More Israel Pictures - with less description :)

There is no rhyme or reason to the order of these pictures. They certainly don't follow the order in which we saw everything. But... I just wanted to get them up here to share!
Below is a boat that they discovered in the mud of the Sea of Galilee. The wood is about 2000 years old, meaning that this could've been a boat used during the time of Jesus. It was very interesting to see how they recovered this boat!

On the left - the view of Tiberias from the Sea of Galilee. On the right - Andy eating what the town calls St. Peter's fish (from the Sea of Galilee).

Left - the view of the Mediterranean from one of our hotels. Right - A typical meal (breakfast or lunch) in Israel. Hummus with pita bread and a LARGE salad.

Left - underneath the city of Jerusalem is the remnants of the old shopping corridor. At the end of the corridor is a painting to give tourists of picture of what the marketplace would've looked like in its time (right).

Left - I was amazed to catch this women (on the left hand side of the picture) chipping away at the wood of David's tomb. The divider on the right of the picture separated the women from the men visiting the tomb. On the right are the streets within Jerusalem's walls. They were extremely narrow and streetwalkers did NOT have the right of way. :)

A view of New Jerusalem.

Andy and I went to an African Safari (yes in Tel Aviv, Israel) on our last day. It was, by far, the best "zoo" we'd ever been to. Half of the park was a driving safari where we saw many animals playing and eating. The other half had a normal zoo-like set-up where, again, we saw many active animals.

We caught this monkey digging for gold and then eating it! Yuck!

A group of young boys on a field trip began feeding these bears their chips. It was great to see the bears stand up begging for more! No guards or employees were present to stop the school children, so the feeding frenzy went on for quite some time.

The poor rhino on the right seemed to be suffering from a form of pink eye.






In Caeserea we saw the Roman ruins of a theatre right next to the Mediterranean. The horses were to give a picture of the chariot races that would take place here. On the right, I am sitting in the stands where many Romans sat and watched the chariot races.

Below we are in Megiddo. On the right is a view of the Jezreel Valley (the prophesied sight of Armageddon) from atop Megiddo.

At the Yom Kippur Memorial Sight below, we saw many bunkers and tanks remaining from the 1973 battle that has given Israel the most peaceful borders its ever had. Behind the tank is a view of Syria.

Below is Nimrod's Fortress, atop a VERY HIGH mountain. And yes, once you got onto the Fortress, you still had to climb UP. Nimrod's Fortress is in the Golan Heights, north of the Sea of Galilee.

Also in the Golan Heights is the Banias Waterfalls. Hidden in the valleys of the mountains is this amazing waterfall. There were suspended bridges to walk along the waterfalls. It was one of my favorite spots!

In Caeserea Philippi (Peter's hometown), we saw the ruins of their city center, gravesites and their oil press.

The Church of the Beatitudes - built on the mountain they claim Jesus preached Matthew 5 from. The Sea of Galilee is in the background.

In Luke 10:13 Jesus said, "Woe to you Korazim!". Below are the ruins of this town that quickly rejected Christ as the Messiah. Based on the ruins, they were obviously and intelligent group of people, capable of building with the most dense and difficult stones in the region. Yet their intelligence kept them from seeing the truths of the Messiah. Andy, on the right, is sitting on the Royal Stone in Korazim's palace.

Israel Week 1

We had dinner with the Futerman's last Tuesday night at a Lebanese restaurant in Rehovat. Friday night we broke bread with their Assembly in Jaffa. About 35 people, many non-believers, came out for the service, which was followed by dinner and a short gospel message. It was great to see the work there! Saturday we went to Neve Shalom to hear Tony speak at a Youth Conference regarding the publishing of his new book "Science and Faith: Is there a conflict?". It was nice to meet many other believers and to spend more time with the Futerman's.

Masada is a large plateau, standing 900 km tall next to the Dead Sea (which is 400 meters below sea level). We took a cable car ride up to the plateau and then ventured around what used to be Herod's fortress. Herod used this as his place of retreat from rebellious people. Pictures: 1. Andy at the top of Masada with other plateaus in view behind. 2. Jess venturing down to the lower level via steps on the side of the plateau 900 meters up! Her hands didn't leave the rails at all!

En Gedi holds beautiful springs nestled back between the mountains. It is here that the Bible says David hid from Saul in caves. Pictures: 1. A view of David's waterfall. 2. The view looking back at the Dead Sea and the mountains of Jordan. On the right hand side, you will notice two trails and a sign. The sign is picture 3 and little did I know I would be hiking up the side of that mountain. The smile in picture 2 proves that I was completely unaware of what was to come... Picture 4 shows my mood after reaching the top. It was quite the scary climb as the Israelis are not worried about safety. There were very few rails as you walked along 12 inch paths right next to a 400 meter drop!

Andy on the other hand was quite happy at the top. Here he is deciding which path to take next with the Dead Sea and the Jordan mountains in the background. Picture 2 - The view of En Gedi from the parking lot. I must admit that we only climbed as high as the grassy portions - but the picture doesn't do justice as to how high up we really were.

We paused for a picture in front of this sign, but did not go in for Dead Sea Spa Treatments - which cost a fortune! Instead we ventured into the public swimming area to put our feet into the Dead Sea. The super salty water left our clothes in a cardboard state. Our skin immediately dried out and we had remnants of salt (and I mean piles of salt) all over our arms and legs. The salt covered rocks and stones (which made it very difficult to venture out into the water) making it look like taffy.

Outside the walls of Jeruslam, next to the Mt of Olives, is what they believe to be the Garden of Gethsemane. The olive trees pictured below to the left are over 2000 years old. The garden was surrounded by gates and a pathway as seen below in picture 2.

Within the Old City walls, we took a tour from a local guide. He showed us all 4 quarters, claiming that the Muslim and Christian quarters have merged to become one - the Arabic quarter. His reasoning was that their beliefs are so similar??? The Armenian quarter is closed off by walls (within the city walls) and we were only allowed to see their courtyard. The Jewish quarter was ultimately the most peaceful and welcoming. From this quarter we enjoyed delightful views of the Mount of Olives and lunch on crowded streets. Below is a view of the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) where people waited hours to touch the wall and say their prayers. Tourists and locals alike find great significance in the only portion of the 2nd temple (built in 66AD) to remain. The second picture is taken just inside the Jaffa gate in front of Herod's tower/castle, surrounded by a moat.

Today, we will visit the Mediterranean beaches in Tel Aviv. The weather has been beautiful - mid 70's each day.