Nazareth to Bethlehem

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Today we checked out of our hotel and traveled to Bethlehem with a few stops along the way. Our first stop was for a “coffee out” stop. When George our tour guide first said this, we looked at him quizzically and he just looked at us and said, “coffee in…coffee out.”



We traveled through mountains, plains and plateaus. We saw shepherds herding their sheep, many, many crops covered with what looked like plastic to protect them from the elements including Mango trees and date trees.



We finally came to the River Jordan which is the site of Jesus’ baptism by St. John the Baptist. We filled water bottles up with the water from the river to bring home. Father blessed all of our bottles and then we renewed our baptism promises. Some people were actually donning white garments to immerse themselves and be baptized. I just took off my shoes and socks and waded in for a few minutes. We got the signal that it was time to go and as John said, it would have been nice to have a little bit longer just to be quiet and think about where we are and what took place here over 2000 years ago.



Back on the bus we drove to Jericho via the Jordan Valley by the excavations of the oldest city in the world, over 10,000 years old. We celebrated Mass at the Church of our Savior. There was a school attached and children playing outside. After Mass a few children were at the fence waving to us and Father said they loved God Bless America so we sang it for them before waving good-bye and heading to a local restaurant for a barbeque of lamb and chicken along with salads and hummus. During this stop we had a scare about John losing his meter but when we got back on the bus he found it in the overhead storage area.



We viewed the Mt. of Temptation which is traditionally regarded as the mountain on which Christ was tempted by the devil during his 40-day fast. While there we took our picture with the resident camel. No time for a ride though.



We drove to Qumran to see the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden. We watched a short video and then proceeded to the site of the caves. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 11 caves along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea between the years 1947 and 1956. Back in 1947, a Bedouin shepherd boy stumbled upon one of the century’s greatest finds in a dark cave in the Judean desert.



We proceeded on to Bethlehem to spend 2 nights. Before going to our hotel we went to a local Christian coop shop to do some souvenir shopping. It was a wonderful shop with all sorts of wood carvings both man-made and made by machine. The detail in the man-made carvings was unbelievable. We were summoned by Dennis to gather around Father as he had an announcement to make. He told us that through donations he was able to purchase a rather large hand-carved Nativity Set to be shipped back to Transfiguration Church to be housed in the school for the children.



We arrived at the beautiful St. Gabriel Hotel with just enough time to drop our things off in our room before going down for dinner which consisted of the usual fare which is mostly vegetables, an assortment of salads with 2 or 3 different types of meat, potatoes and rice.



We then retired to our rooms where we were so exhausted that John went to bed at 9:30 and I followed soon after.

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Comments

[Sharyn Heisick]

Bethlehem
Hi George and John George you really need to ride that camel!! It is a lot different than riding a horse, when you get on they bend forward to get up and you feel like you are going to fall, but it is fun. The wall around Bethlehem, if I remember right, I think that is the wailing wall. I remember people chanting or making very strange noises that weren't much fun to listen to. It sounds like you are having good healthy food for your meals and staying at some very nice hotels. Stay safe and enjoy your travels. Love Sharyn

[pete]

yowzah!
Watch out for those camels, they'll spit on you if you look at them funny.