We had a 2:30 AM wake-up call and our bags needed to be in the hall for the porters fifteen minutes later. We got up one-half hour earlier, showered, dressed and finished packing and when we opened the door at 2:50 AM to put the bags out we realized the porters had already come by and there were no other bags in the hallway. Well, we always had the option to take the bags downstairs ourselves; which, as it turns out is what we did. Other pilgrims were milling around, having some coffee and Danish, most half asleep and none looking forward to the actual journey home; but, all I think would be glad to once again be home. First, there would be the forty-five minute journey to the Tel Aviv airport, then the ordeal of ... read more

Today begins our third day waking up in Jerusalem. We have basically the same breakfast buffet. Again they have the small four-inch olive pizzas. This morning the oatmeal appears to be very runny; and, unlike previous mornings the cauldrons on either side of the buffet line are nearly full. I try some anyway, and I detect a hint of burnt oatmeal and this may be why it’s diluted. The first morning I tried the oatmeal, I also thought there was a hint of having been burned on the bottom of the pan. I love the sesame pastries; which, I gather are similar to their larger cousins, an oval shaped sesame coated treat that must be the “donut of choice” for locals. I’m skipping the hot eggs and hot dogs again, and Sharon is going with scrambled ... read more

My phone alarm went off before the wake-up call at 6 AM. We were so grateful that we didn’t need to pack up our bags and move on again this morning. That really was getting old and reminded us both once again one of the big reasons that we like to cruise. Breakfast included one thing that’s been missing for me so far: oatmeal! The rest of the breakfast was much the same as we’ve seen with cheeses and meats. They did have scrambled eggs and those little hot dog things again. And they had these wonderful puff pastry triangles that I had to go back and get a second one because they were so good. Sharon pretty much stuck with the scrambled eggs and cinnamon roll. They were serving the same juice that they’d had ... read more

We awoke in Amman in our side by side twin beds reminiscent of an “I Love Lucy” episode where Lucy (or in my case Sharon) sits up abruptly at the start of an episode shouting “What was that?” as the call for morning prayers reverberates through our room from the nearby loudspeaker at about 5:15 AM this morning. Can you imagine waking up to this cacophony every single morning? It would give me a surly disposition for sure; but, at least they don’t need donkeys. I sampled some hummus, red and green pepper salsa, pita, corn flakes and cocoa puffs and was going to try some juice but Sharon warned me about Dennis fearing about sanitary conditions for juicing the fresh fruit. Sharon is suffering, there were more soft boiled eggs but she did wrangle a ... read more

After finishing the previous day’s blog at about five in the morning, with that stupid donkey chiming in every twenty minutes, I did manage to fall back into a deep restful sleep with my phone charging in the other room by the two only available outlets in the entire suite (okay, at eh Pilgerhaus retreat they refer to these two room units as apartments). Apartments with twin beds at that. There are plenty of great reasons to stay at the Pilgerhaus when you are on Pilgrimage in the Holy Land and are staying on the Sea of Galilee; but, if you don’t like being raised from a sound sleep in the middle of the night by donkeys, then this may not be the retreat for you! If you don’t like door keys that fail when you ... read more