I was thankful to get about 6-7 hours sleep last night, even if I woke up around 4a. I wasn't going to get up then but had memories from the previous day running though my mind, things I wanted to put in my blog. So I just got up and edited my post from last night. I also added the photos to FB for friends if they are interested. So we are up, ready, had breakfast and headed out for the adventures of the day!
Sunrise on the Sea of Galilee
Our first stop of the day was to be Cana and the
Church of the Wedding, where Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water
into wine. However, when we got there it was closed. We went to a Greek Orthodox church right beside it to visit instead. Of course both churches claim they are on the exact spot. Who knows? Anyway, I bought a little bottle of wine that is supposed to be blessed. It was wine made in Cana, which is what I do believe and we will taste it at some point. (John 2:1-12)
Scripture on the wall in front of the church
Typical water jug of the times, larger than I thought!
Church of the Annunciation
The old stone is part of the old church
Leaving Nazareth
More interesting was the drive through the Jordan Valley to Beit She'an National Park. I was going to put a link in for the park but all links are coming up in Hebrew now so that won't be happening. As we drove along this main highway in Israel we have a view over into Jordan and the Gilead Mountains in Jordan. Beit She'an is an interesting ancient city released from the past by excavation, which still continues. This city was built by Alexander the Great! Being 200 meters below sea level it is quite warm here today. I was so hot when we left all I wanted for our quick lunch stop was a couple fruit popsicles. That cooled me off. John had a chicken schnitzel, which was tasty.
View of Ruins, Jordan Valley, and Gilead Mountains.
As we drove to our next stop we went along the fenced border of Israel and Jordan. You view the lush Jordan Valley the entire distance until you see the Dead Sea. Our views were also of the Gilead Mountains, just beautiful and thought provoking. I was totally cooled off by our next stop in Jericho. It was a brief stop where we had a view of the Mount of Temptation, where Jesus was tempted. There is a fancy hotel on the side of the mountain with a tram and a seminary as well. It was quite the tourist trap with people hawking many different things. Some dried figs looked delicious but the line was way too long for me. This photo is from the internet as mine was looking into the sun and hard to see. It looked just like this.
Mount of Temptation in Jericho
It was another 40 minutes before we reached Jerusalem. We also passed a check point to enter into this general area. They call it a check point and we actually stopped and a female soldier with an automatic weapon said something to the driver and they we could move on. Upon arrival we went to the top of Mount Scopus for an overview of the city. 800,000 call Jerusalem home. This will be our base for the next 5 nights.The Grand Court seems like a nice place and we will be comfortable here.
A distant view of the Mount of Olives
Tomb from the times of Jesus.
It would have had a roof and round stones over openings
Our Group on Mt. Scopus
We lose our guide Lea and get a new guide tomorrow
Our dinner was a giant bowl of soup we could not finish! We weren't that hungry so we opted for the small bar area where they serve food. The Buffet dinner was extensive, almost unbelievable and only US$30 but we were just not that hungry. Options in the bar were few, no meat items at all, lots of veggie items and fish only. My soup was minestrone and John got French onion. I did write this blog last night but the internet was very slow and I could not upload photos until this morning. 6a here in Jerusalem! Looking forward to our day!
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