"holytourist.com" - 5 new articles
Last Day
We only visited 2 sites our last day - the Baha’i Gardens in the beautiful city of Haifa (one of the most desireable places to live in the world) and Mt. Carmel where Elija challenged the prophets of Baal. Fire came from heaven to consume Elija’s sacrifice, but the false prophets only managed to get themselves killed that day. Our last night was spent in Nethanya at our hotel on the Mediteranean Sea. Too bad we had to be up at 12 midnight to get to the airport and catch a 5:AM flight - It was a beautiful sunset however. We had to say goodbye to our great guide Maher - very knowledgable, entertaining and accomodating. He was available for our every request and had answers to all our questions. He added a lot to the trip. Our driver was Moosa - he made sure we got to every site on the itinerary by the end of the day. Our driver in Egypt was Monty and our guides were Mohamed and Yassir. Each one enriched our experience and added their own flavor to our tour. We appreciated them all. The trip home took about 24 hours. Some of our new friends left us at the airport in Chicago to go home to Florida and Tennessee. Here are just a few pictures to finish up. In all, I have about 5000 pictures as well as 30 gigs of digital video for each of you. I’ll get the photos on 2 DVDs. I’ll be working on how to get the video to you.
Day 8
Last full day for touring. The Mount of Beatitudes, Tagbha - the the chapel dedicated to the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, Ceasarea Phillipi, the Golan Heights, Mount Hermon (maybe the real mount of transfiguration?). We visited the ruins of the temple at Capernaum where Jesus declared himself the Messiah "within your hearing". Finished the day being baptised in the Jordan river. Unbelievable. Every person has had a beautiful attitude, has helped each other in every way and has been giving and patient with each other for the entire trip - no exception - what a delight to dwell among true bretheren like this. We are anxious to see you all.
Day 7
We left Jerusalem this morning for the countryside where Jesus spent his 3 years of ministry. Our first stop was the Valley of Meggido where the last great battle between good and evil is to be fought. The valley spreads out wide and open - you can almost see the battles that have already been fought on that plain - it is an ideal battleground - plenty of retreat options and natural fortifications - what an awesome sight. We then visited the church of the Annunciation in Nazareth where the angel revealed to Mary that she would give birth to the Christ. From there, Cana; the site of Jesus’ first miracle - the turning of water into wine. The church there has one of the 5 of extant stone jars used to hold the wine - the others are spread out from Rome to Istanbul. Our day ended with a sunset ride on the Sea of Galilee. We are staying 2 nights here in Tiberias. I may not post again because tomorrow night we’ll begin to re-pack for the flight home which leaves very early Friday Morning (Thursday night to you). I’ll try to at least post a few pics of the day.
Day 6
As I said this is a day at leisure, so i thought I’d post some pics from our previous days. I realize you don’t always know what you are seeing - we’ll explain later - they all come fast and furious while we are touring. By the way - if you’re enjoying the pictures, hit the comments button below and leave us a message.
Day 5
We start our day with a devotion from one of the group - each day has been great - there’s a picture of this morning’s devotion led by Judy. (we also wrap up the day with a share time where each person reflects on the day). Todays tour focused more on the historic sites in Israel. Our day started with a visit to Lazarus’ tomb in Bethany. There is a church built over the tomb which is deep underground. We could actually go into the tmb itself. Next we headed to Masada, the site of the Roman seige of Herrods mountain top palace which was occupied by Jewish rebels resisting the invasion of Jerusalem by Rome. The soldiers and families held out there for 3 years, but elected to die rather that live under Roman slavery. We then visited Jericho for lunch and to observe the ongoing excavations of the walls of the old city. We also saw the Zachias Tree. Next stop was he Dead Sea where we floated about a bit. (You can see some of the ladies doing a synchronized swimming routine below) then headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow is a free day. We’ll probably do some shopping and some of us may visit the Holocaust Museum. We may just take a cab into town and nose around to see what we see. I’ll post again tomorrow. After that we move to Netanya for 2 nights. It’s supposed to be a beautiful hotel on the Mediteranean.
More Recent Articles |
