Month: December 2018

Our morning visit was to the Garden Tomb. Although it gives a pretty good idea of what a tomb of a well-to-do person (Joseph of Arimethea) in the 1^st century would have looked like, it only dates to the 4^th century. It is in a beautiful setting.

Next we headed for Ein Karem (an ancient town roughly five miles outside of Jerusalem in the 1^st century) and visited the Church of Saint John the Baptist. It was necessary to make our way slowly down several steep stairs to a grotto. This was supposed to be the exact spot where Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, gave birth to John the Baptist.

On our way from the Church of Saint John the Baptist to the Church of the Visitation, we encountered what is known as Mary’s Well. This was where Mary is said to have stopped for a drink of water before making her way up the very steep, long road to visit Elizabeth. Both women were quite pregnant at the time. They don’t let anyone drink there anymore. So it was a good thing I had a bottle of water with me.

The Church of the Visitation had a grotto where the meeting is reported to have taken place. This church (probably because of the long, steep climb to get there) was much less crowded than the Church of Saint John the Baptist had been. It also had a beautiful garden.

Bethlehem was in the control of the Palestinians. To go there, we needed to enter a secured area with walls, barbed wire and armed guards. There we left our coach, tour director, and driver to get on a different bus with a new driver and tour guide. Then, after we showed our passports and our hosts were satisfied, we drove into Bethlehem and had lunch at a place that overlooked Shepherd’s Field.

After lunch, Esau (our guide) took us to a gift shop which had several figures carved from olive wood. Then we were taken to the Church of the Nativity. At 5’3” I don’t usually have to duck when going through a doorway. But I did need to duck a little at the doorway to this church as it is less than five feet in height. Originally the door was much larger. But it was reduced in size initially to prevent theft and again to require people to bend down as they enter. It is called the Door of Humility.

The church was commissioned in 327 AD by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine. Back in 135 AD, the Roman Emperor Hadrian had a temple to Adonis built over the site because he wanted to obliterate the place where it was believed the Christ child had been born. Instead of destroying the site, Hadrian’s actions actually preserved it. In the 6^th century, the Samaritans destroyed much of Constantine’s church. So Emperor Justinian rebuilt it. Since then, the church has needed various repairs mostly due to earthquakes and the occasional fire.

We needed to wait in line for roughly an hour before we were able to make our way down into the grotto. The church was extremely crowded, but we took turns stepping out from our group to take some photos and explore. There were some doors over the original mosaic floors which were open so that we could see them.

When we finally got to the entrance to the grotto, there were some steps in a semi-circle leading down into it. Fortunately I managed to be right next to the wall and could make sure I kept my balance in the crowd by keeping my hand on the wall. I would have liked to have gotten a photo of the steps down, but I couldn’t even see them until I was on the brink of them. Then, I needed to concentrate on making my way down them before I was pushed or fell. Of course, I might not have been able to fall at all. I might have been simply carried down by the crowd.

At the altar, it was necessary to get on one’s hands and knees and crawl in. I figured out ahead of time what I wanted to do when I reached the spot with the star. That was important as I knew I wouldn’t have much time once I got there. So, the photo shows part of a man’s hand because I took it as he was backing out and before I crawled in. Once I was in there, I thrust my hand through the hole in the center of the star, patted the rock beneath, and prayed. Whether or not it is truly the exact place where Jesus was born, doesn’t really matter to me. It is what the place represents.

Backing out, I found that it was nearly as difficult to get out of the grotto as it was to get in. I definitely had no way of seeing what else was down there. I heard that the Altar of the Three Wise Men was just opposite of the main altar, but it wasn’t possible to get to it. I have heard from others who have traveled to Israel that they did not experience quite the crowds that I did. Apparently I happened to go at a very busy time, even though it was in the spring, not in what was supposed to be the heavy travel season of summer.

I was exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel. As an introvert, I find large crowds to be draining. But I had that whole suite to myself. So I stretched out and relaxed before I needed to get to bed in order to get up early the next day to head to Masada.

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One of the things about Israel is that, wherever something important happened, they build a church on top of it. While it is true that doing that preserves the location, it also makes it difficult to use one’s imagination to picture what it looked like at the time of the event. The Mount of the Beatitudes, where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount wasn’t as much of a challenge as some since it was still a mountain. We got in line to see the interior and had some time to walk around outside.

At Tabgha, we visited a couple of churches. The first one was the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. Under the altar is the rock considered to be the one upon which Jesus divided the two fish and five loaves of bread. A church was built there in the 4^th century, with a larger church and monastery built in the 5^th century. In the courtyard of the church was an ancient olive press.

The second church was a short distance away – the Church of St Peter’s Primacy. This was where Jesus revealed Himself for the fourth time after His resurrection. He asked His disciples who they said He was. Peter responded that he believed Jesus was the Christ. So Jesus declared Peter to be the rock upon which He would build His church. Inside the church is the actual rock upon which this took place. The church was on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, so I walked down to the water, removed my shoes and socks and waded in.

Capernaum is a fishing village on the shores of the Sea of Galilee that was lived in consistently from the 2^nd century BC to the 11^th century AD. Jesus preached in the synagogue there and it was Matthew’s home town. We explored the current synagogue, which dates to the 4^th century. We also viewed the excavations of ancient Capernaum. Underneath an octagonal church are the remains of what is believed to have been Peter’s house. The church has been raised up on stilts so the house can be seen. The older structures in the village were built from Basalt, which is a black rock native to the area.

For lunch, we had St Peter’s Fish. It had been cooked whole. I’m not a fan of having my food stare back at me, which is why I get lobster tails and crab legs instead of the whole crab or whole lobster. The option was given to take the fish away, remove the head and debone it. I was happy to take them up on that offer, wimp that I am. It was a pretty decent tasting fish.

After lunch, we headed for the spot on the River Jordan where baptisms are currently done. On the way, we passed where the Jordan feeds into the Sea of Galilee. We also went by Kursi, were Jesus exorcized demons from some people and sent them into some swine.

The actual site where John the Baptist baptized Jesus is believed to be located at a part of the River Jordan that is down closer to the Dead Sea and in Jordanian territory. It is called Al-Maghtas. The site we visited is where modern baptisms are performed. They are full-immersion.

Once everyone in our group who wanted to be got baptized, we headed for Beit She’an. The location of this city has long been a strategic one. It is at the base of Mount Gilboa and at an intersection allowing access from the Jordan River to the Jezreel Valley and the Mediterranean as well as from Jerusalem and Jericho to the Sea of Galilee. At around 1004 BC, King Saul and three of his sons were killed while battling the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. Their bodies were then hung from the walls of Beit She’an. Saul’s successor, King David, captured Beit She’an back from the Philistines.

There have been settlements at the site of Beit She’an since roughly the 6^th or 5^th century BC. The ancient city was destroyed by an earthquake in 749 AD. Most of the excavations that can be seen when touring the site date to the Roman and Byzantine periods. The ruins are quite spectacular and are some of my favorite ancient ruins anywhere. We explored a theatre, gymnasium, bathhouse, some shops, a brothel, quite a few columns, mosaic walkways, and marble walkways.

I had hoped that we would visit Jericho, but it was in Palestinian hands and they weren’t allowing anyone else in. We approached Jerusalem from the East through the Judean wilderness where Jesus was tempted by Satan. It was pretty bleak, but there were people living here and there. They were quite isolated from any other civilization. At one point, we went down into a long tunnel. When we emerged, there was Jerusalem! We pretty much just sat there quietly staring out of the windows of the tour coach with our collective mouths open.

Our hotel was just across the street from the Great Synagogue on King George Street. I somehow had a suite with a couple of sofas, and a dining room table and chairs. Since we were going to be there for five nights, I unpacked and “moved in”. There was a grocers nearby, so I stocked up my little fridge with beverages and fresh fruits.

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After spending the night in a hotel on Mount Carmel in Haifa during a 2010 tour to Israel & Jordan, we visited the Baha’i Gardens and the Shrine of the Bab in Haifa after breakfast. The Baha’i is another Muslim sect. The Bab was the founder of the Babi faith, which was the forerunner of the Baha’i faith. His remains are in the shrine. There are nineteen terraced gardens stretching down Mount Carmel from the shrine. The gardens are quite beautiful. The view of Haifa from the gardens is also gorgeous.

In addition to some amazing geraniums (which aren’t an annual in Israel as they are in Minnesota), there were some purple trees called Jacaironda. Since purple is my favorite color, I was especially enamored by those trees.

Our next visit of the day was Akko (Acre). An Ottoman fortress was built on top of the Crusader city. The Knights of St John built a fortress in about 1149. This was lost to the Muslims in 1187 and regained during the Siege of Acre by Richard the Lionhearted as part of the Third Crusade in 1191. Richard and the Templars made their headquarters in Jaffa. We visited vaults, the great hall, dining hall, latrine, and some ongoing excavations. Then we went through a very long tunnel, built by the Templars, which came out at a crypt for a former church. The church no longer exists as a mosque was built in its place. I was a little concerned at first about going down into the tunnel after the experience at Megiddo. But there wasn’t any deep drop under the see-through metal stairs, so no trauma there.

Cana was where Jesus performed his first miracle of changing water into wine at a wedding feast according to the Gospel of John. We didn’t have a long visit there, but stopped to see the church. That was the only special site there.

Tiberius is the largest city on the Sea of Galilee. We took a cruise on Galilee from there. We could see the Golan Heights from the boat. It was a very pleasant ride. The sun was shining and there was a balmy breeze.

 Afterwards we visited a Church of Scotland (Presbyterian)church dedicated to St. Andrew and had a nice chat with the pastor. This was my fault as I saw the church and wanted to take a look inside. The rest of the group followed me. I was kind of an impromptu tour guide.

Not far, in Ginosar, is a 2,000 year old boat. It has been carbon dated and comes from the same era when Jesus and the Disciples were in the area. It can’t be directly connected to them, but it doesn’t really matter as it is the same kind of boat from the same time frame.

We spent the night at Kibbutz Lavi (which means “lion”)where we attended a lecture on Kibbutz life. I could see the Mount of Transfiguration (Mount Taber) from the window of my room. Had a very tasty dinner with food that was grown right there.

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In 2010, I went on a wonderful 14 day tour of Israel and Jordan. To get there, I flew from Minneapolis to Chicago and then to Frankfurt, from where we traveled on Lufthansa to get to Tel Aviv. At the Frankfurt airport, we were segregated into a secure room just for our flight (referred to as a “sterile room”).

For some reason, despite not having any metal, during the x-ray, my money belt caught the attention of security and I was taken aside and searched. They also inspected the contents of my money belt (cash for Israel and Jordan plus some USD and Euros just in case). This sort of negated the purpose of having a money belt. Now everyone else on the flight to Tel Aviv with me knew I had one and that there was a pretty decent amount of money in it (the security folks pulled the money out and flipped through it).

They also rifled through my carryon and purse, then set them aside and wouldn’t let me near them until they were done searching me and my money belt. I was not a happy camper, especially since someone else could have fairly easily picked up my carryon and purse while security had their backs to them concentrating on me. After what seemed like an eternity, they decided I was okay and gave me back my money belt, purse and carryon. Once I was released by security and joined my fellow travelers to wait to get on the plane, I bought a Magnum Gold ice cream bar as comfort food.

 After arriving at the hotel in Tel Aviv, I just had twohours before joining the tour group for a “welcome drink”, so I walked to a nearby grocer, bought a few things for a light supper and then got everything organized for the following day. The hotel was right on the Mediterranean,which I could easily see from my room.

Our tour director’s name was Tol and our driver was Isaac. We had 26 people on the Israel portion of the tour and would have 16 for the Jordan portion. There were three other Americans (a woman from Orange County,California and a couple from Puerto Rico) besides me. Everyone else came from various other countries. The main people I hung out with during the trip included a woman from Toronto (Israel portion only) and the couple from Puerto Rico.

We had a short tour of Tel Aviv before heading to Caesarea. Other than the portion known as Jaffa, which was founded in 7,500 BC (which we toured when we returned to Tel Aviv later in the trip), Tel Aviv is a very modern city.

Caesarea was originally built by Herod the Great in 25 – 13BC, including a deep sea harbor, storerooms, markets, wide roads, baths, temples to Rome and Augustus, and imposing public buildings. We visited the Roman Theatre, Hippodrome, Crusader Fortress and Aquaduct, as well as viewing the portions of Caesarea now under the sea near the shore.

We set off for Megiddo, also known by the Greek name of Armageddon. The Jezreel Valley, in which Megiddo is located, has been a battleground for thousands of years for the Assyrians, Canaanites, Egyptians, Greeks, Israelites, Persians, Philistines, and Romans. Megiddo dates back to the Bronze Age (3500 – 3100 BC). Several excavations have taken place and/or are currently underway.

One of the excavations is of a round altar that was built in about 2700 BC, possibly for sacrifice in the worship of the Canaanite god Baal. There is also a stable with several stone mangers. We were told about the water system and were then led through the underground tunnel.

A very long expanse of the stairs was metal and see-through and scared the crapola out of me. I needed to watch what my feet were doing so I wouldn’t trip and fall. But looking down at my feet meant I was looking through the steps at a very deep drop. This was towards the end of the tunnel, so too late to chicken out and turn back. I was first in line, but after I took a photo, I had everyone else go ahead of me so I could take my time. I was shaking and praying all the way down.

I have to say that it felt a little surreal to be at Armageddon, the location in the Book of Revelations of the final battle at the end of days. Mount Taber, the Mount of Transfiguration, could be seen from everywhere in the Jezreel Valley. It stands alone with no other mountains next to it.

At this point, Tol told us that he was moving our visit to Nazareth up a day. He said that the next three days were pretty full and felt that we would have more quality time in each location if we went to Nazareth that afternoon. We weren’t going to argue. So we headed to Nazareth, which was up in the mountains. For some reason, I had always pictured Nazareth as being in a valley or on a plain. So it surprised me to be winding our way up a mountain road.

We visited the Church of the Annunciation, which was built over the location where an angel told Mary she would give birth to Jesus. In the grotto of the church was the site, so we made our way down there to visit the first of many caves that we would see on this trip. An altar was set up in the cave where the angel appeared to Mary. We needed to keep moving because of the large number of people who were there and wanting to see what we were seeing, but I managed to take a photo.

Nazareth is also the town to which Joseph and Mary returned after the flight to Egypt. It is the town where Jesus grew up and Joseph had a carpenter’s shop. The church (St. Joseph’s) that had been built over the site of the carpenter’s shop was next door to the Church of the Annunciation. So we went over there and looked at the excavations and the rough cut steps down to what was considered to be Joseph’s shop.

After Nazareth, we returned to our original schedule and went to Muhraqa. This was where Elias beat the priests of Baal in a contest of faith. There was a monastery there with a lovely gift shop which had a St George and the Dragon icon that I bought. At this point, I had one from Bulgaria and one from Israel.

On the way from Muhraqa to Haifa, we encountered several Druze Villages. The Druze are a sect of Islam which is only found in Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The Druze consider Jethro of Midian (Moses’ father-in-law) as their ancestor.

Haifa is more than 3,000 years old and was built on the slopes of Mount Carmel. We spent the night there in a hotel at the top of Mount Carmel with views of the bay on one side and the sea on the other. My room overlooked the bay.

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The first time I was on the island of Mull, Mom and I stayed in Oban and ferried over to Mull to get to Iona. We didn’t get to hang out on Mull at all, just zipped along the road from Craignure to Fionnphort to get the ferry to the tiny island of Iona. This trip, the tour group was staying in a hotel on Mull and we were able to spend some quality time on that island as well as visiting Iona.

We took a ferry from Lochaline on the west coast of mainland Scotland, to Fishnish (love that name) on Mull and then drove to our hotel in Craignure. After taking a little time to get into our rooms (and getting a photo of the view from my window), we left the hotel and took a small gauge train to Torosay Castle.

Torosay is a 60-room Victorian mansion as opposed to an actual castle. We were met at the end of the line by the 5^th Laird of Torosay, Chris Guthrie-James, for a private tour. Tommie joked with the laird that he was there to take our drinks order. Once we were inside of the house, we were indeed each offered a glass of Tobermory Single Malt Scotch. So she wasn’t too far off the mark after all.

We were taken around the rooms of the main portion of the house on the ground floor and the first floor up. Then we went for a walk of the grounds and the gardens, accompanied by the laird and his Labradoodle (more poodle than lab) Cleo. My dog, Nelson, who is a Schnoodle (more poodle than schnauzer of the miniature variety) could have been Cleo’s “mini me”.

The gardens and grounds were exquisite. They were dotted with statues, fountains, and benches for sitting and contemplating it all. The gardens were lush with flowers.

This time we could take photos inside. I was able to get some good ones of both the interior and exterior. As we were leaving, we met the laird’s mom, who ran the gift shop.

The next morning, we set off for Fionnphort. There isn’t a great deal of civilization between Craignure and Fionnphort – mainly very small villages and a lot of highland cattle (hairy coos). The entire human population of the island is roughly 2,800, most of which lives in Mull’s capitol, Tobermory.

Despite its low population, the island has been inhabited since about 6000 BC. There is a lot of evidence of the early habitation that can be seen from the road, such as burial mounds, brochs, a few standing stones, and even some crannogs. Crannogs date back to the Neolithic period and are basically manmade islands upon which wooden dwellings were built. Most often the wooden structures are long gone, but the island is still there. Some of them have narrow causeways that were constructed to allow the residents easy access while still making it difficult for anyone else to get to them.

The ferry ride from Fionnphort to Iona was a short one. I had told Tommie about how Mom and I ran out of time when we were on Iona, so she and I decided that we would trot on down to the Abbey first and then grab a sandwich from one of the shops back near the ferry later. We wanted to make sure we could see everything we wanted to see at the Abbey and not miss out on anything.

Saint Columba founded a monastery with an abbey at Iona in 563 AD. In the early 800s, Vikings raided Iona several times, ultimately killing several of the monks. Some of the remaining monks went to Kells, taking the ornately illustrated gospel they were working on (that became known as the Book of Kells) with them. In 1938, the Abbey was restored. The tiny, little building just to the left of the entrance to the Abbey is St Columba’s shrine – the location where Columba was initially buried back in 597 AD. His body was removed after the Viking raids with relics given to churches in both Scotland and Ireland.

I spent a lot of time walking around the interior of the Abbey, taking photos and exploring. The different parts of the Abbey date back to many different eras, with very large sections being mainly medieval. Some of the grave stones from the cemetery next door have been moved inside to preserve them as have some of the Celtic crosses (with copies taking their places outside). The cemetery has graves dating back to the early days of the monastery and Abbey, but many of the stones on them can no longer be read. Various Dal Riatan kings (Dal Riata being one of the main kingdoms in what is now Scotland back in the heyday of Iona) are among the people who were interred there.

In about 1203, a nunnery was built not too far from the monastery and abbey. The remains make a very pretty set of ruins. After checking that out, we visited a shop with both crafts and food. They had some silly mugs that consisted of kilts standing on little legs that I bought for gifts. We picked up some sandwiches, dessert and something to drink, then sat on some benches overlooking the beach to eat. It was a beautiful day – warm and sunny.

After taking the ferry back to Mull, we drove up to Tobermory, which was founded as a fishing port in 1788. There is a legend that a ship from the Spanish Armada fleeing the English fleet back in 1588 somehow caught fire and blew up in the bay where Tobermory is now located. It was supposedly laden with about £300,000 in gold bullion. Attempts have been made (and so far failed) to find the treasure in the mud beneath the bay.

The part of the town situated on the bay has very colorful houses, mostly with shops and businesses on the ground floor and living quarters above. One of the shops sold chocolates made on the premises. In addition to the usual orange, hazelnut, mint, salted caramel, etcetera, they had several fairly unique flavors of chocolate such as violet cream, rose cream, passion fruit and rum truffle – to name a few. None of the chocolates that either one of us bought survived long enough to get back to the US.

The next day, we took the ferry to Oban, sailing past Duart Castle and Dunollie Castle. Duart Castle was built in the 13^th century by Clan MacDougall and became the property of Clan Maclean in the following century. Dunollie Castle was also built by Clan MacDougall over the remains of some Dal Riatan fortifications. The MacDougalls backed John Balliol instead of Robert the Bruce in the quest to become King of Scotland. They ended up getting stripped of both power and property when Bruce became king. These were some of my ancestors and I am bitter (just kidding — at least we once had castles).

On our way back to Glasgow, we took our lunch break in Inverary, which has a wonderful castle belonging to the Campbells that was used in Downtown Abbey as “Duneagle”. I was very glad that Mom and I had toured this castle on an earlier trip since we didn’t have that kind of time this trip. After taking some photos of the castle, we had lunch in a quaint hotel in town, overlooking the loch, and walked around the town, exploring what we could before we needed to leave. We spent the afternoon and night in Glasgow before flying back home the following day.