's Stations of the Cross. They are markers affixed to the outside of various building about 10 feet high. You pretty much have to know where they are to notice them. We visited the Franciscan Church of the Condemnation. It is here that some believe that Pilate condemned Jesus and Jesus took up His cross. The Convent of the Sister of Zion marks the area that others believe the trial took place.

Next was a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is a beautiful church and home to several different denominations. As we were there on a Sunday, we were witness to two different services being held at the same time-even as tourists were traipsing through. I felt quite intrusive, but apparently this is what they have learned to work with. I was surprised that the services were not timed around each other. You could hear the two services at the same time. On site is a stone slab that Jesus was laid on to be annointed before His burial. A mosiac murial is mounted on the wall telling the story from the point of removing His body from the cross to His burial. There is also a stone marking the site some say is where Jesus was crucified.

We took a daytime look at the Wailing Wall. Before we went down to the ground level, we viewed it from a position overlooking the area. While we were there, a small Jewish wedding party appeared and we stayed around to watch. Quite interesting. Everyone was huddled together right with the bride, groom and rabbi-taking photos and video. You could barely catch a glimpse through the crowd of about 25. There are more tourists here today than there were last night. Such a different atmosphere.

Our walk then took us to the Southern Wall area-the Huldah Gates-and the excavated stone steps that lead to the Temple Mount area where Jesus would have walked to enter in. Lots of excavations in recontructions in this area.

Next was a visit to the Room of the Last supper. This is a rather large room with a couple of huge columns. We had another reading led by Stephen.

Tomorrow takes us for a Dip in the Dead Sea and Masada. 'Til then!

Day 5

Fantastic day! Older cities and different cultures fascinate me. Danny walked us along the Palm Sunday path where Jesus made His way into Jerusalem. We stopped in the Garden of Gethsemane and viewed the oldest living olive tree-dates back 2000 years. Lovely garden. The Basilica of the Agony was built over the site of the older Byzantine church and a Crusader church. Inside is a rock that is believed to be the actual spot where Jesus knelt in the garden to pray.

We made our way to Bethlehem without Danny. Israeli citizens are not allowed to enter there. It has to do with politics and the people who are still fighting for control of the country. I don't understand it much. I guess I should read up on that a little more. Anyway, the first stop was the Church of the Nativity built over the traditional sight of Jesus's birth. This is one of the few places that we had to wait in line to go see. Danny is good about timing our tours or getting us through crowds. He jumps out into traffic to get us across streets and holds back crowds to keep us together. And everyone does what he says. It's quite amusing. Three different churches are housed here: The Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and the Catholics. Underneath the main floor is another floor that was discovered after an earthquake had damaged the building. A large section of elaborate mosaics was found. They have it fixed up with wooden doors that can close the openings so that chairs can be set up for services. The memorial marking the site of the manger is down a few steps through a narrow opening. The room is small, but is used for services. Once our group was in there, we were able to spent a few moments reading the scripture and worshipping. This is one of my favorites activities that we do, and I guess I have failed to mention it much. At many of the bibical sites, Stephen reads the appropriate passage from the Bible and we usually sing a hymn or two that fits the occasion. Very moving.

We then followed Danny through the streets of the Old City-eventually making our way to Saint Anne's Church. The Catholic church believes that this is the site of the home of Joachim and Anna- the parents of the Virgin Mary. The chapel is rather small, but with it's high dome how wonderful acustics. We sang several hymns and worshipped.

After dinner back at the hotel, most of us took an extra excursion to see the city at night. Danny and our driver, Shlomo (sp? Solomon in English) took us through a couple of Jewish neighborhoods explaining some of the different cultures and traditions of the people. We went through some modern areas with boutique shops and stopped for coffee. We also went into the Old City to visit the Wailing Wall. Since tonight is the end of Sabbath, many Jewish are here. Very interesting. Different sects of Jews are identifiable by their mode of dress. I feel intrusive and don't feel comfortable taking pictures here. There are separate areas for men and women to pray. Men are required to wear a head covering. We all entered the praying area, but I stayed back. The people here are so devote and I feel very lax in my devotion around them. We have witnessed people standing and praying in the corner of the airplane, in the airport and now here-very publically and unabashed. Makes me a little sad that for all of this devotion, they won't be joining us on the other side.

Tomorrow we spend the day in the Old City. Can't wait!!

Day 4

Our first stop today was at the Bet She'an National Park. This is the largest archeological dig in Israel. So far this week, we have seen many such sites, but this has by far been to most fascinating to me. Twenty-eight civilizations have been identified here dating back to the Stone Age five thousand years ago. King Saul and his sons were killed here (I Samuel 31). The surrounding area included bathhouses, a theater, public latrines, varous public buildings and temples. The latrines were rather interesting. There are solid stones protruding from the walls about 18 inches four inches apart. A ditch runs the length of the wall. To make use of the facilities, one would sit between two of the stones and water would be used to rinse everything away. We took a group photo of many of us sitting on the latrines. Mt Gilboa is the site where King Saul was defeated. There is a pathway snaking up to the top made of stone steps. Several of us made this climb. It was a tough hike, but everyone who started up made it to the top. We were rewarded with beautiful views of the valley of Hagai and the entire city of Bet She'an. This was a wonderful stop. Well worth the trek up the hill.

Our next stop was Megiddo-or Armeggedon. This was situated in a strategic area that was the intersection between military and trade routes, so many battles were fought here in order to have control of this important area. There have been twenty civilizations uncovered here dating from 3500 BC through the final distruction in 450 BC. This is another large excavation area. They have discovered many important historical sites here including Solomon's Chariot City, ruins of palaces and temples, and many ancient artifacts. We walked down into the water system that was discovered here. For some reason, these underground sojourns tend to fascinate me the most. I am amazed that such a long time ago, these people could build enormous structures and dig several feet down into stone without the aid of all the heavy machinery that we have today. And we whine about mowing the grass.

On the way into Jerusalem, we took an unscheduled stop in Joppa. Went down a side street and view the door that was once Simon the Tanner's home. Funny-that's all we looked at-the door. A family lives there now, but it is marked as Simon's house. We also stopped to look at a fountain of a whale-commemorates Jonah.

We drove on into Jerusalem and checked into the Olive Tree Hotel Where we will stay for the remainder of our trip. It was a great day. Soooo tired, but it's a good tired.

Tomorrow is The Mount of Olives, Bethlehem and Gethsemane.

Goodnight.

Day 3

Another beautiful morning! We have been blessed with such great weather so far. So nice to be able to enjoy the day without having uncomfortable weather to distract us.

Today we started out on top of Mt. Precipice. This gave us wonderful views of Nazareth on one side and the Jazreel Valley on the other. This is the area where Jesus first announced his ministry and identified himself as the Son of God through the reading of the scrolls at the synagogue. The congregation were then determined to throw Him over the cliffs, but obviously were not successful. This view was spectacular! I have been pleasantly surprised at the landscape of this area. Where I was expecting desert and sand, there has been rolling hills and mountains. Fields and hillsides of wildflowers. Lushness of farmland and accommodating temperatures. What a way to fully appreciate God's handiwork!

Anyway-on to the Nazareth Village. They have set up a village in the middle of Nazareth that depicts how people had lived in Jesus's time. There were donkeys, a shepherd tending his flock, a carpenter, a weaver, and various buildings set up to show us how the homes may have been. Our guide took us through the village and gave us a little talk on the various activities, as well as how it was to live in this type of climate. Not at all like I had imagined. The movies get it all wrong. I have always imagined flat, dusty roads; homes built of wood. The terrain is very rocky and homes are built out of stones into the sides of the hills. There is a 410-year-old olive tree that was transplanted there about 10 years ago. Apparently olive trees are very hardy and live forever. We are supposed to see first century trees later this week in the Garden of Gethsemane. We found out that our guide there was a Meninite on the last day of her 2 1/2 year ministry trip. She lives in Canada and will be returning there after getting to do a little touring for herself. She was a very sweet girl.

On to the Catholic Church of the Annunciation-the spot where Catholic's believe the angel told Mary that she was to bear a son. We also visited St. Gabriel's-a Greek Orthodox church built over a well named "Mary's Well". It would have been the village well that everyone would have gone to to draw water. The Greek believe that Mary was visited here and given the news. If memory serves, the bible does not specify as to where Mary was when the angel visited her. Many of the sites that we have visited have been "traditional" sites. There is not absolute proof that the events happened at exactly these spots, but we can be sure that they did in fact happen somewhere in the vicinity.

Our guide, Dan, took us through the village streets of Nazareth. So interesting. Walking down the narrow stone streets past all of the vendor shops. This is not something that we would have been able to do if we had planned our trip and done this on our own. He took us for lunch to a little "pizza" shop that he had found. We had a little pizza made on a flat bread-maybe a pita??-topped with goat cheese and a herb that I have never experienced. Starts with a "Z" Very unusual, but good. We ate standing up or sitting on the curb in that little alleyway. Quite the experience.

Next was Zippori/Sepphoris-the childhood home of Mary. And of course, another Catholic church build over the site.

For the perfect ending, we headed down to the Jordan River to allow those of us in our group the opportunity to be baptized in the same River as Jesus. Stephen double-dipped (Mikel's term. She didn't like re-baptized) his three daughters and about 5 others. Mike and I chose not to participate. It was a beautify setting and there were many groups there participating. Stone seating was available for viewing the participants. This is our last night in Tiberias. Tomorrow we head to Jerusalem for five nights at the Olive Tree Hotel. We will visit Bet She'An and Megiddo. Should be another very fascinating day.

Day 2

It was a gorgeous day today! We couldn't have ordered better weather. Winds were light and the sun was sunny. Today started out with a drive north to Capernaum. The city where Jesus spent most of his ministry. We started out on the Mount of the Beatitudes where Jesus is believed to have delivered the Sermon on the Mount. There is a chapel there built by Mussolini in 1937. It was made of Italian Marble. Just beautiful. It is maintained by nuns of an Italian Franciscan order. The grounds have several areas separated out where people can spend time in worship or just to be still. We sat grouped together on large rocks and looked down the hillside-just as Jesus must have done all those years ago. It is so beautiful. The rolling hills are lush and green. There is a lot of different crops grown out here-mostly we saw different kinds of fruit trees:bananas, mangos, cherries, apples, pears, olives. Oh, and grapes. Lots of grapes.

Next was Mount Hermon. The melting snows provide water to the Jordan river. It is also the traditional site of the Transfiguration. Pan's Cave/Gates of Hades (same cave) is also there. There is a Druze Temple built up on the hillside. The Druze are a Muslim sect that are pretty much exclusive. They don't recruit, but they are never allowed to leave. We drove through a couple of their villages.

Lunch was St. Peter's fish. Tilapia with head and fins still attached. It was actually pretty good. Gotta try and experience as much as the culture as I can. I think only a couple of us passed on the fish and had pasta instead. I kept thinking of "The Amazing Race" and all the strange things that they have to eat on there. Don't think I could do it.

Next was south down to the traditional site of Peter's house. There had been a church built over it and lots of excavations of villagers' homes.

Further south is the White Chapel that honors the area that the Catholics recognize as the place that Peter was named as the first Pope. Lots more excavated stones from various sources.

We then visited a museum that houses the "Jesus Boat" This first century boat was discovered in 1986 in the Sea of Galilee by a couple of fishermen. The lake level was low due to severe drought. The boat was carefully extracted and is now on display here.

Finally, we boarded a tour boat to ride on the Sea of Galilee. This was a perfect ending to a long day. The weather has been fabulous and the ride very calming. One of our boat guides cast out a net. Caught nothing on the first time. So of course was encouraged to cast it on the other side. He did. And caught a tiny tilapia. Threw it back.

Dinner buffet at the hotel again and another evening with most of our group catching up on Facebook and emails. What did we do before all this technology?

Anyway--tomorrow includes a visit to Little Nazareth and Baptizing in the Jordan. Can't wait!

Day 1

3:30am wakeup Monday morning, 11:00am arrival in Tel Aviv Tuesday morning. Of course, that does include a time difference, but it has been a long trip getting here. The flight was uneventful-which is always a great thing. There was one interesting thing that happened on the flight. There was an Israeli choral group traveling back from a performance in NYC. About an hour before landing, they starting singing some of their selections. Beautiful! It reminded me of the Hallelujah flashmob. Several people-including myself-were recording them. A lot of people were standing in the aisles and watching. Eventually, the captain announced that everyone had to sit down and put on our seatbelts, so the show was over. But it was fun while it lasted. If the internet here weren't so testy, I would try to post the video. Maybe later. Mike and I weren't able to sleep on the plane, so we have pretty much been awake since Monday morning. Sooooo tired. 26 of us loaded up the tour bus at the airport and headed north to Caesarea. We toured the grounds of the Roman theater and Herod's aquaduct on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. For centuries, they had been buried beneath many generations of rubble. Universities and Israel has only been excavating it since the 1960's. The water of the Mediterranean is the bluest and clearest of any I have ever seen. And such a beautiful beach-fine white sand. There are several other tour groups around and many people were taking their shoes off and wading through the water. After that, we went about 40 miles north to our hotel in Tiberias. It was only about 3:00pm, so we were able to rest awhile and get cleaned up a little before meeting for dinner. The hotel sets up a buffet dinner where we have ample opportunity to sample many of the exotic flavors of this country. I was urged to try a "real" Greek olive-even though I don't like olives. Jackie assured me that these are different and that I would like it. Still don't. More for you, Jackie :D The hotel grounds are beautiful. We are right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Our room has the view of the Sea and the hotel swimming pool. Gorgeous! Tomorrow's tour includes the Mount of the Beatitudes, Capernaum, the traditional site of the multiplication of the fish and loaves of bread, and a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Early start: wakeup is at 6:00am. It is about 9:30pm now. So I will try this again tomorrow! Til then! :)

Israel Bound!

Even with the best of intentions, I often fail at the follow-through. I really did intend on posting about that trip to Guatemala, but for various reasons (some my fault, others not so much) I let that one go. That trip in particular was almost a year-and-a-half ago and I've been to Guatemala again since then. It was still fun re-reading what I had posted back then.

Now it's almost time to add another stamp to my passport! I am so pumped up about this one. A group of about 25 people from our church is about to embark on a journey to the Holy Land. I can hardly wait. As fast as the past years seem to have vanished in the blink of an eye, this past month seems to have come to a near standstill. We have been preparing for this trip for almost a year and now the day is almost here. We leave dark and early on Monday the 28th. We fly to New York and then directly to Tel Aviv-not to return again until April 6th. Mike and I are pretty much ready to go. All that is left is the packing. And dealing with the consist nagging feeling that there must be something we have failed to include in our reminder list.

So my latest intention is to blog about some of our adventures while we are there. I have even purchased a new Flip camera, so there may be video included! We shall see. I am of the understanding that we will have Wi-Fi available in our hotels and that the touring part of our days will end fairly early, so we should have some free time in the evenings.

Okay, now that I have posted this, maybe I can get to sleep. I was staying awake composing this in my head, so figured that I may as well get up and crank it out. The rest of my week composes of laundry, carpet cleaning, a little tutoring and getting through three more days of our beans/rice/tap water diet. Not sure that I'm going to make it, but I'm gonna try.