Bethlehem

Enroute to our final stop of Thursday 11 November 2010. Bethlehem.  I will just say that this was one of the "Adventures" of the trip. More of that later. Keep in mind that Bethlehem is in the Palestinian area, which means that Jewish guides and bus drivers cannot work there. The "Blue Bus" had both a Jewish driver and a Jewish guide. Hence the beginning of the "Adventure."

This is a picture of the freeway as we were driving south to Jerusalem. Just for an idea of what modern day Israel is like. Much like any where else in the world, I would say.

I can't remember if this is Jerusalem or not, but I do know it is a ciy that we could see from the freeway, and thought it would be interesting to see how things are laid out. Just to give one the lay of the land.

A look at the landscape of the area near Jerusalem. Too bad I don't know really where this was taken. It does give an idea of how things are. I do believe there is a wall being built up to the top left.  Very hilly and rocky, much different geography than what we know in North America.

I think this is very interesting landscape.  This is somewhere near Jerusalem, as I know that is where we are headed on the "Blue Bus"!  So much history here, I wonder what stories the rocks have to tell??

So we are getting closer to Bethlehem, which is about 7 miles south of Jerusalem.  Like I mentioned before, Bethlehem is in the Palestinian area so it was like entering another country. Because they want to keep the tourists coming, we had to meet another bus that had an Arab driver and guide. It was like we came in the back door, changed from our Blue Bus to their Arab bus and went to the sites. Just leaving the Jewish controlled area to the Arab controlled area was very much like driving from Cardston to Moses Lake.

First stop of course is always the stores.  Need to support the Christian Arabs, and yes this store had some great stuff. Super neat Olive Wood carvings of all shapes and sizes.  I think this shop probably had the best selection and workmanship of all the Olive Wood stores I saw.  Too bad I'm not independantly wealthy, there would have been a few things sent home to Canada.

Just a sample of some of the olive wood available.  I just loved the attention to detail and how shiney they were.

So cool. Kelly and Mike bought a very nice olive wood of Fishermen in a boat pulling in a big load of fish. I know I know, it would have been a good idea to have a picture of that, but I don't, so there ya go!!

Do you think Mary and Joseph had to stop at the Olive Wood  store before they could carry on? Perhaps not eh?

A view of Bethlehem.  I wonder what it was really like when Mary and Joseph came to the City of David to be taxed?

Did they see something like this? Probably weren't using english signs huh? Or Arabic?

This is the entrance to the Church of the Nativity. Umm, do you think Mary passed by that blue sign up there on her donkey, in her ninth month? Just a note about the donkey, it is said that if seated far back on the hips of a donkey, his feet go clipping along under him while his hips scarcely move. Such a ride on a donkey has been compared to sitting in a comfortable rocker at home.

Oh, read this sign! It makes me grin. Don't think one would ever see such instructions anywhere in North America or in Europe.   Oh do tell, which instruction makes you grin?

This is the entrance into the Church of the Nativity.  If you notice some of the rock work, there are some indication of older entrances that date back 1000's of years. (I can't remember everything that was said about those details.)  A little over 300 yrs after the Saviors birth, Saint Helena, Constantine's mother made a pilgrimage to Bethlehem to locate the place of the nativity.

This is a mosaic of the church built at the direction of Constantine's mother. It is located underneath the present floor.  Constantine built a church over one of the grottos that his mother selected as the likely site of Chirst's birth. The present church was built by Justinian in the 530's

One of the grottos where many believe Christ to have been born. There were so many people everywhere it was squishy. Felt like a packed sardine all through this part of the tour. Very ornate and cluttered up by the various churches placing their claim on history.  We sang a few christmas carols, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Away in a Manger, and Silent Night. The singing was cool, it made the millions go away and a peace came that I really enjoyed for a brief moment. I have to admit that those carols will always take me back there and I think that is cool.

Just another shot of the cave like stable where thousands of people visit day after day! Just so you know there is a cave like stable coming up on one of the other visits that we do, that I like better than this. It gives a better feeling, not the real stable, but one that gives a better feel for the birth of the Savior, not so ornate.

Ok now for the adventure, it is getting dark after we finish at this site. Remember we had to change busses!
So now we have to walk through a back alley, which was rather dirty and felt so much like a back alley one would find in the slimy part of town behind a bar!  We walked through a narrow passage way that was fenced of pretty good, and then we had to go through security, show our passports and put our thing on the conveyor belt, it was beeping the whole time but they didn't care.  I saw a guard running round above us with a machine gun, I guess he wasn't worried about the American tourists!!  I really wish I could convey how it really felt to go through the back alley, the narrow fence and the security, I really didn't like the experience at all. To top it off, Mrs Lund was our only connection to our tour and she was alone at the back of the line, I thought it wouldn't take much to take out a 70 yr old lady in the dark in the Palestianian territory.  We made it through, found our "Blue Bus" Jewish guide and driver and made it safely to our hotel in Jerusalem.  I really like the Jewish area of Israel, I feel safer there somehow!!

Well, truly finished Thursday 11 November 2010. I had a few moments of doubt about actually finishing the day safely. It was just fleeting, ever so fleeting, and I'm glad to report that all is well. I guess some adventure is fun, right?

Tomorrow, I get to wake up in Jerusalem!

Netanya College

This is a college in Israel that is very interesting for the LDS types. Why you may ask? Of course I'll tell you but I may take my time to do that. First you need to know that is is a college that has a student body that includes Jews, Muslims, Christians and Druze. It's good for all those groups to work together for mutal respect and understanding.

Ok this is why this is of interest to the LDS type.  The entrance to Netanya College has the Orson Hyde Square. It is a garden that is dedicated to the the legacy of Orson Hyde and his followers, who dedicated the Land of Israel for the return of the Jewish people to Israel.  The square has 8 palm trees, each one dedicated to Orson Hyde and his followers. Also, there are 15 olive trees, each one dedicated to the Presidents of the LDS Church, from President Joseph Smith Jr to Thomas S Monson.  Each olive tree was taken from the part of Israel where the tribe of Ephriam settled.(the Megiddo region)

Interesting how missionary work is being done without missionaires in the traditional sense of the word. All who enter the campus, students, faculty, and all international delegations walk by a plaque with the name of a modern day prophet. Ummm?

I'm sure on occassion there may be questions asked about who so-and -so is? What did they do? And in the computer age, even if they don't ask a person the question, they may go home and google one or all of the names in the square. Who knows where that kind of thing may lead. ( oh those Mormons, they work all the angles.)

Joseph Smith Jr Ordained to what? See isn't that a good question for someone to "google"?  Jospeh's name in a college garden entrance, this is the same man who had to ask Emma if Jerusalem had walls around the city. So cool that his name is here for all to see and wonder about!

Ok guys hang on we are almost to our hotel in Jerusalem. Oh there is some good stuff coming up. The actual city of Jerusalem!! I can't wait! I hope you all stay with me!  The best is yet to be!

Spring time on the Ranch

Just thought I would mix things up a bit and blog about the ranch. A change is good isn't it?

The first calf of the season! He was born on Wednesday and now he's asking me where his momma is?

Calf number 2. I am so cute!!

Calf number 3.  Momma behind is saying: "Keep your distance little one!"

Oh, this is what spring is all about, the new calves! Momma is watching me very carefully!

This is this mornings calf ! Awww so cute! I'm about 8 hours old.

These cute little guys waited until the warm weather showed up, thank heaven for small favors. There are about 300 or so left to go. Here's hoping the weather stays nice and the calves have nothing to do but buck and play in the sunshine!

Caesarea

Guess what! We have made it to day 6 of the Israel/Egypt tour! Wow, doing the tour was a whirlwind but telling the story is much slower. Today, Thursday 11 November 2010 we are on our way south to Jerusalem. We've been to the northern border of Israel at Tel Dan, peered into Syria and Lebanon and this morning it's off to the port town of Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea.  Oh, I could spend a lot of time at the Mediterranean Sea, it is cool and of course, it too has lots of history!

We'll start off at the amphitheater. Guess who built this "Roman Theater"?  Did you say Herod the Great?  Give your self a hero biscuit because that is right!!!

This is the back side of the theater.

A view of the archway as I'm walking in. (Gotta take a picure of something don't I?)

This theater is a spectacular relic of the past and a modern performing venue where concerts are frequently held.

The theater has a seating capacity of 3500.  According to Josephus, this is where the death of Herod Agrippa occurred, as recounted in Acts 12.

The theater was covered with a skin covering (vellum) and visitors probably brought cushions to soften the stone seats.  Now, why I didn't take a seat and take a picture of the Mediterranean Sea I'll never know! That would have been a good idea! Ummm

Caesarea, the city that Herod the Great built  in 12 years.  It is located on the shore in the center of Israel.  This was the Roman capital of the province of Judea at the time of Jesus. It's population was half gentile and half Jewish, often causing disputes amoung the people.

Herod built a hippodrome near his palace. "Hippos" - horse and "Dromos" - race or course. This is a course for horse racing and chariot racing. You can see the course in the center of the picture, the seating is to the right and could accomodate  10,000 people in 12 rows. Herod's palace of off to the left just outside the picture.

This is the remains of the palace, over looking the sea of course!! Herod always had the best spots!

Another view of the palace. I sure thought this was a cool place.

Overlooking the Mediterranean from the remains of the palace. Yup, Herod had a great spot. I wonder how much time he spent here, as he had palaces all over Israel. I would have been here alot! The following picture is what you would see if you looked over the railing to my right, or the left of the picture.

This is what's left of Herod's palace that jutted out into the sea. He had an olympic size pool filled with fresh water. Oh I'm sure he had the best and biggest of all kinds of things that we can't even imagine.

A replica of a stone tablet that was found near the amphitheater. It has an inscription of the name of Pontius Pilate and dedicated to Tiberius Caesar. It is important evidence of the existence of Pontius in Caesarea.

Just info on the stone tablet.

A view of the harbor that Herod built.  The harbor as built using materials that would allow the concrete to harden underwater.  The forty acre harbor would accomodate 300 ships.  Interesting to note that Caesarea was the place of  the conversion of the Roman Cornelius, the first non-jew to believe in Jesus, by Simon Peter.

A close up of the harbor. Question! Why did Herod name this city Caesarea?  He dedicated this city to Caesar Augustus.  He was making sure the guys who put him in power kept him in power. Major flattery don't you think? (Ok if you knew that before I told you, give yourself another hero cookie!)

These next 3 pictures are for fun. Can you figure out what John Lund is sitting on?

Any idea yet?

What does one need at large public venues? Ok, did you guess restroom facilities? You're right!!

So, this is the fun stuff. Caesarea is important in Christian history. The above plaque refers to the events that took place with the Apostle Paul. He was accused of causing a riot and sent to Caesarea to stand trial before the govenor. As a Roman citizen Paul requested to be heard by the Emperor and so he sailed to Rome from Caesarea harbor. There (Rome) he was tried and executed after several years.

This would be part of the dock that Paul used to board his ship. Paul also sailed from here for some of his missionary work before he had to stand trial.

These are the actual steps Paul would have used to board his ship to his missionary sites and to sail to Rome for his trial.  Thought I would let Mike be the model for this one. Thanks Mike!!

This is part of what is left of a fresh water aqueduct that was built to bring water from springs at the base of Mt Carmel nearly 10 miles away to Caesarea.

So that the water would flow by the pull of gravity the aqueduct was built on arches and the gradient was carefully measured.

Dixie and Kelly. (What else is there to say?)

View of the aqueduct from the Sea side. This is a popular beach near the city of Caesarea. I sure would have liked to spend more time here. I could have played in the Mediterranean Sea all day.

 So, we take a few minutes to enjoy the sea before loading up and driving to Jerusalem.  It's been a great trip so far, but some really neat things are yet to come.  I'm so lucky to have had this chance.  I didn't need to come here to know that Jesus is the Christ, but being here has made the Old and New Testament more real, more than stories in an old book.