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Mount of Olives and Around the Dead Sea: Qumran and Masada

Dec22

Nov 26, Sat:

Mount of Olives-Qumran-Masada-Dead Sea.

View from the Mount of Olives:     

What was to be the official last day of our tour saw us rise and have a buffet breakfast in Hotel Arthur. As a result of the Sabbath, everything was very quiet. Moti ushered us into our van and led us to the Mount of Olives for a really close look at the vast amount of Jewish graves from a high vantage point. This site also offered magnificent views over Jerusalem with the Dome of the Rock, of course, dominating the landscape. We could also see the great towering walls of the city and the courtyard in front of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the courtyard in front of the Western Wall. We took a number of group, couple and individual pictures here in this very busy location which was made worse by the traffic jam of tourist buses that were plying the area and the presence of camels on which tourists were getting rides. Chaos reigned supreme, but somehow we managed to make our way out of there.

Drive to the Dead Sea:

Since we were off to the Dead Sea, I had asked Moti if he could possibly take us to the spot where the famous Dead Sea Scrolls had been found. I had read about this discovery as being one of the most historically important in the area and I was keen to see the place. Moti wished to oblige, but he did tell me that all we’d be able to do was get off the van and see the spot from a distance. He said that had I told him that I was keen to go there, he would have suggested that we leave the hotel half an hour earlier. Had we done so, we could have gone to the actual spot where a platform has been erected and where visitors can watch a movie on the creation and discovery of the scrolls.

Visiting Qumran—Site of the Dead Sea Scrolls:

The drive to the Dead Sea was long but we did stop at Qumran which is the site where the scrolls were found. It looks no better than rocky mountainous wilderness in which caves are naturally created by wind erosion—we could see several such caves high on the mountain during our drive there. The Dead Sea Scrolls (so-called because they are in the vicinity of the Dead Sea) are a collection of 981 scrolls that were found between 1946 and 1956 in eleven caves in the Qumran area. Current scholarly consensus is that the scrolls date from the last three centuries BC. They include the third oldest known surviving manuscripts of works later included in the Hebrew Bible canon. Most of the texts are written in Hebrew with some in Aramaic (in different regional dialects, including Nabataean), and a few in Greek. If discoveries from the Judean desert are included, Latin (from Masada) and Arabic (from Khirbet al-Mird) can be added. Most texts are written on parchment, some on papyrus and one on copper. The scrolls have traditionally been identified with the ancient Jewish sect called the Essenes, although some recent interpretations have challenged this association and argue that the scrolls were penned by priests in Jerusalem, Zadokites, or other unknown Jewish groups.

Owing to the poor condition of some of the scrolls, not all of them have been identified. Those that have been identified can be divided into three general groups: some 40% of them are copies of texts from the Hebrew Scriptures; approximately another 30% of them are texts from the Second Temple Period which ultimately were not canonized in the Hebrew Bible, and the remaining roughly 30% of them are sectarian manuscripts of previously unknown documents that shed light on the rules and beliefs of a particular group (sect) or groups within greater Judaism, like the Community Rule, the War Scroll, the Pesher on Habakkuk and The Rule of the Blessing. In Biblical terms, the scrolls are invaluable to both Jews and Christians as they contain every book of the Old Testament except for the Book of Esther—which is probably still concealed somewhere. The scrolls were found in pottery jars and are in such a fine state of preservation because the desert air is so dry. Originally found by a Bedouin shepherd who wished to use the parchment to make a pair of shoes, they eventually passed on to an archeologist who engaged a team of scholars to work on them. When their antiquity was established, they were found to be the most valuable body of items unearthed in recent times in Israel. Arrangements were made to house them in what is now the Israeli Museum in Jerusalem where a special wing was constructed to exhibit them.

Our group took pictures at the Qumran site and then proceeded towards the next item on our agenda: A Visit to Masada.

Visiting Masada:

Masada lies in the midst of the desert—literally in the middle of nowhere—and I was amazed after we arrived at the spot (at the entrance to Masada National Park) how many busloads of tourists had arrived to scour the area. It is amazing that the place is called Masada because it is exactly that: a mesa or flat-topped mountain which is a fortification in the middle of the Judean desert overlooking the Dead Sea. Herod the Great built palaces on the mountain fortress between 37 and 31 BC—a palace built in tiers on a promontory that overlooks the desert.

But the spot has really leapt in significance because of the deeply moving story associated with the Siege of Masada that involved the Roman legions and the Sicari people who took refuge there. These Sicari had fled from the Roman garrisons and climbed the mountain to set up camp here. When the Roman followed them and began to plot their destruction, they began their campaign by constructing a ramp (using captured Jewish slaves) on one side of the mountain. The Sicari kept killing these workers to prevent the completion of the ramp—but they soon took the decision to stop killing their own people (although it meant that the Romans would complete the ramp and reach them).

When eventually the ramp was ready, the Romans created a battering ram in order to burst through the structures that made up the settlement. However, the Sicari took the joint decision to kill every single member of their community rather than have women raped and their sons taken as slaves. Hence, they appointed nine men to kill every member of the community and when the nine were the only ones left, they drew lots to decide who would kill the remaining eight and then eventually kill himself. This is referred to as the “Terrible Resolve”. When the Romans arrived at the site, they discovered 960 bodies  strewn all over the settlement.  The horror of the story has given rise to a motion picture called Masada.

Today, thanks to the romance associated with this tale, Masada has become the second most visited Jewish site in Israel (after the Western Wall). In order to scale it, visitors can take one of two well-defined trails and climb all the way up. However, the easier and more popular method is the cable car which transports people up and down in a matter of minutes. Once up, there are a vast number of structures to be seen in varied stages of ruin—some are mere piles of rubble, others are re-constructed rooms with the original fresco decoration still in place. From the heights, one can look out over the stone foundations of the bases occupied by the Roman legions (there are three of these) as well as obtain stirring views of the wilderness and the Dead Sea. There is a museum at the base that explains the siege and its outcome in more detail, but most of the pottery, jewelry, etc. that was archeologically excavated from the site can be found at the Israeli Museum in Jerusalem.

We spent a lot of time at the site. The cable car ride was enjoyable if very short and the views as we went higher were wonderful. Moti provided a great deal of detailed information as we moved from one site to the next. There is a very nice Visitor Center at the base which provides more information.

Lunch and Stop at Ahava Factory Outlet:

We had lunch in the café at Masada before we set off in the van again towards the Dead Sea. As we began speaking of the cosmetic value of the salts and mud, Moti offered to stop our van at the Ahava Factory Outlet. This cosmetics company which was founded about 20 years ago has cornered the market in this product (although there are a lot of other lesser-known companies that make similar products). Inside, we watched a movie that talked about the benefits of the Dead Sea salts and we found a number of cosmetics for skin and hair and a few members of our group did end up buying some products. We did not spend long there as we headed on to the Dead Sea.

Floating on the Dead Sea:

The Dead Sea is so-called because it is so high in salinity that no creature is able to survive in it. It is renowned for the fact that its specific gravity is so low that nothing can sink into the sea. Fed by the River Jordan, the Sea is land-locked and since it has no outlet and the temperature in the desert is so hot, evaporation takes place at such a high rate that he water dries up leaving heavy salt content behind. The mud at the bottom of the sea is, therefore, super-saturated with mineral salts that are supposedly very good for the skin and are said to have healing properties.

Llew and I had been in the Dead Sea before—on the Jordanian side when we had toured Jordan, a few years ago. However, we looked forward to donning our swim suits and getting a dunk in with our friends. I was also keen to actually feel the sensation of floating as I had not attempted to float the last time. Again, busloads of people kept pouring into the area and the changing rooms (that Moti pointed out to us) were packed. There were bathrooms, toilets and changing cubicles but these were mobbed. Somehow, we managed to change, after leaving our bags and valuables with Gemma who sportingly sat guard as she was unable to climb up and down the long flights of stairs that led to the water’s edge.

We had the time of our lives in the Dead Sea. Fleurette provided a great deal of entertainment with her terrified squealing as she made her way in. The majority of us dunked ourselves with help from each other as we negotiated our way in as the base was not just rocky and uncomfortable on the soles of our feet but terribly slippery. Once we were in, however, there was no stopping us. We also helped each other turn over on our backs and start to float. The sensation was indescribably amazing and we enjoyed every second of it. We also smeared the mud from the base over our bodies and were astonished by the softness of our skin as we washed the salts off. Truly it was an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience. Moti took many pictures of our group as we sat in the water with so many people floating around us.

Just a little while later, we showered at the water’s edge (where a queue had formed to use the shower), and shivered all the way up to the changing rooms. A good hot coffee was very much in order at that point and thanks to Glen who treated us, I felt much less shivery. We then piled back into our van and made our way to the Hotel.

Dinner at Shanty Restaurant:

This was truly our last dinner as we would be airborne the following morning. We called a place called Shanty which was really difficult to find, but once we did settle down, we found the atmosphere and the room lovely. We ordered Pad Thai and Shrimp with Lemon-Pepper Sauce as well as cocktails. It was a rather poignant end to our wonderful adventures.

Some of our members were leaving at dawn, others right after breakfast. Since Llew and I would be boarding our flight only at 1. 40 pm, I figured that we did not need to leave as early as the others. Instead, having become fascinated by the Dead Sea Scrolls, I managed to talk Llew into accompanying me to the Israeli Museum and we made arrangements with the Hotel Reception to hire a cab for us that would take us to the museum, wait for us while we were inside and then take us to the airport. And on that happy note, we spent our last night in Israel.

Yad Vashem Museum, Ein Karem, Via Dolorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Dec22

Nov 25, Fri:

Yad Vashem Museum-Ein Karem-Old City of Jerusalem-Via Dolorosa-Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Our day began with breakfast in Hotel Arthur’s lobby.  As the Sabbath had come around again, things would be closing by 3.00 pm that day. We steeled ourselves for our visit to the Yad Vashem (or Holocaust) Museum as we knew that it would not be easy.

Visit to Yad Vashem Museum:

All over the world, Jewish Holocaust Museums have sprung up in addition to the conversion of former concentration camps into museums. Over the years in our travels, we have seen a vast number of Holocaust Museums (Paris, Berlin and Washington for instance) and we have also visited two concentration camps (Dachau in Germany and Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland) where we have actually seen the gas chambers and the crematoria that were used to exterminate the Jews as part of Hitler’s ‘Final Solution to the Jewish Problem’ from 1942 onwards. Israel was established in 1948 and within a few years, it was decided, that a museum ought to be built to remember both those Jews who had perished in World War II as well as those “Gentiles” who, without thought to reward or their own safety, helped in saving Jewish lives (e.g. Oskar Schindler). A site was chosen on Mount Herzi and the architect selected was an Israeli-Canadian called Moishe Safdie.

The modern structure clings to the hillside. Inside, the building is shaped like un overturned boat. It is narrow and dark—a structure that hopes to depict the despair of the inmates of the camps. As you move from room to room, you receive tons of information through multi-media resources of the history of Jewish persecution from the beginning of time to the present. It also traces the history of the creation of Israel. There is a wonderful Hall of Remembrance which is dome-shaped and covered with black and white pictures of the departed and a Children’s Memorial which has been designed in such a way through multiple mirrors that a single candle flame is replicated thousands of times into infinity to reflect the numbers of children that were killed during the Shoah (the Jewish Hebrew word for Holocaust). The grounds are filled with sculpture created by Jewish artists from all over the world. These were some of the highlights of the museum that remain with me.

We spent the entire morning in the Museum and had lunch in the cafeteria. Llew and I chose to eat a full lunch of rice with two side dishes—we chose a chicken stew and a vegetable. It was all delicious and we were glad we filled up as there was no opportunity to eat again until dinner.

Visit to Ein Karem (Village with Church of John the Baptist and Church of the Visitation):

Our next stop was the small village of Ein Karem which has gained significance as the site of two important Biblical happenings: the birth of John the Baptist marked by the Church of John the Baptist (run by the Franciscans) which is quite ornate with a beautiful crystal chandelier inside and mosaics on the wall. The priest was closing up for the afternoon but he permitted us to descend the stone stairway leading to a cave which is supposed to be the one in which John the Baptist was born.

Up on a hill, a little away from this church, is the actual Church of the Visitation built on the spot at which Mary arrived to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was married to Zacharias. The Bible tells us that when Mary and Elizabeth met, Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist felt him leap in her womb. At this occurrence, Elizabeth is supposed to have told Mary, “Most Blessed Art Thou Among Women and Blessed is the Fruit of Thy Womb.” These words, of course, are now part of the Hail Mary as well as of the Magnificat, which is the most well-known of the Latin hymns to Mary. Unfortunately, we did not have the time to make it to this church which is also a must on many pilgrimage agendas. Instead, Moti spent quite a bit of time, using maps, to explain to us again the complicated history of Middle Eastern politics.

Shopping in the Old City:

There was not a lot of time left, so Moti led us into the van and back into the Old City of Jerusalem so that we could do some shopping. Members of our group bought all sorts of things from ceramics to olive wood carvings and soon it was time for us to move on again.

Visit to Church of the Holy Sepulchre:

Moti then led us on foot to another piece de resistance of our travels—our visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is built exactly on top of the spot that is recognized by Roman Catholics and the Orthodox Church as Golgotha (also known as Calvary). We found our way there and entered the church. It is an imposing edifice of huge proportions built in yellow sandstone with domes, Greek Corinthian pillars and striking Gothic arches. Had we realized how difficult it would be to see the Tomb after the Stations of the Cross, we would have opted to get to that spot before their commencement. As it turned out, all we did was enter the church and go directly to the marble slab upon which Jesus is said to have been laid after his death. The interior of church is ornate and elaborate and once again impressive in its Byzantine architectural design. We knelt down and kissed the slab and we were also able to nip upstairs, up a flight of curving stone stairs, to the spot which is recognized as Golgotha. However, we barely had a few minutes there when we were ushered out again to make our way to the spot where the Stations of the Cross commence.

Re-enacting the Way of the Cross:

One of the highlights of the trip for me was being able to undertake a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross exactly as they might have occurred two thousand years ago. The commencement site is just outside the Umariya school in a courtyard inhabited by Franciscan monks at the Monastery of the Flagellation. At exactly 3.00 pm, the procession began with a few prayers outside the church. Unfortunately, the entire service was in Latin, but we were able to follow with the small guide books that we had purchased for a dollar.

The procession winds its way through the 14 Stations that are mainly to be found on what was the road to Golgotha or Mount Calvary (where all crucifixions took place)—what is today the Via Dolorosa or the Road of Sorrows. Because there is a microphone system throughout the Way, you can hear the service no matter where in the procession you might be. The Via Dolorosa today is a busy thoroughfare, exactly (I am guessing) as it might have been in Jesus’ days. So although it was crowded and narrow and busy, it seemed to be a very authentic re-enactment of the situation as it might have been at that time when all prisoners who were sentenced to be crucified, were required to carry their own crosses all the way to Golgotha.

Today, there are shrines and small churches at every one of the Stations which reminded me, of course, of the various decades of the Rosary. Eventually, during the last few decades, we left the Via Dolorosa and entered the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre when all participants followed the monks to the top floor up the narrow winding stone steps. The last two Stations were upstairs under the grand mosaic-encrusted Byzantine ceiling that was covered with medallions depicting the saints and the Blessed Mother. There was a great deal of incense and the ringing of bells—it was all very ritualistic.

At the second last Station, when Jesus dies on the cross, we move to another niche which was absolutely elaborate and has a wooden cross right above a small marble altar. As in Bethlehem, at the spot of Jesus’ birth, here too, there was a small marble niche under a marble altar, to mark the spot of Jesus’ death. You had to bend down and literally crawl into the niche in order to kiss the spot where the cross would have been affixed. The last station involved going down the same winding stairs to the marble slab where he was laid out after his death and attended to by his mother, Joseph and St. Nicodemus who then prepared his body for burial. At this point, we moved to the last station, the laying of Jesus in His Tomb. When we entered this small side segment of the church, I found it once again to my enormous disappointment) to be fully enshrouded by scaffolding. What are the odds that two of the most significant sites—the place of Christ’s birth and of his Resurrection—would be under renovation at exactly the same time and just during our visit???? I simply could not believe it!

Anyway, we then had to join a long and winding queue to get a glimpse of this final resting place where a majority of Christians believe he was laid to rest and from where he rose on the third day. This line led to a highly ornamental altar richly clad in variously colored marble—I managed to catch a glimpse behind the shrouded sheeting. I can only imagine how gorgeous it must be (and later I caught postcard glimpses of it). Llew and I found our way into the queue and finally arrived at the hidden niche. No photography was permitted inside which made it impossible for me to record one of the most significant parts of our pilgrimage. We did eventually get to the spot and managed to kiss it, but we barely had a few seconds in there before we had to move out again. I found the crowds deeply annoying and very distracting—but I had been warned about this by most people who said that the crowds diminished the entire experience for them. The general chaos completely robbed me of the spirituality of the moment and I felt deeply ‘cheated’ (even though I had been warned about this). Since we had the time, I then circumnavigated the entire church and was amazed at its intricate architecture as well as the multiplicity of altars and niches and shrines that have been carved out of it

Dinner at Ditn:

We made our way almost directly back to our hotel after what was a very eventful and significant afternoon—although not quite as solemn and prayerful as I had hoped it would be—and returned to Hotel Arthur. Moti had made reservation for us for dinner at a place called Ditn, located at a railway station of a former railway line that is no longer in use—known as the First Jerusalem Railway Station. The entire area has been reconfigured to include restaurants, amusement arcades, etc. Moti’s partner Ruthie was also present and we ended up having a really good (if very pricey) meal. There were a few toasts and Thank-yous said (which took me by surprise as I did not realize that this was going to be our last ‘formal’ meal). Since we still had one more day to go before our tour ended, I had assumed that the next night would be our last dinner and the one at which we would say our Farewells and Thank-yous.

It was not long before we got back into our van and got back to Hotel Arthur for the night.

Discovering Jerusalem: Temple Mount, Dome of the Rock, Western Wall, Garden Tomb, Home of Caiaphas, Garden of Gethsemane

Dec12

Nov 24, Thu:

Jerusalem-Temple of the Mount-Western Wall-Garden Tomb-Home of Caiaphas-Garden of Gethsemane

            We awoke with the realization that it was Thanksgiving Day in America and so, at breakfast, we wished each other. After a lovely breakfast in Hotel Arthur that included smoked salmon on toast—my particular favorite—and good coffee, we set out for our exploration of Jerusalem. By the end of the day, we would be quite astounded by what we would see—indeed this day proved to be the most memorable one for me on our entire trip.

Discovering Old Jerusalem:

The drive from our hotel took us past modern Jerusalem and its impressive official buildings including the Parliament House (or Knesset) where we were quite taken by the development of the city. When we arrived at the Old City, it was indeed a strong contrast and something of a revelation. Moti led us on a walking tour past the massive main walls built by Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Great into the maze of streets that form the heart and soul of this mysterious city. We passed through Jaffa Gate (so-called because it faces the old city of Jaffa) and went down many low steps that led through the market and on to the main square of the Old City.

We were able to see remnants of some of the old walls in the huge stones scattered around the periphery of the Old City. He explained to us (and we were able to see a model of the original city of Jerusalem in the Israeli Museum on the day of our departure) that Jerusalem had been built by the great Hebrew King Solomon in the 10th century BC. It was a massive city, beautifully well-constructed and built in keeping with Roman principles of design and urban development. In the center, at one end, surrounded by the great high city walls, was the Arc of the Covenant in which was concealed the original twin tablets containing the Ten Commandments as given to Moses by God. When the Muslims vanquished the city during the Crusades, they destroyed it and, in keeping with Hebraic scripture, indeed “left no stone unturned”. They ransacked the Arc, pillaged and plundered and took away the Ten Commandments with them—they are assumed to be destroyed. The one wall that stands today on the site of one of the original walls of Solomon’s city is on the Western side—it is, therefore, known as the Western Wall (in common parlance, it is also called the Wailing Wall as Jews make a chanting sound when praying against it. However, it must be noted that Jews find the use of the term ‘Wailing Wall’ derogatory and prefer ‘Western Wall’). As we looked upon the scene of so many centuries of destruction and rebuilding, we also became cognizant of well-dressed Jews hurrying towards the Western Wall as a large number of bar mitzvahs were scheduled to occur that morning.

Viewing the Western Wall:

A little later, Moti led us towards an elevated walkway with gave us our first glimpse of the Western Wall. Although it was still early in the morning, Jews had already assembled to start praying there. They were clad in flowing white robes with stoles in dark blue and head gear that was draped either shawl-like around their heads or as caps. There was a long partition that ran the length of the open courtyard in front of the wall and in that partition, we saw Jewish women begin the act of prayer. The genders were well segregated with women peering over to the men’s side as the morning lengthened and crowds swelled. We took pictures from the elevated walkway as we made our way to the Dome of the Rock.

The Dome of the Rock:

The Dome of the Rock is the name of the ornate shrine built in Byzantine style on Temple Mount in Jerusalem on the site of what used to be the Temple of Solomon and the old Jewish Second Temple. It is characterized by an octagonal base completely covered with Turkish Iznik ceramic tiles mainly in yellows, whites, greens and blues and topped by a glorious gold dome that is visible from almost every corner of the city. Extracts from Koranic scripture in cobalt-blue calligraphic design were all over the doors and arches. At different times in history, the structure and the site were under the custody of differing authorities—the Jews, then the Muslim Saracens, then the Christian Crusaders, then the Muslims again. At the top of the dome has been a cross in past centuries—today, there is a crescent. As an architectural Islamic monument, it has few equals and I was just enthralled by the many aspects of Islamic decorative design evident all over it—aspects that we have seen at the Al-Hambra Palace in Granada, Spain (the macarabi or honeycomb design that was popularized by the Nazarids) and the striped red and white arches that we had seen at the Grand Mosque in Cordoba in Spain (an aspect of Moorish design).

It is currently under the control of the prelates of Islam and is considered the second most revered edifice in the world by Muslims after the Kaaba in Mecca. Non-Muslims are strictly prohibited from entering the building. All we could do was admire it from the outside. At any rate, since it was not a Friday, there was no prayer activity anywhere in the vicinity. The place comes into its own on Fridays when the neighboring Al-Aqsa Mosque which is right opposite it, is filled with Jerusalem’s Muslims at prayer. Right next to the main building, is a smaller domed structure—probably the spot at which ablutions are performed before entering for prayer. As befits such a significant monument, the entire area surrounding it has ancient structures in Islamic style—arches, domes, minarets, cupolas. It is a fantastic site for the avid photographer for at every juncture, you feel tempted to shoot. Because Islamic strictures prevent public displays of physical contact between the genders, we were allowed to pose for pictures as a group and as couples but without any parts of our bodies touching! Once we finished taking pictures, we climbed the stairs leading to the Dome of the Rock and had fabulous views of the surrounding buildings of Jerusalem from this heightened vantage point.

Back to the Western Wall:

Once we had soaked in the splendor of Islamic Jerusalem, we made our way back to the Western Wall. Crowds had swelled enormously and the place was simple mobbed with people—male and female—either in traditional Jewish prayer robes or dressed to the nines as invitees of the various bar-mitzvahs that were being held. We met an American woman from New Jersey who had arrived in Jerusalem for her son’s bar mitzvah which was to take place today. As it turned out, some members of our party ran into her.

Moti instructed us on how to get to the wall and following the movements of the Jewish faithful all around us, we too placed our petitions on small slips of paper in the prayer niches all around the wall. Hundreds of such petitions had been left in similar fashion. The Jewish women (as we were in the women’s section) beat their heads against the wall or placed their right hands against the wall and recited prayers—either singly or in groups. Meanwhile, over on the men’s side, we saw large numbers of Jewish men of various ages surrounding Jewish priests as their children took part in religious services. There were still and video photographers all around recording these events. Moti explained to us that the people were not praying to a  sacred wall—they were facing the Arc of the Covenant and since only this portion of the original wall of the city remains and the Arc used to be right beyond the wall, that is where they position themselves. We took a lot of pictures at this spot and were thoroughly taken by the fervor of the religious rituals taking place around us.

A Stop for Tea and Refreshments:

By this point, we were quite fatigued and needed refreshment. Moti led us out of the narrow lanes and steps through which we had passed in the morning (but which were now filled with human activity as the shops had opened for the day) and into a small tea shop which was packed with people. There we had mint tea or coffee and a variety of snacks and sweetmeats that Moti organized for us from the neighboring vendors. It was quite an interesting lot of rather unusual and unfamiliar eats and we did justice to them as they were all very tasty.

This tea shop happened to be right adjacent to the Via Dolorosa which is the Way of the Cross. In fact, we found the third, fourth and fifth stations to be right across—so we stepped in the Shrine of the Fifth Station (where Jesus meets his Blessed Mother). But Moti told us not to linger in the area too long as we would be returning here tomorrow to actually participate in the Stations of the Cross at 3.00 pm when they begin. Instead, he led us on a long walk through Old Jerusalem and the city walls out of Damascus Gate to our next port of call, The Garden Tomb.

Visiting the Garden Tomb:

The Garden Tomb was not on our original itinerary and we are very fortunate that Moti was obliging enough to include it when Llew requested him to do so as his colleague had told him not to miss it. None of us had any idea what to expect and it was thanks to an Anglican guide called Martin, inside the complex that was in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem, who explained the discovery of the venue and its significance to Anglicans that we understood what it means to some Christians and how fortunate we were to go there.

It turns out that in the middle of the 19th century, Protestants began to challenge the location of what Catholics believe to be Golgotha or the Mount on which Christ was crucified. A large segment believed that they ought to look for a ‘Skull Hill’ and when one was found that met the description in the Bible of the site of Christ’s crucifixion and burial, Anglicans began to accept this tomb as being the actual site. However, scholarly opinion has discounted this possibility as the use of the cave as a tomb dates to the 6th or 7th century after Christ’s death!

Controversy apart, the Garden Tomb is a lovely place to visit. It is set in the midst of a typical English garden (if such a thing is even possible in the arid desert-soil conditions of Israel). After a wonderfully animated lecture by Martin which completely grabbed our attention as well as laid out complicated concepts in a very accessible fashion (how I wish all guides were like him!), we were taken into a rock-cut cave tomb through a rather narrow entrance. Inside, we found two stone-hewn platforms, one of which is supposedly the last resting place of Christ. We also saw a large round stone which replicates the kind that was used in Jewish burial in Christ’s day to close up a human tomb after burial. I must make it clear that this Anglican belief is completely different from that of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches that regard the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as the spot of Christ’s death and burial.

Visit to an Armenian Ceramist:

The visit to the Garden Tomb done, Moti led us on foot through the Muslim Quarter and back to Damascus Gate to take us for a slow climb up a hill towards the Christian Quarter to the shop of an Armenian potter who makes ceramic objects by hand. We entered the quarter through a stone wall and once inside, did admire the artisan’s work. However, few of us felt tempted to buy although some members of our group looked specifically for mugs with the loaves and fishes motif on them.

Lunch at Radolin Café:

By this point, a few members of our group were hungry and wished to eat lunch and a few wanted to wander around and get some shopping done. Moti led us to the main shopping square where we separated with each group getting the kind of meal they desired. Llew and I joined Ian and Jenny at Radolin, a local Israeli chain of restaurants where Moti joined us. We ordered soup and cheese toasts which were quite tasty and just substantial enough without being too heavy. Cheri-Anne managed to find the time and a fine place to do some substantial shopping and ended up buying and shipping home a tableau of The Last Supper at a store where the prices were half of those in the olive-wood carving shop to which the Palestinian guides had taken us! When we all got together about an hour later, Moti told us that we were headed to the House of Caiaphas.

Visit to the House of Caiaphas (The Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu):

Before we entered what is known as The Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, Moti led us to the back of the church and to a stone promontory from where we had a very good view of the city of Jerusalem with its stone walls, the domes of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. We also saw the many grave stones of the Mount of Olives and the new Jewish settlements that have mushroomed there.

The Church of St. Peter of Gallicantu is constructed in Byzantine style—both inside and out. It has an arched entry way and a single side spire. Its doors are particularly interesting. Hewn of wrought-iron, there is a figure of Jesus (clad in blue) on one side and a figure of Peter (clad in red) on the other, surrounded by the other apostles. Because the church is built on the site of what was supposed to be the House of Caiaphas (where Jesus was brought to be sentenced after being identified in the Garden of Gethsemane), the main altarpiece features Jesus in ropes being jeered at by rowdy crowds on both sides—created through a mosaic in Byzantine fashion. I was struck by the fact that all the writing in the church was in French (Le Signe de La Croix—The Sign of the Cross, etc). It is possible that the church was constructed under the patronage of the French Catholic Church.

Visiting the Underground Prisons:

When we had prayed in the church, Moti led us deep downwards through winding spiral staircases into the underground recesses which were supposed to be jails in which prisoners were held before sentencing. Modern-day interpretations of the space have led to the creation of light sconces in the shape of nails and thorns (in imitation of Jesus’ instruments of torture). There are also scraps of rope hanging from the ceiling to suggest where and how He might have been held during the night He spent on these premises. According to the Bible, He was first brought to Caiaphas, the high priest, by the mob. But because Caiaphas did not want to take a decision, he sent Him on to Pontius Pilate (who, as we know, also did not quite know what to make of the situation). Pilate said that he could find no guilt in the prisoner and, therefore, washed his hands of Him by turning the prisoner over to the mob. In order to appreciate the significance of this venue, it was important to envision exactly how Jesus would have been brought to Caiaphas and exactly what sort of night he might have passed on these premises. I was beginning to realize that if the church authorities believe that these sites were actually where Jesus spent time, they have built a church there to denote its importance.

On to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Basilica of the Agony (Church of All Nations):     

            The Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus retreated after sharing what we now call ‘The Last Supper’ with his closest friends, is today reduced to a small sand-filled grove with eight olive trees that date from the past hundred years—this is evident in the width of their trunks which are wider than I have ever seen on any other olive trees. Jesus is said to have spent hours praying while requesting his friends to keep watch over him. He is depicted in art as having knelt by a large rock before being betrayed by Judas. A church known as the Basilica of the Agony has been built upon this rock—in fact, the rock is part of the altar and is encircled by a beautiful wrought-iron barricade (to prevent worshippers from stepping on to it). Hence, visitors genuflect in front of the rock or kneel down to kiss it. The Church is also known as the Church of all Nations. There are mosaics all over the walls of the church and above the altar –the main one, appropriately, depicts the Betrayal of Jesus by Judas.

When we discovered that Mass was about to begin, Cherie-Ann asked Moti if we had the time to stay for it. He did accommodate her request and we ended up sitting at the front pews awaiting the beginning of Mass. At that point, one of the nuns invited us to come over to the sanctuary and to take seats right up at the altar. We were amazed and thrilled to have been accorded such an honor. Although the Mass (sermon and last prayer) was in Italian and the prayers and hymns in Latin, it was still a privilege to be part of the Mass. To our amazement, the priest asked Fleurette where we were from and when she told him we were from America, he actually thanked us (in English) for participating and apologized  that the Mass was in Italian! Needless to say, we were quite delighted to have been singled out in that fashion. After the Mass, each one of us was able to kneel at the Rock and worship before it. This church is also said to be the Church of the Annunciation of our Lord and appropriately, there is a large mosaic outside the church (on the pediment) that depicts this Biblical occurrence.

Happy Hour at Hotel Arthur and Dinner at Kohinoor:     

By this time, night had fallen over Jerusalem and we had a chance to see the city all illuminated by lights. It was quite spectacular indeed!

We made our way back to the hotel where we caught daily Happy Hour—a selection of snacks and fruit were offered with wine and juices. We then tried to find an Indian restaurant called Kohinoor—I guess by this time everyone was missing their desi khana! With much difficulty, we found the place (with a new name!), but that did not stop us from having a very nice dinner with Biryani and a couple of curries which we ate Family Style. Our dinners were always a great time to catch up on the wonders of the day and to indulge in some good-natured bantering. Right after dinner, we marched into a gelato parlor and had really great desserts before bed.

Cana, Bet Alfa Synagogue, Bet Shean Roman Town, Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, Jerusalem

Dec12

Nov 23, Wed:

Cana-Bet Alfa Synagogue, Beit Shean Roman Town, Bethlehem, Jerusalem.

            We had our last buffet breakfast in Hotel Galei Kinneret in Tiberius as we piled our baggage back into Moti’s van. We would be leaving the area to make our way towards Jerusalem where we would spend the next three nights in another hotel. However, we did stop at many places of significance before we arrived in Jerusalem.

Arrival in Cana and Visit to the ‘Wedding Church’:

The first stop of the day was the small town of Cana where Jesus is said to have performed his first public miracle—the Changing of Water into Wine at the Wedding Feast. A church has been built at this spot and, to reach it, you need to park quite a distance away and find your way on foot to the entrance.

Like most of the churches in Israel, this one is built of stone. Its façade is Portuguese in conception for it has a wide three-arched entry portico, a balcony over it and twin steeples that flank a statue of Christ at the very center. When we arrived, first thing in the morning, we found masses of people in the small front yard of the church. Inside, the altar is distinctive for two things: the lovely painted altarpiece depicting Jesus at the Wedding Feast being approached by his mother who requested his help when the wine ran out. The second aspect is the lovely stone jars that were and are still used to store wine in the Middle East that are placed high on the altar as decoration and as a means of recalling Jesus’ extraordinary powers.

Downstairs in the crypt, reached by flights of stairs, we saw a wine jar of the kind that might have been used during the original wedding feast. It was enclosed in a glass showcase which leads visitors to believe that it might have been one of the originals that held the water that was converted to wine. However, there are no signs to indicate this at all. A few steps up, one comes across the ruins of the home in which the wedding feast took place—now preserved under a glass floor. We did not get to hear Mass in this church and we were amazed by the vast numbers of people that came and went as the morning flew by.

All along the route to the church, there are wine vendors selling wine and other souvenirs that commemorate the miracle. Taking back wine from Cana as gifts is a common occurrence but surprisingly none of the members of our group bought any.

Off to Beit Alfa Synagogue and Hefzi Bah Kibbutz:

Our next stop was at the Beit Alfa Synagogue which dates back to the 6th century BC and which is distinctive for an incredibly well-preserved large mosaic floor. This treasure was unearthed in the 1920s when the members of the Hefzi Bah Kibbutz were digging an irrigation channel to water their plantations.

We watched a really wonderful film that explained the finding of the mosaic and the history of its creation. Attributed to one Marianos and his son Aninas (Hanina), it depicts the bust of a central female figure surrounded by the signs of the zodiac—a deeply revolutionary idea for its time (being pagan in its conception). In other panels, the mosaic depicts the sacrifice of Isaac as well as other aspects of the Torah that were well-known to the Jews of that era.

The Beit Alfa antiquities are smack-bang in the middle of the Hefzi Bah Kibbutz—which is a uniquely Israeli cultural concept of communal living. It was initiated in the late 19th century in an attempt to bring members of the Jewish community together in shared labor. Mainly agricultural, kibbutzes still function all over Israel. They offer permanent or temporary stays for Jews who wish to contribute their labor in exchange for their keep. I was hoping that we could take a walking tour of the kibbutz, but all we managed was a short drive in and out of the place that gave us a glimpse of cows in the barn and the milking sheds through which the kibbutz keeps itself commercially afloat.

Exploring the Ancient City of Bet Shean:

We next drove to Bet Shean National Park for more glimpses of archeological excavations in Israel and the treasures that they have thrown up. To my enormous surprise, once we passed by the entrance, I found myself in a whole excavated city such as the ones I had seen at Delos in Greece and Pompeii in Italy.

Known as Scythopolis and excavated in the 1960’s, the site offers a very good glimpse into the kind of thriving city that existed before Christ’s birth. Of particular interest was the main road or Palladius Way flanked by columns—all that remains of the grand forum which would have had shops doing thriving trade on either side of the thoroughfare. We also saw an excavated semi-circular amphitheater (similar to the one we saw in Caesarea) that has been retained in its original condition with no attempt made to refurbish it. The remaining columns on the stage and at the sides give indications of the lively theatrical performances that would have been held here. It reminded me very much of the one I saw in Taormina in Sicily recently. We then moved on to the Bath House—a very important part of Roman cultural life when baths were weekly communal activities. We saw the solarium (ingeniously heated by the presence of upturned terracotta pots which would have been filled with water and left to heat up in the sun), the frigidarium or cold pool into which bathers would take a brief plunge and then the sauna area in which they would sweat all the toxins from their bodies. The classical ruins offered wonderful photo ops—we took several with fallen Corinthian columns with their elaborate acanthus leaf motifs behind us—a result of the successive earthquakes that downed many of the ancient structures. Finally, one of the most intriguing parts of the ruined Roman town were the public latrines—we had been made familiar with the concept of public defecating in Caesarea and we saw the same concept here too. People sat in rows with no doors to offer privacy. At Bet Shean, they had running waters and an impressive sanitation system for we saw water faucets in the shape of lion’s mouths and stone basins into which the water flowed with waste taken directly towards the sea. Overall, Bet Shean offered a wonderful opportunity to linger in the vast acreage of an excavated city that would have been a prosperous thriving town in ancient times and which offered us a glimpse into the lifestyle and culture of the ancient Romans.

Lunch at Café Café and Entry into Jerusalem:

We stopped en route at a small café called  Café Cafe where we ordered coffee, cool drinks, salads and sandwiches for lunch before we undertook the long drive to Jerusalem.

We had a whole lot of traffic when entering Jerusalem after a fairly long drive. It was quite difficult for me to look at the miles of barbed wire barricades everywhere and the walls snaking their way throughout the city—aimed, of course, at keeping out Palestinians who are perpetual terror suspects. The scenario was especially ominous for us, in the US, as we have just elected a President whose platform was the building of a wall between Mexico and the USA. There was not a lot of time to linger in the city (where we would spend more time in the next three days) as we were dodging traffic to get to the Palestinian-controlled West Bank where Bethlehem is situated. This was our next port of call and Moti was keen to get us there before it turned dark.

Entering the Palestinian West Bank to visit Bethlehem:

Being an Israeli, Moti cannot enter the West Bank (in the same way that Palestinians are not allowed to enter Israel). Hence, he drove us right up to the border and then handed us over to a group of Palestinian guides who would escort us through the main points of interest in Bethlehem. Our group was divided into two: some of us went in one van and the rest went into another. Moti stayed behind at the border crossing and would reunite with us later.

A Visit to an Olive Wood Carving Establishment:

It rather annoyed me that having just arrived in Bethlehem and being eager to get to The Church of the Nativity and given the paucity of time, the first place the guide took us was an olive wood carving establishment so that we could buy their wares. The rationale for this illogical move was that we could buy items from the shop and touch them to the spot of Christ’s birth which would render them ‘blessed’. Needless to say, prices in the shop were absurd—as the mark-up is usually 40% that goes directly to the guides who escort groups to these shops. Apart from buying magnets and postcards and other small items, none of us brought anything large. I guess we were too eager to get to Jesus’ birthplace and felt impatient at the unnecessary detour. Furthermore, the expected olive wood carving demonstration, that we were to receive as part of this detour, was not offered and did not occur—so, in other words, a sheer waste of time.

As getting to the site took longer than expected, we felt rushed through the entire visit to Bethlehem, which was really one of the highlights of our travels as it was the site of Jesus’s birth. According to the Bible, Caesar Augustus (the same emperor after whom the city of Caesarea is named) called for a census requiring every man to get registered in the town of his birth. Since Joseph came from the house of David, it was towards Bethlehem that he made his way from Nazareth, on a donkey. But Mary was close to labor and it was in the midst of a town in which they were strangers that they looked for a room so that she could deliver her child. As the census had brought large numbers of strangers flooding into town, there was no room at the local inn—and Joseph found a kindly person who directed him to the stable where Mary had her baby.

Inside The Church of the Nativity:

The exact spot of Jesus’ birth is now to be found in a church known as The Church of the Nativity. As in the case of all ruined places of significance that we had seen, two thousand years of construction history places these spots today deep underground (as so much building has occurred on top of them). So, to access Jesus’ birthplace, you need to enter The Church of the Nativity—which is really three churches: one is a very ornate church, decorated in the Greek Orthodox style (as the prelates of the Greek Orthodox Church are the custodians of Christian sites in the Holy Land), the second is in Russian Orthodox style and the third is the small Roman Catholic Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Egypt.

Our first stop was the manger which is in the current Greek Orthodox Church. The entrance was a very low and narrow door which, we were told, was deliberately created to keep rampaging Muslims out of Christian holy places during the Crusades. It was under heavy renovation (which, I have to say, completely took away all charm, solemnity and spirituality from the venue for me). Imagine going into a superbly elaborate church that stands over the actual spot at which Christ was born—and imagine it covered with ugly scaffolding, its walls, murals, statuary, chandeliers, everything enrobed by awful sheeting. I was terribly disheartened by this scene. The female guide (whom I thought was simply the worst guide I have ever had) spoke a smattering of words, so fast and so hastily and so briefly and without the slightest emotional involvement as to leave me feeling even more dissatisfied. She explained that the renovation has been undertaken for the first time in a hundred years and is expected to continue until the end of the year. However, being that the condition of the renovation was far from complete, she was almost certain it would stretch way into 2017. At any rate, the grandeur of the building was completely lost on us as everything was shrouded in cloth or in scaffolding. I felt bitterly disappointed as this was supposed to be the piece de resistance of our travels.

Eventually, we joined vast groups of people who entered the sanctum sanctorum of the church and descended down a few steps—again through what seemed like a concealed secret door. When the steps ended, we found ourselves in a dark and narrow room where the focal point was a small white marble niche whose importance was emphasized by the presence of a multi-pronged silver star surrounded by silver altar lamps. In order to worship at this spot, we had to bend in the niche, one at the time, to kiss the glass disc in the center of the silver star—which was the spot on which Christ was born.

As might be imagined, this setting was deeply solemn and since there was no indication of any refurbishment in this area, it evoked all sorts of emotion of deep reverence. Needless to say, many of us were so deeply moved by the sight and the act of kissing the spot that we were in tears. As if this were not enough, just a few steps away was another low altar which, we were told, denoted the spot at which Jesus’s mother Mary laid him after he was born. These parts of the building used to be stables and it was here that Mary created a manger for her child after wrapping him in swaddling. In this portion of the church too, Greek Orthodox design is very plainly evident. I must add that our guide did not come down with us into this part of the church but stayed rooted upstairs—so we were very much left to our own devices at some of the most important sites in our travels—another deeply disappointing aspect for me.

I would have liked to linger longer in this room, but we were rushed out by the guide who wished to usher us off to the next-door Church of St. Catherine. On the way out, I managed to get a couple of pictures of the massive silver chandeliers in the sanctuary, as the guide pointed out a part of the original mosaic floor of the Byzantine church that was constructed on this site before the current grander one that was built in the middle of the 19th century.

Visiting the Church of St. Catherine:  

            St. Catherine’s Church is beautiful. It is built around a cloistered courtyard of sand colored sandstone. In the center, on a high pedestal, is a statue of St. Jerome, who dedicated himself to the intellectual life. He translated the Bible and spent 35 years in a cave which now forms part of the crypt of the church. There is an altar dedicated to him in a small shrine in the crypt. There is also a stained glass window that depicts God inspiring him from above as he produces the long scroll which formed his manuscript. Once again, it disappointed me that we did not get the services of our guide in this church. She sat with her friends and waited outside for us. I found that all the other groups entering the crypts were accompanied by their guides. I do believe that we missed out on noticing a lot of significant details because our guide did not go along with us to these important venues.

Exploring the West Bank:

By this time, it was getting dark outside and our guide was keen to move us along. Vasanti protested and said that she wanted to walk around the town of Bethlehem a little bit and get a feel for the place as she did not believe that she was receiving much of an impression from merely seeing the churches. The rest of the group agreed with her, but the guide was concerned because Moti was waiting for us at the border. She called him to find out if we could linger and, eventually, we came to the conclusion that we should have about 20 minutes on our own to wander about a bit and then return to our vehicle. Llew and I used the opportunity to go out and buy some small souvenirs from the local shops. The others made their way to the main street outside the church and also did some shopping. At this point, Llew handed over the sun of $100 to be shared by the three guides. Needless to say, some of us found this amount (recommended by Moti) to be far in excess of what was deserved by them.

This was the only time we would spend at the West Bank and it would have been nice to have a while longer here. The atmosphere was remarkably different from anything we had noticed in Israel. As far as my observation went, it was decidedly Islamic in its ethos. Crowds (mostly men) were dressed quite differently—in far more traditional Middle Eastern garb than we had seen in the rest of Israel. While I did not feel unsafe, I did feel a bit uneasy—simply because we had no escort with us. The center square had just seen a Christmas performance of some sort and the entertainers were leaving. A huge Christmas tree filled the square but it had not yet been decorated.

We met Moti as planned at the border and got out of our temporary vehicles and into Moti’s van. He then drove us to our new hotel in Jerusalem—a rather long drive filled with traffic snarls. However, we did reach our hotel called Hotel Arthur which we found to be right in the midst of a most ‘happening’ area—surrounded by shops, gelato parlors and loads of restaurants, it was easy for us to find a place to eat. We chose a Middle Eastern restaurant where we ate grilled chicken and kebabs for dinner. Just a short while later, we walked back to our hotel and called it a night.

Dipping into River Jordan, Mount Tabor, Megiddo and Nazareth

Dec12

Nov 22, Tue:

River Jordan-Mount Tabor-Megiddo-Nazareth

            Our day began with a buffet breakfast in the hotel where I opted, once again, for Shakshuka Eggs and a variety of roasted vegetables with local cheese and olives.

Baptism in the River Jordan at Yardenit:

Not long after, we were in the van driving along the shores of Lake Galilee and arriving at the spot where modern-day pilgrims re-enact the Baptism of Jesus by St. John the Baptist in the waters of the river Jordan. Although faith causes many groups to take a ritual dunking in the water and although we, for lack of a priest in our midst, baptized ourselves with the river’s waters, I should state that contemporary scholars are of the opinion that the actual spot at which Jesus’ baptism took place is in modern-day Jordan. In fact, during our travels in Jordan, a few years ago, Llew and I had visited this spot. The Jordan no longer flows through that part of Jordan (the country) as it has changed its course in 2000 years. But archeological evidence believes that John confined himself to the “wilderness’ at this point and stayed alive through the use of water from a natural spring which is still active at the site in Jordan where every Christian denomination has built a church.

Here (as an aside) are my notes from my Jordan Travelogue that I thought I would share at this time, in order to compare the two sites:

Off we went next to the banks of the River Jordan to a spot known in the Bible as Bethany to see the site of Christ’s Baptism. For the longest time, Biblical scholars and archeologists were not quite certain exactly where, on Jordan’s banks, Jesus was baptized by his cousin John. Pilgrims to Israel are usually taken to a spot on the river where accompanying priests perform baptismal rites upon them. Only in recent years, in fact, has the exact spot of Jesus’ baptism been pin-pointed with a reasonable degree of accuracy and this spot seems to be, not in modern-day Israel, but in Jordan. Indeed, the Bible refers to the spot of John the Baptist’s retreat as “Bethany-Beyond-The-Jordan” where fresh springs flowed and where he began baptizing people with water.  Again, Pope John Paul’s visit to the spot where he said Mass, legitimized it as being the spot of Jesus’ Baptism and ever since then, various Christian denominations have been rushing there to build churches. Several are currently under construction and I would have liked to have entered the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George (as the area is under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church) but, alas, it was closed.

            Still, we saw the simple wooden canopy that has been built to replicate the kind of circumstances in which John might have carried out his baptisms. There are moving mosaic depictions of the event at the site. A winding walk down a narrow oasis-like path, past fresh rushing springs brought us to the banks of the River Jordan, reduced to a mere muddy canal at this point. Here we could bend down and trail our hands in the cool flowing waters and look across its bank into Israeli territory, appropriately marked by the armed presence of its soldiers. Pilgrims on the Israeli side were treated to the swish glass and concrete, air-conditioned interior of a modern visitor’s center. It was the oddest feeling to look just across the river into Israel and think how far divided these two countries have become—although after the Peace Accord much more ease prevails between Jordanians and Israelis.

We posed for pictures at the sign saying “Jordan River-Baptismal Place” but it was quite obvious that there are no signs or notes anywhere stating that this was the spot of Christ’s Baptism. Israel has built a very swanky Visitor’s Center at this spot with well-defined stone steps leading down to the water to enable pilgrims to take a dip—and indeed it was quite interesting to see some Filipino Evangelical groups take a physical dunking and come up spluttering.

Visit to Mount Tabor’s Basilica of the Transfiguration:

Our next stop was Mount Tabor to which our van climbed to enable us to enjoy stunning views of the Valley of Jezreel spread out below us and to see the sides of the mountain dotted white by settlements. This church, a grey stone edifice that resembles a castle with twin turrets, was also designed by Antonio Barluzzi. In the front churchyard, a sculpture of Pope John Paul II who visited the church, has been placed in a small garden. There is also a bas-relief bust of the architect Barluzzi on the wall. Inside, we discovered that the church is built in two tiers. A long nave with a lovely hammered timber ceiling (quite unlike any other church we visited) leads to a sort of ‘platform’ from which one can view the lower half of the church where the main altar is located. The gold mosaics on the church, in imitation of the style of Byzantine churches, gives it a very rich appearance.

We were fortunate to find that a concelebrated Mass was being said at the main altar and since we had not heard Mass anywhere up to this point, we trooped down the stairs to the altar and joined the congregation there. This enabled us to receive Communion in the church built at the spot where the Transfiguration of Jesus took place. Appropriately, the mosaic above the altar depicts the two figures from the Bible, Moses (holding the Ten Commandments) and Isiah glancing at Jesus who shines with a pure light. It was a very uplifting spiritual experience and the first of the kind we would have as the days passed by. Mount Tabor is supposed to be the spot at which the Transfiguration took place—which is why it has been marked by a church that is a frequent sight-seeing and pilgrimage point.

Visit to a Date Processing Factory:

Throughout our drives of the previous two days, Moti had been passing around a box of dates for us to snack on. They were delicious and he had told us that he would take us to the processing plant where top-quality dates are harvested and processed for consumption. Hence, our next visit was to a date-processing factory where we had the opportunity to taste really superior varieties of the fruit on which the entire Middle East survives and to taste a number of preparations made with dates such as a concentrated date sauce and a fruity tea. There were also a wide variety of spices to be bought and a number of cooking tools and gadgets. Some of us did leave with boxes of dates to be gifted to friends.

Exploring the Excavated Site of Megiddo (Armageddon):

Our visit to Megiddo (also known as Armageddon in the Bible) was one of the highlights of the trip for me as it introduced me to a site about which I had known nothing and from which I learned so much. Moti explained to us that Megiddo was excavated recently and discovered to be the site of a Hebrew settlement that was ingeniously created as a refuge from Roman persecution. Its location in the unprotected Valley of Jezreel made it vulnerable to attack—which was why it was essential for the Jewish inhabitants to create defenses that would baffle their enemies.

As we walked through the thick walls of the city, we entered Tel Megiddo (as it is known in Israel). The area has become a major spot of tourist interest—which explains why superb landscaping has created steps upon which visitors can climb and walk through the excavated ruins that date from the time of King Solomon in the 10th century BC. Among the many aspects of interest was the sacrificial altar (upon which animals were sacrificed to Yahweh). We also saw the foundations of what had been horse stables indicated by the presence today of a wrought-iron sculpture of a chariot upon which we all climbed for a picture.

However, the most fascinating aspect of Megiddo is its underground tunnel (through which the modern-day visitor can walk) that was constructed as a means of providing water for the inhabitants through a source in a faraway spring that lay far beyond the city walls. Thus, when the Romans laid siege to the settlement, the people inside did not perish as they had a steady source of water that kept coming even while they were surrounded by their enemies. Moti led us to the entrance to the tunnel (which, at the time, was completely disguised so that no one could find it) and then told us to walk through it. He would meet us, he said, on the other side. Little did we know how deep we would have to descend into the earth through a series of stairways hewn into the rock base. Once we arrived at the bottom, we found a wide and very long tunnel stretching out ahead of us. Obviously, in its heyday, this cavern, about an arm-span wide, was filled with a pipe through which water was conveyed from the spring to the settlement in an incredible feat of ancient engineering. We walked right through the tunnel and had to climb several ranks of steps to emerge at ground level on the side. This took a great deal of effort and stamina and was perhaps the most strenuous part of our travels. It was easy to see why Megiddo is included on a tour of Israel. In its dimensions and in the objective with which this plan was hatched, designed and implemented, it was quite ingenious indeed and a great tribute to the astute Jewish minds that envisioned it so many centuries ago. You can understand now why most of the Nobel Prize winners are Jewish!

Lunch at Megiddo Cafeteria:

Since Megiddo is such a well-visited site, it has a fairly well-organized cafeteria (which was where we stopped to have lunch). Llew and I chose to share a Set Meal which included a variety of mezze salads, onion soup, rice and chicken with fries and an orange for dessert. It was a very utilitarian lunch but it served its purpose of fueling us up for the rest of the day’s sightseeing—for we still had a lot in store.

On to Nazareth and the Church of the Annunciation:

Another longish drive brought us to the city of Nazareth which is busy, chaotic and characterized by incessant honking. Nazareth, of course, is the city of Jesus’s childhood and early upbringing. It was where his foster-father Joseph plied his trade as a carpenter and where Jesus would have assisted as an apprentice. This is also the town in which Mary was raised and where, as a maiden betrothed to her neighbor, the carpenter Joseph, she received news from Angel Gabriel that she would conceive—the Annunciation. Accordingly, Nazareth is visited by modern-day pilgrims for the Church of the Annunciation—it was one of the most elaborate of the churches we saw and distinctive for its collection of beautiful mosaic panels from most countries of the world that depict the Virgin Mother in some shape or form. This motif commences in the courtyard along a lengthy walkway and continues inside the church—a quite beautiful one built in yellow and pink sandstone with a pretty dome at the top. We decided to recite a decade of the rosary in every one of the sacred venues that we visited and we started at this one.

Inside, the church was rather dark and somewhat unusual in its design—it is almost stable-like and created from stones in varied shades of sand. Behind  the main altar was a niche in which there was yet another altar—as people paused there in prayer, I do believe that they consider this to be the actual spot where the Annunciation took place. The church is also constructed around a batch of ruins that might indicate the home in which the Annunciation occurred—presumably Mary’s home. At one end of the church is a really beautiful depiction of the Virgin in a painted sculpture at the foot of which are the words, Maria di Nazareth. This church too is two-tiered and upstairs (you reach there through a number of steep flights of stairs), you arrive at a much grander basilica where mosaics make up the main altar, stained glass panels let in light, a high conical dome can be seen above them and varied panels continue to present the Virgin in her glory. What I found interesting about this church was that the panels depicting the Station of the Cross have notes in Arabic script. What I find most intriguing about these churches is the manner in which the original ruins of significant spots have been retained with contemporary architects designing new structures to sit right upon them.

The Church of St. Joseph:

Just next door to the grand basilica is a much more modest church that is called The Church of St. Joseph which is said to be built above the exact location of St. Joseph’s home and workshop. A painting inside depicts the Holy Family with Jesus learning carpentry while his parents look on. The main altarpiece also depicts the Holy Family. There is a lovely statue of St. Joseph holding Jesus by the shoulder. I found it to be a very moving representation of foster-fatherhood.

When we had spent a few minutes in prayer and circumnavigated the church, we were told to look for stairs leading down to the crypt in which parts of Joseph’s original home are preserved. We did find the steps and did get downstairs to find the place mobbed by tour groups whose guides had accompanied them downstairs and were offering commentary on many different aspects of the space. I stopped to listen to what one of them was saying and was deeply impressed by the detail to be found in his comments. Here too, a mural depicting the Holy family contributes to the psychological sense of being in a place where the presence of the Holy Family was frequent.

Sampling Sweetmeats in Nazareth:

Unfortunately, although Nazareth appeared to be quite an intriguing city, we did not have much of an opportunity to explore it on foot (which was actually quite a drawback in our itinerary). Moti did, however, direct us to a sweetmeat shop as we had told him that we wanted to try kanafi. He took us to Mahmoon which our guide books had also extolled as selling the best sweetmeats. Moti arranged to have all sorts of items sent to us—but I have to state that I was disappointed as the kanafi that I had expected simply did not show up. We did try some varieties of baklava and other sticky sweet desserts—soaked, as baklava is, in orange blossom honey. But, the kind of kanafi that we had eaten repeatedly in Jordan and loved, remained elusive in Israel.

A Visit to a Diamond Merchant:

As part of our travels, Moti thought it pertinent to include a visit to a diamond merchant’s showroom as Israel is well-known for its business in commercial diamonds (and other precious and semi-precious stones). As we all know, the Diamond District in New York’s Manhattan used to be dominated by Jews—it is only quite recently that Indian Gujaratis have entered the trade. Raw diamonds are sourced from mines in Africa, sent to India for sorting and grading, then sent to Antwerp for cutting and eventually distributed to showrooms worldwide by the Israelis.

Upon entry in the showroom, we were greeted by a salesperson who gave us a very brief introduction to the cutting and grading of diamonds based on the concept of the four Cs: Color, Cut, Carat and Clarity. For most of us who are familiar with the Indian diamond trade, the prices at the showroom were atrocious. It is obvious that a huge markup was part and parcel of sales and that tour guides receive a heavy cutback from any sales. Certainly, the prices were higher (double or more) that any to be found in even the most prestigious diamond showrooms in India such as Bombay’s Tribhuvandas Bhimji Zaveri. It is not surprising that none of us bought anything as we certainly have far more reasonable sources from which to obtain our stones.

Back to Our Hotel, Dinner at Magdalena and a Piano Recital:

Back in our hotel in Tiberius, we debated our dinner options and decided to eat at Magdalena which is so-named because it is based in the town from which Mary Magdalen is supposed to have hailed. The restaurant turned out to be deluxe and although its menu was limited, its food was delicious. Llew and I shared superb Mediterranean Shrimp (which was similar to Scampi) and Kebabs Anatolia (minced meatballs with Turkish spices). Both our choices were good and with desserts based on chocolate, we had ourselves a very good meal indeed.

Soon after, we returned to our hotel and were treated to an amazing mini-recital from Cherie-Ann who played two most impressive pieces of classical music for us. She took the hotel by storm as she stormed the keyboard and had all the guests on high alert as they listened to her virtuosity on the piano. It was not long after that we called it a day and returned to our rooms.

The Sea of Galilee: Capernaum, Tabgha, Mount of Beatitudes, Golan Heights, Upper Hula Nature Reserve

Dec12

Nov 21, Mon:

The Sea of Galilee: Capernaum (St. Francis Church) Tabgha, Mount of Beatitudes, Golan Heights and Upper Hula Nature Reserve.

            When we awoke, we were quite delighted to discover that our hotel was right on the shores of the lake and that our rooms offered grand sweeping views of the city of Tiberius on the one hand and of the Sea of Galilee on the other. After witnessing sunrise on the Sea of Galilee, we hurried down for breakfast and discovered that it was not quite as extensive as the one offered by Hotel Shalom. But I found out that a chef was preparing eggs any which way and I chose to try a local favorite called Shakshuka—which is eggs stewed in a spicy tomato sauce. They were quite delicious indeed. In an attempt to eat local food, I filled my plate with hummus, roasted eggplant and feta cheese that I ate with olives—and, of course, coffee. Moti bundled us into his van when we had eaten our fill and drove us along the shores of the Sea of Galilee to the spot upon which visitors board boats for a ride on the waters of the Biblical Lake.

Boat Ride on the Sea of Galilee:

In the case of most pilgrims to the Holy Land, the boat ride on the Sea of Galilee is a very solemn affair—part of a Christian pilgrimage undertaken in a serene, solemn spirit. Ours was nothing like the usual one. We were greeted by the boat owners who discovered that we were from the USA. They then called upon two of our members (Vasanti and Glen) to hoist the American flag as a recording of The Star-Spangled Banner played in the background. This was followed by the hoisting of the Indian flag and the singing of the Indian National Anthem, the Jana Gana Mana.

By the time the anthems were sung, the boat has reached the middle of the lake. Our guide Moti produced his Bible and asked me to read a passage from it in which the story of Jesus walking upon the water is reported. It was at this time that he offered us a little thought for the day. Most of us were still seething at the thought of the injustice committed against him by the man in the church. He, however, asked us to remember where we were and to think about the lessons that we could take back from the Holy Land. In particular, he spoke to us about forgiveness.  He told us to keep in mind how hard it might have been for the British man to make the call to us, to admit his fault and to offer to compensate for the damage caused. He told us to remember that he had probably spent a very bad night and probably felt deeply ashamed about what he had done in public. He told us to think about forgiveness and to focus on the serenity of our surroundings.

Moti’s words had a deep impact on me and I thought that it was ironic that two thousand years after Christ first came to deliver his message of love and forgiveness; we were receiving a lesson from another Israeli Jew! Having received this message, it was time to trade! We were then shown a number of local handicrafts that the boat owners wished to sell: pendants made from stones found at the bottom of the Lake, music recordings of the hymns being played, etc. A few of our members bought some souvenirs. Towards the end of our cruise, the boat owners played the Goan Konkani song, Mira Mira, which they told us was popular among pilgrim groups from Goa. In a joyous mood, some of us danced on deck.

 

Stopping at the River Jordan:

With our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee done, Moti drove us off towards our next destination—but first we stopped briefly on the banks of the River Jordan that crosses through this part of the region. Some of us gingerly made our way down to the river banks, trailed our fingers in the waters of the Jordan and took a few pictures there. Everyone was surprised by how narrow the Jordan is—Llew and I were not surprised as we have seen the River Jordan from the country of Jordan (when Israel was on the other bank being patrolled by Israeli soldiers).

On to Capernaum (Capharnaum):

Out next port of call was Capernaum known as “The Town of Jesus”. Being driven out of Nazareth by local Jews who thought he was a crank, Jesus made his base in Capernaum. It was here that he recruited the twelve who would become his most faithful Apostles. This was also where he began preaching as a rabbi or teacher and first came to the attention of the Roman legions as well as the Jewish elders who questioned his authority. This area is also designated as a National Park.

Because it was at Capernaum (and probably very close to the location at which we stopped) that Jesus chose Peter to be his right hand man (“Thou art Peter and Upon this Rock shall I build my Church”), there is a lovely sculpture of St. Peter overlooking the square with these words engraved at the base. However, the church at which most pilgrims pause is dedicated to St. Francis. It is built on the ruins of what was supposedly the home of Peter and allegedly a location at which Jesus would very often have been. The Church is very modern indeed and is dominated by a mosaic of Jesus in pink and green on the main altar. If you stand by the altar and peer down through a section of glass floor, you can see the ruins of Peter’s Home.

Right outside the church lie the ruins of a 4th or 5th century synagogue that was once a thriving center of Jewish worship. Two massive columns at the end of the ruined location contain engravings in Greek and Latin—which would suggest that a palace of sorts was built on top of the synagogue. The location also offered a very good view of the pink-domed Russian Orthodox Church on the water’s edge.

Exploring Tabgha:

The next stop on our exploration of places of importance on the Sea of Galilee was Tabgha and we arrived there very shortly. Tabgha is said to be the site of the Miracle of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. We could well imagine, as we gazed out at the sparkling waters of the Lake at mid-day, the vast throngs that had gathered to listen to the rabbi preach. When Jesus found five loaves and two fishes belonging to a member of the congregation, he blessed them and told his apostles to share them with the crowd. The Gospel tells us that every single one of them was fed and twelve baskets of leftovers were collected at the end of the meal.

In commemoration of the miracle, a modern church was built at Tabgha in 1936. It is characterized by a gigantic candle chandelier that looks down upon a very simple altar composed of a marble slab over simple marble legs. A small part of a rock is visible under the altar. Jesus sat upon that rock and preached before performing his miracle. All around the altar and flanking both sides of it are beautifully detailed mosaics in subdued colors with motifs of local flora and fauna (especially cranes) well detailed on them. They formed beautiful stone carpets in tesserae—a form of decoration that I also saw in the excavated ruins of Pompeii.

Off to the Mount of Beatitudes:

From this venue, Moti drove our van to the Mount of Beatitudes—which, as the same suggests, was very close to the spot at which Jesus preached his most famous sermon on the Eight Beatitudes. Once you alight from the van, you make your way on foot to the Roman Catholic Church, designed by the famous Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi and completed in 1937. Punctuating the path to the church are eight stone ‘stools’, each of which is engraved with one of the Beatitudes. The Church itself is a splendid Baroque grey and white building with a lovely dome that stands upon an arcaded base with well-defined white arches. The interior of the church is not characterized by any memorable motif, but it made a peaceful place in which to pray.

Off to the Golan Heights:

After a very long drive through what was practically desert, we arrived at our next port of call—the famous (or infamous) Golan Heights—also known as the Valley of Tears. Moti gave us a long lecture to inform us about the significance of the venue. He talked about the 1967 War that was suddenly waged against Israel by six of its Arab neighbors. Since Israel was taken completely by surprise, its forces suffered an astounding loss of life. Much of the fighting occurred on the Golan Heights—a stretch of mountainous desert from where one can glimpse Syria. Given that Syria has been the target of so much disturbance in the past couple of years, the thought of being so close to the epicenter of so much violent dissension was rather disquieting. In fact, even as I type this, Aleppo has fallen to the forces of Assad’s regime and the brave rebels who fought so hard to defend it, have been annihilated.

Moti pointed out the presence of a UN Building and an Israeli military building as well as the remains of bunkers that had been used during the war and rather rusted tanks that have been retained in their original state to denote the extent of the loss and the sacrifice made by Israel’s soldiers. Since it was the closest we would probably come to Syria, I was keen to have a group picture taken at this venue and Moti obliged us by permitting us to get out of the vehicle and pose. He assured us that although we could not see any human presence, we could be assured that we were being closely watched and that the entire area is continually under Israeli military surveillance. He also pointed out a ‘virtual fence’ in the distance upon which some settlements were easily evident. It was hard to believe that this seeming wasteland has been the focus of so much political discord over the decades.

Lunch at Mas’ede:

Once again, we found our appetites fully whetted by the amount of sightseeing we had undertaken and we were well and truly ready for lunch when Moti stopped off at a small village called Mas’ede. He explained that the area was inhabited by members of an ancient sect of Judaism called the Druze and that its practitioners were obvious by the flowing black garments they wore.

The lunch served by the Druze in an establishment owned by them was, in my opinion, one of the best meals we ate on the trip. It contained all of the staples of the Mediterranean diet starting with an astounding lentil soup that was very filling and leading to salads known as mezze such as hummus, babaganoush, lebnez and greens made of lettuce, tomato and cucumber. In addition, there was falafel (deep fried chick pea dough balls–some of the best we ate), dolmas (rice-stuffed vine leaves), pickled mushrooms, pickled olives and pickled cucumbers. For dessert, the owner produced baklava that was the perfect end to the meal.

Off to Witness the Bird Migration:

Another longish drive after our heavy lunch led to a mandatory snooze for almost all of us as we made our way to the next venue—the Upper Hula Valley to see the Nature Reserve associated with the seasonal migration of thousands of birds that fly down from Siberia to spend winter on the Israeli mud flats.

We had a little while to ourselves before we boarded the specially designed vehicles—sort of like safari campers—that took us out into the wetlands to see the birds. None of us knew what to expect. Although Moti had explained that local farmers actually feed the birds tons of food grains to prevent them from eating their precious crops, it was hard for me to fathom the amount of birds we were likely to see, their size or their nearness. Hence, it was quite an astonishing experience to drive deeper and deeper into the Reserve to see an abundance of large birds that seemed to be a species of common crane. They were huge and grey in color and they made a deafening din as they congregated together in the process of foraging for food. To our immense delight, we were fortunate enough to spy a large flock of pink and white pelicans that were only specks in the sky at first but grew larger in size and volume as they approached our vehicle. The large wing span of the birds made their flight very graceful. As we drove along the river, we also saw a great deal of mallard life—from colorful ducks to black cormorants. Indeed, I had never dreamed that a trip to the Holy Land would include a spot of natural history—so it was quite refreshing to find that our itinerary included such a variety of unexpected activities.

Another very long drive around the shores of Galilee brought us back to our hotel in Tiberius where we freshened up and met in the lobby for drinks before deciding to dine in Pagoda, the Chinese counterpart of Decks where we had dined last night. We had very good Chinese soup and Pad Thai noodles for dinner which was punctuated by much laughter and camaraderie as we reviewed the many fascinating aspects of our day.

When we got back to our hotel, we found that a live entertainer was present in the lobby and that the music being played was right up our alley. Ken took the lead on the dance floor and led us all in a rendition of The Electric Slide which had Moti and the many guests sprinkled around in the lobby quite amazed at the sight they saw—a group of middle-aged Indians bogeying with such abandon! About a half hour later, having made our mark on the hotel and its staff, we made our way to our rooms for the night.

Tiberias and Beyond–Jaffa, Caesarea and Haifa

Dec12

Nov 20, Sun: Tel Aviv-Jaffa-Caesarea-Haifa

            Our first full day in Israel began with an absolutely world-class buffet breakfast in Hotel Shalom where the service was impeccable and the choice mindboggling. I was delighted to find yogurt and muesli and I started on it as a first course with a smattering of dried fruit and nuts when the waitress came to take our order for eggs as we wished to have them. Both Llew and I chose omelets with the works—we got mushrooms, onions, green peppers and cheese in ours– together with freshly squeezed orange juice and really good coffee (and even mimosas or a glass of champagne for those who wanted it. Needless to say, I who love champagne ordered a glass right away)  My only regret was that we hadn’t given ourselves enough time to have a relaxed breakfast and as we hurried through it, I really did wish we were staying at the same hotel for at least one more night.

As it turned out, our guide Moti arrived a few minutes before 8.00 am, to shepherd us into the van that would be our traveling vehicle for the next week. We piled in our baggage and set off. We wished we’d had more time to see Tel Aviv, but as it was really nothing more than a very Westernized urban settlement, we were content to see the waterfront along which we drove as we took in the Sunday life of the city. There were joggers galore along a sea face that was beautifully landscaped with beach umbrellas, walking and jogging tracks and, on the other side of the road, a concrete jungle of modern hotels facing the sea. Little by little, we made our way to Jaffa which might really be seen as an extension of Tel Aviv itself.

Exploring Jaffa:

Our aim was to catch the 9.00 am Mass at the Roman Catholic Monastery of St. Peter which was right at the waterfront. It is a beautiful church in the Italianate style, ochre-colored with yellow highlights on its exterior. Inside its Baroque style was reiterated by marble columns and a painted altarpiece. To our astonishment, we discovered, when Mass began, that the priest was a Keralite from India. Since it was a Sunday, the church was packed by the time Mass began.

It was during Mass and within a few hours of our stay in the Holy Land that we had a cultural shock when the camera of our guide, Moti, was shattered by a member of the congregation who objected to his attempt to take our pictures during Communion. The incident resulted in our efforts to make him accountable for his actions by following him to his vehicle after Mass where the five of us (Moti, Ian, Glen, Llew and I) met his domestic partner and tried to get Moti compensation for the loss of his property. By the time we returned to the rest of our waiting group, our mood of well-being had been shattered and we were all seething at the injustice of it all—not to mention our rather rude entry into the cultural nuances of Middle Eastern life.

However, we soon decided to try and put the matter behind us as we did not wish to dampen our own spirits and that of our guide. Following his prompts, we stopped by the water to take in the panorama of modern-day Tel Aviv as it lay in the distance, its skyscrapers contrasting strongly with the wayside shacks on the Jaffa waterfront. Moti explained that Jaffa was an ancient port, perhaps the oldest port in the world, and that every type of invader, conqueror and explorer from the ancient world such as Etruscans and Phoenicians, Romans and Greeks, Arabs and modern-day colonials, had sailed through its waves and arrived on its shores. In order to make this vision clearer, he led us on a guided walk through Old Jaffa’s Flea Market, a wonderful maze of little shops selling everything you could imagine from buttons and buckles to Chinese knick-knacks, from post cards to magnets (which we picked up) and to stalls selling freshly squeezed fruit juice such as pomegranate (which we ordered and tasted). We traded with Israeli Arabs clad in traditional robes and had our first taste of buying in the local markets of the land. In the main market square, we passed by the Clock Tower that created a busy traffic island.

A little later, having received an introduction to the Middle Eastern souk, we piled back into our van and started our drive along the West Coast of Israel with its multi-million dollar apartment buildings clinging to the waterfront that gives it a name–Gold Coast. It was not long before we arrived at Caesarea, a must-stop site for most tourists to Israel.

The Antiquated City of Caesarea:

Caesarea is a large National Park. After obtaining our tickets, Moti walked us to a shady spot to give us a short geographical lecture on Israel and its precarious position in the Middle East. He then led us to the highlight of the park, its Roman Theater. Having just returned from Sicily only a week previously, where I had seen similar Roman and Greek amphitheaters in Catania, Taormina and Syracuse, I knew immediately that this theater had received a great deal of refurbishment for the sandstone steps were brand-new and did not sport the antiquity of the authentic theaters I had seen in Sicily. Our guide confirmed that the refurbishment had occurred in the 1960s and that the theater is still used today. Evidence of this was easily available in a sound system outfit that was hard at work setting up for an evening’s show. Furthermore, going by the shape of the theater (semi-circular as opposed to a complete circle as in the Colosseum in Rome), I was also well aware that this theater had never been used for animal or gladiatorial tournaments, but was a theatrical venue for the performance of public plays and other such forms of declamation. However, I have to say that its location (being right by the azure waters of the Mediterranean Sea) made it quite visually stunning.

We then walked through the thick original walls of the city (named, of course, after Emperor of Rome, Caesar—but not Julius Caesar. The emperor whose name is immortalized here is Caesar Augustus, a member of the original Roman Triumvirate that had included Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony).

Our next stop was the stirring remains of the Hippodrome where horse chariot races (as seen in the famed sequence in the film Ben Hur) had been held through the height of Caesarea’s fame. It was built by Herod—not the Herod who features in the story of the Holy Innocents in the Bible, but his son—in order to curry favor with Rome. For his pains, he was appointed as Rome’s vassal. Llew and I had seen a similar antique hippodrome in Sultanahmet in the heart of Istanbul in Turkey—a good indication of the spread and might of the Roman Empire in its heyday.

A short walk later in rather hot and uncomfortable sun, we spied the remains of Herod’s Swimming Pool—lapped today by the aquamarine sea water of the Mediterranean that was gorgeous in its clarity. It would have been a perfect location for a King’s swim!  We also passed by the columnar remains of Herod’s Palace as well as the remains of a Byzantine Church that was built at the site once Christianity was accepted and established in the former Roman realm (through the efforts of Emperor Constantine whose mother, Helena, converted to Christianity and legitimized it).  Indeed, the history of Caesarea is quite fascinating in terms of the vast numbers of clans who have peopled it through the ages and the archeological and architectural remnants they have left behind to proclaim their presence.

Our visit to Caesarea ended with a delightful film in the modern museum, built at the water’s edge, that traced this history quite effectively to give us a time line and to create context for the ruins through which we had traced our path.  It took us through the centuries from the reign of Caesar to Herod to Pontius Pilate and eventually to St. Paul. We also went through the Time Travel Hall of Holograms which, once again, had we more time, would have taught us a great deal more about the importance of this settlement whose stones silently proclaim its use. I was quite fascinated also by a small exhibit in the museum that revealed a vast discovery of Roman gold coins unearthed only in 2016 from a Roman galleon that had been wrecked off its shores. It made me wonder how much more treasure lies buried in the deep still waiting to be discovered.

Lunch in a Small Town:

By this time, we were peckish and Moti obligingly took us to a small town where we stopped to have lunch. Deciding to eat as the locals do, we opted for Chicken Shawarma which came in pita rolls with salad and tahini sauce. It was perhaps the least appealing meal we ate on the entire trip, but it was quick, practical and portable. We also realized from the price of this modest meal that the cost of living in Israel is high—indeed higher than in the USA.

The small town was very similar in appearance to any Indian small town. Traffic was nuts, horns beeped loudly and, in the shops, the general sense of chaos (quite familiar to those from India) prevailed.

Right after lunch, we hit the highway again to pass by desert-like landscapes that were quite impressive in the amount of irrigational projects that allow date and banana plantations to thrive. Indeed, Israel has made the desert bloom and is almost self-sufficient in food production.

Arrival in Haifa and Seeing the Baha’i Temple:

Not too long after, we were skirting the modern city of Haifa that is on the north western coast of Israel. Best known for its Baha’i Temple, it is the main reason why visitors stop in the city today. The best vantage point for the Temple is a high mountain that our van negotiated with ease to drop us off at a balcony-like lookout point.

The city of Haifa lay beneath us in all its glory with the Baha’i Temple’s glorious golden dome dominating the scene. It has an incredibly beautiful garden that is landscaped in tiers that march down the side of the mountain in a lush oasis of green lawns and tall poplar trees. Although the interior of the Temple can be visited on a guided tour, there are specific times when this occurs. We had to be content with taking in the exterior of the building and the distant vistas that included the contemporary Israeli naval base. We could see ships in the harbor—both military and commercial ones–as well as the prosperous city that has mushroomed up around its economy. Deciding to get a better feel of the venue, we actually descended down several tiers on beautiful marble balustraded stairs to take in the pretty gardens. The vantage point allowed us glimpses of the entire Israeli west coast and gave us a good sense of its strategic importance for defense.

A Visit to an Olive Oil Pressing Plant:

Leaving Haifa behind, in our van, we arrived at the ancient city of Tiberius that is mentioned extensively in the Bible. It would become our base for the next three nights as we explored regions surrounding it. However, before we checked into our hotel, Moti led us to an olive oil pressing plant which is run on a small scale as a cottage industry. Having passed through many olive groves on our drive and seeing ripe fruit on the trees, it was quite fascinating to see the mechanized process as branches (leaves and fruit) are fed into the grinders for separation, washing and, ultimately, pressing of oil. Moti drew our attention to the number of local people who arrived with olives plucked from their own trees to have oil pressed for them. This plant is, therefore, far from the more commercial outfits that deal in larger volumes. Freshly bottled, the first pressing of the oil is like liquid gold for the people of this region as the Mediterranean diet thrives on the use of this magical ingredient that lends tastes while being polyunsaturated and retaining no cholesterol. Some members of our group bought bottles of oil—you can tell that they are genuine foodies who care for nothing but the best possible ingredients in their cooking!

Dinner at Decks:

Finally, at the end of an extremely packed day, we arrived at our hotel in Tiberius, The Galei Kinneret. Since it was dark by this point, we did not appreciate its location—right on the Lake of Galilee. In fact, in Hebrew, Galei Kinneret means ‘On the Shores of Galilee’. We checked in, got into our rooms and then decided to meet downstairs for pre-dinner drinks to be followed by dinner. Those who wished to imbibe were in the lobby sipping drinks and the rest of the company arrived soon enough.

It was decided that we would have dinner in the most reputed restaurant in Tiberius called Decks. Accordingly, Moti dropped us there and joined us for a Continental meal that was very delicious. However, the meal was really expensive—as I said, it was as expensive as those to be found in the US (for some reason, I had expected the cost of living to be lower in Israel). By the time we had finished our meal, the desserts of our choice were not available, but few of us had the room to eat anything more.

Moti drove us back to our hotel for a good night’s rest.

Shalom Israel! Getting to Know Tel Aviv.

Dec12

We were deeply excited about exploring the Holy Land as it had remained on our Bucket List for far too long. Besides, Llew and I would be reunited there after about three and a half months of separation. It would be a really significant place in which to have a fond reunion.

Nov 19, Sat: London-Tel Aviv

             I left my friend Rosemary’s place in Battersea at the crack of dawn to take an Easyjet flight from Luton airport to Tel Aviv, capital of Israel. Llew would be flying out from New York via Madrid. After a comfortable, if uneventful flight, during which we took off and flew right over a sprawling country estate in England, the white cliffs of Dover and the sea port of Calais in France (all clearly visible from my window seat—and I have pictures to prove it), I touched down in Tel Aviv after a four hour flight. It was about 6.30 pm local time.

Llew had been awaiting my arrival for about an hour and a half and it was quite easily (and with relief) that I spotted him standing with Moti, the man who would be our driver and tour guide for the duration of our trip. We had our happy reunion and were immediately escorted by Moti into his waiting vehicle for the hour-long ride to our hotel called Hotel Shalom which was right by the waterfront. We checked into a very luxurious and spacious room which included, unexpectedly, a Jacuzzi tub right in our room, and were in the process of making ourselves comfortable when we received a call from our friends in the lobby to inform us that they had arrived after a day spent outdoors. We hastened down to meet them and were delighted to see our close friends Ian, Jenny, Cheri-Ann and Gemma again and to make the acquaintance, for the first time, of Vasanti and Glen as well as Ken and Fleurette. We would make a happy Tensome for the next eight days as we got to know each other in the Holy Land.

Exploring Tel Aviv’s Boardwalk:

It was at the suggestion of our friends, who had spent the whole day in Tel Aviv, that we did not lose any time in seeing the Boardwalk which was right outside our hotel. Taking their advice, Llew and I set out on the ten minute walk to the Boardwalk, which even at 9.00 pm was buzzing with humanity as the Sabbath had just ended and life was slowly returning again to Israel. Apart from the fact that the shops were open for business, we saw a number of food stalls selling everything from barbecued chicken to kanafi, the dessert to which we had become introduced, a few years ago, during our travels in Jordan. Had we some Israeli currency on us, we would, no doubt, had ordered some and eaten it right there. However, the lack of local money and inability to pay by credit card deprived us from tucking into a dessert that I did not find anywhere else in the Holy Land in quite the same guise. Moral of the story? Do not arrive in a foreign country without some local currency in your pocket. (As seasoned travelers, we ought to have known that!)

After spending more than an hour by the water and getting a taste of Israeli night life, we decided to call it a day. We turned back and walked to our hotel where, because we were only spending  a night and had a long and tiring day, decided to make full use of our Jacuzzi. It was unlikely that we would find another such hotel. Accordingly, we filled the tub and got into it and spent the next half hour soaking away our travel fatigue. Tel Aviv had presented itself as a very modern city with highways as in the West and a social life that looked similar to any enjoyed in the world’s most prosperous cities.

Last Day in London Before Departure for Israel and France

Nov18

Friday, November 18, 2016

London

I awoke in Battersea in Roz’s home at about 6.00 am. She was leaving for work by 7.00 am today, which left me time to laze a bit, check email, call my Dad and my brother Russel in Bombay and get some breakfast. I had cereal with yogurt and milk and fresh berries from her fridge and made myself some instant coffee.

I then had a shower and hand washed a bunch of my clothes from my trip to Sicily and Italy and hung them out to dry. In about half an hour, I was out of her house and in a bus to Sloane Square. From there, I hopped into the Tube and came to NYU. I spent almost the entire day repacking as well as taking care of the logistics for my trip to the Holy Land to which I fly tomorrow. Between attending to email, printing boarding passes for my Easybus and Easyjet flights tomorrow, talking briefly with Llew who will be on his way to the Kennedy airport in New York directly from work in Brooklyn, and resettling my two suitcases, etc. time just flew.

I managed to get some blog pages done although I did not have the time to actually do the posts. All of this might have to wait until I return from Israel and France as I am not taking my laptop with me.  It is simply too much of a load to carry around.

I had a prawn salad from Sainsbury for lunch and continued to work on my repacking. Eventually, at 6.00 pm, I left my office and returned to Battersea. Roz and I intend to have a pub dinner somewhere and settle on an early night as I have a flight leaving from Luton at 11. 40 am tomorrow.

It will be a long time before I am able to blog again–not until December 11. I will say Bye to you for now. Thanks for following my blog posts and for your very valuable comments.

Until the next time, cheerio…