Goodbye snow, hellooooo Bucerias! – 22 December

Yes, the time has finally come to leave the snowy northern climate and go on that 2 week holiday in Mexico!  I had trepidation at leaving the home & native land for so long, but we paid for the tickets… so off we go.  Dayna’s dad rented a three bedroom condo in Bucerias, so he (Barrie) & his wife Helen, the three of us (Dayna & Dean, Eric) and Dayna’s brother and family (David & Jennifer, Drew, Matt, Emily) are all going to spend two weeks there in the sun by the ocean.

So the flight is at 07h00 on Wednesday the 22nd.  That means that I start to pack Tuesday, right?  Well I did do some on Monday, as we had an ERLPhase Christmas party on Tuesday evening (Celebrations, was good!).  We scramble to get some last minute packing done, then crash around say 23h30.  Well, Eric didn’t crash, he still had laundry to do (a man after me own heart!).  We’re up at 03h30, had a stretch limo show up at the house at 04h15, off to airport.  Why a stretch limo?  Well any old limo would do – but a stretch is what they sent.  With the three of us and our big suitcases (yikes we have dozens of suitcases but we must have picked the three largest ones!), we did not want to ride with suitcases on our laps.


Anyway, a quick trip to the airport, check in, through security, and… ugh, wait wait wait!  Check this out, do I look tired, or what?  Fighting it, but in vain…


The long trip home, and jet lag – 11 and 12 November

You know that it’s sad to finish a trip like this (hard to say “vacation” when you are getting wake up calls at 05h30 to 06h30 every morning), but it’s always good to be going home.  For us, the day was a relief – no more bus travel, no more walking and walking and walking, no more crowds, no waiting in line!

Oh, wait a second – we have all that and more – a least for today.


Off to the Airport
So we were off at 08h00 from Jerusalem to the airport in Tel Aviv, on the bus.  Our guide asked how we were doing, and we were all exhausted and sore from all the walking the day before.  He reminded us what he told us when he met us the week before – “you will feel the Bible through the soles of your feet” – wow did he have that right!

The ride to the airport was largely uneventful.  Lazarus, our guide, pointed out significant landmarks along the way, as always, but there weren’t many of those.  He then insisted on showing us the episode of “The Simpsons” where they go to the Holy Land – and sat giggling the whole time!  More truth in parody than not, as he advised us, and we saw what he meant.  It was actually quite good – I never did like “The Simpsons” but as I’m learning, they are very intelligent shows, well researched with carefully planned satire.

Bus travel, check!

Palestinian Territories
We actually passed through Palestinian territories, but on this beautiful highway that apparently only Israelis can travel on.  There are no connections to the Palestinian territories it passes through – in fact, there is a security fence on both sides of this highway.  You can see the Palestinian homes and cities all the way along, and they can see you, but you can’t connect with each other.

The disconnect between Israelis and Palestinians is sad, really, and drives home the long, bitter relationship between these two peoples.  But after only a week in Israel, I’ll say this: don’t judge either group or their attitudes – it’s difficult to comprehend what living 200 feet from people who hate your very being, will do to your psyche.  On both sides of the wall, it forms the core of their being, and is self perpetuating.

Tel Aviv Airport
Well, we expected security to be tight, and in fact it was, but it was also very confusing!

We hung around as a group in the departures hall, while Lazarus negotiated with somebody from the airline.  It was frustrating to see other folks getting in line, when we weren’t!  Then we found out why – he negotiated a whole line for us only, very nice.

He also discussed security questions with us, both getting us prepared on the bus, and now with us in the line.  It came up that we had received a few “gifts” as we made our tour – notably a jewelry box from our tour company in Jordan, and a small clay oil lamp from the Nazareth Village – well that caused a stir!  We had to get a couple of our crew to dig out samples so security could view them, then discuss exactly what we would say when asked the question further up in the security check point.  Wow, distrust runs so deep in this place.  Not without reason, but still.

It turns out that some of the other folks that had been streaming in and queuing up in front of us while Lazarus negotiated, were also now put into their own lines.  In fact, some of their folks got through the security check ahead, and were actually put back into the line with their group!

Waiting in line, check!

Checked Bag Security
So now we go through checked bag security.  They have an X-Ray machine just for the checked bags.  You put them on the belt, take the rest and walk around, and wait for your bag to come out the other side.  Based on the result of this check, you either proceed to the check-in counter, or go to the bag search line.

You can hear and see the belt going forward, backward, forward, backward, when they are checking it out under the X-Ray.  Then suddenly the bag comes out of the X-Ray machine like a bullet!  Actually catches air for about 2 feet then lands back on the pick-up slide with a “thud”.  I’m not sure why they would do that, it must take a huge amount of energy to accelerate the bag like that.  The engineer who designed that machine had a mean streak in them!

When Dayna’s bag came through, she was told to go to the bag search lineup.  No problem, it was a few questions, and they just asked to see the jewelry boxes – both were in her bag – was just a question as to why she had two.

When my bag came out, the guy behind me grabbed it off the line and started loading it on his cart.  No big scene, but he just didn’t seem to be paying attention!  Well, I got my bag back, but I missed the directions about whether to go to the search line.  So I went into the search line anyway.  I later found out they were watching carefully and had I been in the line when not supposed to, they would have known for sure.  But it turns out I was supposed to be there.

It turns out that the X-Ray technician enters comprehensive notes, and the bag search person has the X-Ray images, because she checked the notes, asked a few questions, and I was on my way.  They wanted to know what the books were that I had in my bag – well, um, besides my Bible, it’s mostly just tourist stuff that I picked up along the way – no, no gifts in there.  Then they released me.  Confusing but relatively painless.

Check-In
Then it was on to the check-in lines.  There were malfunctions in the overhead screens, to although there were five wickets open, only four showed the correct information, and one was stalled for along time.  Well, the folks in the queues got frustrated, started cutting from line to line, standing intentionally between lines, being rude, ugh.  Finally they fixed the overhead displays, the lines cleared up, we got to the front, checked our luggage, and got our boarding passes.

Crowds, check!

Before Security
We weren’t sure what there would be on the other side of security, so we had a gawk around, seeing as we had about 2 hours to go before flight time.  I wanted a drink, so I moseyed down to McDonald’s – a kosher McDonald’s, who would have thought!  Four bucks for a drink, yikes!  One of the other couples on the tour (who had been pining for burger & fries the whole trip) dropped $24 for what amounted to two Big Mac combos – yikes.

Enough of that, we saw huge crowds coming in behind us, so we zipped into security, did the whole drill (no metal objects, unload pockets, put laptop in its own tray, yada yada), and got through the security check.

After Security
Now we’re getting hungry, so we stopped for a bite at an interesting looking restaurant.  Pizza Hut was ruled out (they tend to give me cramps?), I couldn’t think of McDonald’s (I wouldn’t eat it at home, why would I in Israel?), so this restaurant was it.

Well ordering was interesting.  You can order at any one of three tills, and pay, but then the food comes at you from four different locations – sandwiches over here, pizza over here, coffee over here, and get the cold drinks yourself from the cooler.  But, they all speak very little, talk to each other in a language I don’t understand, tell you nothing, and put finished food up on the counter without explanation.  I found myself going from counter to counter, asking where the food would be, and when it would be ready.  Ugh.  But finally Dayna got her sandwich and I got my pizza, they were both good and worth the wait.

The kosher pizza was interesting.  Apparently, kosher rules say that you can’t have cheeze and meat at the same meal, whether mixed or not – so the pizza had cheeze on it and no meat.  Hmm, coulda used some pepperoni or salami or something, but it was not to be.

We checked out the duty free shops – they have electronics, music, books, all kinds of stuff there – but as Lazarus had warned us, just because it doesn’t have duty on it, doesn’t mean that it’s cheap!  My observation on the electronics was that the prices were about 50% higher than retail here in Winnipeg.  Obviously not the place to buy that new notebook computer or flat screen TV!

The flight waiting area had free Wi-Fi, so I was able to check E-mail, check Winnipeg news and weather, and pass the time a bit.

The Plane and the Flight to Toronto
The plane was a 767, very nice.  Leather seats, entertainment units in the back of headrests, even an AC power outlet to plug in a laptop!  So I watched a couple of movies, did some programming on the laptop (a shell script to organize the photos from mine and Dayna’s cameras), listened to music, and was generally BORED for 12 hours!  Ugh that is too long to be in an airplane!

Pet peeves:
– kids who cough – constantly – without covering their mouths – about 3 seats to our left!
– strangers who get to know each other – loudly – through the whole flight – without consideration that others are trying to sleep – right behind us!
– folks who don’t realize that the seat back in front of them is actually the BACK of MY seat – the guy behind me tried for about 10 minutes to plug into the outlet on the back of Dayna’s seat, basically giving her whiplash and a headache.  I finally confronted him, and he was genuinely amazed that anyone would be affected by his smacking the back of a seat!
– reading light controls that fail – with the reading light ON – yes, all reading light controls on our side of the aircraft crapped out about 2 hours in, so I had difficulty relaxing after that, felt like an interrogation lamp!
– entertainment systems that lock up and reset in the middle of a movie – I was watching an oldie and was over half way through when it crapped and started again.  It wasn’t that good, was just passing time anyway, so went off and did something else that was equally forgettable.
– CBC in-flight news that was over a week old – seriously!  Opening report was that U.S. mid-term elections were going to happen today.  Wait a minute, that was last week!  No use in watching that newscast.  This, despite the claim on the heading of the show “updated twice a day”!

So you know what, I think next time, I’d prefer to come back with a stop somewhere.  Heathrow, Amsterdam, anywhere – as long as my bag gets checked through, and I get off the plane, it would be good.

All that said, they kept us busy in another way – eating and drinking.  It seems like we had 3 meals in the 12 hours.  The food was OK too, more or less – although the green beans were pretty soggy each time.  But hey what can you do – this is the new millenium, can’t expect perfection can you?

I got a bit carried away and had a couple of glasses of wine, then paid for it the rest of the trip.  Couldn’t get enough water to rehydrate, probably a result of the heat and the walking the day before.  Then had to run to the washroom constantly.  Must be a message in there for me, but I’m too dull to figure out what it was.

Toronto Airport and Customs and Security – What a Joy!
Now I’ve decided that the person who designed Pearson International, at least the Air Canada terminal, must have been on drugs of some kind.

You get off of the plane, walk about 2 km through the airport, with very little or no supervision to ensure that you don’t deviate (hey you haven’t cleared customs & immigration yet).  You see the customs agent, give in the card, they check your passport, you answer questions.  They mark your card, but you don’t know if you are subject to search or not.  I don’t know what they do if you are subject to search – you don’t have your checked bags yet!

George and Donna were right behind us at customs, and a little shaken – a rant about this below.  As we approached the customs booth, I could smell a strong liquor smell, so I was worried that George’s duty free bottle of Scotch Whisky was damaged.  But no, apparently this was from two bottles of duty free rum being dropped on the floor shortly before.  Boy somebody woulda cried, that’s for sure!

Then down to the main baggage hall (yes the main one, right to the outdoors), collect your luggage off of one of the main courasels.

Then off to the “connections” level, one floor up.  Hmm, not the “departures” level, which you could easily get to just by pressing a different key on the elevator.  You flash your customs card and boarding pass, and they let you put your checked bag right onto the belt without checks.  This little area is in the form of an “L” so you have to cut across the incoming line to get out, all the while dragging your carry on items, what a melee that was.

NOW you have to pass through security again, because of course you were outside the security zone.  Then try to figure out your gate number, and get to your gate.

I am starting to like the “old” (existing) Winnipeg International Airport more and more.  I hope the new terminal is more like the existing terminal, and not like Pearson!

Walking and walking and walking, check!

An Incident on a Stupid Moving Walkway
I think the same engineer that designed the terminal also designed the moving walkway between deplaning and customs.  It looks like any other, but about 20 feet in, all of the sudden it accelerates to warp speed!  Actually, the segments of the floor and the handrail separate to reveal three more segments in between, and the result is a huge increase in speed.  The floor ripples up then smooths out as this happens, so it’s a bit unnerving.  And, I’m looking at the handrail, obviously you have to put your hand only on the original segment, as what opens up is going to close up again, and possibly squash your hand in the process.  Hmm, I don’t like the look of this!

We were about 3/4 the way down the walkway when it stopped suddenly.  We could see way up ahead that folks were piled up, not moving, but by the time we got there, the log jam had cleared.  I figured someone must have been goofing around and hit the emergency stop button.  Well, I was half right!

When we got to customs, George and Donna came into line behind us, and they looked shaken up.  It turns out that when they came to the end of the walkway, the floor started shifting and George lost his balance.  He fell backward onto Donna, and they both went “thud” onto the walkway.  Security staff were there quickly and stopped the walkway immediately.  Fortunately, they seemed sore, upset, and shaken, but not seriously injured.

They ought to take that walkway out of service, it is a menace!  Or in the very least, put VERY CLEAR directions on it.  Probably with one of those annoying voice systems that repeats in a loop.  I hate them, but it would be justified.

Or simply put in a normal moving walkway.  This one is an idiotic stupid moving walkway.

The Last Segment
The last flight segment was shorter for sure, but at least we were almost home.  The flight was packed, the overhead bins were full, and we were at the back of the plane (some of the last to get out), but it was nice to get to Winterpeg.  Brr, wow, cold.  Oh well, heated seats, mmm.  Eric picked us up and whisked us home.

Jet Lag?
We got to bed shortly after midnight.  I was up before 08h00 and off to the Pan Am pool for about 09h00.  Part of my strategy for coping with jet lag is to exercise.  My new glasses had arrived from Virden, so I was off to Cathy’s optical store to get them fitted.  We had a brief chat, all was good.  Then a haircut to ensure that the 3 weeks’ growth in this thick mane of mine (joke – ha ha) is kept under control.  Errands, errands.

Among the errands was to go to CAA and get a new suitcase.  Mine was damaged somehow in the transfer from Jordan to Israel, and will be tossed out.  Sigh.  Oh well, the new one is a hard shell Samsonite, I have more confidence that it will survive the rigors of travel better anyway.

About 20h00 last night, I started feeling very sleepy, so I crashed.  Well then I was wide awake at 06h00.  I tried to sleep until 07h00, but it didn’t work.  I don’t like early starts on Saturdays!  Oh well, stop whining, there’s a lot to do, so I’d better get to it.  A blog entry to write, for instance.

The longest day? West Wall, Temple Mount, Dome of the Rock, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Upper Room, Dormition Abbey, Garden Tomb, and more! – 10 November

Ouch, my aching head!  05h30 wake up call, on the road by about 07h00.  Oh my Lord that’s early, but it paid off.  We were at the West Wall (colloquially known as the Wailing Wall) by 08h00.  On our way out, we got a look at how busy it was getting just a half hour later!  But, I get ahead of myself; first, about our Israeli bus driver.

Bus Driver and Bus
Our Israeli bus driver was Talib, what an amazing driver!  I could not believe how busy the streets of Jerusalem were, it was crazy!  Picture a street the width of a side street (say Lanark for the sake of argument) with sidewalks right to the edge.  Cars and trucks are parked on both sides, and buses pass each other in opposite directions all the time!  Carefully, mind you.  And, in parking lots, it gets even crazier, as the buses park at awkward angles, and parking lots themselves are pretty convoluted (imagine a country with 6,000 years of history, they use every square inch of space).  Then some Mercedes Benz or BMW comes zooming in and parks in a dumb location.  The buses somehow accommodate all this loony-ness, and pretty gracefully too.  I didn’t see any collisions between buses and vehicles or anything, which was pretty amazing.  That’s not to say that it doesn’t happen – my observation is that the front mirrors on every bus have scrape marks on them.

Well, to top it off, Talib has a Staples “Easy Button” strapped to the front of the bus.  He periodically presses it at the zaniest times and it bellows, “That was easy!”  Often when he does so, it’s after a gruelling drive, or when we finally got through the separation wall check point.  His English was OK but not great, but his sense of humour was wonderful!

I mention this now because this morning was our last time riding with Talib.  He was off late this morning to pick up a new group at the airport and start again at the Sea of Galilee.  We’ll miss him.  In his place, we’ll have different drivers and different buses.

Half asleep in airport, waiting for departure!
Beer and lunch!  What more could you ask for? 
Let the ocean wash your worries away!
The waves feel good on the feet.
Looking down the beach towards the city centre of Bucerias
Christmas tree in the town square in Bucerias
Looking back from a foot bridge in Bucerias out onto the ocean

Mount of Olives, Dominus Flavit, Garden of Gethsemene, Israel Museum, Bethlehem and Church of the Nativity – 09 November

Today had a relatively slack start to it.  Our wake up call wasn’t until 07h00, and we didn’t leave the hotel until 09h00.  That was a nice change.

Mount of Olives
Our first stop today was the top of the Mount of Olives.  Us and about two thousand other tourists, ugh!  From the top you can see all of the great landmarks of the east part of the city.  Our tour guide pointed many of them out, it really brought home the fact that we are finally in Jerusalem!

Dominus Flavit and Jewish Burial Site from Time of Jesus
We then walked down a steep street that ran to the Garden of Gethsemene.  Along the way there is the beautiful Sanctuary of the Dominus Flavit (God Sheds Tears).  There was a service going on inside the sanctuary, but there apparently isn’t really much to see inside, we just marvelled at the architecture of the outside of this building, and moved on.

Talib our bus driver, note the “Easy Button” on the far right.  He was amazing!
The West Wall – ladies are segregated on the right, men on the left
There was a prominent “no cameras” sign so this was as close as I dared get.  Others got closer pictures, but I wanted to honour the requests of the religious persons using the site.
Virgin Mary birthplace beneath the altar of Mary’s Church.
A woman’s view.
A man’s view from just outside the tomb area.
A man’s view from inside the tomb area.
A stone *like* the one used to originally seal the door.  This one is a small example from another tomb.
The sign on the door says it all (sorry but it’s dark) – “He is not here.  He is risen!”

Masada wow, a swim in the Dead Sea, Qumran, quick zip through Jericho, and hello Jerusalem! – 08 November

Well, another day, another pack-up-and-leave routine.  Our first stop was Masada, the mountain top fortress city.  It’s a tough sixty minute hike up a winding mountain trail to get to the top, but we took the easy way up – a nice modern cable car!  George & Donna’s daughter Laurie did the walk up in less than forty minutes, and arrived shortly after we did.  Wow she is one tough woman.

Exterior of Sanctuary of the Dominus Flavit.
Ossuary Boxes at Dominus Flavit.  Each contains the rem ains of one person.
The Garden of Gethsemene.
A 2000+ year old Olive Tree in the Garden of Gethsemene.
Inside the Church of Gethsemene.  The darkness is intentional; the windows are arranged to ensure it.  A mass was going on, so I could not use flash!
Behind the Church of Gethsemene.
OMG see the buses lined up?  And this is some of them!  The place was PACKED!
You have to descend some stairs and duck to get into the area under the altar.
It’s a small area under the altar in the Church of the Nativity.
Grotto under Church of the Nativity – oops missed the rock & star on the floor.
The location of the manger, under the Church of the Nativity.

Cana wine, Church of Annunciation, Meggido / Armageddon, and Bet She’an / Scythopolis – 07 November

Well, we packed up and left the Sea of Galilee this morning.  Our first stop was in Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle – changing water into wine for a desperate host at a wedding feast – see John 2:1-11.  Before arriving, our guide Lazarus gave us a bit of a lowdown on the story.  Wow, there are so many layers to this story!  I couldn’t begin to capture it, but scholars have found a parallel between this story and Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection narrative, the whole “three days / third day” thing, and saving the best for last thing.  Hmm, methinks we could learn a lot by at least listening to this kind of discussion, tends to interpret & explain some of those contradictions that folks tend to come up with regarding the faith.  Plus, remember that the book was effectively recorded by nomadic sheep herder people, and it contains their perspective and cultural views.  By getting over here and seeing some of their perspectives, it really helps in my understanding, anyway.

So as is often the case with these things, there is a site which tradition holds is the place for the changing of water into wine, and multiple churches have been built on this site – more modern churches on the ruins of older churches that have decayed and fallen.

Cana at that time was a very small place, maybe a couple of football fields wide and a couple of football fields long.  So folks searched for a place where a wedding feast could take place, and where such ritual washing jars as was mentioned in the story, would be kept.  This site is such a site, and with such a small village, it is very likely the place.

Our preferred method of transportation.
One of many water cisterns in caves and carved out caverns in the mountain.
One of something like twenty storerooms for food – which were of course covered in those days.
Overhead view of remains of magnificent three tier “North Palace” built for King Herod at Masaba.
Wider angle view of the remains of the storehouses.
Dove loft for communications carrier doves – the communications centre!
Overhead view of the remains of the hastily built Roman ramp that reached the city gate.
Dead Sea beach
Mud plasters and *salt water* rinse showers – for others, not for us!
Ritual bath in Qumran – always has 7 steps to represent 7 steps of purification.
Water cistern in Qumran – one of many.
Pottery Kiln – one of several.
Cave where Dead Sea Scrolls were found, looking west from Qumran.  They were undisturbed for almost 1900 years!

Loaves & fishes multiplication, the Beatitudes, and Transfiguration – 06 November

Well, this was going to be a busy day, but it didn’t start out that way.  Apparently there has been a cycling road race going on yesterday & today, right down the highway past the kibbutz we are staying on.  This morning, on a few hours’ notice, instead of just closing one of the two lanes, which would allow us to exit, they went and closed both lanes, stranding us.  So, we showed up at the bus at 08h00, only to be told that we couldn’t leave until 10h30.  Oh, well, some time to chill and check out the gift shop!  We went to the gift shop over at the Jesus Boat Museum, they were quite well stocked, so we picked up a few things.

Oh yeah, and Dayna vegged out for a bit in a unique style hammock.   We should get a couple for home!



Interesting though, we talked to a couple that came in this morning, and they actually drove through the fields to get to the kibbutz!  I guess some folks are more desperate than others.  At least we weren’t trying to catch a plane this morning.

Our first stop this morning was the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes at Tabgha, not far from the kibbutz.  See Mark 6:30-44.  The altar is built on the stone that Jesus is said to have stood when he blessed the five loaves & two fishes, then performed the miracle of feeding five thousand men (and probably women & children too) there.

Cana Wedding Church.
Entrance to Wedding Church.
Stone water jar for ceremonial washing, just like the one in which Jesus turned water into wine.
Mouth of the stone water jar above.
Foundation of crusader era church on same site.  Hmm, folks seem to want to toss money in the hole.  Why don’t they just put in the collection box at the door???  Looks like crap with all that money down there.
There was Mass going on up above in the church.  The priest can be seen shooing us out the door!  I guess he didn’t appreciate the interlopers in his church.
Some of the other mosaics, inside the church.
Canadian contribution, interesting & unique – right next to the exit door!
We always seem to be intruding on a Mass!
The real gate, which leads to fake courtyard.
The fake courtyard.
Early excavation damaged upper layers, discarded material, ugh.
Modern techniques catalogue and preserve as much as possible.
Tepid room – floor would sit on top of these piles – and HOT air circulates underneath the floor.
Hot room – again floor would sit on these piles – and EVEN HOTTER air circulates under the floor.
Some of our group messes around on ancient Roman public toilets!
Main part of theatre stage.
Half of the seating of the theatre – sorry didn’t have a wide angle shot!

The rock, the temple, and a boat ride – 05 November

Ugh, it was an early morning, wake up call at 05h45, bus leaving at 07h30.  A weary bunch of twenty five travellers made it to the bus and off at that time.  Or at least, I was weary, and I guess I project that onto everyone else.

First, an aside about the room.  It is plain, simple, and functional.  And quite comfortable too.  The balcony is a nice touch – although it would be nice if the balcony door would latch closed!  At least we are on the third floor.  Well and the shower door on the bathtub is only a half door – and water leaks out onto the floor.  Oh well, it is very clean and it works fine otherwise.




OK, back from the aside.

Our first stop was a park for the Tel of Dan.  A tel is a trapezoidal mound that forms when a city is ruined, and builds up in layers.  So this tel is the mount over the ruins of the city of Dan.  Dan was the home of one of the 12 tribes of Israel.  They had been on the coast of Mediterranean, sandwiched between the Philistines and the Samarians, but got squeezed out, and moved up to the north-east corner of modern day Israel and set up a new city.  This new city eventually ended up in ruins, hence the tel.



This tel also contains one of the three sources of the River Jordan.  It was a difficult path, about 200 ft of hopping from large rock to large rock while dodging low hanging branches, but it was worth it.  Very beautiful!  Then we saw successively older excavations of Dan, starting at about 2500 BC, and backwards to 18,000 BC.  Very cool.

Altar built over rock upon which Jesus stood to bless & break loaves & fishes.
Note mosaic of loaves & fishes in front of altar.
One of the other many mosaics found around the sanctuary of the Church of Multiplication.
View from the parking lot, overlooks the Sea of Galilee.
Beautiful flower gardens, end of season at the Church of Beatitudes.
Church of Beatitudes.
Altar of Church of Beatitudes.
Driving sheep for the tourists!
Olive tree.
Olives in the olive tree.
Shepherd (centre, along the fence) watching his little flock
Our guide standing in front of actual 1st century wine press (depression to the left of her) and collection area (right behind her).
Guard post for watching over the crops and flock.
Olive crusher (donkey on back side, see next picture).
Olive crusher in action.
Secondary lever type wine press squeezing the lower quality oil out of flat “socks” with crushed olives in them.
Carpenter working in his shop.
Weaving with various colours of wool.
Interior of reconstructed synagogue.

Mini ha ha and a warning about time zone changes and wake up calls!

Ha ha, just had to share this.

One of the first nights that we were in Egypt (Cairo, well actually more properly Giza), apparently George & Donna (tour hosts) failed to adjust their clock to account for the time shift.  The alarm went off, they felt like crap, but hey they’ve just travelled a day to go half way around the world.  They got up, showered, dressed, and went down for breakfast.  It was still dark, but what the heck, it’s 07h00 and who knows when the sun comes up.  There was nobody in the breakfast area, and the staff looked genuinely perplexed when they asked for food.

You can guess the punch line – it was 02h00 instead of 07h00, they were five hours early.  Donna was not so happy that day.

Last night, at the Amman Mariott (love that hotel!), someone called their room at 23h00 or so.  Well, George thought it was the 06h30 wake up call, picked up the receiver, didn’t even listen, said “thanks” and hung up.  He then got up, showered, and got dressed.  Donna, wise to the game, finally looked at the clock and told him in no uncertain terms to get back into his pajamas and back to bed!  So who knows who called them last night and why, but they sure got Donna excited!

Maybe we should get them a better alarm clock!

Rant about hotel Internet access while in the middle east

The one thing here that has been annoying right from the first day is the cost of Internet access.  In North America, it’s expected that Internet access will be provided free with the rent of a room.  Here, it’s an add on cost, and it’s generally quite expensive.  At the Taba resort, it was something like US$30 each 24 hours.  Here at Nof Ginosar, it’s US$20.  Oh well, it’s worth it for my friends!

Temple in Dan from 8th century BC
Main gate to City of Dan from 12 century BC
Ruins of exchange gate of City of Dan from 18th century BC
Roman temple to Pan at Bania
Dean at Roman temple to Pan at Bania.
Dayna at Roman temple to Pan at Bania.
Peter’s mother-in-law’s home in Capernaum
Dean reads scripture from the teacher’s seat in the synagogue ruins in Capernaum
Here is where the scripture lesson gets very interesting, so he leans forward…
George says he is honoured to sit where Dean sat!
There it is – the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Tiberius.
Lots of fruit groves and vineyards along the trip down from the Golan Heights to the Sea of Galilee.
During the ride, we felt comfortable enough to smile at least once!
Our ride across the lake!  More sound than she looks…
Because here we are, safely on the other side of the lake.
Dean and George, both trapped in thought, pensive in each their own way.
Oh Canada!
The “Jesus Boat”.