So it is so hard to pick favorites...again, this is up there for me because I did an entire, lengthy Beth Moore Bible study on this next one. We went back out of the Dung Gate, and walked around the southwest corner of the temple. We went to the south side/wall of...
So I redid the Tour Life Day 5 post and added the rest of the Day 5 stuff, so make sure you go back and read that one! : ) We got up very early in the morning to see some things before the crowds got bad, and OHHHH was it worth it. Mike is the MAN...he knows his...
Tonight is our meal with the family in Bethlehem. We won’t get back until around 8:30PM local time. Today we had almost 10.000 steps in before lunch, and I have caught the cough that has been going through the bus. I cannot promise I will blog tonight, as there was...
Our day today ended with a short swim in the Dead Sea. Evan and I both opted to not get all the way in, but got wet up to our knees. The water was cool, but not freezing, and felt like baby oil on the skin. People were walking around slathered with mud, which one...
Qumran is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947 by a shepherd boy who was originally from Bethlehem. Fitting! The scrolls were scriptures on scrolls that were remarkably close to the translations of Bible we already had, but just older. Mike said that the...
Masada is the location of the Dead Sea fortress built by Herod the Great around the time of Jesus, the first century, when he ruled up until 4 AD. What slays me is that this entire place was built for Herod to have a place to hide if the Romans or any other enemy got...
Happy New Year! Welcome to a new decade...the roaring ‘20s! Whoa right? Today was Day 4 of touring, a slower day tour wise so we could breathe a little, not walk quite so much, (only 7,000+ steps for me today!) and get back to the hotel a little early to nap and...
Our last stop for day 3 is the Shepherd’s Field where the multitude of angels announced Jesus birth to the shepherds, keeping watch over their flocks by night. So this area is, of course, not far from the nativity spot, just across a short valley, and the site is of...
I forgot to mention re: shopping...in Bethlehem are lots of, shall we say, street vendors? Let me tell you, these guys are AGGRESSIVE. I’m glad a friend who has been here before warned me to prepare myself to say no SEVERAL times before they backed down. They were...
We got to stop at a place that manufactures 65% of the Holy Land olive wood sculptures and see their workshop. This dude was doing finishing carving and varnishing. No mask, and a cigarette burning. It was a tad unnerving, wondering about his lungs and whether or...