Shalom from the Sea of Galilee

Monday 10/3: The New Year observation continues for 48 hours; most stores and restaurants are closed. Buses aren't running. It's a time of reflection of your life during the past year. It's not a big party time like we think of. We met our tour guide Anneke and our driver Achmed. She is Dutch Jewish; he is Jerusalem Arab. They speak Hebrew together, but Anneke also speaks Arabic. We again visited the ancient port of Jaffa and saw the same sites as the previous day. Following a pleasant boat ride in the Med, we had lunch at The Old Man & The Sea restaurant. The table was piled with salads and appetizers before our meals arrived. We highly recommend this establishment. We drove to the site of Itzhak Rabin's murder and his memorial. Anneke spoke of relationships in Israel and stressed they all want peace. We saw some Egyptian ruins. Surprisingly if you buy a piece of property to build a home and find ruins during the excavation, you must pay for all the excavation of the ruins before you can continue building. We are traveling with 5 nurse anesthesiologists and 2 others. The nurses will visit two hospitals as part of their continuing education.

Tuesday 10/4: We drove along a coastal road to ancient Caesarea and saw a huge complex of Roman ruins from King Herod's time. It is a beautiful site on the Med. On to the port city of Haifa where we also viewed the Bahai temple and gardens on Mount Carmel . In Akko ( Acre) in western Galilee we toured huge buildings of the Hospitalarians (?) and the Templars. We lunched at a home in a Druze village. A young woman told us about life as a Druze, and other women served a great lunch piled high with various dishes on a huge tray. We tasted a date drink and tea made with sage. We all enjoyed a great meal. We drove to our hotel in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. Enroute we all enjoyed Elvis Presley's rendition of 'Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water' provided by Anneke. Anne and I walked down to the seacoast, sat on a bench in front of a McDonald's, listened to Detroit techno music blaring from a boat tied up at dock and made a few phone calls home.

Wednesday 10/5: Another hot day, again in the 90's. We drove to Cana where Mary told Jesus there was no more wine at the wedding. Wine is still being made the usual way here. We all had a taste, and it was available for purchase. On we went to Nazareth where we saw the Catholic Church of the Annunciation and location where Mary was visited by the Angel Gabriel, Joseph's home and work site and the Orthodox church of the Annunciation and location where Angel Gabriel visited Mary. Our excellent driver Achmed maneuvered the bus up Mount Tabor with many hairpin turns to the Transfiguration church. We saw the mountains of the Golan Heights and the first kibbutz enroute to the River Jordan. Three of us donned white robes and got all into the water. Rest of us were satisfied walking in up to our knees. Lots of pilgrims of all nationalities were at the water. We said goodbye to Anneke for a couple days. She was going home to let her wounded toe heal. For the next couple days, Ettie will show us the sites.

Just heard there is snow in Slovakia. Here after 9 p.m. it is 83 degrees. Take care, everyone. A &

Leaving the port of Jaffa for a short cruise on the Mediterranean Sea