Jaffa -- an Ancient Sea Port

Another morning without my alarm going off. Isn't this the way vacations should be? Zandra is feeling enough better that exploring Jaffa is in her future. We went downstairs to enjoy the hotel's buffet breakfast. Laurie was already there, on her third cappuccino. She woke up early and was doing some creative thinking. Since the two times Zandra has had allergic reactions to breakfast foods she has been very careful. She was having cereal and orange juice when she had her worst reaction yet. This time it went down her arms. Laurie ran up for Benadryl. They have the drill down now. Stephanie joined us and while she ate breakfast we watched Zandra fade from red to pink.  We all wish we knew what caused that reaction. Laurie gave her extra Benadryl in case she has this reaction on the plane tomorrow.

After breakfast we decided to explore Jaffa together. Jaffa (or Joppa) is where Jonah got on a boat to Tarshish trying to avoid God's call. Joppa is where Peter had a vision on the rooftop of Simon the Tanner's home. The vision was of a sheet floating down from heaven. It was filled with unclean animals. God said, "Don't call anything unclean that I call clean." (Acts10) It is also where Tabitha was healed by Peter. (Acts 9).

We headed down by the water and passed a mosque with this sign.  

We took the stairs up the side of the hill. I had studied the map and thought I knew how to get to Summit Park. We were looking for the ruins from the Canaanites, Hasmoneans and Ramses II.  It is always dangerous to act like you know where your going and find out you are leading everyone astray. We did not end up at Summit Park but St. Peter's Church. A painting above the altar depicted Peter's vision of the cloth coming down from heaven. I had imagined a little bigger sheet.

At Kdmium Square we saw the zodiac fountain. We are still confused by one or two of the representations. 

We enticed Stephanie onto a camel that wouldn't roll onto its side while she is on it.

The Visitor Center at Kdmium Square is underground and is part of an archeological park. We had read that we could see catacombs down there. The air conditioner was broken in the Visitor Center and it turns out there are no catacombs. We decided against paying the 30 Shekels. So we walked down to Simon the Tanner's home. That is where Peter was when he had the vision. You can't go inside. 

We wandered further down the stairs poking our heads in galleries along the way. There are some amazing artisans in Jaffa.

We finally reached Jaffa's port, among the most ancient ports in the world. 

By then we were sweaty and hot. Have I mentioned that Israel is ungodly hot! We ate popsicles while we looked out at the sea. It revived us a bit. Stephanie and Laurie left to walk the promenade and find a place to eat dinner. Zandra and I climbed back up the steps in search of Summit Park. First we crossed the Wishing Bridge. You are supposed to find your Zodiac sign, grasp it, look out to the sea and make a wish.

The summit of Summit Park has a great view.

It also has a statue that captivated me. It is made of three stone slabs. The stone across the top represents the battle of Jericho. 

One side represents Jacob's dream of a ladder to heaven.

The other side depicts Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac.

We finally found the ruins. This is the Egyptian gate with Ramses II's name.

This is the Canaanite wall.

We headed to the Jaffa market. Along the way we found an ice cream store that had 14 vegan choices. We had ice cream. I know we just had popsicles but before you judge us you need to know it was oppressively hot. We found the Jaffa market but it left me feeling too claustrophobic.

For our last meal in Israel we ate at a beachfront restaurant called Manta Ray. Our food was fabulous and the view was great.

We stayed until the sun set.

We walked home with the sea breeze blowing through our hair and the sight of St. Peter's church in the distance.

It has been an amazing journey through the Holy Land. I will be chewing on what I have learned for a long time. Tomorrow we go home. 

Tel Aviv

Today (June 24) would have been my husband's 60th birthday if he hadn't died of a massive heart attack. I miss him every day but special days ramp up my grief. I have been privately processing my pain for several days. I didn't set my alarm this morning and I woke up having dreamt of him. I always love when I dream of Bryan. It feels like he came to visit me. Bryan and I had talked repeatedly of wanting to come to Israel with Bob Mullins. I am taking the trip we wanted to take together. I feel like I run into that reality over and over again. 

Laurie had arranged for a late check out today.  We took our time at breakfast until the manager reminded us that breakfast ended at 10 a.m. Zandra, Laurie and I headed to the pharmacy up the street. I wanted to purchase an anti-inflammatory gel that requires a prescription in the States. What a different experience it was to go to this pharmacy.  Every shelf was gleaming and fully stocked. 

Then we headed to a ceramics store we have walked past repeatedly and it was always closed. It was open and the things inside were even more lovely than we imagined. I have been looking for some presents and I found just what I wanted. 

Once we were checked out we took our bags down to our parked car. Laurie had downloaded the Jerusalem parking app so we didn't get a parking ticket. Stephanie is taking over the driving to Tel Aviv now that Bob is headed for his dig. We went to the Ben Gurion airport and turned over our trusted rental car. This Kia has served us well. We met our shuttle to our hotel in Jaffa -- the Market House Hotel.  It is just steps away from the Jaffa Market and the beach. The location is perfect. The hotel rooms are the size of a dorm room. Only one person can be moving in the room at a time. 

Zandra wasn't feeling well. I am afraid she caught her cold from me. She took several medicines and was feeling quite nauseous. At 5 p.m. the hotel serves appetizers in the lobby. We went down to enjoy them before dinner. It became apparent that Zandra was too sick to go to dinner. She headed back up to the room and the rest of us went to Puaa--a hipster restaurant in the Jaffa market. We had asked my son, Brett, to research where we should eat. This was his recommendation. The food was outstanding. The decor was garage sale decor. Everything in the restaurant was for sale-- from the dishes on which we were served dinner to the pictures on the walls.

I had read in my guidebook about an incredible ice cream place that uses fresh ingredients from the market. We never found it but we found a place called Golda's. I had chocolate caramel with salted almonds....best ice cream of my life. As we walked back to the hotel the Jaffa Market was closing down, which made the street art more visible.

We took some food and water back to Zandra.  Then Laurie and I headed out to watch the sunset. We walked past the clock tower. 

We climbed the hill to the Old City of Jaffa.  The sunset was all it promised to be. Jaffa is a very cool place. I hope Zandra feels better tomorrow when we explore Jaffa.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

It is Shabbat in Israel. Which means everything in the breakfast buffet is cold. Toasters aren't allowed on Shabbat.  One of my learnings is just how religion trumps consumerism here. It is inconvenient but it shows the importance of the practice of one's faith in this society. It is impressive.

Bob picked us up and we headed the six miles to Bethlehem. Bob has been to Bethlehem many times but he was usually on a bus leading a tour. Our rental car is not allowed in Bethlehem because it is in the West Bank. So we decided to park the car and walk across. The guide book said we could grab a cab on the other side for about 20 shekels. 

It took awhile to figure out where to park and which gate to use to cross into the West Bank. I had my passport ready but no one ever asked for it. We were past the wall before we knew it.

We came out to a sea of waiting taxis. I felt a little bit like we were open season. The cab drivers all started suggesting we pay them 200 shekels a piece for two cabs to go to the Church of Nativity then the Shepherds' Field and then back to the wall. We were unprepared for the pressure of this event. We wanted to take taxis between those places when we wanted to leave and we didn't want to pay so much. We decided to walk the 7 km. They followed us and said we could all fit in one taxi for 150 shekels. We agreed. I got the front seat but the other four were jammed in the back. We were excited to visit the place where Jesus was born.

We had gone about three blocks when the police pulled us over in an out of way place. The cab driver got out and pleaded with them. It was over in seconds. He got back in the car and said he had been pulled over for having too many people in the car. He said he told the police he was just driving us down the hill to a monastery. He took us there and dropped us off and said he would be back. I figured we would never see him again.  We milled around outside and Bob pointed out the Shepherds' Field in the distance. It's a valley, not a hillside.

Very shortly he returned and said the police had made him pay 300 shekels and were now waiting for him around the corner. Pretty soon another cab driver showed up and said we should split into two cabs for 150 shekels a piece. It felt like a scam to get us away from the taxi stand so we would pay anything. Again we told them we would walk. Eventually we agreed to 50 shekels per cab to go to the Church of the Nativity. The cab driver for the car I was in kept saying, "Why do you have to make this so hard?"  When we arrived at the Church of the Nativity we had an awkward feeling about the whole thing. We just wanted to go where we wanted. We felt like they were the ones who made it so hard. We had to keep unpacking that event for the rest of the day. This is the church it took so much hassle to visit.

The Church of the Nativity is shared by three religious groups: Greek Orthodox, Armenians and Roman Catholics. It was hard to get the full picture of the place because they are doing restoration.

Parts of the Helena church still exist making it the oldest church in the Holy Land. When the Persians were destroying churches in the Holy Lands they left this one alone because it had a piece of artwork of the three Magi and the Magi looked like them. Under the modern floor are mosaic tiles from the early church.

We got in the line that formed down the right side of the sanctuary. It is the line to go into the cave under the chancel area. It is said to be the cave where Jesus was born. As we waited in the long line Bob explained the church to us. He told us that in the time of Jesus it wouldn't have been odd for a family home to be built above a cave so they could use the cave to house the animals. He said it was possible that we were about to visit the place where Jesus was born. 

The way down into the grotto starts with a semi-circle set of stairs that leads down to a narrow doorway. It was a zoo of people jockeying for position. The stairs were steep and I found myself quite worried aout how I would navigate with my knee. Bob and Zandra stayed close and eventually I made it down the steps into the sweltering hot cave.

On your right there is a star on the ground. Tradition says that this is the place where Mary gave birth to Jesus.  In the middle of the star is a hole you can reach down through the to touch the smooth stone below. Again, there was no way I could kneel down so I had to just look and not touch.

Directly across from the place where Jesus was born is an area said to be where the manger was.While we were down inside the grotto Bob ran in to a man he went to school with and who he hasn't seen for years. We were again reminded of what a deep history Bob has in Israel. Up out of the cave and into fresh air we went next door to the Catholic Church of St. Catherine.

In the photo above, the man of the statue with the skull at his feet is Jerome. This church is also built over a cave, which is said to be where Jerome (from the 4th century) studied and then translated the Latin Vulgate. We went back down another set of steep stairs. The first area of the cave is surrounded by tombs which are said to be the tombs of the innocents. The innocents are the male children under two years of age that Herod had killed hoping to end the life of Jesus before he could grow up and become king. (See Matthew 2.)

A large area next to that first room is said to house the tombs of Paula and Eustochium, two wealthy women benefactors of Jerome. 

The area said to be Jerome's study was gated off for a group having mass. They were Africans and we guessed them to be from South Africa. Up a narrow hallway of the cave you come to a wooden door.  Bob says that if you watch the Christmas Eve mass from Bethlehem you see the Catholic priests move through this wooden door and up into the Church of the Nativity.

Once we were back outside we decided not to go to Shepherds' Field. We had seen it from the monastery when the cab driver dropped us off abruptly. We split up and went shopping in Manger Square. Zandra has a cold and I have been sporting a bad cough the whole trip. We headed for the nearest pharmacy. It was an eye opening experience for me of life in the West Bank. There was next to nothing on the shelves. Zandra explained to the man behind the counter what she wanted and he got his last box for her. I wanted cough syrup. When he gave me change he counted it out twice so I would know he was not cheating me. I know we have a fence and barbed wire between our country and Mexico but a wall within a country is new to me. It was very distressing. When we came out of the pharmacy we hiked up the hill rather than back towards Manger Square. We found ourselves in the section where the Palestinians shop, not the tourists. Parts of it felt very much like a garage sale. And then there was this. 

Starbucks does business with Palestinians but you won't find them in the rest of Israel. At our agreed upon time we got back together. This time we made a plan. Only one person would negotiate with the cab drivers and we would go as high as 30 shekels per cab. I was hot and tired and hungry and I hoped we weren't walking back the 7 km. We were successful. Back to the wall we went. This time we had to put our things through the scanner. Then we had to go through a passport check. As soon as they saw our American papers we were sent right through. Bob told us that we would have been in long lines to get back in if it hadn't been Shabbat. Our car was where we left it and we drove back to Jerusalem. We parked the car on the street. Bob walked to the Gloria and we walked to our hotel. Bob leaves early tomorrow morning to begin his dig. 

We met for dinner at the Focaccia Bar, one of the few restaurants open on Shabbat. This is a celebratory meal with Bob. We shared our gratitude and spent time processing our major learnings in Israel. 

I'm Going to Try with a Little Help from My Friends

We are headed to Masada today. We are leaving earlier than usual because Stephanie plans to get to the top of Masada via the Snake Path, an intense trail of switchbacks. She wants to be there before 10 a.m. because the guidebook says that sometimes they close the trail at 10 if it is too hot. 

We arrived at Masada at 9:30 a.m. and Stephanie got out of the van and headed to the trailhead....only to find out that they closed the Snake Path at 9 a.m. She was disappointed and we were disappointed for her. We all got tickets for the cable car and headed up. 

From this high vantage point we got a good view of the Dead Sea from the Israeli side. We have now driven completely around the Dead Sea.

There is too much to explore on the top of Masada in the June heat. We had to pick and choose.

Masada has a long history. Herod the Great, who was the king when Jesus was born, had a winter palace built here.  The bath house had a cold bath, a tepid bath, and a warm bath in which a furnace kept the room warm and heated the floor.

The palace was built on the hill with a hilltop terrace, a mid level terrace and a lower terrace. Here you get a sense of it.

Stephanie, Zandra and Bob hiked down tons of stairs to experience each terrace. I stayed up top and enjoyed watching them. In the photo below you can see Stephanie waving to me from the lower terrace. 

At the time of the Jewish revolt, over 900 Jews hid on this hilltop. Roman Soldiers camped out below for three years trying to figure out how to get to them. They built a stone wall around the whole hill and posted soldiers along it to kill any one who tried to cross.  

Eventually they built a seige wall and a wooden tower to the top. 

The night before the Romans broke in the men on top of the hill made a pact that they would kill their wives and children and then each other. They felt it was better than having the Romans kill them or force them into slavery. They drew lots to see who would be the last man standing who would have to fall on his own sword. When the Romans finally breached the hill the next morning they found over 900 dead bodies. The only people they found alive were two women and several children hiding in a cave.

Masada has a colorful history and while we were up there we learned that Bob had been part of the dig at Masada, eating his meals up here and sleeping under the stars. Bob has a deep archeological history in Israel and we were once again so grateful he took them time to show it to us. By now it was around noon and we were very hot and tired. We headed back down on the cable car and bought ice cream and popsicles to restore ourselves.

Our next stop is Qumran, home of the Essenes (a Jewish sect) and the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Qumran had a large Essene community of all men, many celibate, who spent their days studying the scriptures and serving as scribes. They existed from the second century BC until the Romans killed Jews following the Jewish revolt in the first century.  We walked among the ruins at Qumran. 

The interesting thing about the ruins is that no where are there sleeping quarters. Did they sleep in the caves above Qumran? No evidence in the caves to prove that theory.  It remains a mystery.  In 1948, a Bedouin boy found ancient scrolls hidden in jars in a cave above Qumran. Since then scrolls have been found in eleven caves.  Bob told us that he had climbed into Cave 1 from the top many years ago. 

He drove us over to Cave 11 and we said we wanted to go inside. So we climbed a steep hill to get there. 

The place was heavy with the smell of years and years of bat poop. I can still smell it if I just think about it. Stephanie and Zandra were intent on seeing some bats so they crawled further into the cave.

I was content to stay close to the front, as far away from the smell as possible.

Then Stephanie, who loves to climb, went up even higher.

As I was climbing up to the cave I began to worry that I might not be able to get back down. Steep inclines are hard for me to go down as I heal from knee replacement. Steep inclines with slippery gravel and stones are the worst.  But I put my hand on Stephanie's shoulder and she got me down. All the while the Beatles lyric, "I'm going to try with a little help from my friends" blasted in my head. I wanted to see a Dead Sea Scroll cave so I climbed the hill with no plan about how I might get down. There was no shaming, just friendship and aid to make my return possible. How blessed I am!

By then we were hot and tired and our noses were filled with the smell of bat feces. We drove back to Jerusalem. We had time to rest before we met for dinner at a restaurant called Zuni that is open on Shabbat. It was delicious, especially the chocolate peanut butter pie. 

Tomorrow we go to Bethlehem.