1292011 Jerusalem Bethlehem Jericho
Today started out with breakfast at the hotel. Our breakfast and dinners were included in our tour and are buffet style. Today, however, was different because it is the Sabbath here so there was no hot food as Jewish people don’t cook on the Sabbath. However what we had was wonderful!
We started our day with a trip to Bethlehem. Our guide is jew and Israel can not enter in Bethlehem, so we have to with our driver, who is Arab and it can go. We traveled through a checkpoint that was really a big deal, but going out on the bus came and looked at our passports and looked in every place. We were told we could not take pictures, but you all know me … .. I ask my roommate (who was sitting in front of me) to hold real still and I hid my type of camera in her sweater (both were black) and snapped away until they were actually at the roadblock. .. then quickly hid my camera in my place. What made us sad was all the guard was just a kid … probably 16 or so …
In Bethlehem, we went to the Church of the Nativity where Jesus was born of the thought .. According to our guide, the church is the oldest in the world. All the churches in Israel and neighboring countries have been destroyed when he invaded the Persian than this church. The reason is standing on the left is because they have seen the pictures of the three wise men (who came from Persia) and felt it could not touch something that was meaningful to their countrymen. This church was built in the early part of the 4th century and has huge columns and mosaics on floors and walls. From there we went to Shepherd's Field and then left Bethlehem for our trip to the Dead Sea area, where were found the Dead Sea Scrolls.
As we traveled toward the Dead Sea has seen nothing but miles and miles of nothing but mounds of dirt and Bedouins. Bedouins are nomads living in tents or shacks along the highway, if you look closely you can see their antennas, cars (very old), and it is assumed that now carry mobile phones. They are everywhere in the hills of the desert. E 'was also interesting to note, when we went to 1,300 feet below sea level. There was a marker on the road, when we reached the sea level.
We also went to Jericho, where we had a great lunch. Some people are tired of salads, hummus and flat bread … but I love them! Today we had kabobs on the grill .. or chicken, lamb or a little 'or both. We also stopped by a sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed. I had to climb a fence to get a good picture, as the door to the garden was locked. Then we drove to Mt. Temptation or where the devil tempted Jesus and then we started to go home.
Internet here is very slow and expensive so I do not have time to label the photos …. Will try to get caught up tomorrow and have them labeled. Believe me the people of Israel LOVE Americans because their economy depends on tourism … We have been inundated with vendors trying to sell their products. Certainly it was interesting … I had to crack up to a vendor … trying to sell his product for $ 10.00 3 … when he got no takers said OK 3 for € 9.99. … .. And they all end with In God We Trust …. the love the American dollar!
Part of the trip: Holy Lands Tour
More Source:
Related News:
- Some Final Thoughts from Jerusalem
- Budapest and arrival in Jerusalem
- Recent Activities in Old City Jerusalem Free Tour The Citadel and the Tower of David Museum
- Church of the Holy Sepulchre Old City Jerusalem
- A Lap Around the Old City of Jerusalem
- First Days in Jerusalem
- Map: Six Jerusalem Spas Fit For Your Resurrection
- Jerusalem
Details :
Submited at Sunday, January 30th, 2011 at 6:00 pm on Middle East by sofia
Comment RSS 2.0 - leave a comment - trackback