The Holyland

We just got back from our whirlwind study tour of Isreal (and Karmyn brought back a doozy of a head cold- hence the delay in posting!)

To say that it was amazing to walk where Jesus walked, to see where He taught, where he died and was burried, well, it would be an understatement. The history is so rich is Isreal- there are ruins literally everywhere you look.

We started off flying with El Al airlines and immediately drove to Jerusalem the day we arrived. We stayed there for 4 nights and from there traveled first down south to Judea and the Dead Sea and then North to the Sea of Galilee where we spent our last 3 nights. The weather was moderate and we had a couple days of rain.

I don't even know where to start with the stories. Each day from dawn to dusk was packed full of sight seeing. Avi was our Jewish guide and he was a wealth of knowledge and fun.

We were able to see the field where David fought Goliath, Bethlehem (though it was not safe to actually enter it), Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane (has 2000 year old Olive trees with new branches still growing!), Mt. Zion, Caiphas' house (where Jesus likely spent his last night before crucifixion), Temple Mount, Dome of the Rock, Holocaust Museum, Western (Wailing) Wall, Damascus Gate, Via Delorosa, Antonio's Fortress, Pool of Bethesda, Qumran Caves (and parts of the real Dead Sea Scrolls!), several Kibbutzes, the Garden Tomb (and Yes! it was empty :)!), Golgotha (actually looks like a skull in the rock face), Messada, Dead Sea (no one has ever drowned... so we went swimming in January!), Jordan River, Mt of Beatitudes, Caperneum, Sea of Galilee (complete with a boat ride and a feast of St. Peter's fish- eyes, teeth, fins and all), Golan Heights, Valley of Armageddon, Mt. Carmel... and we could go

on and on!

It is so amazing now to read the Bible and have an actual picture of what it looked like (at least to some degree!) It opens the words up to have geography and archeology references. Amazing!