Caesarea - Bethlehem - Jerusalem

The morning of May 26 we loaded our luggage onto the buses and left Tiberias. Our group headed east to Caesarea. We stopped to see the picturesque old Roman aqueduct.

Initially the people of the old city of Caesarea got their water from wells, but as the population grew, a large scale aqueduct was needed to bring water from springs at the base of Mount Carmel nearly ten miles away.

The aqueduct was built in several phases, starting with King Herod (37 BC to 4 BC) at the time the new city was dedicated to the Roman Caesar Augustus.

Glen went down to the water's edge to take a picture of Steven and Patricia standing in the Mediterranean Sea.

They were oblivious to the Speedo-wearing old man walking by...

 

Herod developed the Caesarea shoreline into a magnificent harbor befitting his kingdom.

He built his spacious palace on a promontory jutting out into the waters of Caesarea, complete with a decorative, fresh-water pool in the center.

Restoration work was going on at the palace site.

A grand entertainment place was built by Herod near his palace--a large Hippodrome with 10,000 seats. It covers the area between where we're standing on the palace site and the land that juts out where the castle is located behind us. 

In this amphitheater, the Romans conducted horse races, chariot races, special events and games. In this amphitheater, Michael gave another lecture to our group.

To the left is where the palace ruins are located.

After the lecture, the men were called down to sing "Ye Elders of Israel" at the request of our guide Joseph.

The Pilate Stone is the name given to a damaged block of carved limestone with a partially intact inscription attributed to, and mentioning, Pontius Pilate, a Prefect of the Roman-controlled province of Judea from 26-36 AD.

King Herod built a theater nearby with a seating capacity of 3,500.

Notice the sarcophagi sitting by the sidewalk leading to the theater.

Sure glad I had my umbrella with me for shade during the heat wave in all the unshaded places we visited this particular day.

Joseph, our guide on the far left, invited people to the stage so he could teach them a dance.  

Here are a couple of willing participants.

From Caesarea we headed southeast to Bethlehem.

Entering Palestine beyond the massive wall.

We have Starbucks; they have Stars & Bucks.

Lots of olive wood shops in Bethlehem.

The Mosque of Omar is the only mosque in the old city of Bethlehem, located in Manger Square, near the Church of the Nativity--whose bell tower can be seen behind the mosque.

The Church of the Nativity is a basilica in Bethlehem. It was built over the site that is traditionally considered to be the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. The site holds a prominent religious significance to those of both the Christian and Muslim faiths.

Waiting in line to go into the church through the Door of Humility--a small door that requires you to bend down low to enter.

I like the following quote: 

The Door of Humility reminds us that we all need knees that will bend. Humbly is the only way to enter the presence of God. What better way to honor the One who bent so low to be with us. The road to victory is paved with humble submission to God.

Lots of scaffolding and lots of chandeliers once we got inside. 

Constantine's 4th century mosaic floor was rediscovered in 1934 in the Church of the Nativity.

Going down into the Grotto of the Nativity.

The Altar of the Nativity, beneath which is the star marking the spot where the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus.

Silver 14-point star marks the traditional spot believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

We gathered in an inner courtyard and sang Christmas carols as we contemplated and reflected upon the blessed event of our Savior being born in Bethlehem.

Our bus stopped at Nissan Brothers in Bethlehem, which is the best olive wood store in Israel. This is the stack of olive wood we saw piled up by the store.

The store was HUGE!

The selection was HUGE!

The olive wood crosses were HUGE!

The nativity sets were HUGE!!

And there were some even more HUGE!!!!!

But alas! The prices were also HUGE!!

Despite the beautiful craftsmanship, we left without purchasing a thing.

Leaving Bethlehem to go to Jerusalem.

We spent our last few nights at the Dan Hotel in Jerusalem. Look at the food spread they had laid out for us!!!

We got to eat breakfast and dinner each day in this beautiful dining area.

Yummy dinner with delicious desserts.

Glen and Steven became addicted to the dessert waffles.

After dinner we went to Jimmy's olive wood store. He showed us the nativity set Michael Wilcox bought a few years ago. It was beautiful, but definitely more than our budget allowed.

We settled on two pieces we each liked and felt good about our olive wood purchases as we headed back to the hotel to call it a night.

 Step count for the day was 9,139 which is 5.63 miles.