ISRAEL

TEL AVIV

Tel Aviv is the largest commercial city inside Israel. Being on the coast it is, in summer, very hot and humid. And that's what slapped us in the face: heat and high humidity, even from around 8.30am when we arrived off our flight from Amman. We stopped for a light breakfast, having been picked up by tour guide, Madi, and wandered through the old port of Jaffa to a waterfront restaurant which charged a lot for very little and very slowly. Not a great way to experience a country's hospitality - but it did get a lot better from there on. Perhaps we were overpaying for the waterfront view.

Port area of Ancient [and modern] Jaffa

When we were finally able to get into our hotel. the air-con was so welcoming. But true to form we up and walked to the Art Museum through some leafy backstreets rather than take the [probably easier - and hotter!] more straight forward route. Again some Masterpieces: Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens - amongst others! Back to the hotel, dripping wet for an early shower and then a walk down to the pool for a dip which was very refreshing and backed up by a free ice-block. Post pool we walked down to the beach to bathe our feet [nothing more] in the Mediterranean and sit on the beach amongst the phalanx of beach umbrellas to watch the sunset.

Tel Aviv - hot property beach front

On dusk we walked the streets around the hotel to find a local restaurant - not a good idea as it turned out the next day! That's another story.

TEL AVIV TO SEA OF GALILEE

A long day starting early with our first stop at Caesarea the city built by Herod the Great in 20 BC and which for around 600 years was the capital of the Roman province of Judea - Pontius Pilate presided over the region from this city. It is also the place where the Jewish revolt against the Romans began in 66 AD and after it's demise it was rebuilt by the Crusaders on their way to Jerusalem.

Caesarea built by Herod the Great in 20 BC - the bathing pools

From Caesaria we drove north along the coast to the Port City of Haifa with some magnificent views over the city and Bahai Mausoleum and Gardens before driving onwards to the town of Acco (Acre) where we visited the Temple of St Jean and the huge Crusader Knights of St John fortress with its underground secret escape tunnel which led to the harbour. Lunch we took in a little souk in a local restaurant which was fair bristling. It was from Acre, with the help of the British [cannons] that El-Jazzar [the butcher famed for his cruelty] fought off the two month siege from Napoleon.

Inside the subterranean passages of the city of the Knights of St John

Crusaders of the 12th century

Our trip from Acre took us across country to Nazareth where we visited the Basilica of the Annunciation built above the house where Mary was living when Archangel Gabriel announced to her that she was to become the Mother of Jesus - and this is where Joseph, Mary and Jesus lived and worked. A walk down into the grotto to see the rooms inside the house and then 'Mary's Kitchen' took us back to the entrance.

The Church of the Annunciation - it is said that 

this is where Mary received God's message from Archangel Gabriel 

The last part of the day took us to a Catholic place of Pilgrimage at Genosoa on the Sea of Galilee, where we took a rushed dip in the warm, fresh water before heading to dinner and bed. A looooong day!

Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee

GALILEE TO BETHLEHEM

Our day started with a boat trip on the Sea of Galilee - refreshing in the cool breeze of early morning. Three flags were raised on the boat: NZ, Australia and Israeli and there was even an opportunity to learn a traditional dance taught by one of the crew. After the boat ride we went to the Museum of the Ancient Boat - the remains of a boat that had been dredged from the floor of the Sea of Galilee that was similar to the one in which Jesus and the Disciples fished. At this point our journey stops interrupted by a three hour visit to the hospital in Tiberias, but following treatment, we resumed on the way south to Taberna, south of Tiberias, where Baptism in the Jordan River took place.

A fence separates Israel and Jordan - across the Jordan Valley

A long bus ride later took us through the West Bank and up into the Holy City of Jerusalem. We then drove onwards, about another 20 minutes in traffic to enter Bethlehem in the Palestinian territory. Passing though the checkpoint to get in is 'easy': to get out is a lot more difficult and for the Palestinians - well, they don't get out [at least into Israel]. Their air exit is via Amman in Jordan - they are denied access to Israel's Ben Gurion exit.

BETHLEHEM TO JERUSALEM

Bethlehem.... everyone Christian, Muslim and Jewish, knows what happened here. Bethlehem ['House of Bread'] and first stop the Church at Shepherd's Field where according to tradition, the shepherds were told by the angels of the birth of the Messiah. It is a church, run by the Franciscans and features a domed roof and a fresco of the Holy Family.

Church at Shepherd's Field, Bethlehem

Without going into the Biblical story, which is easily available in the Gospels, we then headed to the Church of the Nativity where Christmas Mass is televised every year and then next door to the Church of St Catherine sited over the place where Jesus was born and the manger alongside where he was paced for viewing by the shepherds and the magi.

The Manger setting, The Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem

Today, the church is shared by the Greek Orthodox, the Armenians and the Catholics. From the Church we traveled via some back streets to where the containing wall of the Palestinians are littered with messages of Palestinian dreams, graffiti and even some of Banksy's street art. The move from there [that is, inside Palestine] to Jerusalem took us back through the Israeli checkpoint manned by both male and female soldiers ensuring no Palestinians were illegally escaping into Israeli territory. We were safe  - and we moved from there to the Holocaust Museum for a moving 2 hour walk through the personal stories of victims and their families throughout Europe during the reign of the Nazi machine.

Banksy highlights the injustice of inequality in Palestine

THE DEAD SEA COAST

We spent a day exploring the Dead Sea coastline - from the Fortress at Masada accessed by cable car - and just as well given the heat of the day - and built 50m above sea level but 450m above the Dead Sea. An impressive construction, well-served with water it was resilient enough to deny the Romans entry for three years.

Some of the remains of the Masada Fortress

There are many stories about what happened at Masada but it is enough to say that this was where the Jewish revolt against the Romans ended. Making our way northwards along the Dead Sea took us to Qumran where two young Bedouin shepherd boys discovered the Dead Sea scrolls while trying to retrieve their lost goats.

The Dead Sea Scrolls found in the dark cave in Qumran

The Essenes, who had moved here from Jerusalem, across the mountain divide so they could live and die in sight of Mt Nebo [across the Dead Sea in modern Jordan from where Moses viewed the Promised Land  - and died! Poor man - after all that wandering.] had recorded the stories of the Bible lost until their discovery in 1949. The road from Qumran took us to the oldest city, not only in Israel, but the world: Jericho of tumble down walls fame. Fertile and fed by four springs [we bathed our feet in the Spring of Elijah] it supports a basket full of fruit and vegetables.

Boys cool off in the Spring of Elijah, Jericho

A ride up the hill and we were at the base of the Mount of Temptations, where Jesus when he was in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights, was tempted three times by the devil. There is very little left of the site at the top of the hill and so rather than wend our way upwards, we drove back up to Jerusalem past the road where the Good Samaritan story occurred. 'A man was going up to Jerusalem..... and down to Jericho at the level of the Dead Sea.


JERUSALEM