The Holy Land May 6Th Thru 17Th, 2013
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The Holy Land th th May 6 thru 17 , 2013 Amy and I caught a ride with Dick Eastwick to the Presbyterian Church about 5pm on the Monday the 6th, to begin the journey so meticulously planned over the last two years by brother David. We were joining about two dozen others (mostly members of our Church including our Pastor Bill Getman and his wife Sue) for a shuttle van ride to the Philadelphia Airport, pre-arranged by Ed Hess. After a lot of baggage was precariously packed in, David assigned himself the task of keeping the baggage from spilling over onto the other passengers. On arrival at the airport, it was up to each individual to get through ticketing, checking of baggage, security, and the trek to the gate. We had hours to kill, and for some there was an immediate need to get some food and drink. Amy had passes for us to go to the USAIR lounge, which had complimentary drinks and light food. Robin & Bill Wright joined us there until it was time for the flight. David & Peggy joined the Giordanos in a restaurant. Others gathered at the gate to meet and greet some who had chosen not to take the shuttle there. The flight was about 9 hours, and landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv in the afternoon, local time. We met our guide, Hela, after exiting immigration and customs. Amy had a scare as her suitcase did not appear until everyone else seemed have gotten theirs and left. We moaned, “Not Portugal again!”—referring to the nightmare of our lost baggage coming from Frankfurt to Lisbon last May. Though it turned out okay, this was not to be the end of our worries about lost luggage on this trip! Hela directed us to the comfortable bus with our driver, Dov, waiting to load in our luggage and then negotiate the busy rush-hour traffic on coastal highways north to Netanya, an up-and-coming resort set on very high cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It was so misty that we never really could get a good glimpse of the horizon, just a few boats not far off the shore. There was a beach far below us, and, since you could discern footsteps in the sand, we knew there must be some way down. The next morning on my walk I discovered some stairs leading down to the beach just south of a parking lot about a mile south of the Ramada Hotel where we stayed. After settling in room 502, with a corner balcony overlooking the sea and the inland, we joined all the others for dinner. Here began the routine of lavish buffets that served as our included dinners. Amy delighted in the choices, as did most everyone, and I fortunately found some things I could eat. Right after dinner about a dozen of us (without pre-arrangement) crossed the street to the park strip along the edge of the cliffs for an after-dinner walk. We explored the pathways heading north and took in the many sculptures located along our way and enjoyed the views until dark claimed our attention and we broke up and returned to get a good night’s sleep before the 6am wake-up call. These calls were for every room in our 1 group, every day of the trip. The call time varied each day but the latest was 7am, and that was the morning of our last day there. Mostly it seemed to be 6:15, with our included buffet breakfast available beginning at 6:30am. Our bags were to be placed outside our room before we went to breakfast so the porters, by pre-arrangement (fees pre-paid), would collect them and gather them outside by the bus, ready to go. All that remained was for the bags to be identified by the owner, before they could be loaded into the bus. This was a security matter. All the bags were loaded into the bus while Amy and I were still looking for her bag! Finally a number of people began to search around, and we finally located it on another cart ready to be loaded into another group’s bus. Yikes! We tried to minimize the porter handling of our baggage after that…. A relatively short drive brought us to Caesarea (Caesarea Maritima), a famous ancient port, that had Herod the Great’s seaside palace, a hippodrome, a crusader fort, and the amphitheatre that has been restored for use in concerts. This is the place where the Apostle Paul was held in a Praetorium, awaiting his voyage to Rome under the appeal to the Emperor as a Roman Citizen, having been charged with preaching the Gospel of Christ. It was here also that the Apostle Peter came after a dream that revealed he was not to regard as “unclean” that which God had made “clean”. Following this, Peter baptized the Roman Centurion, Cornelius, and began to include gentiles in his mission efforts. Our first view of the portside was through a gate, on leaving the amphitheatre and it was, for me, breathtakingly beautiful. The water and beach, and the first good look at the Sea under blue sky and reduced haze. Herod’s palace was really on the sea, on a rock outcropping just above the sea level, but destroyed by the elements, including earthquakes, that had claimed all the grand efforts to make this a major port. It did not help that the Mamelukes leveled the place after seizing it from the remnants of the Crusaders. We had a look back in time through an orientation video in a small nearby auditorium. Looking south we could see in the distance through the haze the very tall stacks of the main power plant for Israel we had passed on our ride there. On the way again, we stopped to inspect the main aqueduct that had supplied old Caesarea, visible in a long section along the waterside, and then got a glimpse of that fashionable section of the new town where the only golf course in Israel exists and where “Bibi” Netanyahu lives. Not long after that, our luck gave out and the bus broke down, near Faradeis. A decision was made to summon another bus, after attempts were made by Dov (with guidance over the phone from Mercedes mechanics) to deal with a faulty thermostat. The process took about three hours before the new bus and its driver arrived. The luggage was not transferred to the new bus as they expected the bus to be fixed quickly and to meet us at our destination, Tiberias, that afternoon. It did not quite work that easily. In the meantime, Tom Hinchey broke out the bagpipes to entertain those who got out of the bus for fresh air in the hot sun. I believe it was Doug Chase who located a vendor who provided the refreshing fruit 2 popsicles to everyone, at the expense of Pilgrim Tours. Because of the delay, the visits to Megiddo and Zippori were scrapped. We stopped for lunch at the first of two Druse sect family-owned restaurants, featuring falafel and chicken schnitzel. We were famished and enjoyed the clean “sherateem” and satisfying food and drink. Many dined alfresco in the courtyard under a pergola amid beautiful flowers and a central fountain. Amy and I ate inside where it was cooler. Next was Muthraqa on Mount Carmel, the main peak of which overlooks the Jezreel Valley, and this was the purported site of the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. There was a statue showing Elijah cutting off the heads of the prophets of Baal, and the story continues that the bodies were hurled down to a creek below. Looking down we could see where that stream might have been, and some friendly German tourists pointed out to us an “eagle” resting on an outcropping below us. On closer inspection of the picture I took, we found it looked more like a buzzard, but one that had been tagged. On to Nazareth and the Church of the Annunciation that was relatively recently built and which literally covers the whole of the ancient village where Jesus lived as a youth and what they believe is the remains of the first floor of Mary’s home. Another timely visit to the Sherateem was appreciated and the moment recorded for posterity. Hela promised she knew where all these conveniences were, and I believe we were able to visit one just about every two hours during the whole trip! This fit my needs exactly! The ancient synagogue in which Jesus may have worshipped and preached we reached by a walk through a local market area…souk…not very clean or friendly…uphill in a narrow cobblestone path. It is situated next to a Church and is part of that complex. We were allowed to come in and sit quietly while a number of young persons were being prepared for their first Holy Communion. I believe Peggy may have recognized the coincidence of being there but missing Maggie’s first HC at home. The rest of Nazareth seemed busy, crowded, and unremarkable. We were glad to arrive finally at the Leonardo Hotel in Tiberias, right on the Sea of Galilee, after passing through the town of Cana. There was a beautiful pool as part of the complex, and a dozen or so of us (including the Wrights, Chases, Woodlands, and Hesses), after the next day’s travels, indulged in cooling down our bodies in the pool and enjoying the waning sunshine and views of the far side of the Sea of Galilee.