2011 Odd-yssey: May 19th-20th Israel

Israel, sunny and beautiful with a taste of european flora in the Middle East, is just 300 miles long and at it's broadest only 100 miles wide. We are back into lands of clothes dryers, as Israeli flags are the only things flapping in the breezes. We visited 3 of Israel's largest cities where it is said: Jerusalem with its many religious sites...one goes to pray; Haifa, a bustling trading port with its terraced gardens

and exquisite Northern Mediterranean venue....one goes to work; and Tel Aviv, Israel's "youngest" city and growing financial hub and cultural centerpieces...one goes to play.

And then we visited seaside Jaffa.....

My favorite Israeli old world town is Jaffa, "Yafo" in Hebrew, is mentioned in the Bible in reference to Jonah and the whale. It has a bohemian, artsy flair that hides amid narrow stone passageways, up and down rambling hills.
Of course, the biggest thrill is actually walking in Christ's neighborhoods...In Nazareth, The Virgin Mary's home is preserved in the base of the Church of The Annunciation, and within a stone's throw(literally), is St. Joseph's home, her neighbor and husband. In Bethlehem, the actual birth cave is enshrined in the Church of The Nativity.

The day we visited, our guide was so excited to see the most unusual sighting of this white dove above Jesus' head...he felt it a sign of the Holy Spirit.

The River Jordan is also home to some interestingly large rodents

We dipped our feet into the Jordan River, near the site of Jesus' baptism by his cousin, St. John The Baptist. We lunched shoreside of Lake Galilee...where St. Peter needed a helping hand on stormy waters...We passed Cana, site of the wedding feast, and also stopped at the Church commemorating the multiplication of the loaves & fishes that also still preserves the first christian baptismal font(pictured below) built in 5th century AD when Constantine proclaimed freedom of Christian worship.

In Jerusalem, we walked the Via Dolorosa which culminates in the Church of the Cruxification that houses the mount where He was crusified and the slab believed to be where He was lain after being taken down from the cross. It was all very moving...

Our guide made time for a short visit to the Wailing Wall, where we left our intentions with a prayer and then backed away to show respect. From Mt. of Olives we had a clear view of Old Jerusalem and the Golden Domed Mosque built on King Solomon's Temple site and believed to be Mohammed's place of ascension to heaven. Not far, the garden of Gethsemene, where Jesus prayed before being taken into custody. The mount where the Last Supper took place...It is an amazing place that inspires me to revisit, and revisit the Bible. All this tourist haven bustling with the ever-vigilant military presence...The Wall, the checkpoints are necessary evils...I'm not sure it's what Christ envisioned as "Peace on Earth"...though in many territories, the diverse populations seem to blend seamlessly.