Friday, April 22, 2011
We awoke in Haifa, a few hundred miles up the coast from Ashdod. We had asked Jacob yesterday if he could also be our guide today. He called his tour coordinator and our request was approved so he met us at the pier at 8:00. We invited Chris Jackson, the computer “techspert” on board to be our guest and he was quick to accept our offer. Bob and Liz and Jan were excited about having Chris join us. He was ten minutes behind us getting off the ship because he was pulled out of line for security questioning. They wanted to know if he had a weapon. He was also asked by harbor security (at gunpoint) to get out of the van and be “printed”. Jacob explained that they were more concerned about the ship’s employees than they were about tourists. It is somehow comforting to see security at a high level, even if it is intrusive at times.
At sunrise we had seen this beautiful golden dome halfway up the mountain behind the harbor. It turned out that our first stop on the tour was just below that dome. We were at the base of Mount Carmel and also at the base of a beautiful series of gardens stretching up the mountain side with that beautiful golden dome at the top of the gardens. Jacob told us that the gardens extended on past the dome and that this is the Baha'i Shrine to the Bab sect. The view of this shrine from the top of Mount Carmel was even more impressive. From here you could see that the gardens extended all the way up the mountain with the golden dome in the middle. Jacob explained that Mount Carmel was the home of the prophets Elijah and Elisha and he also pointed out the Carmelite Convent.
We then drove southeast from Haifa partway down the Yizre’el Valley and then turned east to Nazareth. Here we went to the Basilica of the Annunciation, built over the home of Mary where the Angel Gabriel appeared to tell Mary that she would bear the Christ Child. The church was closed to tour groups because of Good Friday, but Jacob did a great deal of arguing and negotiating and convinced the gatekeeper to allow our small party to enter to pray. We had about ten minutes in the church before the gatekeeper literally evicted us. When we exited the church there were several unhappy tour groups who could not get into the church. One lady had traveled for four hours on three different buses to pray in the Basilica and she was beside herself. Jacob was off having coffee so Barney walked the lady up to the gatekeeper in hopes that he would take pity on her.
A short walk through a wonderful street market took us to a synagogue built on the site of an earlier synagogue where Jesus taught. The synagogue shared building space with a Greek Catholic Church. A service was in progress so we only viewed it from the door. There was a door from the synagogue to a small area behind the church. We heard lots of laughter and decided to investigate. A youth group from the church was attaching greenery to a cross to carry in the afternoon Good Friday procession. They were all charming and wanted to hone their English skills. We got to laughing so loudly, that the church administrator came out and hushed us up, but not until we had exchanged email addresses and promised to send the photos.
We drove through Kafar Kana or Cana of Galilee, the site of the wedding where Jesus changed water in to wine, his first miracle. Further down the road we drove past Mt. Tabor the site of the Transfiguration of Jesus. Then on to the Sea of Galilee with a quick photo op at the sea level marker. Our first stop was at the south end of the sea where the river Jordan flows from the sea. A Kibbutz has developed the Yardenit, a Baptismal site on the Jordan. This site has protected pools used for baptism. Tourists can rent robes for baptism or simply immerse themselves in the river. We elected to dip our hands in the water and save our energy for shopping in the extensive tourist “trap”.
Back to the van and a drive north on a highway a few miles east of the sea. This took us along the Israel-Jordan border. The area between the Sea of Galilee and this border is a small mountain called the Golan Heights. This is, per Jacob, a U N designated neutral zone. The road followed two barbed and electrified fences with signs warning of mine fields. You could see guard posts all along the border. The river valley on the Jordan side was green and lush. We shot our photos in a brief rain shower and felt horrible about tracking mud back into Jacob’s van.
We backtracked toward the sea and turned off to go to the Kibbutz, Ein Gev, about half-way up the east coast of the sea. We stopped here for lunch. We all had tilapia, a local favorite from the Sea of Galilee. This fish is known here as St. Peter’s fish and is probably the same species of fish caught during the time of Jesus. The meal was served family style and included eight or ten side dishes. We also had a very nice locally-made white wine. The kibbutz was a multi-business enterprise. It included a large dairy, date palms, citrus trees, garden crops, and a grain farm in addition to the resort.
After lunch we drove on north past Kursi the site where Jesus drove the demons out of a woman into a pig and the pig ran into the sea (per Jacob). The shores of the sea were filled with campers taking advantage of the holiday. We drove to the other side of the sea and stopped at Capernaum. This is the site of the home of St. Peter. Jesus lived here during his ministry. His Bible events on the Sea of Galilee…walking on water, calming the waves, directing Peter and Andrew where to cast their nets, etc. … happened here. There are remains of a synagogue where Jesus taught. A new church has been built over the remains of St. Peter’s house. The foundations of the buildings from Capernaum during Jesus’ time are well defined.
Leaving Capernaum we drove past Tabgha, the site of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (do you suppose it was tilapia?) at the base of the Mount of Beatitudes.
It was getting late and beginning to rain again when we left the Sea of Galilee at Tiberius, a location frequently mentioned in the Bible. We drove back to Haifa. The group was still full of energetic talk and laughter when we reached the ship. Jacob would be home in time to light the candles before sunset. Once again, Chris was singled out for an extra security check before returning to the ship. We all loved having Chris along. He is 29 and brought so much to the experience. He is an expert photographer so we all had a running competition to “get the best shot”. He won, hands down.
No one even cleaned up for dinner. We “crawled” to the Lido, ate, and headed off to bed.
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