Mt. Zion (Jerusalem, Israel) 11/09

Mt. Zion is where the rich people lived in Jesus' day.

The pictures below show the views from Mt. Zion looking down on Jerusalem.

Mt. Zion is the place of the Last Supper (above).

Mt. Zion is where Caiaphas' house was located (above).
This is where Peter denied Christ three times.

The gold dome building is the Church of the Dome.

Jerusalem Today 11/09

This is what Jerusalem is like today. The ancient city of Jerusalem was within the stone wall so you can see that Jerusalem is much larger today - this is way outside the old city wall. The population today is approximately 750k which is the largest city in Israel. Tel Aviv has a 400k population. Jerusalem is a cultural center. The total population of Israel is 7.5 million people.






All the houses and buildings are built with a white stone - limestone.
This stone is commonly known as "Jerusalem stone."

















This is a school where the boys are having recess behind the school.

Arriving in Israel at the Port of Ashdod

It was a beautiful morning as the ship arrived at the port.








In addition to our passport, we needed this additional document to enter Israel.















This is the building with customs.








What the country in Israel looks like.

Dinner on the Nile River in Cairo, Egypt

We had dinner on this river boat. It was getting dark as we arrived and we were rushed for time so I only got this one picture of the boat on the Nile River. You can see how polluted the water is - it looks black and has sludge on top of the water that seems almost stagnate.

Our dinner was delicious hummus with bread (the best part), spaghetti, chicken, and desserts made with large amounts of honey - they tasted like they were soaked in honey and absorbed it like a sponge. The dessert with coconut was the best. The hummus was the best part of dinner for me.
We were told to only eat food that was cooked - no salad or fresh fruit unless we peeled it ourselves. Only a few of us tried dessert, I didn't get sick but did wonder if the others were just more cautious than me.

We had some entertainment with this gentleman dancing to music. He was very good at twirling with the skirt. It was very interesting and I've never seen anything quite like it. In the U.S. we would have seen a woman doing this type of dancing. The cultural differences are many in this regard.

Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, and Camel Rides in Egypt

We were fascinated with the camels and their owners. The short camel rides were $10. Most people wanted on camels just to take pictures with them on a camel. If they saw you taking a picture of them or their camel from the side lines, they requested to be paid $5. Picture taking had to be quick not to be noticed. Thus, my fast picture taking was free!

Charity and I didn't take camel rides. We didn't want on the stinky, uncomfortable, high camel. The group had been warned to be cautious with the camel rides as many tourists were taken advantage of - especially women. The tourist would be taken behind the pyramid and threatened not to be returned unless they paid a large sum - for example, $100. The camel rides were paid for in advance so the cost would be $110.

Everywhere we went, the people spoke English so language was never a problem. The vendors in Egypt were very aggressive - much like we assume the money changers were like at the temple steps in Jerusalem.
Egypt is where the Christ child was taken to escape death when children under two were killed.














Regarding the vendors, we were told to be very cautious - unless you wanted to buy something, don't make eye contact, don't touch an item, don't even look at anything. The vendors would try to put things in your hand and then tell you how much you owed them.

We used our U.S. dollar everywhere we went. The tour guides recommended that we take the vendors prices, cut them in half, cut them in half again, and then start to negotiate to get the item at that price. I bought one item for $3 that was initially offered at $15 but I had to walk away before the price started to decrease to what was a reasonable amount.

We saw many tourists purchase souvenirs just to get rid of the vendors. It wasn't a pleasant experience to try to negotiate with them so I only bought one item - otherwise, I would have liked to have purchased more. It just didn't seem like it was worth the hassle.

The Sphinx was very close to the pyramids. The Spinx is a figure of an imaginary creature having the head of a man or an animal and the body of a lion. It was not as large as I had expected it to be but still amazing that it was created.

Souvenirs (?) for Sale in Cairo, Egypt

This is a store we were taken to in Egypt where we could buy souvenirs. Since souvenirs are defined as "inexpensive," Charity and I didn't find these items to be typical souvenirs. These items were very, very expensive - some hundreds of dollars and even over $1k.


We took pictures instead of purchasing.














































These bottom two pictures show papyrus being made from the plant. It was very interesting to watch. They soak it in water, thinly slice it, place the pieces together (up and down, and across), and then hammer it. After it dries, they paint and sell this art. $50 was the lowest priced piece that I saw and it was very small. The pictures in the background cost $100 and some much more. The larger the piece and the more the detail, the higher the price.

Many of the pieces were pictures of Christ.

Streets of Cairo, Egypt

Pictures say much more than words so I won't include any commentary with these pictures except to tell you that many buildings are not completed since no property tax is due until after completion.

Twenty million people live in Cairo. No one drinks the polluted water in Egypt. Even the Egyptians drink bottled water. There are no traffic laws so much traffic congestion results.

(The picture of the Intel building is for Jason - notice the fence around it?)

Cruise Highlights

This is one of many beautiful centerpieces made totally out of fruits / vegetables. I thought this watermelon with the swan was great and the vegetable flowers were done quite well.

The first night at dinner in Athens at the hotel before we boarded the Crystal ship, we had dinner with Mike and Linda from Manassas, Virginia. What a surprise that Mike knew my brother and some of my family and had hunted with them in PA for many years.

Charity and I were thrilled that Mike and Linda were on the "blue" tour bus with us. We sat together in the back of the bus and had a great time together.

Charity and I are planning a trip to Manassas in May 2010 to visit them. We expect they will be long time friends and would love to travel with them again. (This second picture is taken from the top level of the boat.)

Mars Hill - Paul's Famous "Unknown God" Speech (Athens)

This is a picture of the traditional sight for Paul's speech about the unknown God. Our tour guide is in the first picture.



Then the next picture is me with Charity on top of the sight overlooking Athens. It is believed that Paul may have given his speech from the top of the rock hill - Mars Hill.

Paul at Athens

According to the book of Acts, contained in the Christian New Testament, when the Apostle Paul visited Athens, he saw an altar with an inscription dedicated to that god, and, when invited to speak to the Athenian elite at the Areopagus gave the following speech:

²² "Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.²³"For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. ²⁴God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; ²⁵Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; ²⁶And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; ²⁷That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: ²⁸For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. ²⁹Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. ³⁰And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: ³¹ Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

—Acts 17:22-17:31, (King James Version)