Heading North

We left Jerusalem this morning and started heading north. Well, first we headed east, so we could drive up the Jordan Valley. We stopped one last time on our way out  on Mt. Scopus, for a last look at Jerusalem. We went over the mountains, where Orna pointed out both Jericho (which was a possibility on our schedule, but it's run by the Palistinians, and Orna doesn't have the special pass to allow her to take us there) and Temptation Mountain, where Jesus was said to have been tempted by Satan. I was a bit sad that we couldn't do Jericho, but I knew it might not happen. As a special thing, though, she and Gaby decided they would take us to a special place on the Jordan River. Tradition says it was the spot where Jesus was baptized by St John the Baptist. It's in the West Bank, though, and for a long time, Israelis weren't allowed to go there. So, they opened another spot up by the Sea of Galilee. But, this was the original baptismal spot. It was a bit nervousing. It's in a military area, so the whole thing was surrounded by fences and razor wire. 

There are lots of bombed out looking buildings and fences lining the road bearing signs warning of land mines. 

At the river, there is a pretty nice area with steps into the water. Directly across the river (literally a stone's throw) is a baptismal spot on the Jordan side. 

The border between the two countries is in the middle of the river. We didn't have a whole lot of time, so we just put our hands in. 

We gathered back at the bus, and we saw plumes of smoke and dirt thrown up into the air not too far away. I don't know if they were blowing up mines or doing some other sort of exercise, but it just added to the adventure.

We drove back to the main road and continued up the Jordan valley to Beit She'an. There we visited some ancient Roman ruins. Roman ruins are pretty awe-inspiring because of their age no matter where they are, but they lack a certain oomph when you've been to ruins actually in Rome. Though, this was still pretty neat. We had excellent explanations of everything, which is something we were lacking in our Rome trip, since that was mainly reading from guidebooks. It was a much smaller town than Pompeii, so we were better able to see how it was set up - it wasn't so rambling. 

The thing I thought was the most fun was when we ran into a modeling shoot. The lady that ran the company was a lady from the Israeli version of the Real Housewives, and Orna kind of flipped out about it. She was so excited to meet her. We all got pictures taken with her. Her name is Nicole, the show is called HaMeusharot. I looked it up.

Then it was time for lunch. We went to a falafel shop just outside the ruins. Well, most of us did. Some people went to McDonalds. Why would you do that? Anyway, when Nicole and her crew came out of the ruins, the falafel lady came running out. I couldn't see if she met her or not, but we heard her talking to her husband afterward. All we could understand was "Nicole! Nicole!" It was pretty funny.

Next was Nazareth. We went to the Church of the Annunciation, which is said to have been built over the home where Mary was living when the angel came to tell her she was to bear a child. 

The front of the church

Mary's home was said to be right here

The windows in that church were gorgeous! Huge chunks of colored glass in beautiful designs. I like stained glass a lot on general, but I much prefer designs where the color is in the glass, rather than painted on. I loved there, they looked like they were made out of jewels. 

Next door is a smaller church that was built over where they say Joseph had his workshop. That one had nice windows, too, but not as nice as Mary's. 

The other nice thing about Mary's was that both the church and the courtyard were filled with mosaics donated by different countries. They were all of Mary and Jesus, in the different styles of the different countries. I had a lot of fun taking pictures of the ones from the countries we had visited.

After Nazareth, we headed up to Safed, the birthplace of Kabbalah. Along the way, we passed through Cana, where Jesus turned the water into wine. 

The part of Safed we visited is now an artists'  street. It's a narrow street lined with shops and galleries. There was some really beautiful art there. If I had a billion dollars, I would have come out of there with a million souvenirs. As we were walking, we heard some singing from the street below. It was a bunch of people lighting a menorah out in the street. It was so cool to watch. When they were done, we started walking again. We heard singing I one of the shops, so we stopped to watch. It was a small shop, but I was invited in to join in the lighting of the menorah. It was very special to me.

Our hotel is very close to the Lebanese border. On the way there, Orna pointed out to us that there were places on the ground floor of every house and apartment building that looked very blank.Onnly tiny windows up high, as opposed to the larger windows in the rest of the building. She explained that those were rocket shelters. According to the law, every building in Israel must have easy access to a bomb shelter. 

Then it was up to the hotel. We're staying in Kibbutz Kfar Giladi. 

When unloading the bus, we noticed the rocket shelter. It's a bit creepy, but good to know that it's there! 

When we got inside, there were Hanukkah donuts waiting for us. Yum! There's also free internet, which is super cool. It doesn't reach to Mom's room, but we're closer to the lobby, I guess, because it works just fine in ours.

Emma says - Today was really, really long. I liked all of the pretty art, and I love, love, love the hotel. They have so much good food, and a pool, and I like the room.