This blog is a work in progress...I will update it as I move on here in Israel
Flag of Israel with Star of David
Map of Israel and neighboring countries
Where is Bethlehem? (current boundaries 2011)
Click here to listen to the song "Israel, You Will Never Be The Same" and watch how beautiful this country. Now that I've been in Israel, I appreciate the message of this song even more. What a wonderful experience!
Click here to watch Israel The Chosen Land...
"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid nor dismayed, for I am with you everywhere you go." Joshua 1:9
The aircraft that flew me toTel Aviv, Israel via Paris, France 6.21.11
I was inside this plane as seen landing in Paris, France
Mediterranean Sea, Netanya, Israel
Click here to watch boat man against the Mediterranean Sea waves
Longest pastry bread with nuts on top I've seen---only in Israel 6.25.11
Mediterranean Sea as seen from Rosh Hanikra, Israel 6.28.11
Click here to watch Rosh Hanikra
Rosh HaNikra (Hebrew: רֹאשׁ הַנִּקְרָה, lit. Head of the Grottoes) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the Mediterranean coast near the Rosh HaNikra grottoes and the border with Lebanon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Asher Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 746.
The kibbutz was established on 6 January 1949 by demobilised Palmach members. These gar'in were initially based in kibbutz Hanita, and were joined by assorted members of Zionist youth movements and young Holocaust survivors. At the start of the 21st century the kibbutz was privatised.
The coastal rail line used to continue from the Nahariya Train Station to Lebanon by way of Rosh HaNikra where there was a bridge and railway tunnel. Built by Australian, New Zealand and South African troops during World War II in order to move troops and supplies in the area during the Syria-Lebanon campaign, it was part of the Haifa-Beirut-Tripoli line. Israeli forces bombed the rail bridge during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the remnants of this line can be seen at Rosh HaNikra where a virtual "train ride to peace" movie is shown inside the sealed tunnel that used to go into Lebanon.
Rosh HaNikra is the most southern point of a range of hills running along the Mediterranean Sea and called the Ladders of Tyre (Hebrew: Sulam Tsor). Source:Wikipedia
Rosh Hanikra, Israel 6.28.11
Into the cave of Rosh Hanikra, Israel 6.28.11
Mediterranean Sea taken from teleferico in Rosh Hanikra, Israel 6.28.11
The cave in Rosh Hanikra, Israel
Keep looking at the wall: this way to Jerusalem, this way to Beirut. Now I understand why Israel is always ready-- to it's north is Lebanon, north east are Syria, Iraq, Iran, east is Jordan, south is Egypt...think about it.
The Mediterranean Sea and hotel pool as seen from the 6th floor of my hotel room in Netanya, Israel 6.22.11 Love it!
Click here to watch glider by the sea as seen from my hotel room
A pool: one of the requirements I look for before booking a hotel (as much as possible)
Free workout facility by the Mediterranean Sea in Netanya, Israel. This encourage people to be conscious of their physique! Netanya, Israel 6.29.11
Ceasarea National Park, Israel 6.28.11
Click here to watch Ceasarea National Park, Israel
Caesarea National Park is located on the Mediterranean Coast in the lower Galilee. Although the city was first built in the third century BCE, its popularity and importance grew when Herod extended the city. The park contains remains from many of the cities built on the site, particularly from the Herodian and Crusader periods. At its height, Caesaria had some 200,000 inhabitants. It stood for over a thousand years until it was finally destroyed in the 13th century.
You wil see brave guys in the Ceasarea National Park jumping off the Roman wall (Byzantine Empire) into the Mediterranean Sea during my visit to Ceasarea on 6.28.11 They are cool!
Ceasarea National Park, Israel 6.28.11
Ceasarea National Park, Israel 6.28.11
Ceasarea National Park, Israel 6.28.11
The Roman performers in the park in the photo below
These brave Israelis guys jump of the Roman wall (Byzantine time) into the water. Ceasarea National Park, Israel 6.28.11
Hebrews characters
Good to have symbols in this Do's and Don't's in the park, otherwise ....
Border between Israel and Palestine...about to cross the border to go to Bethlehem under Palestinian territory. I was met by a Palestian guide upon crossing the border. My Israelite guide was not allowed by Palestinian law to enter their country (Israelis are not allowed at all.) 6.24.11
Crossing the border (blue wall-Israel side, grill metal divider -Palestinian side) 6.24.11
Going to the Palestine checkpoint to enter Palestine from Israel 6.24.11
In Bethlehem, Palestine. I passed the Israel-Palestine border 6.24.11
In Palestine going to the Bethlehem to see the Church of Nativity with the presumed site where Jesus was born according to history and archeological records.
Presumed site of the manger in the Church of Nativity in Palestine 6.24.11
The star marks the presumed site of Jesus' birth
Inside the hall of the erected Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine where the presumed birth site and Jesus' manger were historically and archaeologically located. Access to this is subject to Palestinian authorization. 6.24.11
Me floating on the Dead Sea...You will really float due to the extremely high salt concentration causing the salt water to be highly denser than the body. Israel trip 6.27.11
Waiving while floating!
Click to watch Siege of Massada
At the edge of the Judean Desert, on a rocky plateau overlooking the Dead Sea, lies the excavated ruin of a royal citadel. It was the last stronghold held by the Jewish Zealots who refused to submit to Roman occupation. When they could hold out no longer, Masada became the backdrop for one of the most dramatic scenes in Jewish history. Israel trip 6.27.11
Behind the bars were the original floorings of the Synagogue in Capernaum. Capernaum ( /kəˈpɜrniəm/ kə-pur-nee-əm; Hebrew: כְּפַר נַחוּם, Kfar Nahum, "Nahum's village") was a fishing village in the time of the Hasmoneans. Located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.[1] It had a population of about 1,500.[2] Archaeological excavations have revealed two ancient synagogues built one over the other. A church near Capernaum is said to be the home of Saint Peter. Israel trip 6.26.11
Sulphur mud in the Dead Sea in Israel...6.26.11
Sulphur mud is good to the skin.
Wait 10 to 15 minutes and rinse off. Good to skin.
The tourist bus that took me from Tel Aviv to Masada to the Dead Sea in Israel. 6.26.11
The Western Wall in the midst of the Old City in Jerusalem is the section of the Western supporting wall of the Temple Mount which has remained intact since the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple (70 C.E.). It became the most sacred spot in Jewish religious and national consciousness and tradition by virtue of its proximity to the Western Wall of the Holy of Holies in the Temple, from which, according to numerous sources, the Divine Presence never departed. It became a center of mourning over the destruction of the Temple and Israel's exile, on the one hand, and of religious - in 20th century also national - communion with the memory of Israel's former glory and the hope for its restoration, on the other. Because of the former association, it became known in European languages as the "Wailing Wall". 6.28.11
In the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Israel 6.27.11 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is one of the most Holy sites in the Christian world, the site of the burial place of Jesus. The 12th C structure is located on the traditional site of Golgotha, the crucifixion and burial site of Jesus.
Click here to learn ore about the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
In the presumed location of crucifixion inside the where the Church of the Sepulcher was built.Israel 6.2707.11
The Old City covers roughly 220 acres (one square kilometer). The surrounding walls date to the rule of the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566). Work began on them in 1537 and was not completed until 1541.The Old City has a total of 11 gates, but only seven are open (Jaffa, Zion, Dung, Lions’ [St. Stephen's], Herod’s, Damascus [Shechem] and New).
Way of the Cross (for Roman Catholic) - Via Dolorosa
Where Jesus fell (Station |||)
Look at the Tilapia (St. Peter's fish). God said to Peter to open the mouth of the fish for money to pay for his takes
Got a token from Israel. My tour guide explained it to me very well: top-symbolizes people of Israel, middle - the Star of King David, bottom - fish, represents Christianity 6.27.11
