January 19th - Haifa and Northern Israel

This is the first of two full days docked in Haifa Israel a major port city in the northern part of Israel.  For this port we chose to go with a semi-private tour from a local company.  Semi-private just means you share the tour with others from your ship but you don’t have to get the group together, the tour company works individually with each participant.  For today’s tour we had 14 people in a very comfortable Mercedes van.

Prior to our arriving here the tour operator sent us a very long email to lower expectations on just about every aspect of the trip.  Everything from the food to the traffic, the people and conditions in general.  It was an interesting thing to read to say the least but after spending the first of two days here, I can see why they did it.

First, I will say we had miserable weather almost all day long, rainy and chilly and tomorrow is supposed to be the same.  That doesn’t help with touring of course but we had a very good guide and of course we’re just happy to be here.

It was obvious from the reactions of others that the locations we went to and sites we saw were very meaningful to them.  We were very respectful of that of course, but for us it was more about the history of the area and not the possible religious significance that mattered.  So, with that we began our tour…

We began the day at the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.  This is a 20^th century Catholic church that was built over other ancient religious locations going back to the 4^th century.  As you can see it’s very new looking on the outside but it’s a lot more interesting looking on the inside.

The main draw here is that supposedly the first church was built over the home of the Virgin Mary and it’s the location where Gabriel came to her and told her she would give birth to the messiah (called the annunciation).  These two pictures show the grotto where her home is said to have been.  Some of the people you see standing in front of the gate were very emotional.

Later on, while still in Nazareth we went up to Mount Precipice and there was a great view of the valley below.  The Mount itself is the beginning of the ‘Jesus Trail’ which is, I think I heard, a two day walk that takes you to several sites visited by Jesus.

From there we went to the Jordan River to see a baptismal site.  We’ve actually seen this location on tv a few times as famous people often come here to get baptized in the river.  It’s supposed to be the location where John the Baptist performed the rite for Jesus.  Of course, no one knows for certain about this location but it’s convenient because Israel controls both sides of the river here.

Later we moved onto Tabgha where the miracle of the multiplication of fish and loaves is said to have taken place.  This was a very pretty spot on the Sea of Galilee but unfortunately the rain was really coming down and we couldn’t get a good picture.  The Sea of Galilee is actually a lake that the Jordan River flows into and then flows out of.  The Jordan eventually ends at the Dead Sea.

Capernaum was our next visit and this is the site of a couple of ancient synagogues.  The architecture was really interesting and well preserved.  This was one of our favorite sites because ancient people actually lived here.  It’s also supposed to be the site of the first church, built over the site of Peter’s home (or a home he was just visiting, no one knows of course).  They built a modern church right over some of the ruins. 

We had lunch at a sandwich shop where we had standard Mideast fare like pita bread and falafel.  We also stopped at a dairy/date farm and had a look around their shop.  I really liked the dates!  Israel is a major exporter of dates, who knew?

Tomorrow we will be going to Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  Another long day touring!