Israel – the Bible lands! I was so curious to go there and see everything with my own eyes. I was also excited because I was going to meet up again with Vered- the Israeli woman I had met while couchsurfing in Vienna. I arrived in the morning at Ben Gurion airport. I took the train to Be'er Sheva where Vered lived. She picked me up at the train station. I recognised her immediately, she was wearing bright yellow and was radiant like a sunflower. She drove us back to her place and she made me a delicious breakfast of granola, fruit, yoghurt and cinnamon – she had remembered from Vienna that I loved granola! I was so grateful for her incredible generosity and hospitality! She suggested that we head out that afternoon to the Negev desert. I thought it was a great idea! I took a shower and changed, while she made us a delicious picnic lunch to take with us. Be'er Sheva is the gateway to the desert. We headed off, together with her dog Dharma. It only took an hour to get to the spot. It was at the lip of a huge canyon called a makhtesh. It was huge, and so beautiful to look out at. There was no one else around, it was so calm, quiet and still. It felt like we were the only people in the world. Dharma the dog had a blast running up and down the hills. Vered and I set up our picnic and had a good catch up. She had prepared some delicious food for us, delicious bread and salads. It was so nice!
Afterwards, she took me to another place where the rocks were rich in minerals that had stained the sands and rocks all different colours. There were many different rocks and sands in several vivid colours. It was so fascinating. Vered had even more planned for us! We went to visit a friend of hers who lives in the desert. On the way we stopped in to have a look at a kibbutz and to see Ben Gurion's desert house. Ben Gurion was a very influential president over Israel who encouraged people to bring life into the desert and make use of the desert lands. He ended up building a house in the desert and living there in a kibbutz. A kibbutz is a communal living compound, where people work together to live a self sustaining lifestyle, cooking together and sharing the workload. We continued on to Vered's friend's house. She was lovely – a lab technician working towards her PHd. She lives in a small community with her husband and young daughter, walking distance from a laboratory campus for a main university. She took us for a tour inside the laboratory. They are researching the desalination of water for conservation. Other students were there on exchange programmes from big universities from the states including Yale. It was very interesting!
We went back to her house and had a lovely dinner. By the time Vered and I got back, I was about ready to collapse from exhaustion! It had been a long day but it was an amazing start to my Israel adventure! The next day we just relaxed. We slept in and the only thing we did was to go out to a local restaurant for lunch. It was just what I needed – a rest!
The following day I had booked a tour to explore some places of Biblical significance including Nazareth, Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee, and the Jordan river. The tour only picked people up from Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. It was easier for me to get to Tel Aviv, so I dutifully got up at 4.30 in the morning to get there on time for the tour! The tour was fantastic. Our guide was very interesting and passionate about each place. He would take out his Bible and read to us, reminding us of the Biblical story surrounding each place. It seemed to me that wherever there was a historical place, they would build a church on it. The churches themselves were quite beautiful, and being built on significant places made them unique – sometimes you would wind your way down into crammed underground cellars to view the original historical place. In Capernaum we visited the house of Apostle Peter. All that remained were the foundations, and then suspended on top was a strange circular church which looked like a UFO. It was all a bit amusing to me, but still, I was really humbled and in awe of these places. We stopped at the site where Jesus had fed the 5000, which was located in a beautiful church. Outside the church you could see the hills where the people were all sitting. It was an incredible moment to put the story together with the actual location. We also saw the hill where the herd of pigs had been standing before Jesus released a man's legion of demons into them and they had run to the sea and drowned. It was amazing to be there.
We had lunch right on the edge of the sea of Galilee. I ate a delicious packed lunch that Vered had made me. Continuing on, we arrived at the Jordan river, the site of Jesus' baptism, and the river the Israelites had crossed. It was so different to the other places we had been which were hot and dry and devoid of shade. The Jordan river was a refuge of solace and was lush beyond description. It was so shady and peaceful. I put my feet in the water. It was very refreshing. In the gift shop I got to hold a 2000 year old coin – a mite – the very type of coin that was mentioned in the story of the poor woman who gave the church 2 coins – everything she had. I had no intention of buying the coin, but how often can you handle a 2000 year old coin? Israel is so rich in antiques and historical items, there is such an abundance that many things are not locked away behind glass in a museum – you can actually touch and buy these artefacts. They have a joke:
What do you do when you find a 150 year old coin?
a. hand it in to the government
b. keep it for yourself
The answer is neither: it's only 150 years old, you might as well just leave it on the ground!
The tour ended there, and they kindly dropped me off in Jerusalem later that evening with some other group members. In Jerusalem I had booked a hostel. I knew I would not have a lot of time in the city because I had another tour booked for the next day. So I prioritised everything and formed a strategy. I dropped off my bags and headed straight to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I will detail it in my next blog.
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