farewell from Israel

It is hard to believe that is was out last day and night in Israel. The 2 weeks have gone so quickly and we have seen so much. I know almost everyone is thinking that one day they will return as this land has touched our life and hearts in a way that you can only relate to once you have been here.
We had an early start to the day with wake up call at 6am, and leaving the hotel at 730am for our drive to the old city to see the dome of the rock. This is the traditional site believed to be where Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed. The muslims have built their temple on this site, and this piece of land has been fought over many times over the years. There is so much history and politicals involved in this city that for me it is hard to keep it all straight. From here we walked to the Davidson center that shows us how Jerusalem and the city walls were back before the time of Jesus and while Jesus was on earth. Very interesting. Then we walked to the southern wall and sat on some of the original steps that date back to when Jesus would have walked going up to the temple. These steps are one of 6 places that archeologists can say for sure are the exact steps leading to the temple. We then walked across the street to an active dig where they have found the city of David. Even as we were there they were removing more of the dirt. We then walked down to the pool of Shilom where the blind man was healed. We weren't able to go through Hezekiah's tunnel as it was too cold but again were able to see some new excavations. We then went to have lunch and have a view of Bethlehem, then continued on to see a scale model of the city of Jerusalem dating back to 70BC, and a walk through the museum holding the dead sea scrolls. We finished the day of touring at the garden tomb where Christians believe is the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. We were able to sing some songs and have communion. Another emotion spot. We drove back to our hotel to freshen up, then left for our farewell dinner at a great restaurant. Another great 4 course meal. A couple of thank you speeches, a funny song composed by a few in the group thanking Roni our guide and Simone our bus driver we returned to our hotel for an early night as our wake up call is at 240AM tomorrow. I really wanted to upload some pictures, but I'm sorry but I also need to get to bed. Once we get home I will post some final pictures of our final days.
Our flight leaves Tel Aviv at 725 am to London where we have approx 5 hrs before we catch our flight to Vancouver. We have heard the weather is turning cold back home so we enjoyed the warm sun today, although this evening was also very chilly.
So with mixed emotions it is time to say gooodbye to Israel. I know your family and friends will have many stories to tell and perhaps inspire some of you to one day travel to this wonderful place.
I hope you have all enjoyed following our days. This is only been a glimpse of what we did and saw and I know I missed some places we visited and I probably have some things mixed up but it did keep you in touch with our progress.
This will be the last contact we have with you until we see you back home.
Good night and God Bless.
Glenda

Shalom once again. Well not too much to report today as it was a free day to do whatever we wanted. Most of us walked to the old city of Jerusalem (about 15 minutes from our hotel) to do some shopping, while others walked along the top walls of the old city, some stayed back at the hotel and rested, and after lunch many went to the holocaust museum. I did notice a few people buying an extra suitcase so it looks like we have helped the economy of Israel. At dinner tonite we celebrated Gord Reeve's birthday with a few songs of "Happy Birthday" and then a delicious black forest cake. I think some have even started packing as we will need to leave our hotel on Wed morning at 430am. None of us are looking forward to that.
So I too will start the packing process and say good night once again.
Ed and Alice Peters want to say goodnight to all their family.
Glenda

New pictures

View of Tel Aviv from Joppa














Sycamore tree

Olive tree in the Garden of Gethsemane

Floating in the Dead Sea

Pictures of the group at the ruins of the city of Dan

Sitting in the ruins of a synagogue in Capernaum

View of the Sea of Galilee from the Mount of Beatitudes

Shalom again from Jerusalem. Another beautiful sunny warm day. I heard we got some snow in Vernon so it is nice to be enjoying this warm weather.
We had another full day, but not as much walking. We started the day by driving towards Tel Aviv and visiting the Biblical gardens. It is over 600 acres of gardens planted with trees, flowers, plants, etc dating back to the time Jesus was here. We spent an hr and a half walking with a guide explaining the different areas and their significance in the Bible. It was very interesting and a great way to spend our Sunday morning. After this we continued our drive to Joppa where Jonah was swallowed by the "big fish" - whale, and where Simon the tanner lived. We then enjoyed a lunch on the streets of Joppa before we drove back to Jerusalem and entered the old city and walked through the Jewish and Armenian quarter towards the wailing wall. After a few minutes we walked through the western wall tunnels, which are underneath the western wall, then back to the hotel for another great dinner. Now we are relaxing for the evening and tomorrow is our free day. Some will be going back to the old city to get their last souvenirs, some are going to go to Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, and some will just relax at the hotel. Tomorrow we are also going to celebrate Gord Reeve's birthday.
I will try and send some more pictures, and some may go back a few days as I have time and this internet service is much faster to upload the pictures.
So until tomorrow, good night.
Glenda

Here are a couple pictures for Dwayne and Jen as I didn't have one on before. Your mom is doing fine. We're all helping her a long and making sure she is taken care of. She will have lots of stories to share.

Here are some pictures taken when we were having our lunch at Petra. Some of the group are missing as they had already left for another hike.

Some pictures from the Dead Sea!

A devotion on the rocks at En Gedi - where David hid from Saul.

The cave where some of the dead sea scrolls were found

The view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

View of homes in Jeruslame from Mt Zion

Gord reeve giving a devotion in what is believed to be one of the prisons where Jesus may have been before he was sent to the cross.

That's all I could upload right now. Hope you saw some of your family or friends.

Good night.

Glenda

Busy day in Jerusalem

Hello family and friends. We had another full day and as we had our dinner tonite we were commenting that we only have 3 days left. It is hard to believe that our time in Israel is coming to an end - but the memories will last forever.
We had another amazing breakfast with lots of food to choose from. One thing that is interesting is that they have lots of salad choices even for breakfast. I think most of us stick to the more traditional breakfast - eggs, cereal, yogurt, and then usually a couple of other hot dishes like pancakes or french toast. There is always a large assortment of fresh breads and lots of fruit some fresh and some from a can. I know every day we do a lot of walking but somehow I don't think any of us have lost any weight!!! :) Oh well.
This morning we started driving to the Mount of Olives and saw the view of Jerusalem in beautiful sunshine. We then walked down to the garden of Gethsemane stopping along the way at a few spots for Roni to explain the significance of the place. We then walked to the old city of Jerusalem travelling through the streets following the path that Jesus would have taken carrying the cross. After a quick stop for a falafel lunch we then walked through the Jaffa gate to our bus and travelled to Mt Zion, house of the high priest, some ruins that they believe may have been the ones that Jesus was in before we was taken to the cross, the room of the last supper, pools of Bethesda, and a few other sites that I can't remember exactly. We finished the day going to an olive wood store where a few were able to buy some nice olive wood souvenirs as well as some nice jewellery. Then back to the hotel and another great dinner.
I know I haven't been able to give you our full day itinerary but we did so many stops here and there that you will have to wait until your parents, or friends can tell you first hand all that we saw.
I'm going to attempt at uploading some more pictures from our previous days so that will be on the next posting.
Shalom until tomorrow.
Glenda