Holland (May 15-22)

So it was up at 2am in Tel Aviv in order to leave sufficient time to get through the famed extra heavy security of Ben Gurion airport for our 6am flight to Amsterdam. In fact other than a few extra stages of checking this and that the security wasn't really all that tough.

Landing in Holland was yet another step in our decompression from travelling Asian and Arab lands. Everything is so clean and well looked after, no one is hassling you about anything, it all seems so relaxing in comparison! Even something like not having to worry whether there will be TP available in the bathrooms or not is a big change for us!

Our destination from here was John's cousin in Gouda (yes back to cheese-land for us). This required a couple of short train rides connecting through Amsterdam and so we decided since we were there to spend the day hanging out in the city (after checking our luggage for the day at the train station there). Wow...what modern trains...brand new, quiet electric, feeling like they were floating on a cushion of air. And the people are so nice even when buying a sandwhich for lunch and you change your choice at the last minute, they are so cheerful and its like 'no problem'. And Amsterdam is so nice, the buildings look so beautiful, people seem to care what things look like and how good a shape they are in. These are all feelings we experienced as sharp contrasts to our world of the last 6 months.

We decided to go to the Van Gogh museum and have a look at their selection of his famous paintings. It was like sensual overload on top of everything else...beauty, art...just for the sake of it. After a couple of hours there we laid down in the grass of the park outside as we had only a couple of hours of sleep and John promptly fell asleep for an hour!

Well it was back to the train station to catch the connection to Gouda and to experience another new feeling...to talk to someone you know and have a connection with...for the first time in months! We enjoyed the feeling of being with family and the comfort of a home, home cooked food, using a machine to do laundry (rather than by hand in the bathroom sink!). So for the next few days we just basically hung around, hence there is not much to write about! except to say once more, at the risk of sounding repetitious, about how beautiful the old historic towns of Holland are. It really is a unique place because of the smaller, more compact, more intimate human scale of everything, of how well looked after is every little detail, of how the city centers especially are oriented to favouring cycling and walking and to discourage cars. Amsterdam is like this, Gouda is like this, Haarlem which we visited for an afternoon is like this, as well as countless other smaller towns in the country.

So after 4 days in Gouda (thanks a million Ellen and Willem for everything) we headed to the east of Holland to visit Aunt (Tante) Alie and Agnes for a few days (more wonderful hosts - thank you). Next on the plan is traveling to Paris where we will visit with friends and head off to visit our last country or so...Italy and perhaps some of the south of France.

Tickets have now been bought for our return to Canada...Toronto...on June 29th....but first there is much to experience of Italy. We'll keep you posted.

The Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee.... (May 11-14)

After several days in Jerusalem, we decided the best option to see more of Israel was to rent a car. The first destination on the list was the Dead Sea - it's much too legendary to miss! Upon leaving Jerusalem, the road begins to descend and you quickly pass into desert landscape, dropping down to -1300 feet (below sea level) - this is the lowest point on earth. While the altitude decreases, the air temperature increases incredibly! Here's a view of the landscape along the way as well as one of many beautiful approach sights of the Dead Sea.

After about an hour you reach a beach where you can park, change clothes and 'attempt' to go for a swim. We say 'attempt' because the buoyancy effect is truly unlike anything we've ever experienced before - it is amazing! It's virtually impossible to swim on your stomach because your feet keep floating to the surface making kicking ineffectual. It is possible to lie on your back and potentially read a book. Sinking isn't an option! Of course this incredible buoyancy is due to the high salt content in the water soooo, if you have any open wound...it really stings!!!. For instance, even the act of shaving that morning left John's skin a wee bit sensitive and it hurt getting his face wet ;(

From the Dead Sea, another 20 minutes away, you reach Massada, a hill top ruin of what was once King Herod's (of the Bible times) palace. Thankfully, we could avail of the gondola to the top - it was so hot outside that an inclined trek might have done us in!

Later in 70AD, it also became the last stronghold of the Jewish rebellion against the Romans. One takes a cable car up about 500m where you get these amazing panoramic views over the Dead Sea and try to imagine firstly the view's from Herod's palace and then that final seige the Romans made on the Jews - it was no small feat! The Romans finally ended the seige by building an earthen ramp up the 500m and moving a tower up the ramp that could batter down the gate...however, by the time they got in they found the whole population (men, women, and children) had done themselves in, rather than be captured and enslaved by those nasty Romans.

After Massada we drove an hour back north, hoping to find a hotel for the night in the city of Jericho. This is now an exclusively Palestinian town and we had to pass through both and Israeli and Palestinian checkpoints to get in....no problem at all though...not really any questions were asked...I guess we looked safe. Once 'inside' Jericho a town of perhaps 30,000 or so, it was looking pretty run down and spread out. Lots of partly finished concrete blocks and a small central area with shops, restuarants and a zillion traffic police! While having some roast chicken here, 6 platoons of Palestinian soldiers in training came and jogged around townsquare chanting and then again disappeared. Their clothing was looking kind of ragged and of several different styles, so it seemed like they were short of equipment...such as a basic uniform! So it then turned out that finding a hotel was problematic. You had a choice of either ultra-dirty/shabby or two 150$ night resorts...very bizare. We opted for the latter... which couldn't have been more than 10% occupied. Jericho is clearly not a stop on the tourist trail these days (there being nothing of historical value that still seems to be standing here).

The next morning, we began a 2 hr drive north up the Jordan valley towards the Sea of Galillee. We made a small detour to check out the baptismal site on the River Jordan .... First, we had to pass a check point where we were instructed to keep straight until we reached the river. Couldn't really drive in any other direction due to barbed wire fences and signs saying "Danger - Land Mines"....okay so we will stay straight! We truly felt as though we were passing through 'no mans land'. A bit eerie but it was totally fine and we had the place to ourselves - we passed a busload of tourists as we headed back ;)

We also decided to make a stop in Beth Sha'an - this is a modern town built around the ruins of an ancient Roman city by the same name. They have unearthed approximately 10% of what was there and it is pretty impressive already! Below are photos showing the main collonaded street, theatre, building facades, bath houses, fountains and amazingly preserved mosaics. It is important to note that, as with just about every ancient city here, there were many changes in rulership and therefore much was destroyed and rebuilt and for this city, its end was an earthquake - they have left some pillars and arches as they were found in their toppled state. Biblically speaking this is the city where the bodies of King Saul and his sons were 'placed on display' after they died in battle.

We arrived on the shores of Galilee later that day. It is a beautiful area - the large lake and surrounding countryside are relatively peaceful with the only city being that of resort-oriented Tiberius which we of course passed by. After finding a bungalow as close to the ancient ruins of Capernaum as we could, we headed for the shoreline as the ancient town and the Mount of Beatitudes were closed for the day.

The shores of Galilee are a very special place - you can feel it. It is beautiful, peaceful and powerful. All we could think of was the time Jesus spent here and the lives He touched and the ministry He began.

The following morning we headed for the Mount of Beatitudes. An incredible view with hundreds of people holding special worship services in various places throughout the gardens. It was very uplifting to hear Spanish, Italian, Indian and English voices praising God! There are no words to describe it. We found a little bench and read the sermon on the Mount ...... to reflect on those words is powerful and , as always, giving the soul much to ponder.....bread indeed.

It was hard to leave but the town of Capernaum was waiting.....what remains is the foundation of the small homes and a second synagogue which was built on the foundation of the original synagogue where Jesus would have preached.

As time was running short, we left for a drive through the countryside where Jesus would have walked to Cana and Nazareth. We did not stop here as there are no sights to see just a large town and city. We continued west toward the Mediterranean just around the outskirts of Haifa then south along the coast to the ancient ruins of Cesearia. Another amazing place still being excavated - among the features here are a hypodrome where horse races were held along with other games of athleticism were held and an aquaduct that was 3.5 kms long - check that out!

Well, a quick nap in Tel Aviv and an early morning flight to Amsterdam brings this short but exciting leg of the journey to a close and opens a much anticipated time with family in Holland!

Jerusalem (May 7-10)

After about 4 days or so of relaxing by the Red Sea again in Dahab, we made our way by bus for 3 hours to the southern border of Israel. Along the way there were miles and miles of low budget resorts with bamboo style shacks that were completely deserted. These are a consequence of Israeli's no longer visiting these parts after a few suicide bombings in the border town of Taba a few years ago. All along the way the coastline is the most beautiful hues of blue-green making you want to just stop and get off the bus and check out the underwater scenery.

Well for us the border crossing was easy and no real big deal except for the aggressive old Greek Orthodox ladies trying to jump the immigration queues as they were returning from their bus tours to Sinai! Its a very picturesque crossing as you walk along the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba. Once across the border, we shared a quick taxi ride to the Eilat bus station and then catching a bus for a 4 hr ride to Jerusalem passing the shores of the Dead Sea along the way.

Right away we could feel the stress starting to ebb away from our bones once in Israel, finally being in a place where one could walk down the streets without being solicited for one thing or the other, where things can be bought without extensive negotiations on the price, etc. Also, the fact that everything is clean and maintained and that you are surrounded by beautiful things, gardens and buildings etc...it really has a psychological impact on the well being that you feel and after months and months away from such environments you can really notice the difference. Now there's an argument in favour of careful urban design and taking the effort to make nice architecture. We can say now that we've directly experienced the difference that can make.

Once in Jerusalem, the first observation to be made was how cold it was in the evening. The city is spread over several hills at about 900m elevation and that made it about 10-12 degrees at night...quite a difference from what we had been living in for the past several months. We managed to find a room in the Petra Hostel, just inside the Jaffa gate of the old walled city....a corner room with arched ceilings and windows, a small balcony out front with a view over the tower and square of the Jaffa gate...primo! OK so maybe the bathroom left a lot to be desired...you can't have it all! Here's a view through the bedroom window with old Jerusalem in the background.

The first evening was spent taking a stroll down into the Jewish Quarter and by the Western (Wailing) wall. This is where the Orthodox Jews gather to pray as it actually is the retaining wall of the hill where the Jewish temple (built by King Solomon) used to be, which since 670 AD has instead been the site of Muslim mosques/tombs such as the famous Dome of the Rock shown below....a very nice building considering it is 1300 and some years old!

Back to the wailing wall...this particular night it was packed with people as it was a night where the next wave of recruits for the Israeli army were taking their vows. We arrived just as it was finishing and so it was full of young teenage men/women in uniform carrying machine guns and having their photos taken with their families/girlfriends etc.

We discovered that we could attend a Shabbot on Friday evening....so we did as we could not think of a better way to partake in an authentic Jewish Sabbath dinner. Let's just say there was much food, singing, speaking and praying over the course of 3 hours. Thankfully, the rabbi who hosts this meal every Sabbath in his own home, does his best to explain what they are doing and why otherwise we would have been lost.

Well there is just too much to say about the next couple of days, touring the various sights of the city...churches, mosques, archaelological excavations of water pools written about in the Bible, of the main roman street and market of the time, etc, etc. For us it felt great to see these sights that we had read about in the stories of the Bible and reflect on them.

Faith in God is a very tangible and comforting element here while the many differences among the religions is also evident. We were grateful to attend a service at Christ Church Sunday morning. It had been so long since we last had the opportunity to worship in an English-speaking church. It was wonderful.

One thing can be said - it is remarkable how historically valid the Bible is at mentioning in great detail particular places of which some have only been recently discovered. An example is an excavation of a long tunnel constructed to bring water from a spring that was outside the old city wall into a pool closer to the city where it could then be incorporated into the city. The old testament describes in detail how King Hezekiah built this tunnel to bring the spring water inside the city wall in anticipation of a seige from the king of Assyria. So here it is, in the last 10 years they have found this tunnel and you can walk through the 500m length today in 70 cm deep water flowing from the spring. Here's a view looking down into the tunnel and another of the excavated exit into a pool.

Other things well worth mentioning are the visit to the Mount of Olives, the site where Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemine and was apprehended on his last night - there still exists a grove of olive trees which have been dated to 2000 yrs old.

We then walked back to the Lion's gate (previously known as the Lamb's gate) and followed the Via Dolorosa - the route that Jesus walked to His crucifixion. It ends at the Holy Sepulchre which houses what is believed to be the site where Jesus was crucified and buried. It is important to note that Jerusalem was conquered, destroyed and rebuilt many times and that even today the current Old City is built above the original city therefore the exact locations are not known for certain events but the close proximity is widely accepted.

One whole section of the old city is called the muslim quarter and it is completely different from the Christian and Jewish quarters.

It's packed to the brim with little shops, mostly 'underground' and congested with people. All in all, we couldn't detect any obviously strong tensions in the city as it was easy to move around between the different 'quarters'. You just have to get used to the sight of 18 to 20 something men/women armed with machine guns strolling around everywhere and passing through x-ray machines whenever moving in/out of the Jewish quarter.

So that's an overview of the old and the new in Jerusalem through our eyes - a city with much history and importance....