Leaving the Sofia Hotel bright and early at the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias and almost over that jet lag!
This ancient excavated ruins is one of the best preserved and oldest in Israel. It’s at the crossroads of the Jordan and Jezreel Valleys – a well traveled route between the Sea of Galilee area and Jerusalem. This is where Saul and his sons died on Mt. Gilboa and were found by the Philistines. In the Bible, Bet She’an is a major administrative center in Solomon’s kingdom. This place has 6000 years of layers of history. (1 Kings 4:12 …Megiddo and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abelmeholah…)
Roman theater
You can see the reconstructed cardo (Main Street) to the left of the theater
Bathhouse with impressive methods of creating steam – they had tepid and hot baths
Main Street with shops ruins on either side
Beautiful mosaics
These fallen columns made us think of what it might have looked like when Samson brought down the columns that destroyed the temple
Bet She’an Kitty (kinda sounds like bet she’s a kitty!)
If they mentioned Dr. Pepper in the Bible it might sound something like this!
Qumran National Park is at the foot of a vertical cliff in the Judean dessert, rising up from the shores of the Dead Sea. In the 2nd century BC, it was settled by members of the Essene sect, the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This area is 6 miles south of Jericho. There are no pics of Jericho as it is a Palestinian City in the West Bank. The caves above in the rock are the area where the Dead Sea scrolls were first discovered in 1947 (many more were found over the next few years).
Excavated Jewish ritual baths in the cave area
See anything unusual in the cave opening?
Not a kitty this time, but what? An ibex
Masada National Park – home of the mountaintop multi level palace of Herod the Great
Our group in the cable car
Dead Sea in the distance
Views from the top of Masada
A model of the elaborate multi level palace
The line in the rock separates the lower portions that were found upon excavation and the upper parts that were reconstructed
Amazing mosaics and artistry
Cable car over the walking trail up the mountain
Driving along the edges of the Dead Sea heading south
Sinkholes caused by erosion of the minerals in the Dead Sea due to decreasing water levels
Highly anticipated part of the trip! Lowest point on earth – 1400 ft below sea level. It is one of the world’s saltiest bodies of water – makes swimming similar to floating. Plants and animals cannot flourish in this environment. We received all sorts of rules before going for a dip – Don’t get it in your eyes! Don’t swim on your stomach! Don’t go under!
We didn’t get nearly enough time here
The water felt very unusual, almost left a slippery residue on skin. But the floating was superb! So much fun and such a unique experience.
The mud is famous for its mineral rich properties and benefits. There is much ongoing study related to the health benefits from all the unique properties of this area.
Trying out some of that mud out for free! They also sell this stuff.
Dead Sea Kitty
Camel rides in the parking lot of Kalia Beach. Holly was super excited about riding camels, Kristi not so much. Somehow we’d come up with a deal that Kristi would either eat a fish eye at the fish lunch mentioned on Day 4 or ride the camel. Well, she didn’t eat the eye…
Junia’s not so sure about that camel
But she’s more excited about the one farther away
Capturing how Kristi really felt riding ole Pistachio the camel
After a minute it was like she was made for this
Oh Holly, she’s kinda glad you convinced her to ride it after all
Thanks Pistachio – we’ll always hold a special place in our hearts for you
“The Holy City” playing as we climbed the final elevation into Jerusalem. Once in a lifetime do you get to lay eyes on Jerusalem for the first time!
“Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Lift up your gates and sing, hosanna in the highest hosanna to your King!”
Finally arrived at the Dan Panorama Hotel in Jerusalem! This was our Shabbat elevator. This means the elevator works without anyone touching anything because during Shabbat the Jews cannot even push elevator buttons. So, it went to the top floor of the hotel and then opened on each floor before letting us out on 6.
3 National Parks, the highly anticipated Dead Sea soak and finally arriving at the ultimate point of our trip – Jerusalem! What an incredible day. We were so tired but so unbelievably blessed to be there.
Kosher meat dinner buffet at our hotel
