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After another fabulous meal (a breakfast spread that you wouldn’t believe if I told you), we headed off to the buses for our first day of full touring. Thankfully, the buses look brand new, are pretty “roomy” (for a bus), and are well air conditioned, as we spent a lot of time driving around today.
Our first stop was at the Caesarea Maritima. The place that the book of Acts refers repeatedly to as the city Peter visited. Paul was held prisoner here for two years while awaiting trial. It was also here that Cornelius and his household converted to Christianity and became the first Gentiles of the church. Here, we visited the remains of a great Greco-Roman city built by Herod which included a theater, a hippodrome (like in the Ben Hur chariot races), and a luxurious bathhouse. Also, in order to supply water from the springs of Mt. Carmel to Caesarea, Herod prepared an aqueduct system that is pretty amazing to think about and see. Here’s a few quick video moments from these sites…
Next, we traveled to the top of Mount Carmel, the site where Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal. There is a monestary there now with an incredible view of the Jezreel Valley. Monks in full robe were present upon our arrival, praying and selling trinkets. While we were leaving, Israeli soldiers were coming in for a required tour. Several people from our tours were getting snapshots with them — kind of funny. Check out this video from the summit…
From there, we bussed over to Megiddo, which is better known to Americans in its Latin form, “Armageddon”. Megiddo was destroyed and rebuilt over and over again (some 22 times) producing a mound called a “tel”. Archaeological digs here have unveiled monumental fortifications and gateways dating back to the days of Solomon — exactly as recorded in the Bible. There are several remains of horse stalls, altars, and public and private buildings made of ashlar stones. Probably the most impressive site was hiking down a system of water works hewn from the center of Megiddo by way of a 197-foot vertical shaft and a horizontal tunnel about 394-feet long! The water system permitted Megiddo’s inhabitants secret access (cool!) to a spring located outside the city walls.
The book of Revelation mentions a great battle at the place called “Armageddon”. It is here the decisive battle between the forces of good and evil will be fought. Pretty intense stuff. Before we left Megiddo, we each paid an additional $10 for a on-the-spot lunch at the top of the “tel”. Par for the course, the food was very good here as well. Here’s video from Megiddo…
Of course, breathtaking, is one of the words used to describe the visit to the city of Christ’s birth, Nazareth. We saw the site pointed out as the traditional home of Mary and Joseph. It was very windy at the top, a nice break from some of the hotter weather we had been experiencing earlier in the day. Not too long after Nazareth, we were already at our hotel in Tiberias, which rests on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Again, our hotel is right on the shoreline.
The reception at the hotel was grand. They took our luggage up to our rooms while treating us to some cool drinks and fabulous desserts. I don’t know what they called the pudding-like dessert with hot fudge that I had (I couldn’t pronounce it if I tried), but I do know that I wouldn’t mind some more! After the sweets, I literally crashed for an hour nap before dinner. My head was throbbing from either the heat or the weird time change — I don’t know. I didn’t feel much better until after dinner. Mmm-mmm. It’s all so good. Daniel, our tour guide, told us not to expect such a great breakfast tomorrow morning — just continental. Oh well…
Here’s a video re-cap of the day, I filmed just before bed. Much love to you all!
I got up early on the second day of the trip and walked about a mile or so along the Mediterranean Sea. The pathway was very developed and beautiful. The water was very warm.
One thing I was surprised by was the presence of hundreds of cats, which you will see in the video below.
I made it all the way to old Joffa, which is the historical site where Jonah fled.
