Febuary 1st

Today we spent another cool rainy day in Jerusalem.  We covered a lot of sites, and did a lot of walking.  We visited the Upper Room, Caiaphas residence, King David Tomb, Baths of Bethesda, St Ann's church, and more that I can't recall right now.  
We're all pretty tired right now, but have never the less enjoyed our stay here.

People (including your truly) floating in the Dead Sea

A view from the top of Masade

The Church of Mary Magdalene - Russian Orthodox

Entrance to the Dome of the Rock

I won't have an internet connection after  tonight, until we get back to New York so this will be my last post until Thursday morning.Preview

Monday January 31

Hi folks.  My apologies for not posting any photo’s tonight, but the internet here has become as slow as dial up, and I just can’t get any photos uploaded.

We had a really enjoyable day today.  We went to Masada first, and rode the cable car up to the fortress on the hill.  It is truly amazing that such a structure could be built there, but especially when there was only manual labor to do the work.  Hopefully I can get some photos out tomorrow and  you’ll see what I mean.

We went to the Dead Sea this afternoon, and a bunch of us floated around in it.  It’s salt content is 37%, and a person is so buoyant that while floating on your back, you can stick  your legs up in the air and not sink. 

We saw an unusual situation in that it was raining in the desert.  Something that only happens a few times each year.

More tomorrow.

Sunday January 30th

Well, it was a cold rainy day in Jerusalem today, as you will see folks with their rain garb on in one of today’s photos.  There has been a major drought in Israel going on seven years.  However we seemed to have broken it for them.  J

We visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher today, we walked through the old city including the Christian quarter, the Muslim quarter, and the Jewish quarter.  We were at the Church when one of the sects there preformed one of their rites.  You’ll see some of it in one today’s photos.

We visited the Garden of Gethsemane during the morning hours, and the Church of the Nations as well.

We ate lunch at a Christian restaurant, and then spent some time visiting a few of the many little shops along the way.  There is a portion of a wall there that would have been there at the time Jesus was in Jerusalem. We got to see a magnificent mural painted on a wall there that depicts life as it would have been in those days.  See the picture Below.  Also take note of the Blocks at the edge of the picture, they are also painted on.

We were all tired, wet, and cold by the end of the day.  It was a lot of walking, and the temps were in the low 50’s with rain and wind around 15 mph all day. 

One of our group was going to go on an extension trip down the Nile river, but due to the unrest in Egypt the trip was canceled.  Under the circumstances he was not upset about it. 

After dinner this evening several of us gathered in a discussion group about the days travels. 

Tomorrow we are going to the Dead Sea, and Masada because the weather in Jerusalem is supposed to be a repeat of today, then we’ll do the Via Delarosa the following day when the weather is supposed to be nicer.

Service at the site of the Crucifixion 

Life size mural depicting a street in old Jerusalem during the time of Jesus

A recently uncovered public bath near the Temple Mount

One of the narrow streets, an a bunch of cold wet pilgrims

 More tomorrow.

Saturday January 29th

The first thing we did today was to head over into the West Bank to go to Bethlehem.  We toured the church of the nativity there.  It is the oldest church in the world because it was spared by Persians when they overran the Holy Lands  because there was a painting of the three wise men who appeared to be Persian.  

We left there and went down into the southern part of Israel to the site where the dead sea scrolls were found.  It is a very arid area.  We saw the Mountain where Jesus spent 40 days being tempted by the devil.   Jericho where we had lunch, then headed back home.

Along the way we saw some modern day Bedouin's.  Instead of tents, they now have flimsy metal buildings they set up.  They are no longer nomads, and apparently their children are giving up the life style, so the Bedouin after 5000 years or so are probably going to disappear with this generation.


If you double click the pictures they will be displayed full screen

Bedouin Village

Cave where Dead Sea Scrolls were buried

Inside Church of the Nativity

Original floor of Church of Nativity

Holy Lands update

Hi All. 

First of all let me assure you all that we are far from the problems in Egypt.  It does seem that the Israeli Defense Force is on heightened alert.  We’ve heard sonic booms from their fighter Jets.  But as far as danger, we are probably going to have more problems getting back home because of all of the snow.  BTW it was so warm here today that I running around in a t-shirt, and nearly got the top of my head sunburned. J

Sorry this blog hasn’t been more informative.  Hope to fix that now.

Yesterday took a boat trip out on to the Sea of Galilee, where another gentleman and I led a devotion. We then traveled all the way around the Sea of Galilee, with stops at the spot where Jesus fed the five thousand, then we went to the spot where Jesus cooked breakfast for the disciples on the third day after his resurrection.  Then we went to Capernaum to see the house of Peters mother-in-law, a roman temple built on the site of the synagogue there.

Today, we checked out of our hotel then traveled to Migdala which was the home of Mary Magdalene. We visited an ancient roman city that is still being unearthered, And probably resembled Jerusalem in the time of Christ.  It is also the city where the movie Jesus Christ Superstar was filmed. Then we down the Jezreel valley, then to the city of Nazareth where Jesus grew up.   We spent some at the precipice where they once threatened to throw Christ over.  The area is really beautiful.  We then visited Migda which is also known as Armageddon.

We finished our day with a trip to Ceasarea which was a great seaport on the Mediterranean. Then on to Jerusalem where we got our new room in the Olive Tree Hotel. 

It was a long a tiring day, but was very satisfying.  More tomorrow.

Pat