Nov. 17 in Israel

We sailed into the port of Haifa in Israel this morning about 8:00. The day was a bit hazy but you could certainly see that this is a very busy port and city. Buses and vans were right at the end of the gangway so we all breathed a sigh of relief as to where to meet our guide. We had arranged a three-day adventure off the ship visiting important sites and spending two nights at the David Citadel Hotel.

Israeli immigration wanted to do a face-to-face with every passenger coming to the theater, picking up and presenting their passport and receiving a landing card. After breakfast we joined the long line- which actually went fairly fast- and got our landing cards.  We had asked for some help for Kathy and I to get to the spot to meet our guide. Turns out only the people who had arranged cars from Regent for twice the cost had cars that could come right beside the ship. We tried to call our guide who didn’t answer the phone so we started walking slowly toward to terminal –about 300 meters away.  The ship was running a shuttle from the ship to downtown in Haifa and the person in charge of that shuttle offered to just drop us at the entrance to the terminal. That was a huge help. The Regent Shore Destination person was no help and was actually rude to our questions.

B'hai Gardens in Haifa

After much trudging and a steep escalator ride we arrived at the front door to the terminal. The guide was nowhere to be seen with his promised sign. Bos went looking; we called and were beginning to get terribly frustrated. BUT at last connections were made with our driver/guide Yonatan. Hopefully the person from the company will be able to arrange for him to drive us right to the ship on our return on Tuesday afternoon.

We were off with our first photo stop to view the beautiful B'hai Garden- quite impressive with a long staircase.

Facade of the Church of the Annunciation

Driving out of town we saw Mt Carmel and heard the familiar story about Elijah and the test of fire with the priests of Baal. Was fun to look at the hillside and imagine it all happening.

Inside the church

We headed out of town toward the city of Nazareth and the beautiful Church of the Annunciation. The church was built as a joint project between the Vatican and the government of Israel. Inside was a church dating from 1000 CE and one from 1500 CE. The crypt of the Annunciation is said to be the spot where the angel Gabriel spoke to Mary. There were visitors and tour groups from all over the world in the lovely courtyard.

Yonatan had driven up many narrow streets and alleys to get us to the entrance. We went inside and sat on benches while he parked the car. After the visit to the church we walked down a steep hill to the car and we were off again.

We saw the Sea of Galilee with the Golan Heights, the Church of the Multiplication (where the loaves and fishes miracle supposedly happened), the Church of the Cana (where the water to wine supposedly happened) and the Baptism spot. Jim tried hard to turn the remains of his bottle of water into wine but it didn’t work.

There is much to say about the political situation and the daily life in the area that we learned from Yonatan but I will save that for a day when I am not so weary.

We had a delicious lunch at the Baptism place- I had Peter

fish (tilapia) and the rest had a beef kabob. There was a wonderful salad bar with nothing like anything- except cukes- that you’d find on a salad bar in the US. There was also wonderful corn soup.

We saw fields and fields of banana plants with blue plastic bags hanging on the plants. This is a clever scheme to trick the ants and keep them from eating the fruit. Apparently they think it is the sky, but not sure anyone ever talked with the ants to determine that.

The towns of Tiberius and Capernaum were also interesting. This area was being developed by a Franciscan order and includes Peter’s House and the remains of a 4^th century synagogue.

The long drive from that area to Jerusalem took us through the rocky desert and to the serious traffic of downtown Jerusalem. We arrived safely at our hotel, David Citadel and were warmly welcomed. The room has a lovely view over the old city of Jerusalem made even more spectacular by a full moon.

The Holy Land is not a place I ever thought I wanted to go. Much that I heard today confirms that for me. Since no one can ever be certain any of the places believed to have been significant in the ministry of Jesus are what we see today, if I had come needing that to confirm my faith I would have been disappointed. For me faith is much more than seeing a few landmarks or maybe landmarks. BUT there is a spiritual and mysterious feeling about being here. Looking at the rough landscape one could almost see Jesus and his band of disciples coming over the hillside.

More tomorrow.