Home again, Home again

It is very nice to be home again. The trip was marvelous. God is good. We were unaffected by the British Air Cabin Crew Strike. We were unaffected by the Volcanic Ash which stranded over 150,000 passengers. We were delayed one day in London when our plane had mechanical difficulties. British Air put us up in a nice hotel with a marvelous breakfast and we made it back home less than 24 hours after our original arrival date.

It is a good to be home!

Tuesday on the Mediterranean Coast

What a great day! We spent most of the day at Caesarea on the coast. We also drove through Nazareth. What good can come from Nazareth? In today's day I'm not too sure. It certainly is a split city of extremes. The upper part of the city seems to be very wealthy, and the lower part very poor.

However, we started the day at Megiddo. Megiddo is a city which they archaelogists have dated back over 5,000 years. The rubble they are working on now had to be dug down 25 meters just to reach the rubble. It is another city which built upon ruined city over ruined city. Hence, the large amount of rubble.

This is also the site - according to Revalations - where Armageddon is supposed to take place, hence, Megiddo.

The history in this country is absolutely astounding.

Caesarea was one of Herod's cities. He had yet another palace here. The water is incredibly beautiful at the Mediterranean. Teals, blues and greens. Absolutely amazing! There is an aquaduct here that is 5 km long. Hard to believe the amount of work that was put into these buildings and cities just after the birth of Christ. Caesarea is where Paul was tried and he asked to see Caesar so they sent him back to Rome where he was executed. To think we were walking in areas where Jesus (Nazareth) and Paul (Caesarea) actually saw the same things we see today - I think the sea was still the same color - is just truly inspiring.

Well, it's the end of a long day. We are getting worried about our return flight as it goes via London. I'll be calling the airline tomorrow, so keep us in your prayers!

At this point we've put our feet in the Red Sea, the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee, and the Medierranean. We're thinking, if we have to, we may be adding the Indian Ocean and the Pacific onto our list of bodies of water - just to get home!

correction!

Well, we drove up the Western Side of Israel from Eilat to just south of Tiberius.

Before leaving Eilat, we put our feet into the Red Sea. From Eilat, you can see Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. At night, the entire coast line lights up and all of the Israel sea side is closed and border controlled (from what I understand there is about 9 miles of border). The sea is truly beautiful.

We did get another vehicle search along the way to Galilee. We were much quicker going through this time as we knew what to expect and had all of our belongings out and back into our car in 20 minutes. I tried to take a photo of Chris repacking the car, but was told by a soldier that photos of any kind were not allowed.

It is the Israeli Independence Day. Yesterday was the Memorial Day so everything was closed when we came into town. Of all places, we ended up having to eat at a Burger King! And even BK closed at 7:00 - we just made it in at 6:45!

Our hotel is amazing. I've attached a photo which shows the view. We are surrounded by beautiful gardens and birds of all sorts of variety.

Today we went to the Sea of Galilee. The water was warm, but the beach was rocky. Not the nice white sandy beaches were used to! The Sea is about 50% larger than Lake Sunapee. Amazing to know we've visited another place where Jesus has ministered. We haven't put our photos on today from that trip.

Tonight we head to a fish restaurant. Tomorrow we're going to the Mediterrean Coast, then Wednesday to the Gaza area. The differences in the landscape of this small country are just incredible. Rocky desert to lush green. Temperatures ranging from upper 60s to 100! And about the size of New Jersey!

Today was a mostly quiet day. The Sabbath in the Jewish tradition. We ventured from Eilat on a tour of Petra. To do so, we had to cross over into Jordan. This was a process that took nearly 3 hours from the time we were picked up at our apartment until we were dropped to our Jordan tour bus. Then a two hour drive into Petra.

The photo to the left is a picture of the "Treasury." You may recognize it from the 3rd Indiana Jones movie.

The people of Jordan are very nice. There are many Bedoin tribes still active and living in the area.

The ladies rode camels out of the city (for a fee of course). The men decided to walk out on their own. Good thing we traveled in a group of four! Enables us to be in two places at once!

We had a late lunch in a Jordanian restaurant which was a delicious buffet so we were able to try many different foods.

Then we returned back to our apartment for an early night!

Tomorrow we leave for Tiberius - Galilee. Long day on the road, but a great way to finish our trip!

Photo below - me sleeping after the many stairs we climbed to see Herod's lair.

Photo to left, Herod's chambers.

We stopped at Herodia (another one of Herod the Great's Palaces). This one is just out of Bethelehem. The detail they have managed to uncover is amazing. We were even able to see where this Evil King laid his head. Absolutely remarkable that these things are still around (albeit under quite a bit of dirt and rubble). This brings up another thing I thought of as we traveled down Israel toward Eilat. There is A LOT of rock and rubble! The landscape is incredible.

Jerusalem is truly a city on a hill. It takes a lot of stamina to walk up the hill to Jerusalem. So next time you hear the hymn "Marching to Zion" it is up hill all the way, no matter what road you take! And that up hill road is VERY steep!

It also called to mind the scripture where Jesus mentions the rocks crying out, there would be a lot of crying in Judah if the rocks cried out!

Now, I was doing the driving today given the driving yesterday made me a little queezy. I'm not sure if it was because we had a female driver, or just the luck of the draw, but after we'd passed through Palestinian territory (very identifiable by all of the various walls that have been erected), we hit a check point and were stopped. Out of the car we were ordered, we then had to remove each and every bag out of our very jam packed car. Then we were hearded into a very small office and had to go through various scanners. I did have a nice little chat with one officer during this 45 minute detour. And if this is what it takes to keep citizens and aliens safe here, then it is worth all of the time in the world! I did want to take a photo, but the rest of my traveling party thought it would be a very bad idea to aim a camera at our newest friends!

We then made our way down through the Negev. This area of Israel has such incredible Canyons. It was very similar to the Canyons we have out west (although we didn't see any quite so large as the Grand Canyon). I've attached a photo as well.

We stopped in the area which is said that Moses viewed the Holy Land (Maktesh Ramon) - before the Israelites were lost for 40 years. Look at this photo - it's a wonder they grumbled!!! Not much there to look at! Then they got to wander around this area for 40 years! Teaches me not to grumble so much! :)

We finally made it to our new hotel which is a very nice little spot in a very interesting part of the world. It's similar to small coastal cities. Lots of Neon Lights and Clubs. We are thankfully in a quieter part of town.

Tomorrow, on to Petra.

I was too tired and sun-sick to blog last night. We visited Masada yesterday. It was an incredible experience. Masada was King Herod's (the Great) "winter" palace. Masada is within sight of the Dead Sea and the temperature yesterday was over 100 degrees! It's high up on a desert hill - we took a tram car to get to the palace ruins. I've attached a few photos of the view from Masada. One photo is of an area Mark & I walked down to. It had 162 steps to walk each way. Quite the work out! But definitely worth every step! The photo shows me (in my hat again! :) at the top of the steps!

After the heat of Masada, we went to the Dead Sea. Although it is frightening at times to see what Europeans wear to the beach, the water was warm and refreshing. We were told to go in and lay back into the water - not to go in head first. Good advise. The salty water is so buoyant that I very quickly flipped from my back over to my stomach, got a few drops of that salty water in my mouth and doggy paddled back to shore. That was it for me! The rest of the group continued to enjoy the water and I watched and dried from shore. What a great place to people watch!

It was a long ride back to the hotel. And the traffic got heavier as we neared Jerusalem. Passing through Bethelehem, we saw several sheep herders and a few people riding donkeys to their own destinations. On the way to Masada we saw several dressed camels on the side of the road. we're not sure if these were country taxis or tourist traps! The one in this photo was a tourist trap at a gas station!

The people in this area are a very passionate people. Yelling at just about anything. Beeping horns are the norm. Police run their blue lights all the time, just to let you know they are there (and there are many). I'm not sure how you would know if you were being pulled over!

Today we leave Jerusalem for Eilat. It's a 4 hour drive, and we'll be stopping at a few points of interest. Tomorrow we go to Petra! Another HOT, but exciting, day!

We visited Jerusalem again today. We looked at the other side of the wall - where we could see our own apartment from! And went to an archeological dig - seeing remains of the wall from Herod the Great had put up (amazing to see something so old!). We saw remains of a ceremonial cleansing bath that Jesus Himself may have used! The highlight of the day was going through Hezekial's Water Tunnel. Most of the way through was just calf deep, but there was one frightening part early on that went half way up my thigh and it was very dark. All I could think about was water snakes! At any rate, there weren't any snakes, the tunnel was a water way created in 700 BC and is actually mentioned in the Bible. We walked just shy of a mile through the very narrow tunnel is fed by Gihon Spring and leads into the Pool of Siloam.

In the water tunnel. My hat gives me away as a tourist! But the sun is SO hot, it is impossible for nonlocals not to wear some type of hat!

Right on the street we're staying at, they are excavating parts of the old city. so we can see some of the older homes coming out of the rubble. From what we understand, there is about 15 feet of rubble underneath the city as Jerusalem has been torn down over 20 times in history! Hence the amount of rubble! Picture Below!

I have attached a few of my favorite pictures from the day. Tomorrow, we head to Masada and the Dead Sea!

This is part of the market. I couldn't make it go right side up!~

Wailing Wall and Part of the view from our apartment.

This is outside our door at our apartment!

Tuesday

Well, our plane landed - only 1/2 hour behind schedule. After some time fighting with Avis Rental and getting insurance with my wonderful coworkers (Thanks Ben and Jen) and insurance company - Peerless (thanks Marc & Deb!) we were safely and comfortably in Jersualem!
Our apartment is very nice and we have a beautiful view of the Old City! With only a 15 minute walk to get to Jaffa gate, it is also very convenient!
We walked to dinner last night and you'll never guess my first meal - Salad! And it was REALLY GOOD! :)
Today we were able to walk half of the wall, go to the Western "Wailing" Wall - which was an INCREDIBLE experience. You could feel the prayers of the generations of people who have prayed there. The moment I walked into the sacred area, I had goose bumps. As I got closer to the wall, tears just wouldn't stop! It was an absolutely amazing experience!
We had lunch at a Palestinian Pizza place. It was very good! The multicultural feeling of this city that so many claim as their Holy Land is prominent everywhere!
Looking forward to the other half of the wall tomorrow as well as the water tunnel. Weather is in the upper 70s and clear. Couldn't ask for anything more. We are truely blessed!

Evening before leaving

OK, I will get used to posting!!! I just posted under my own comments screen, so here goes nothing - some may see this twice! :)

OK, Down to about 16 hours before we leave town. We're mostly packed. Tucked the kids in for the last time before leaving - boy will I miss them! Glad my mom and dad live with us, so there is no transition other than missing us!
The flight is 14 hours total (with 2 hour layover), add in all the driving between airports, home and hotel and I'm guessing 24 hours on the road! Thankfully we should hit the hotel around 7 p.m. their time, so hopefully a sunset from our roof top patio, then crashing into bed!

OK everyone, we're getting ready to travel, and must say, I am a bit nervous! I'm sure I'll forget to pack something!
I'm excited to be traveling to Israel. I expect this will be a trip of a lifetime! We'll be spending 4 days in Jersualem, 2 in Eliat - with a day trip out to Petra, and finishing up our final 4 days in the Galilee region. I hope to be able to post photos and highlights of our journey so we can share with all of you what we're seeing as we're seeing it. I'm unsure of how often I'll be able to connect to the internet, so we'll see how it goes. If nothing else, I'll share the photos when I return!
Pray for safe travels for us while we're gone!