Another great breakfast and goodbye to our hotel on the Sea of Galilee. We started early today because it is the Sabbath (sundown on Friday through sundown on Saturday) for the Jewish culture and various places will close early. We will be spending the rest of our tour at the Olive Tree Hotel in Jerusalem. Our first stop today was the ancient ruins of Beit She’an which is one of the most ancient places in Israel. Philistines and Canaanites ruled it and the Hellenists called it Skitopolis. In the Roman period it was the largest city in the regional alliance known as the Decapolis. The book of Sameul reports that after Saul and his sons were killed on Mount Gilboa their bodies were fastened to the walls of Beit She’an. An earthquake destroyed the city and ... read more

Well we made it! We have arrived at our hotel the Nof Ginosar on the Sea of Galilee. It is a Kibbitz which originated in Russia (according to our host). Everyone here works for the Kibbitz, then the ibbitz provides for their needs...even down to the car they drive....sounds lie a commune to me. Our host also told us that Israel is pretty much self-sufficient...they don't import any food except coconuts and pineapples. Also we all need to quit complaining about gas prices.....it is average of 8.00 a gallon here!!! Thats why they have smaller cars and many hybrids and electrics. It was a 2 1/2 hr drive from the airport to the hotel but it got dark on us about halfway there. I did get some good pics from the bus window. The land is ... read more

Awaiting our flight at Pittsburgh Airport...what an eventful trip up here....Larry Richie & Bill Dawson are ready to dump me already because I ordered a burger well-done and we were the first to order and the last served at Fridays.....what a fun group!!! At McDonalds in Weirton the manager thanked us for our "laughter"....now I can't reveal the source of that laughter....you will have to ask Diane and Amanda about it......we are now waiting at the gate - early because Pat read the arrivals board and thought it was the departures board and thought our plane was leaving early.....some cause for excitement......I am including some pics....Larry's French Onion Soup was the topic of conversation...everyone loved french onion soup but nobody ordered it....go figure.....if the trip to the airport is any indication of the kind of trip ... read more

Today is our last day in Europe. Someone decided we should sleep in for half and hour more so that we would miss the boat ride on the Seine River in Paris so we would have to wait for 45 minutes for the next boat. Oh well, it was a nice boat ride and we really didn’t venture far from where we were dropped off as it would have been too much walking for mom. Great niece, Sophia, asked that we get pictures of the Eifel Tower so I made sure we did just that. It was a great way to see Paris and have someone explain what we were seeing. I did get some great pictures! Once we left the boat we were taken by bus for a short ride through part of the city. ... read more

This morning we had our usual breakfast of breads, cereal, what we have fondly called egg soup, yogurt, cheeses and meats. I will say the breads with the dark chocolate sticks baked in them have become my favorite. Larry and mom took their stash for lunch. Thank goodness I still have some snacks from home to tide me over. The prices are ridiculous here. A tiny cup of coffee costs 3,00 euros (about 3.99). Lunch for one couple was 28.00 and they just had hamburgers. Today another couple ordered 2 ham & cheese sandwiches, 2 tiny bags of chips, and two coke lights and it was over 18,00 euros. You add 1/3 on to the euro and you get about the amount. We have found if you go to a bakery you can get pastries and ... read more