Jan 13, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
I can’t remember if I talked about Mr Arbel on the first day we toured or not. We walked along the valley on day 1 I believe, looking up at the caves that people lived in, in Jesus’ time. Bedouins and Jews lived in the mountains between Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. I mean IN the mountains. Check this out.
These holes in the rock face are caves. We were hoping to be able to hike to see them on this day, but the weather was uncooperative. As it was, for me this was a blessing, because I never would have made the hike with how I was feeling. Two hours hiking straight up would not have happened for me. So at the end of the day, of Day 2 now as I go through my pictures to find this shot, we saw Mt Arbel from the bottom.
On Day 9, Hasim, our stellar driver, drove us to near the top of Mt Arbel. Wow, what a view.
Here’s another view of it as we approached in the bus.
Then we parked the bus and climbed the black trail with the orange dot…we know what that means, Jesus trail…to the top of the mountain. Look at this view.
This is the northern end of the Sea of Galilee.
This is a nearby peak called “the Horns of Wheat.” One of two “horns”, if I’m remembering correctly. 
You can also see Mt Tabor, the Mount of the Transfiguration, from here.
There’s me and my sweet boy with Mt Tabor in the background. This trip is easily the most agreeable to being photographed he’s been in his entire life.
So in this picture, if you look closely at my shadow where my shoulder is, you’ll see a brown spot…that is a cooney. That’s what they call them. It’s a kind of rodent looking critter that roams around up there on the rocks. Our guide Eitan tells us that genetically they are related to elephants, but I think they look more like brown over-sized guinea pigs. I’ll see if Evan has a better picture of them than I do, I’m sure he will, he was quite enamored with them.
This is our guide, Eitan, giving us a history and geography lesson. We also had a devotion and some time to sit and reflect alone with God in nature in this breathtaking environment. Yes, I cried. I cried every time I got time enough to think about what was happening and where I was. Sakes.
On the way down to the bus, we noticed this mosaic mural depicting what happened here in the time of the Romans. Sad story. The Jews that were living in the mountain were not going to give in to Roman rule so easily, and they fought them. This mountain with its system of caves was a fortress and not easy for the Romans to attack. Ultimately, the way they found to attack the people living in the mountain was to lower their best soldiers over the side of the mountain from the top, from where we had just been standing, and attack them from above. The story goes that the people of the village would rather die than be captured and sold as slaves (the fate of the women and children) or killed, (the fate of the men) and so this father threw all 14 of his children off the mountain to their deaths before jumping himself. I cannot imagine.
Here is the example rebuilt to show how the Romans got their soldiers down the face of the mountain. Lowering wooden baskets of soldiers via a lever and pulley system. Eitan says that people who enjoy rappelling and rock climbing claim this as the first time known that humans rappelled off the top of a mountain.
The pace of the hike extension slowed dramatically from the previous touring pace. We still saw lots, but were able to take some time at some locations and spend time reflecting, praying, and listening to God. I enjoyed that aspect quite a bit. This was a beautiful place to rest and revel in God’s awesome creation.
Our next stop still stands out, after seeing everything we saw, as one of my top three stops. Migdal. Ancient Magdala, as in Mary Magdalene. Wow.
Jan 12, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
What a busy day, Day 9! Lots of cool stuff to talk about today. One of the highlights was off the tour path…Pizza Hut! After a busy morning of touring, we got to stop at an Israel supermarket. Evan and I got some cereal, some Coke, and some Oreos to get a little taste of home. Right about now we were getting a little home-sick for some American food. I must admit, it will be awhile before I buy hummus again.
This was an unexpected, fun treat. We enjoyed seeing what grocery shopping is like near the town of Migdal, just over the hill from Tiberias.
Random sheep thing by the trash can. He’s cute!
And then…Evan spotted the Pizza Hut and couldn’t resist.
He got three slices, but with my money, so he had to share one. Best piece of pizza I ever had. Not because it was anything special, just because we were so hungry for it! And coupled with the Coke and Oreos we got from the grocery store….oh man. That was sooooo tasty!
Yet they had this dish pictured on the wall. Maybe it’s just a picture of toppings, now that I look at it.
We had lunch after our Pizza Hut yummies not long after that at the Orthodox Capernaum. We had many new friends interested in what we didn’t want to eat. Evan the cat-whisperer was in his element. Awww. Cute putty tat. She brought several of her friends over for snacks as well.
OK, time to get busy describing this busy, and beautiful, tour day!
Jan 12, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
We don’t know where Jesus’ first miracle of changing the water into wine actually occurred, other than it was in Cana. There is a church in Cana, still a hopping city, that honors this first miracle. There is also a wine shop capitalizing on it, too, that we may or may not have stopped at and liberated a few libations. 🙂 Here are some pictures from the church.
I can’t say I remember the name of this particular church, and I did not find it in my notes. This was the last thing we did on the day that I felt the worst, after all, and I wasn’t on my A-game. There were indicators of Crusades-era influences, like the arches with statues in them, and this cross by the entrance.
Cool Jerusalem/Pilgrim cross on the door.
Statue of St John the Evangelist.
Love all the beautiful old stained glass. These old churches are so cool.
There was a very old wine jar on display in the basement. Also, this sizable stone wine container.
Doesn’t seem very portable. There were some other period wine jars on display here, too.
All in all, worth the walk up the street to see inside. It was an early evening back to the hotel this particular day because it was raining pretty good, and it was cold. I went to the room and spent two hours warming up and taking a nap, as did most of my fellow travelers. It was a much needed rest. I went to bed early after supper, too, and that really helped perk me up for the last few days of our excursion. Ready for Day 9!
Jan 12, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
(Sorry, whomever that is that I captured their “good side.”) : )
Not far from Nazareth is the ancient city of Zippori. I must admit to not seeing very much of this particular site because I was feeling the worst, physically, this day. I think there is a lot more to see here than even our crew visited (without me), based on what I read in the brochure we received. I saw the pictures that Evan took of what they toured, and there is lots more in the brochure beyond that.
Neat place. Lot’s of ancient mosaics to be seen that are telling of the culture of the city. The part that I did see (before I retired myself to rest/wait on the bus), the synagogue, had a mixture of mosaic images in the floor tiles that told a story of Jews and Romans sharing the space.
The circle part of the floor of the synagogue contains images of the 12 signs of the zodiac. There are also menorah and other Jewish images, along with the name of the first Levitical priest, Aaron, the brother of Moses.
So, sorry this is upside down, but the Hebrew name in front of the animal’s nose is the name Aaron.
Very cool ruins from a city that was in existence during the time of Jesus. Jesus would have walked through this city several times. In fact, trail markers denote the paths Jesus walked with an orange dot, like this.
This is a red trail marker, and the top left orange dot (if the picture was in the correct orientation, sorry) denotes a Jesus-frequented trail. There are also black, green, and blue trails in the holy land that have been there for centuries now. They paint trail markers directly on stones and trees along the ancient paths.
The presentation we watched in the modern building around the ancient synagogue ruins showed what the floor would look like with all the mosaic tiles still in place. The white tiles are still there, the blue are added in as they would have been. Interesting to see the combination of Roman and Jewish symbols, even though sometimes they didn’t get along with each other quite so well.
The workmanship of the mosaics is really quite remarkable. The rest of the group saw the theatre and more ruins and mosaics, but I just couldn’t make it. I am still coughing a week later, and walking around in the rain, up hills and freezing, was not helping me recuperate! I managed to hang with the group every place but here.
Next up, Cana!
Jan 12, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
As I mentioned, right by where we petted the kitty, our first stop on Day 8 after the drive back up to Nazareth was the Orthodox Church of the Annunciation. It is not known for sure where the angel appeared to Mary to give her the news that she would be Jesus’ mother. Scripture doesn’t tell us. If you’ve been reading along, you know that we already visited the Church of the Annunciation at the beginning of our trip. This is another possibility for where it happened. Not far up the street from the other, this Orthodox Church also stakes a claim as a possible site.
Nazareth in those days was much smaller than the 200.000 plus inhabitants it has now, and there was one spring that provided water to the smaller group that lived there over 2000 years ago. That spring is still flowing, and it is actually IN the Orthodox Church of the Annunciation. It’s a valid claim as a possible site, as Mary would have drawn water from this spring as part of her daily activities, and God has been known to make appearances to His people in the vicinity of running water rather regularly. To me, the exact position of where is less important as THAT it really did happen, and close by. The Holy Land is special in that way, it brings things to life knowing it happened either “here” or “very close”. Here are some pictures of the very unique church.
In an Orthodox Church, the artwork covers every surface. There are pictures of bible stories on every wall and ceiling and sometimes the floor. Next to the door, you can make a donation for a candle to light for prayer.
And more pictures of the walls etc.
Not sure what the purpose was for this “bird statue” on top of this area.
Altar area, the wall behind which only the priest may go to intercede for his parishioners.
Very old woodwork in the altar area. Here are some of the pews.
Down these stairs and at the end of this hallway is the spring, still flowing.
It is hard to see, but the water flows here. Many leave notes/prayers and tributes to Mary here. I’m going to try to include a video…
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Did it work? I’d be interested to know if you were able to watch this short clip. OK! Next up is Zippori!
Jan 12, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20
Today we had a comparatively lighter day. Some travel in the morning as it was time to leave Jerusalem and travel back up north to stay in Nazareth. We had a very nice hotel at the Ramada in Nazareth, best food yet…I loved the little footballs of deliciousness called kebuh, although they are called by other names, too. It’s like hamburger wrapped with fried bulgar wheat. Not bad.
As we drove to Nazareth first thing in the morning, pastor pointed out the terraces used for farming. The soil in this area is not great, so to grow healthy olive trees and other plants, people terraced the hillsides, which were rocky and not conducive to growing anything, and then filled them in from topsoil from other, more-fertile areas. Can you image, wagon full by wagon full of top soil being carted in from other areas of the world that had better soil. Like hundreds of miles away. Sounds so tedious to me!
This picture shows the terraces, and the barbed wire fence along part of the area of the Palestinian wall. The culture and story involved around this wall and the people we met from Bethlehem was very sad and moving. Definitely interesting to hear about the life of those who live there. 
Here is a watchtower used to make sure people are not crossing the border. It’s like a maximum security prison. I don’t feel like this is the forum to share more about this subject, but if you’d like to hear more, you can ask me or any of the other pilgrims and we’ll have some stories to tell.
Lastly, I thought I would share one of the in-between moments of the day. We went to the Orthodox Church of the Annunciation and we arrived just as services were ending. We had just a little time to kill as the parishioners cleared out, so we went in the worst of all the bathrooms we visited in Israel, (one of our group almost got locked in one stall, and there were no seats on the toilets), and then stood in the rain as we waited. This sweet kitten was trying to find a dry place to sleep, and she got a little love from our group. Evan was dubbed “the cat whisperer” while we were there since he was willing to pet and give a snack even if possible, to whatever cats we saw, nevermind the germs. Proud mama, I raised a cat lover. Aww.
