Adventuring through Israel/Palestine Part 2

December 27^th – a few days into the trip and another day in Jerusalem.  Took pictures of the Wailing Wall and then entered the Dome of the Rock platform area.  We couldn’t go into the Dome of the Rock but got pretty close, after going through 2 metal detectors to get there!  Headed to the Tea Room for breakfast where I had a delicious chocolate and banana filled pancake – YUM!  Next stop – the Tower of David Museum where they have a great history of Israel exhibit.  I left Joe there to go meet Tsvia, an Israeli music therapist, for lunch.  She and I had great conversation about her work there and her dreams for music therapy in other areas throughout the land.  After finishing lunch, Joe and I finally walked the Ramparts walk and came down at the Mt. Zion church which is home to the place of the last supper (Coenaculum) and Mary’s place of eternal sleep.  Spent some quiet time praying and reflecting there.  Then back to the hostel for a break, then wonderful Arabic dinner that night – hummus, Arabic salad, and vegetable soup!  I packed up my bag for my next leg of the trip up to Nazareth and we went to sleep.  Next morning, we attempting to find the holocaust museum and finally were successful after trying two different city buses.  Not being able to read or speak Hebrew was a bit difficult; I kept trying Arabic and forgetting where I was.  The holocaust museum – Yad Vashem, was very well done, a relatively new museum, it documented the timeline of the holocaust very well, including the lead up to events, showing that it didn’t just happen overnight.  It was very factual but also very emotional with actual artifacts and pictures, interviews, etc.  To finish the day, headed to the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem and put Joe on a bus to the border, me on a bus to Nazareth.  There happened to be two people from my hostel in Jerusalem on the bus to Nazareth and it worked out great that they were there.  We tried to stay in a convent there but it was full, so we shared an apartment that one of the congregation members rents out.  Jamal was the owner’s name and he and his family loved having us.  The two people that stayed, left after one night but they were replaced with two more people from Germany and a lovely woman from Poland.  I spent my first day in Nazareth by myself, hiking around and exploring the town which is much more built up than I thought it would be.  I visited the Basilica of Annunciation and St. Joseph’s church, then wandered the street through the vegetable markets, got some delicious hot chocolate and more falafel (best food ever) and went back to the apartment.  I actually watched a movie that night, Finding Neverland, and it was the first time in awhile that I was by myself, relaxing.  Quite wonderful actually. 

December 30^th rolled along and my new German and Polish friends decided we should all go to Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee together.  That worked for me since they had rented a car, made it easy.  Seeing the Sea was amazing, took lots of pictures and we visited the Church of St. Peter, connected to the story of Jesus calming the storm on the sea.  Beautiful mosaics were there and everyone in the group took their time going through the church.  For the rest of the day, we traveled north around the west coast of the Sea, visiting Caphernaum, the Church of Multiplication of Loaves and Fish, and the Mt. of Beatitudes.  All of these biblical sites were wonderful to see, different than what I pictured in my head, but amazing to be there.  It was raining the entire day but that didn’t stop us one bit.  In fact, when we dropped the car off at 4, we were in Afula where we caught the bus to Nazareth; however, it was an express bus that stopped 5 miles outside of Nazareth!  We just walked the rest of the way which worked out great.  For dinner, Matias made spaghetti and sauce and we ended up watching “Freedom Writers”.  It was like we were a little family, sitting there with our cups of tea, watching a movie together.  It was interesting, a theme throughout my trip, how people connect with each other and interact in such caring ways.  Really, the whole trip reinforced my silly idea in my head that the majority of people just want to love others, really, I know that sounds like a naïve idea but I stand by it. 

Leaving Nazareth, I caught a taxi to Afula and then was standing at the Bus Station when a guy approached about taking a taxi bus to Tel Aviv instead for the same price.  I was hesitant but a guy that spoke Hebrew said it was legit so I got in, paid $5.00 and rode the 2 hours to Tel Aviv.  Arrived, got out my map, and starting exploring the very western, European Tel Aviv.  Stopped in this crazy mall area and got lunch, then continued on to the beach!  It was so lovely to just sit on the beach, watching people, enjoying the sun, stuck my feet in the Mediterranean Sea, found seashells, and took plenty of pictures.  After relaxing there for about two hours, I picked up my bags once again (I looked like I was living on the street, with my little bags) and explored some more of the city.  I ended up finding this 24-hour breakfast place called “Benedict” and had one of the best dinners ever.  I had eggs benedict (with BACON! And salad and it came with a glass of champagne which was appropriate since it was New Year’s Eve of course.  Then headed to the hotel to hopefully meet up with Mark.  We didn’t really have any way to communicate so I was going by the e-mail I got two weeks before, stating that he would be at the hotel around 9 pm.  To my relief, he showed up at 9:20 pm and we spent New Year’s Eve sipping on wine and watching people around us, then watching the London New Year’s Eve celebration on T.V  :o)

Ok, I think that is enough information about my trip for now.  There are so many small moments and experiences that are just so hard to explain in this format.  I will never forget them of course, and I kept a journal through the trip.  I can’t believe that I was really there, in the Holy Lands, the places talked about in the bible, places I have read about and seen pictures of.  I was there, and I enjoyed every second of it.