Well, we made it home safe and sound! Thanks for all your prayers and interest. I’m working through the 1900 pics I shot and will post a gallery when I’ve gone through them all and edited them as needed.
Overall, it was a really great trip. I’m so grateful to have been able to go to such great places.
Sorry there hasn’t been time or energy to go through the hundreds of pictures I’ve shot. Here are a few mostly unprocessed shots of some of the main spots we’ve visited. Of course when this is all over I’ll go through all of the pics and post a real gallery of the best shots.
Wow! What a day!!! Petra was amazing!
Sorry, but I’m so tired I can hardly stay awake long enough to post this. Tomorrow (actually in less than three hours) we leave for the airport to go to Rome and if I’m not totally toast I’ll try to go through all of the pics from the last two days and post some here.
It will be very sad to leave Israel.
I just saw the news about two separate knife attacks in Jerusalem today. First of all, we didn’t die. Second of all, it’s amazing that the news of two non-fatal attacks 6k miles from the US made the news when you know there were probably 20x that many in Chicago, Atlanta, NYC, or LA in the last two weeks, and probably 10x those in some choice countries in Central and northern South America.
Odd that no one ever worries about me when there is a drive-by shooting or car-jacking back home in ATL. They’d be worrying a lot!
Do you think there’s a chance that the media are exaggerating anything they can find to manipulate the truth, push their own political agenda, and sell papers / ads? We all know they’d never do that.
BTW, one of the attacks was by two 12-13 year-old boys on a policeman. Just another reason for me to be concerned about all the boys that will be trying to court my girls. Glad I have more than knives to protect them. 🙂 And yes, girls, I know you are reading this.
Yesterday we went to Caesarea Philippi and Har Megiddo, and both were great. We stayed in a Kibbutz (Kibbutz Levi close to Tiberias).
Today we went to Capernaum and the areas around Lower Galilee. Then we went and toured the Golan Heights, and were within less than a km of Syria. And amazingly, we’re still alive.
I have to say that all of this has completely illuminated (and often, corrected) my understanding of the New (and Old) Testament stories. I truly think that visiting the Holy Land should be a standard part of seminary curriculum.
Sad that we only have one more day of the standard tour. Our guides and driver have been just wonderful!
Those of you who know us know we are big on Israel and Jewish culture. And we’re big on the Bible. So that means we’re big on the Sabbath. (It’s one of the Big Ten…)
I didn’t really think about what that would mean to a sojourner in The Land. I did a quick search of the levitical instructions about how to observe the Sabbath an could only find references to the Jews and the foreigners who lived with them. There doesn’t seem to be anything about what the foreigners are supposed to do who are not living with them, but are dependent upon them while they’re there.
It’s one thing to have your own home and the ability to prepare for the Sabbath. But when you’re traveling and unable to prepare, it’s very hard not to come up short on some important basic things.
We just arrived in Jerusalem!!! Not sure why, but it got extremely hazy around noon and worse as we approached Jerusalem, so we haven’t really seen much. But I can definitely report that our room looks out at the wailing wall only 30 feet away. Well, I should more accurately say a wailing wall. There’s a wall across from our window that blocks most of our view… (And is making us sad as a result…)
(BTW, if the last few minutes is any indication, the internet here is very slow. So there’s a chance I may not be posting lots of pics – or may have to go low res.)
We’ll probably go sightseeing here in a bit toward the Old City. The Google says that we’re about 500m (1/3 mile) from the Jaffa Gate and twice that from the real Western Wall. I think we can cause an internationally televised incident and still be back to the hotel in time for dinner.
Our tour starts here at the hotel in the morning. Can’t wait!!!
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
Wow! It seems like I’ve been awake for 30 hours. Wearing the same clothes! But we made it safely to Israel!!!!!!!!
The flight from NYC to Tel Aviv was long, but good. We just got to our hotel – The Tel Aviv Hilton – and we have a fantastic suite with an ocean view. I just realized this is the first time I’ve ever seen the Mediterranean Sea – at least from the ground.
I’m bushed! But Trenna wants to go see the sights as Tel Aviv is famous for its night life, so we’re about to go out for a while. Can’t wait to get to bed, though! Tomorrow we’re here until 3:00 when we’ll be picked up and taken to Jerusalem.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!!!
We’re leaving Sunday morning, 11/1, to fly to Israel and Rome! I’ll be posting quick snippets, updates, and pics here when I have a chance.
Bon voyage!!!