The guides - trip planners - teachers

Here's the thing...if you travel in Israel, you must have an Israeli travel guide...unless you are going with a group which includes painters...then it can be self-guided as a workshop group.  This was the composition of our group.  We had artist Jason as a group leader and also a painter and two other artists.  They painted at the various locations we visited.

Meanwhile, the rest of us got the privilege of learning from and listening to Dr. Kerry who is an ancient scriptures scholar, historian and archeologist at BYU. Almost every where we went, the painters painted and Kerry taught us about what we were seeing.  It was FABULOUS!  I can't say enough good about him and his wife Julianne.  She helped in every way possible to shuttle our group around, drive one of the vans, and she knew just about as much as Kerry about the Old and New Testaments and the stories and events that are found there.  They lived in Jerusalem for two years with their family while Kerry was teaching at BYU - Jerusalem.  They have taken BYU students all over Israel and know just about everything there is to know about where to stay, what to eat, where to buy souvenirs, how to stay safe, and other important things like that.  They had given us all a daily itinerary guide before hand and also a list of what we would be seeing every day.  They also included the scriptures for each of the sights we visited, so that we could prepare and read ahead in order to put what we were seeing and learning into perspective.  I learned more in the two weeks being there and learning from them than I have learned in my previous 60 years about the Bible.  They are great people who we grew to love and admire and we appreciated their patience and kindness in helping us get around and take care of our various needs.  

Jordan and Sue, Jason's mother and my dear friend

Julianne and Kerry, outside the Orson Pratt
memorial gardens near the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Jordan, me, Sue, Julianne and Shelley (Jason's wife) enjoying some shopping!

Jord, Jason and me outside the Dome of the Rock
were we weren't allowed to touch a member of
the opposite sex - hence the awkward pose. Also,
we were instructed to wear modest clothes and act reverently.

Jason taking a camel ride.

This is one of the eight pictures Jason painted on site.
 I spoke for it and was so thrilled to
purchase an original painting from our trip

Here are the two painting I bought from Jason.
 It was so cool to see him paint them, and then to purchase them
 and have them in our home forever.  It's great reminder of the trip
and our friendship with Jason, Shelley and Sue.
Jordan got two small painting of his of the Sea of Galilee which she treasures.
The painting of the left is of course the Dome of the Rock
and surrounding buildings, and the second one is of Caesarea Philippi and the Devil's Gate.

Here is a short explanation of why this location in Caesarea Philipp is so significant and why having a painting of it is now a daily reminder to me about the significance of this ROCK.  The headwaters of the Jordan River flow from it, so it has even more symbolism to me.

"Shortly before He made His final journey to Jerusalem to be crucified He brought the disciples to Caesarea Philippi, which is not somewhere you get to by accident.  As a practicing Jew, Jesus knew that it was defiling to be in a pagan temple, yet he appears to have taken his disciples specifically there.  Why?
We read in Matthew 16:13-20 that is was at Caesarea Philippi that Jesus probed his disciples perception of him...They traveled a long way to go to a pagan temple simply for Jesus to ask the disciples a question He could have asked them anywhere.  It is apparent that Jesus wanted to anchor something in his disciples minds.  The very geography of the place lends credence to the concept that Jesus was, in His reply, referring to the very rock they were standing in close proximity to.

13:  When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14: And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist, some, Elias; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.
15: He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16: And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17: And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven.
18:  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19: And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heave: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

His next words lend additional credibility to this thought.  Jesus says "the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. The traditional and long held view of Jesus' words about "the gates of hell not prevailing again the church' is that the church is like a fortress, which the enemy pounds at...to no avail.  However, in the Old Testament times, the gate of the city was its main and foremost defense again the enemy.  If the enemy prevailed against the gates the city was lost, and usually fell quickly.  So the image Jesus was painting was exactly the opposite of the conventional belief.  He was saying that the church will usurp the power of Satan and his gates will not be able to defend him again the church.  The church is the one that does the attacking not the powers of hell. In His choosing of this location Jesus was initiating the disciples, preparing them for the work ahead and giving them a broad vision of the role of the church."

Devil's Gate at Caesarea Philippi

The beautiful, clear head waters of the Jordan river

"the gates of hell"

Ruins of the pagan temple at Caesarea Philippi

I loved seeing Jordan at the headwaters of the Jordan river.

The accomodations

The first night we arrived in Tel Aviv, we stayed in a hotel in the nearby city of Netanya.  While there we explored the coastal city of Netanya and the Mediterranean coast line.  It was beautiful, warm and swarming with cats!  Evidently, the Israelis must love cats and not dogs evidenced by the fact that we saw so few dogs and hundreds of feral cats.  Sick!  

Jordan and Shelley dipping their toes in the Mediterranean

Shelly, me and my long-time friend Sue

The first of many mother-daughter pictures

Swarming feral cats were everywhere.  Yikes!

The Hotel Boutique Alma

2 nights

Our first was the Hotel Boutique.  It was fine.  It was convenient to the airport and provided breakfast and a good gathering place as our entire group of 18 flew into Tel Aviv at different times.  

Hi Karei Deshe Hostel, Tiberias, Israel

5 nights

The rooms were spartan, but clean and had everything we needed

We had a nice balcony and view of the Sea of Galilee from our room

Our room

The large and spacious cafeteria

The background photo shows the entire complex of the hostel. 
They even offered cold cereal, which I didn't eat. 
Who wants to eat cold cereal when there are so
any more interesting choices for breakfast?

Lovely lobbies around the hostel

Our view of the grounds and the
Sea of Galilee in the background.
One night the youth had a dance in this area,
playing lots of loud foreign music. 
They were having a great time dancing.
We got to bed a little later that night!

Doesn't it look a lot like Bear Lake?
 We gathered some small shells that had washed ashore.

The beautiful Sea of Galilee, with Tiberias in the background. 
Can't you just see the Savior living in this area and sailing on this lake?

The Hotel was actually a youth Hostel and there were many young kids staying there.  It was clean and very close to the places and sights we wanted to see around the Sea of Galilee.  I would recommend it to travelers going to the area.  

The Sephardic House, Jerusalem, Israel

7 nights

Our breakfast room complete with all the foods offered for breakfast

A gathering place in one of their lobbies where we had
several group meetings and a lecture one evening
by a BYU professor, Dr. Matt Gray. 
He and his family were living at the BYU Jerusalem
center and he was teaching there.

Entrance to the Sephardic House, complete with a guard at the door.

Some of the breakfast offerings

The main lobby as people enter the hotel. 
Bright colored furniture! 
Our room was just down the hall to the right.

We spend seven nights in the lovely hotel called the Sephardic House in Old Town Jerusalem.  It was so convenient to all the sights we wanted to see and within walking distance to the Western Hall and other important parts in Old Jerusalem.  We loved our stay here.  I would recommend it to travelers going to Jerusalem.  Jordan and I shared a room the entire trip and were very comfortable in own own twins beds.  She was an excellent roommate (although I did miss my regular roommate, my husband Rick, who wasn't able to go on this trip, due to his work obligations.)

The food

The Mediterranean diet is alive and well in Israel, along with their own unique dishes and desserts.  The people eat very healthy meals, primarily of vegetables, grains, legumes, some meat and fruits.  We ventured in to one grocery store on our travels to buy some fruit and drinks and to see the products on the shelves.  They have a HUGE selection of spices and herbs and they season their food very well.  The seasoning section in the grocery store was very large, with very few packaged or frozen meals.  Hence, I noticed very few over weight people.  I direct correlation??  We enjoyed many meals in restaurants in the evenings and all of our hotels offered complimentary breakfasts which consisted largely of vegetables prepared in various ways and eggs and sweet breads.  

Two of the main dishes in Israel are falafels and shawarma, meat prepare in unique ways.  Falafels are make up of chic peas and other grains and rolled into balls through a coating and then fried.  Shawarma is meat of various kinds, usually lamb, stacked onto a spit and continually rotated to cook the outsides, which are then shaved off and served in a pita or by itself.  Of course we ate tons of fresh hummus and freshly baked pita.  Delicious!  Here are some pictures of typical foods.

This is my meal serve on the shores of the Sea of Galilee
 in an outdoor dining area with our group.
 It was a lovely setting to eat "St. Peter's fish" or tilapia
 with the ever present salad of tomatoes,
cucumbers, onion and basil.  I consumed
many glasses of basil lemonade that
was delightfully refreshing.

Legumes and grains at the market place

Freshly grown vegetables were everywhere!

Breads and fruits

Pomegranates are abundant in Israel. 
The symbol of the Pomegranate is found in many places.

My lunch of falafel in a pita

Delicious fresh hummus and pita bread

A typical lunch spread

Falafel balls served alone or with pita

Delicious and healthy salads

Shawarma on the spit.
 See the electric shaver near by to cut off the desired portion?

We didn't eat very many desserts,
but stopped by one bakery to try them out.
They were more like pastries or croissants that we are familiar with.