Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River

Our next stop was the village of Capernaum.  This was an important site during Jesus' ministry and many significant events of the Gospel books of the Bible take place in this area. 

This statue sits next to the Sea of Galilee (you can see it in the background) of the apostle Peter.  Its a little difficult to read, but the inscription below the statue is the famous scripture where Jesus proclaims that he will build his church upon Peter, the Rock.

 

Some of the ruins that have been uncovered in Capernaum.  These are thought to be houses.

 

And this was a synagogue.

The Sea of Galilee

The last stop of the tour was at the Jordan River, where there is a baptism center. This is the River - it was much greener and smaller than I had imagined!

Here are only some of the people who had travelled to the River to be baptized.  Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, but not at this site.  The place where that took place is a part of the River that has changed hands between different countries over the centuries.  So the current baptism site is where Christian pilgrims have been baptized for several hundred years.

We only had about 30 minutes and I wasn't keen to jump in the River - there were TONS of catfish in there. So I only went in to my ankles!

Nazareth

The second day tour in Israel started in Nazareth, which was the childhood village of Jesus.  It sits very high up in the hills of northern Israel.  Our first stop was the Church of Annunciation.  It is "traditionally" thought to be sitting on the home that Mary lived in before she married Joseph. 

 

 

 In the courtyard of the church they have many paintings of Mary that were sent by countries all over the world.  Here is one very small section of them.  Also, some of my favorites were the ones from countries that made their Mary of the local ethnicity - see the one from Thailand below. 

Behind the church, looking up into the hills around Nazareth.

 The sign in front of the church was typical of most of the signs in Israel - displayed in both Hebrew and Arabic.  This was also had English for the tourists. 

These are the ruins inside the church and over which the church is built. 

 

Just across the courtyard from the Church of Annunciation sits another Church - this one to commemorate the home of the Holy Family, Joseph, Mary and Jesus.  This is the inside of that church. 

Jerusalem - Part 2

The second half of the day in Jerusalem we spent in the old city.  Jerusalem is known as the City of David, and here he is playing the harp.

We visited many sites in the old city that were described by our guide as "traditionally, this is known as the site of <fill in the Biblical event>."  I have some pictures of these sites to show, but just keep in mind that no one really knows if this is the exact spot.  Pretty good guess you are within half of mile of it though.  :)  This is "traditionally" known as the Upper Room, where the Last Supper occurred.

This was part of the old city market ruins. 

The Wailing Wall - this is the only part of the last Jewish temple that still stands.  It is also known as the Western Wall.  The courtyard of the Wall is very large, but has only been this way since the 1960s.  The space was only 4 meters wide in front of the wall because the Moroccan quarter of the city was built in front of it.  This section was destroyed in order to create the current courtyard, where thousands can gather at once.  The place where you approach the Wall is segregated for men and women and this was the only place in Israel where I was explicitly asked to cover my shoulders. 

 

The Western Wall is one of the most holy sites to the Jewish people.  In the Old Testament, God lived within the Temple and now they believe that the Wall is the closest you can come to God.  Many people come to the Wall to pray and study.  It is also a tradition to write prayer requests on small pieces of paper that are tucked into the cracks of the wall.  There were thousands of them and I had a hard time finding a spot to place mine!

Most of the old city is made up of tiny streets like this one.  It was difficult to know which way we were going and to have any perspective on how big the old city is. 

We walked a portion of what is "traditionally" known as the Via Dolorosa.  They have these "stations of the cross" along the way, commemorating events that took place the day of Jesus' Crucifixion.  This was station 5 - where Simon helped carry the cross. 

The last few stations are all inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  It is "traditionally" thought to be on the site where Golgotha or Calgary stood.  This is the courtyard outside the church.  Most of my pictures inside are too blurry or dark to use. 

 

Jerusalem - Part 1

After the work week, I took a day trip to Jerusalem.  Our first stop on the tour was the Mount of Olives, where we had a beautiful view overlooking the old city.  The gold domed building is on the site of the original Temple in Jerusalem - Temple Mount.  A Jewish temple has not been on the site since the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in the first century.  The current building with the gold dome is a mosque, known as the Dome of the Rock.

 

The Mount of Olives is covered with cemeteries and tombstones.  It is believed that when Christ returns, he will come through a gate in Old Jerusalem that faces the Mount of Olives.  So many Jewish people want to be buried facing that gate.  During our visit, a van pulled up with these very ultra Orthodox Jews who came to visit the cemetery and pray. 

 

Jerusalem was the only place in Israel where I saw many people dressed like this, in traditional clothing.  It was not common in Tel Aviv, near my work location or in Nazareth and Galilee, where I visited the next day. 

Another view of the Mount of Olives from below.  The trees near the bottom of the picture are where the Garden of Gethsemane was located. 

 

We drove around the city to reach Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.  You may remember that in the last month I have visited Auschwitz in Poland and the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam.  I may be a little worn out on the Holocaust (don't take that the wrong way - it can be depressing!). 

 

So the hour we spent at the museum was sufficient for me, but it was a really nice museum with TONS of information - it would be easy to spend an entire day there.  Not only do they house the museum, but also a research center where they are working to locate the names of all the people who died during the Holocaust.  It is an impressive project and there is one room full of books with the names they have identified.  This is the outside of the museum complex.

 

Another view over the city of Jerusalem from the museum - you can see how mountainous the area is and how green - not the desert I had expected. 

 

Finally, within the museum complex they had these small plaques placed in the gardens.  Each one if the name of someone who helped save Jewish lives during WW2.  These people are known as "Righteous Among the Nations" - they mention this at the end of Schindler's List and there is a plaque for Oscar and Emily Schindler, although it was too crowded to get a picture of it.  Here is an example.  More than 20,000 people have been recognized. 

Israel: Herzliya beach

Within an hour of Emily departing London, I left as well for a business trip to Israel.  My first trip to Israel!  I expected it to feel more Middle-Eastern and instead, it felt like southern California.  Especially at my hotel, which was on the Mediterranean coast.  This was the view from my hotel room - a VERY welcome view after months of cold and cloudy London!

This was a yoga class that met on the boardwalk near the hotel - awesome!

Super beautiful sunset!

Bruges

Emily and I took a day trip from Brussels to Bruges, Belgium.  It is a beautiful medieval city full of old town houses and canals.  Some call it the "Venice of the North" but I find it more like a small Amsterdam (without the prostitutes and drugs).  Unfortunately it rained almost the entire day in Bruges as well, so our wandering was cut short.  We did still get some nice pictures of the canals!

I am particularly amused by this one with the tourists on a canal boat ride and all of them covered in open umbrellas!

This is the clock tower in the main square.  It was the site of a key event in the movie "In Bruges" with Colin Ferrell.  Emily and I discussed climbing it, but since it had over 300 steps, was full of junior high kids on a day trip and we weren't sure we'd be able to see much of a view because of the rain - we skipped it.  And got this picture instead.

Belgium Food

The advantage of all the rain in Belgium was that we were free to indulge to sitting inside eating. LOTS of eating!

Chocolates!

Mussels in Brussels (my personal favorite thing to say all weekend)!

Frites!

Waffles!

And beer...

Beer...

And beer!

Belgium is a delicious place to visit!!