Wow … where to start. Our travels this fall took us to four countries spread over two continents over forty-four non-stop days of adventure and awe. We saw and did so much. I guess I have to start for the beginning.
Our first destination was the nation of Israel. Our flight there didn't go exactly as planned. Our original itinerary had us leaving Omaha at 11:00 AM and, after stops in Chicago and Frankfurt, we would arrive in Tel Aviv. We discovered after arriving at the airport that one of the airlines was going on strike and we had be rerouted. So instead of arriving three hours before our flight (as they ask you to) we ended up arriving six hours before our flight. Despite this unfortunate delay our flight arrived in Tel Aviv less than an hour later than originally scheduled. This would be our only travel issue and I count ourselves amongst the lucky ones.
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| A view of Tel Aviv and the beach. |
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| The view of the Mediterranean Sea through the aqueduct arch near Caesarea. |
We left the city and stopped at a local winery where we learned how wine was made and some of us had a tasting. Staying on the wine theme we moved farther along to our next stop, Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle (turning water to wine at the Wedding Church).
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| Inside the Basilica of the Annunciation. |
After having lunch in Nazareth we moved on to out resort on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. I will get this out of the way right away - The rooms were incredible and the buffets were truly out of this world in both size and variety but the lobby service was crap. Fortunately this was the only unexpected bad lodging issue during the entire forty four days.
Our second day in Israel we visited a museum to see a remarkable will preserved wooden fishing boat once used on the Sea of Galilee. From here we boarded a boat to essentially do circles in the Sea of Galilee. While the views from the boat were very nice, this boat ride felt a bid meaningless. I guess I can say I was on a boat on the Sea of Galilee now. This would be the first of five boat rides on this trip - fortunately the other four would be more meaningful and enjoyable.
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| Mount of Beatitudes Church. |
We drove northward to Caesarea Philippi near one of the springs that feed into the Jordan River and saw the city dedicated to the Greek god Pan. From here we ascended the Golan Heights where we could see Syria.
We head back towards the Sea of Galilee stopping at Tabgha, location of the multiplication of loaves and fishes. As we admired the mosaics a couple Coptic Christian priests came and prayed.
Our last stop was Capernaum where Jesus spent most of his time and chose his first disciples. We saw the remains of a second century synagogue here.
Not far from Capernaum one of those special things happened. Special things are unexpected things, often not on the original itinerary, that stick with you. There was a Greek Orthodox church that was not open to non-Greek Orthodox tours. Out tour mates were Greek Orthodox and asked if we could at least drive by for pictures. As we approached the church a bus pulled up and out came a Greek Orthodox tour, led by a priest, from Ukraine. Out tour mate talked with the priest and he invited us to join his tour. The group of mostly Ukrainian women entered the church and, led by the priest started to sing. It was amazing.
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| Camels ... in Egypt I would learn to hate them. |
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| Old Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. |
