Jan 25, 2020 - Masada and Qumran

We boarded the bus at 7am for the long drive to Masada on the Dead Sea. The weather was perfect once again. The skies were clear and the visibility was amazing. King Herod built the complex on top of Masada with 2 palaces, a Roman bath, 12 storehouses, cisterns, as well as stables. 80 years later The Jewish zealots lived on Masada for 3 years after the Romans leveled most of Israel. The Dead Sea scrolls were found in Qumran. They had been hidden by a small sect of Judaism who lived in the remote desert and specialized in making handwritten...

Jan 23, 2020 - The Sea of Galilee

We visited several places around the Sea of Galilee including Capernaum, Mt. Of the Beatitudes, Primacy of St. Peter and Tabga. We rode a boat on the Sea of Galilee and visited an ancient 2000 year old boat similar to what Jesus might have ridden. The weather was absolutely perfect. The day ended with a remembrance of baptism service at the Yardenit baptismal site. Kulaea and I were both immersed.

Jan 23, 2020 - Golan Heights, Migdal and places in between

As you can tell by the brevity of my posts, I am getting tired. The days are packed with so many sites. We saw a 5000 year old Canaanite gate in the northern part of Israel at tel Dan. We also went to Ceasarea Phillippi where the Greeks worshipped the god Pan. We had lunch in a Drize village, stopped at Bethsaida, the Valley of the Doves and Migdal, my favorite site .

Jan 22, 2020 - Ceasarea By the Sea, Megiddo, Nazareth

We have had a busy day! Ceasarea By The Sea was built by Herod the Great as a Roman port. We saw the remains of the palace, the hippodrome, theater and aquaduct. Megiddo is an ancient tel with 27 different levels. We toured the site, saw Solomon's gate, but were unable to go through the tunnel to the spring because it was flooded. Nazareth brought an unexpected visit to St. Joseph's church which is connected to the Church of the Annunciation. It was a beautiful day, despite the cold and rainy weather.

Jan 20, 2020 - Free Day in Jerusalem

We ventured to the Old City. It is a 20 minute walk to the Damascus Gate from the Olive Tree Hotel. Well, it's 20 minutes if you go the right way. We didn't. We finally found the Damascus Gate, walked through the Christian Quarter and easily found the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In the Jerusalem skyline, its dingy gray dome stands in contrast to the gleeming gold dome of the Muslim Dome of the Rock. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built on the site identified by Helena, Constantine's mother, as the place where Jesus was crucified,...

Jan 19, 2020 - Baptism Site, Return to Israel

Kulaea and I took a cab to visit the site where Jesus was Baptized. This was not on the scheduled tour, but fortunately we had a free morning. Once again, the weather was perfect. We arrived in time to take the first shuttle bus. Visitors must be in a group and escorted since it is basically on the international border with Israel. The Jordanian Prime Minister and special dignitaries were expected to visit later in the day. The High Priest was also making an address for the Feast Day of the Baptism of the Lord which falls on January 19. The...

Jan 15, 2020 - We have arrived!

Kulaea Taulanga and I flew from SLC to Newark and met up with Les and Sue Humphrey, plus a whole bunch of other EO travellers, for the overseas flight direct to Tel Aviv. The weather in Tel Aviv was a very pleasant 66 degrees. The Olive Tree hotel has been nicely renovated since my last visit in 2016, and the food is better too! The bus departed about 7:30am. We drove south through the barren wasteland towards the Dead Sea where we were 1000 feet below sea level. Then we turned east towards Jericho and imagined the Good Samaritan helping...

Dec 12, 2019 - Temple Mount

This trip started in New York City where we briefly paused to pay our respects at the 9/11 Memorial. We did not expect to be doing so again here in Israel. The small 9/11memorial here is thirty minutes out of town in a park. Our always capable bus driver had a real challenge getting us there; the road was better suited for bicycles than a big bus. The memorial is not on the tourist beat and we wondered why we were going there. But thanks to Anahid, it ended up being an emotional experience. She wanted us to know that Israel recognizes that...

Dec 11, 2019 - Yad Vashem

The breakfast room was not crowded today, so our waitress had time to chat. She is from France and only has been here a few months. She lamented the fact that she had taken on Israeli citizenship so quickly. It wasn't that she regretted the decision, but she had not had time to visit the paces in Palestine that we have seen a few weeks ago. Now she is not allowed to go to them. She was surprised that the only place she had the opportunity to meet Arabs was at work at the hotel. When she needed to buy things for her new apartment, her fellow...

Dec 10, 2019 - Masada

When we went to our huge hotel breakfast room this morning, it was full of young people, not a wrinkle or gray head to be seen. Who were all these people? They were all here on an almost free honey moon. Conservative Jews worry a lot about losing members. They especially worry about mixed marriages. The young couples we breakfasted with were here from the US to be sold on the wonder and beauty of this Promised Land and its beliefs. The ultimate hope is that they will be fruitful and multiply and bring up all their children as Jews wherever...

Dec 9, 2019 - City of David

Two-thirds of our travel colleagues have begun winging their way home, some leaving immediately after dinner last night and most of the rest at various ungodly hours in the middle of the night. We will be joining the "ungodly hours" group in a few days. We don't want to think about it and so far we don't have to, be cause we still have a few days to enjoy Jerusalem and environs. Our first stop today was the City of David. Even though there are those who believe that every word in the Bible is true because it is the word of God, most of the...

Dec 8, 2019 - overwhelmed in Old Jerusalem

On the final day of the main trip, we took a walking tour in the Old City. It was a cold and rainy day, leavened by some most welcome blue sky breaks. Anahid said that the rain was good, because it would be even more crowded on a nicer day. Typical tour guide talk! It was crowded enough. Every so often our group came to a stop in the twisting, winding lanes as passing groups put us into total gridlock. You enter and exit the walled city through L-shaped gates, so shaped to slow down any invading marauders. Most car drivers have enough sense...