Thank You (False Alarm) Snowstorm!

Hamsas for sale at Carmel Market.

I woke up feeling really well rested. Nothing like twelve days of vacation to do that for you. In all honesty, I look forward to going home and sleeping in my own bed but I do not relish the thought of having to go back to work!

Church of the Transfiguration & Bet Alfa Synagogue.

From the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, we headed for the Church of the Transfiguration. Today, the top of Mount Tabor was not obscured by clouds so I could see the teeny weeny outline of the church, sitting high atop the hill.

Basilica of the Annunciation.

Today was suppose to be my last day in Israel. More about the change in plans later.

I woke up this morning in Kibbutz Lavi with plenty of time to have a quick breakfast, finish packing and check out. It was another picture perfect day in Galilee. I'm getting really spoiled by this delicious weather.

Golan Heights and Capernaum.

The ruins of the Synagogue at Capernaum.

Our afternoon in Golan Heights began with lunch!  We ended up in a small town somewhere in the Golan Heights.

Safed & Baniass Springs.

Street in Old City Safed.

I had the best night sleep yet last night. Woke up as rested as I could ever be. I made my way down to breakfast at around 7:30a. The other four were already there so I joined them at the table. I ate pretty quickly. I have come to the conclusion that Jewish *tour group* buffet style breakfast is not my kind of meal so I eat to fill up but there is no lingering over it.

Caesarea, Haifa, & Megiddo.

Me at Megiddo...with tree growing out the top of my head :-)

This is definitely a comfort class tour - been a long time since I've traveled like this. I have to admit, it has taken some readjustment on my part to get used to the slower pace of travel. With the exception of our last morning in Jerusalem, the standard time to meet up with Uri has been 8:30a. Every night, I've set the alarm and every morning, I'm up well before it.

A Bit of Tel Aviv & a Bit of Old Jaffa.

View of the beach from my hotel room.

Today is Saturday which means it's the Sabbath which means there is no tour so I have some downtime. I could actually use some. It's been nothing but non stop sightseeing for the last week and it will be nice to just have a day to unwind. Even so, it won't be completely about doing nothing.

Qumran & the Dead Sea.

From Masada, we headed back down along the highway that runs alongside the Dead Sea. It was about a 45 minute drive to Qumran. By now, the views of the Dead Sea, desert and oases were familiar sights but still amazing. I've been in Israel for a week now but I still mentally pinching myself that I am here. I am loving being in this country. As much as it is foreign to me, there's a part of me that feels very comfortable being here. I have to reflect more on that later.

Masada.

At Masada with a view of the Dead Sea in the background.

This morning I had to be ready to be picked up by 6:30a - bright and early! Some guy named Zaki (sp?) would be by to pick me up.

A Day in New City Jerusalem.

Children's Memorial at Yad Vashem

Uri was due to pick me up from the hotel at 8:30a. I lingered in bed as long as I could. I then got ready for the day and headed down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. It was a buffet style meal and there was quite a large selection though I really wanted eggs and some sort of meat but that's not to be had in Israel so it was scrambled eggs, creamed potatoes and sardines. Yeah, it was a weird breakfast. The restaurant was large but it's obvious this hotel caters to large tour groups because the place was filled with tourists. I found a small table and ate my meal.

Oh Little Town of Bethlehem.

Greek Orthodox monks conducting afternoon prayer at the Church of the Nativity.

Back when Christ was alive, it probably took days to travel from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. These days, Bethlehem is pretty much a suburb of Jerusalem. I don't think it took us more than 20 minutes to get from Zion Gate to the military checkpoint in Bethlehem.

Last Day in Old City Jerusalem.

Iconic view of the Old City from Mount of Olives.

Today is the official start of my tour. The guide called me last night and said he would be at the hotel lobby at 8:30a to pick me up.

The Shuk. The Mahane Yehuda.

The most intoxicating smells, in Mahane Yehuda, undoubtedly come from the bread bakers.

From the City Hall light rail stop, I rode the train for three stops to the Mahane Yehuda stop which is right outside the market.

More of the Old City.

A building in the Armenian Quarter.

After I finished the tour of the City of David, I headed into the Jewish Quarter to to visit the Wohl Archeological Museum. I knew or at least I thought I knew exactly where the museum was and so I headed in that direction. Heading down the stairs that led me to the observation platform, overlooking the Western Wall Plaza, where I was yesterday, I followed the sign marker to the museum. Unforunately, what I thought was the entry was actually the exit. :-(

City of David.

Ruins of an upper class residence at the City of David.

According to the map, the City of David sits outside the walled city.....makes sense.

It was about 9:30a. It didn't look like it would take more than 10 minutes to walk over to the City of David but I decided to just go ahead - better to be early than late and miss the tour.

Temple Mount.

Posing for a photo in front of the Dome of the Rock.  Okay, my pants are short and my shoes aren't pretty but I don't care. 

Last night, I had laid out my plan for this morning - to visit Temple Mount first thing in the morning and then to go on my pre-scheduled tour of the City of David at 10a.

More of Old City Jerusalem.

Hurva Synagogue, located in the Jewish Quarter.

It's Shushan Purim today, a holiday. I think the whole city is on the move. As we neared Jaffa Gate, I reminded Hassan again that I was not going on to Bethlehem. He didn't believe me so he double checked his paper work and of course, I was right. I reminded him to drop me off at Jaffa Gate. He nodded back at me.

Jericho.

I had signed up for a 1/2 day tour of Jericho before I left home. The voucher said 8:30a pickup at the hotel. I was in the lobby by 8:15a and wondered who was picking me up and how they would recognize me. Around 8:30, I decided to head outside the front entrance. It was a beautiful spring morning - sunny, no humidity and perfect temperature. People were coming and going and so were vehicles. I just waited. 8:30a came and went and I decided to call the tour agent. The hotel parking attendant or maybe he's the concierge. In any event, nice guy named Michael. I asked if there was a phone I could make a local call with because I didn't want to use my cell phone with its exorbitantly high roaming charges. He asked if it was a local call and I replied, "Yes". I gave him the sheet of paper with the number on it and he dialed on his cell phone. The call connected through to a voice message so I hung up. As it turns out Michael was a really nice guy. We chatted for a few minutes and he asked where I was headed and I told him that I was going on a tour of Jericho. He then pointed to a smallish man standing nearby and said, "He's going to Jericho too, maybe you're on the same tour."

It's Purim and I'm in Jerusalem!

The Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock

Happy Purim!

My flight landed into Ben Gurion airport at about 9:15 this morning. The flight over was uneventful which is a good thing. I didn't sleep much on Friday night, deliberately waking myself up at 3am on Saturday; I wanted to get a head start on beating jet lag.

Dead Sea Scrolls.

Great Isaiah Scroll

The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts discovered between 1946 and 1956 that consist of biblical manuscripts from what is now known as the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name. The scrolls, considered by many to be the most significant archaeological find of the 20th century, have shed light on the development of the Hebrew Bible and the origins of Christianity.