Friday 4/24/2009

Last day of seeing the sites! Starting with Caesarea, ruins of a port city build by Herod the Great, only to fall and be build several more times before a final destruction.

Visiting the Harley Davidson Store was a must! Have a couple of gifts to get there.
We took quick drive thru Jaffa, an old port city, and a drive through Haifa the new port city. The Sabbath starts on Friday afternoon, and places begin to close about 1pm.

Checking in the Dan Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean Sea, and going for a walk along the promenade with me walking in the Med. It was about 2 blocks from the US Embassy.
Our trip started in Jerusalem (Narrow Street, lots of tradition) and ending up in Tel Aviv (modern high rises and clubs).

Oh, I did see a bus today with UN on it, I ask do you think that was really the UN, you can imagine the response I got.

If you have the opportunity to visit this country please take it! Don’t hesitate, jump at the chance. We can recommend the tour guide!

Thursday 4/23/09

4/23/09
Thursday started off with driving to the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized. You could rent a white robe, and be baptized which several groups where doing….we fed the catfish with left over pita bread.

Then driving along the Israeli – Lebanon border to the far west corner where the 2 meet at a place (again off the beaten path), Rosh Hanikra. If you don’t know about it; look it up; it is beautiful! The main attraction at this site is the grottoes. You take a steep cable car ride down 229 ft and go thru about 656 ft of the grotto tunnel. We even saw a Hyrax, go look that one up. I always thought the Caribbean was beautiful; it doesn’t even come close to the Mediterranean Sea. We took a picture at the border crossing, it is guarded by the Israsli’s first, in the middle is UN, then the Lebonese.

On to Akko, a historic wall port city during the Phoenicians period a Crusader town, dating 1124-1229, this was found very well intact.

Next stop, Haifa and a view atop the Garden of Bahia.

Closing the day was Dinner with business associates/friends, pretty good birthday I must say!

Wed - 4/22/09

4/22/09
The day started at 0830 again, with checking out and piling the luggage in the Mini Van and off to Tiberias.

We drove along the West Bank on one side and the Jordanian Border on the other. They have a good friend in Jordon, and they share their agriculture knowledge with them. We passed more Bedouin Shepherds, and farmers along the way, and orchards of Bananas, citrus, and fields of tomatoes and egg plants just to name a few, and the flowers, you cannot imagine! The Israeli’s can grow anything in the desert! Oh we did pass a rather large prison for terrorist. We saw more soldiers on this route, but never felt uneasy or unsafe.

Our first stop was in Nazareth, at the Church of the Annunciation. This is the location where Gabriel came to Mary and told her she was going to be with child. It’s a magnificent church, beautiful stain glass, and a mosaic tile picture from every country portraying Mary. Underneath a building you could see Mary’s well. The home of Joseph was next door, and again underneath his home was found. To get to this church you walked up narrow streets with vendors. On the way back we stopped and had fresh squeezed pomegranate juice. (Which is a tree that I had already said we are planting next year)

Our next stop Tabgha the traditional site of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes. Next was a restaurant overlooking the Sea of Galilee to have St. Peters’ Fish, fish caught in the Sea of Galilee daily. Looking across the Sea (really a lake) you look at the Golan Heights.

We then went to the town Jesus lived and preformed most of his miracles, Capernaum. This was a site with the largest limestone synagogue ever found, St. Peter’s house (his mother-in-laws), and a Byzantine Octagonal church. You would be amazed at what has made it through the centuries.

Our last stop for the day was the Mount of the Beatitudes, it is the site where Jesus gave his sermon on the mount. Atop a very large hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee you could visualize his followers covering the hill side.

Dinner was great, at a restaurant named “Decks” that sat out over the Sea of Galilee, the food was local, natural, and cook over open fires. The salads in this country are the freshest that you will eat anywhere.

Tuesday 4/21/09

The day started with a drive up to the Mt of Olives, we parked and looked over the oldest Jewish Cemetery, they believe that is where the New Kingdom will begin and all want to be buried here. We had a view of many of the sites standing here.

We then went inside the Old City of Jerusalem, it is made up in 4 parts, Muslim, Armenian, Jewish and Christian. You had to park on the outside of the wall, and walk the narrow streets and followed the Via Delarosa; the way of the cross. Inside the Holy Sepulchre was what looked like a large Urn, it is located on the side of the Greek Orthodox and is believed to be the center of the world.

Off to Bethlehem! Behind the 25' wall! Our driver could not enter Bethlehem because he is Jewish; he had a Palestinian meet us at the border and take us in (which means we went in to the Palestinian Authority). Wilder taxi ride than New York! We went to the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square, and saw the site where Jesus was born. The Palestine girl that met us and took us in was going to Corpus Christi in September to stay with her parents that have a business there.

Our final stop for the day was the Garden Tomb, the site where some think Jesus was buried. There are 2 sites, The Church of the Holy Sepulchre that we saw in the Old City, it is supported by the Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Armenians. The Garden tomb was found at a later date, I am more inclined to believe this is the place where he is buried.

4/20/09 Official Day 1

4/20/09
The day started off at breakfast with everyone talking about lack of sleep due to the time. Except for Sam, and he can sleep anywhere, anytime.

We met our driver at 0900 and we were off to Masada. On the way he pointed out many things, like how we were going xxx below sea level, the Bedouin Shepherds, and how they live in cardboard type houses some a little worse than the border town housing.

And then we stopped, saw a camel, and you can see who was the one to take on this camel!

Onward to Masada, it was Amazing! We rode a tram to the top, if you don’t know the history take time to look it up. We stopped at Ahava beauty products, products made from the Dead Sea, we had lunch at one of the many Kibbutz’s we past, and at one of the beaches along the Dead Sea where you could sit in a hot spring tub, or coat yourself in mud, or just float. We did none of the above. We then stopped at Qumran National Park. John the Baptist stayed here once, and the Dead Sea scrolls were found in a cave in 1947 by Bedouin Shepherds.

On the way back to the hotel we drove thru the Ultra Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, very different. The men don’t work they do nothing but study the Torah all day, the women work. The women also cut their hair and wear a wig so they will not be attractive to others. They ride a separate bus than men…I’d do real well in this group!

Arrival

4/19/2009 we woke up over the Med, and landed in Tel Aviv right on time 4:05PM, then to catch a taxi! Taxi rides around the world are always an adventure! And taxis worldwide are usually small, so 3 big pieces of luggage, 3 carry on, and a camera case plus us STUFFED in a taxi from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Our driver wanted to know if we had guide service set up, because he could do that as well as be a body guard, he was a Major in the Army Reserve. He was also divorced from a Jewish woman who caused him trouble, but was now married to a Russian Christian who just gave him a son. And our interesting fact for the day was he drove a taxi 2 days a week to pay alimony. He really was a nice guy, he gave me the Israeli flag he had flying from his taxi to welcome us.

We checked in, and being late in the afternoon started checking out the hotel since it was too late go anywhere, so we met this guy in the lobby, not a manager or concierge, I forgot his title. He ask if there was anything to do, and Sam had just ask the desk about the Executive Club upstairs so we view the city from atop the roof, but it was $20 each so we said no thank you. He said NO problem, come on, and he took us to the roof top!

So the picture you see on the left is looking at Old Jerusalem behind the old city wall. If you start from the left you’ll be starting at Jaffa Gate, move to the right and you see King David’s Spire, move to the center and you see the gold dome, that is Dome of the Rock, and it is a Muslim site that sits atop of the Palace of David and Saul before him.

The other picture is that of the 25’ wall that divides the Palestinians and Israel. The outcome is all the same with how they feel about each other, it’s not very nice, and they don’t hesitate to let you know about it either.

We're off!

4/18/2009 - Yeah we arrived without any problems! Well getting out of Houston was slightly delayed due to our rain, but we arrived in NJ to our connecting fly with plenty of time. In Houston as we arrived at Gate 23, the gate changed to 10. So we hopped a cart and went the opposite direction. In NJ we arrived at a 2 digit gate, and had to hop a cart to 128, and departed at 10:55PM!

Purple Gallinule

So when Sam gets home from work I'm sitting out by the pool (I put my 10 hours in already from midnight to 10). Anyway he tells me come look something new is in the pond.

Isn't it cool! It's a Purple Gallinule! You can see his bright yellow BIG Feet in one picture, and he caught the catch of the day in that one!

More Practice

This is a Little Blue Heron (real name). He caught a fish while I was watching him.

Lilly pad flower, in the winter they disappear and come back to life in the spring.

Still needs lots of practice, and cropping practice too!

Practice

Been practicing with the new camera, working with different settings and stuff. Make sure you click on the picture so you can see the big version.

Hibiscus from the pool area.

A Red-Bellied Woodpecker and Cardinal.

She's got Legs!

Eight to be exact! I sat next to her in the barn to day, but she didn't scare me away! (and I have no clue if she is a she)