Jerusalem at last!

It was late in the afternoon when our bus disgorged twelve weary travelers at the Olive Tree Hotel after a journey that had taken us from rolling green hills in the north to desert terrain in the south.

This was my first glimpse of Old Jerusalem from the bus. I never fail to be moved by this view - so much history has gone on here!

Believe it or not, soon after I took that shot the rain came down again.

This was the only remnant we saw of Jerusalem's light snowfall by the time we arrived. Selfishly, I guess, I had looked forward to photographing beautiful Jerusalem with a light dusting of white snow.

That's the romantic view of snow held by those of us who live in places where we never have to experience it's inconveniences ;-)

March Photo a Day Challenge Day 3 - your neighborhood

The streets of Old Jerusalem, my neighborhood for this week :-)

Jerusalem-bound (2)

We hear Sydney's experiencing major flooding right now, after days of heavy rain, and our thoughts and prayers go out to those who've had to evacuate their homes for higher ground.

It's been a similar story here, with rain in the north causing flash floods in the desert and a dramatic rise in the level of the Jordan River, though fortunately with only positive results as far as we can tell.

Israel always welcomes the rain.

Not far from Jerusalem we managed to visit the place on the Jordan River traditionally associated with John's baptizing of Jesus, and where many modern-day Christians are baptized, usually wearing white robes to represent purity and the washing away of their sine.

No baptisms here today though. With all the caramel-coloured mud stirred up in the floodwater those robes would come out filthier than when they went in. Not such a good look :-)

Richard had to put his hand into the waters of the famous Jordan river.

OK I did too :-)

Helen, Denise, Catriona and Beverley look very relaxed, and excited to be here. But do you know what those little yellow signs on the background fence say?

The Baptismal site is in a demilitarized zone, manned by armed soldiers (such ironies abound in this country).

March Photo a Day Challenge Day 2 - Fruit

Strawberry seller at the Damascus Gate, Jerusalem, this afternoon.

Jerusalem-bound! (1)

We left Tiberias this morning to travel up to Jerusalem. The news from there was that snow was falling!

On the way we had a few stops to make, the first at Beit She'an. It was another Roman ruin (and we are a little 'ruined out'), but I think we were all surprised by its beauty and state of preservation.

While some of our more energetic friends took off to climb the 180 steps to the hilltop you see in the background of my panorama (above), the rest of us walked the streets of what would have been the shopping mall when the city was known as Scythopolis.

We girls like a shopping mall ;-)

These huge columns fell when it was all destroyed by an earthquake in 748AD.

We even saw the remains of the public toilets - they were all in together in those days!

The Scots Hotel

This hotel at Tiberias has been a highlight of our trip, providing us with a marvelously comfortable base from which we could travel out on day trips all around the Galilee region.

It's a two minute walk from the lake shore, and from the moment our hosts gave us hot toddies on our arrival we felt absolutely at home.

Nowhere have we been able to choose from such a huge variety of foods, and as far as I know it's the only hotel in the Holy Land where you can enjoy the luxury of bacon with your breakfast eggs :-)

The Scots Hotel was built more than a hundred years ago by a missionary, Dr David Watt Torrance from the Church of Scotland.

If i told you that after a long history as a hospital it's now run by the Church of Scotland as a place where travelers can find rest and rejuvenation you might think of draughty hallways, sparsely furnished rooms and bathrooms at the end of the corridor.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In a controversial move, in the early 2000s the Church renovated the old buildings and built more to create a luxury hotel - but with a soul. The quiet gardens are still there, and the views over the lake from some of the rooms are just inspirational.

(and they're not even paying me to write this :-))

Our bus was 'attacked' on the Golan Heights

... With a slushy snowball, and we laughed and cheered!

Being the target of a snowball fight was all part of the fun of driving into the Druze village of Mas'ada, at the very top of the Golan Heights, in a snow storm.

Somehow our wonderful driver managed to carefully negotiate the narrow road, even when another tour bus passed in the opposite direction, the faces of the passengers looking ghostly through the fog.

We made a brief stop and a few adventurous types hopped out for photos by the side of the road.

Then it was time to beat a retreat lest we found ourselves snowed in for the night :-)

Not half an hour's drive from here we had passed mango trees and banana plantations. What a remarkable country!