Memorial Weekend PGSC Cruise



Sunday Morning

I counted thirty dinghies on Punta Blanca's little beach! The Punta Gorda Sailing Club's Happy Hour was a happening this Saturday afternoon of a glorious Memorial Day weekend. 

Our forecast for the weekend weather read:

Weekend Weather Forecast

Great!  With the East wind, we sailed down to Marker Five.  On course for Pelican Bay with the wind behind us, we opted to motor as to not miss Happy Hour.

Although sixty to seventy boats were already anchored in the bay, we had no trouble finding a good spot.  Tents and beach umbrellas sprouted on the beach.  Upon tables a feast of hors d'oeuvres grew as cruisers arrived. 

Noel, acting as social director, soon got the games underway.  Joanne and I entered the dinghy race and lost. We lost the blind dinghy race. We lost at Ladder Ball.  We lost at "Fill the Bottle with Sea Water" race.  We lost badly at "Pictionary in the Sand."   Joanne served as "Admiral"  in the "Guess the Number, Get Splashed" game. 

Victors received a bottle of wine; we who participated in everything, lost every time received nothing. Joanne shamelessly demanded a bottle for participation and Noel later presented her with one, a merlot from Trader Joes. Shameless hussy!

The wind did blow; it blew up a moon to light the anchorage at night and a beautiful sunrise to begin the day.  The day of the big barbeque remained relatively cool for this time of year.  Before the hamburgers, hot dogs, watermelon and lots of side dishes were consumed, some us played "Pass the Trash."  I won!   Latter in the afternoon,  we had alot of fun playing beach volleyball in the Gulf.  

Monday morning five boats, Fancy Free, Pig Pen, Seadaddler, Forever and Eagle's Wings headed up the ICW to Englewood Beach Anchorage where we had dinner at the White Elephant.  Before dinner, Joanne and I dinghied down to Stump Pass where Joanne took a swim on a beautiful afternoon.
 
To avoid predicted scattered thunderstorms, I decided to leave early Tuesday morning quite to Joanne's chargrin; she wanted to stay another day.  We motored out to the ICW at 6:50 AM, made the 8:30 Boca Grande Bridge opening and motor sailed to just past the spoil banks north of Boca Grande.  Then we motored into the East wind to Mark Five before a spirited sail home between six and seven knots with reefed main and genoa.  We docked about  1 PM and started cleaning up.  Late in the afternoon storm clouds blackened the sky south of us but never reached us. What a great weekend!

A Tribute to My Mom

Joanne with her Remarkable Mom

I'm honored to be the daughter of a remarkable woman from the “Greatest Generation."

My mother, Marie Walter McDermott was born in 1920, the year that Congress finally ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the “right to vote.” I think that Mom must have sensed this female birthright because she never let the gender-biased restrictions of the early 20^th century of “being a women” prevent her from following her dreams.

For instance, she told me that her family was willing to finance the college education of her brother, but not for HER, because money would be wasted on a female who would only wind up married with kids. This was the 1930's mindset of many of that time, but it didn't stop Mom. After working long hours as a secretary in New York City's Rockefeller Center, she commuted via subway to Columbia and furthered her education by taking night classes.

When she was in her early twenties, World War II erupted and her younger brother was drafted into the Army. Against her parents' wishes, she heeded the call and enlisted in the Waves, ready to do her part for the war effort. She served her country proudly and even today tries to attend her fellow women vet meetings. As a young girl I was impressed by her stories of her Wave adventures - - and even more so, her travels after the war. Mom did not “settle down” as expected by her family. She boarded a bus with Wave girlfriends and traveled across the country and even worked in California for a time. Sometimes I chuckle when she wonders why her children live in different parts of the U.S. - must be something in the genes!

After the war, she met and married my Dad and settled into the role of wife and mother. But she was no traditional Mom. She juggled cooking, housework and more importantly, the raising of 5 children. Since my Dad was not very good at “fix it” jobs, Mom would tackle all kinds of non-traditional household tasks from repairing the toilet to painting a ceiling with young children in tow. I remember once that she literally saved the house from burning down by tossing blankets over a fire that my little brother started in his bedroom.

After working for the Lipton Tea Company one summer while I was in college, I encouraged Mom to apply for a position there. Of course, she landed the job and began another career in the Consumer Services Department. When her boss retired, she did not think twice and applied for his position. At that time, men were in the management ranks. But, Mom persevered. The company even sent her for an interview with a psychologist to make sure that she could handle it! Of course, she could. Mom was offered his job with the caveat that she could not expect the salary that her boss received. That just was not done! She did not waste time grumbling. She assumed the position and of course, excelled. Eventually, the company had to increase her pay to an equitable level. But it took her some time to “pay her dues” and break Lipton's “glass ceiling.” After strong women like Mom, other women were promoted at fairer salaries.

After her retirement from Lipton, Marie became a caretaker for my Dad, who had macular degeneration, which left him with very poor eyesight. Mom still found time for keeping fit with daily pool exercise and took art lessons. The walls of her condo apartment and our homes are filled with her creations.

When Richard & I retired and moved to Punta Gorda, Mom decided she liked Punta Gorda, too. She decided to move to South Port Square, and today lives independently there! At age 90, she relocated there and made a host of new friends! When she called Century Link to order high speed internet, they told her that “they just didn't have many requests from South Port Square for that kind of service.” When they found out that she was 90, they decided to do the installation for free! She has fun on the computer with her football pool and keeping up with her grandkids on Facebook and Email. Why, Just 2 weeks ago, she decided that she wasn't getting enough outdoor exercise. So, she went over to Acme Bike and ordered herself a recumbant tricycle!

I'm so honored that Pat Cote asked me to speak about my remarkable Mom. She had always been my role model and influential in helping me attain my own personal and career goals.

Thanks, Mom, for being a role model to the women of our family and to others along the way.

 

 

Speech given by Joanne Collins at Isles Yacht Club for Mother's Day 2013

If It Is Easy, It's Not for Us

Wow! What a remarkable experience to travel to Israel and see the Holy Land with Father Jerry, Father Bob and the rest of the Sacred Heart Pilgrims. At the conclusion of our trip we discussed our favorite “top five” moments that will live forever in our memories.

Joanne's Favorite five are:

• Mass on a boat on the gorgeous Sea of Galilee
• Riding camels to dinner at Abraham's Tent tent in the Judean desert
• Lathering with mud and bobbing in the waters of the Dead Sea
• Everyone singing on the bus as we excitedly entered the ancient city of Jerusalem
• Looking at Richard's gorgeous blue eyes as we renewed our Wedding Vows at the Church Peter-in-Gallicantu.

Richard's Favorite five are:

• Witnessing pilgrims from all over the world attending the religious sites we visited especially the Romanians singing at the site of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem and the Ethiopians struggling up the Mount of Temptation outside Jericho – These pilgrims make the sites holy. 
• Riding the camels to Abraham's Tent and feeling the evening breeze in the Judean desert. The English words Wind, Breath and Spirit merge into one word in Hebrew: Ruach. Let's all say that word together, now.
• Experiencing the geography of the Galilee, Golan Heights and the Judean Desert. I can follow the Jesus' route from Galilee to Jerusalem in my mind. I understand the importance of the Golan Heights watershed for the Sea of Galilee, the water supply for Israel. In the Middle East, water is everything.
• Driving a Tom Car ATV to the Syrian border. Here one can witness how peaceful this part of the world could be.
• Being baptized in the Jordan River. Last in line, as I watched almost everyone ahead of me grimace as they anticipated a dunking in the chilly water, I decided to be happy. And I was! When I listened to the old spiritual, Michael, Row the Boat Ashore, many many years ago, the Jordan River formed deep and wide in my mind. In reality, it is not the wide Mississippii. In the song, the Jordan is a metaphore for life that we must cross in good fashion to reach the other side. The song is still as beautiful as ever. 

 

The Babylonians destroyed the first temple in 586 BCE; the Romans burned down the second temple on the very same day in 70 CE. The Muslims built a mosque called the Dome of the Rock at the exact location of the temple in 691 CE. Some believe the third temple will come down from heaven. When it does - talk about a collision of religions! A merger, although it could happen, is not likely in the Middle East. Marian, our guide said Israelis have a saying “If it's easy, it's not for us.”

 

It was very easy for us, riding along in an air conditioned bus, staying at two five star hotels and eating at wonderful restaurants. Religious sites although sometimes crowded were made holy by the presence of pilgrims from all over the world. The pastoral border with Syria was peaceful. The roads were smooth and well marked. From our isolated tour bus, everything was as normal as suburban America. I know it isn't but I would have no fears planning a second trip with a Lonely Planet guide or a Friendship Force exchange.

We are so grateful we could experience the Holy Land - What a blessing!  Remembering Marian now, "Take what you need, leave the rest. Let's go!"

Church of the Holy Sepulcher

May 10 -  Entering the Old City of Jerusalem through the Jaffa Gate, we passed a Falun Gong demonstration, adherents of which have been persecuted and tortured in China.   After a short walk along narrow streets lined with shops, we arrived at the  Church of the Holy Sepulcher located where Jesus was crucified and buried. The church having had a tumultuous history is now adminstered by the Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox and two other organizations.  A decree by the sultan in 1853 fixed responsiblities for various parts of the church among the various communities. Everything was fixed!  A short wooden ladder below a second floor window hasn't moved since!

Inside, we climbed up a short flight of stairs to a small room. A Catholic chapel, the XI Station of the Cross, lies on the right and the Greek Orthodox chapel, the XII Station of the Cross, on the left. The XIII Station, A wooden bust, Our Lady of Sorrows, stands between the chapels' altars.  We also viewed a huge rock that was split when Christ was crucified.

The church is really a complex of chapels and holy sites.  I was much confused as the crucifixion occurred on Calvary, a small hill just outside the city's gate.  A lot has changed in two thousand years -the city's walls moved and the hill is now inside the walls but the second floor is Calvary?   Future pilgrims might profit by study before visiting. See also:

Church of the Holy Sepulcher - Website
Church of the Holy Sepulcher -Bible Places   

Of course, the holy sites are packed with pilgrims. We returned to the ground floor to stand in line to see the Coptic church's altar placed where Christ's feet were in the burial chamber.  Another long line leads to a Greek Orthodox chapel at the place where Christ's head lay; we missed this one.

Before leaving the church we assembled in the church within a church, the Catholicon, for a short devotional service.

After an hour or so in the Christian Quarter for lunch and shopping, we bussed over to the Garden Tomb for Mass, our last one for the trip. 

We enjoyed a fine dinner at the American Colony. Our guide, Marian and our bus driver, Gabby, received presents from us and in turn, Marian had presents for Fathers Jerry and Bob.

We were up early for what seemed like a short bus ride to the airport for our ride back home.  The plane was late taking off so we missed our connection in Newark. After a short stay in a Newark hotel, we flew to Fort Myers early the next morning.   No complaints from me - In the year 330, a pilgrim on his way to Jerusalem exchanged donkeys 230 times on the first leg of his trip from Bordeaux to Constantinople!  No donkey exhanges for us - we are so blessed.

Jerusalem - May 9

This morning we returned to the Mount of Olives to the Church of Pater Noster .  A cave below the church is celebrated as the place where Jesus taught the disciples the Lord's Prayer.  Large stone scrolls of the prayer of the Our Father written in dozens of different languages line the walls around the church.  They were just amazing!

Next, we bussed over to Mount Zion.   In a courtyard outside King David's Tomb, Father Jerry "high-fived" with a group of Israeli school children on lunch break. Above King David's Tomb on the first floor of a building facing the courtyard is the Cenacle, the site celebrated as the location of the Last Supper.  Actually, the upper floor was a mosque. In Jerusalem, buildings come and go depending on who is in charge - a synagogue, numerous churches, and a mosque stood at this site. So, I found it a little more than difficult to connect the room with the Last Supper of Judean 1st century, the  Italian renaissance of the 15th century, or anything else.  Looking at the wall (see pictures), the big stone bricks at the bottom were laid down by Jewish people, the medium sized bricks in the middle by the Crusaders and the little bricks at the top by the Muslims.

Next up was Mass at the nearby church of  Saint-Peter-in-Gallicantu where we renewed our wedding vows.  The church is located where Peter is believed to have denied Christ three times at the house of a high priest, Caiaphas.  Below the church are caves one of which may have imprisoned Jesus before his trial.  The website linked above shows a number of excellent photos of the church.

After lunch we walked into the old city through the Lions' Gate to the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed a crippled man.  The road through the Lion's Gate becomes the Via Dolorosa. We bypassed the First Station of the Cross and entered the Convent of the Sisters of Zion. Stone slabs making up the floor of the basement were once the floor of a forum and before that the pavement of the Antonia Fortress where Jesus was condemned by Ponitus Pilate. So this was our First Station of the Cross.

We continued to follow the Via Delarosa to the Fifth Station of the Cross and turned to make our way to the Western Wall. The wall is no longer called the Wailing Wall because the Jewish people have no reason to weep at the wall anymore.

The men and women pray at separate sections of the wall. Soon a third section will be added for couples, a development that the ultra orthodox are not happy about.   The men pray at the wall closest to place where the Temple stood on the other side. The Romans burned down the temple in 66 AD and the Muslims built a mosque at the exact same spot in the 7th century.  Jews and Christians are not allowed in the mosque called the Dome of the Rock so the wall has to do.

We slipped prayers for relatives into crevices the wall, mine in the men's section and Joanne's in the woman's section.

Security gates guard each entrance to the Western Wall area. Notice in the pictures that one of the young girls in uniform carries an automatic weapon.  

We exited the area, found our bus and returned to the hotel for dinner and bed.

 

Jerusalem - May 7

May 7, Our 19th Wedding Anniversary - Father Bob talked about "accepting not fixing" at our Mass held on the Mount of Olives across a narrow street from the Garden of Gethsemane.   The honking taxis that clogged the street could not be heard in the peaceful grove walled off from the outside world.


Father Bob asked Joanne & I to say a few words about "How We Met"  and "What Makes our Marriage Work." After Joanne gave a complete accounting of our meeting day and other reflections , I just said, "I was lucky!" 

Joanne really enjoyed visiting the Church of All Nations, which was a gorgeous holy place.  All the windows were created in different hues of purple to reflect the ranges of Christ's suffering.    Then, we walked down the Kidron Valley that lies between the Mount of Olives and the Temple Mount.  Jesus walked this very way after his arrest in Gethsemane. 

The hillside was once covered by thousands of Jewish graves dating back thousands of years but many of them are now destroyed. Marian described the Jewish burial practice of the time of the crucifixion of Jesus.

At the end of our walk, we entered an archaelogical site where excavation well below street level has uncovered the ancient Pool of Siloam.  An aquaduct that brought water to the City of David and a stepped path that led up to the Temple Mount have also been discovered.

After lunch at the lovely Kibbutz Ramon Rachel
hotel, we went to the Israeli Museum where we viewed a large model of 1st century Jerusalem and the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Just fascinating!

We began and ended our day at the Hotel Dan that features a very attractive multi tiered lobby.

Jerusalem     Jerusalem 3 D       Jerusalem History

Abraham's Tent



Father Jerry in the Judean Wilderness

Riding camels back three thousand six hundred years, we arrive at Abraham's Tent. His overwhelming hospitality satisfies us.

Below us, the wilderness tumbles eastward down to the Jericho oasis and on to the Jordan River where John baptized Jesus. Throughout the centuries, travelers crossed the Jordan here to trek upward thirty-four hundred feet and forty-five miles through the Judean wilderness to Jerusalem.

On the near barren hillsides, scattered bands of goats graze.  As the sun sets behind us, a soft and warm desert wind dissolves time and space; the hills disappear in darkness. Far below us, the lights of Abraham, of Joshua, of John and Jesus glisten. There too are our lights.

In Hebrew, the word ruach means wind, breath and spirit.

Tomorrow in Jerusalem. 



Judean Desert  Genesis Land (Abraham's Tent)

Qumran, Masada & Dead Sea

Masada stands as a symbol of Jewish resistance to foreign rule.  Herod the Great, hated by the Jewish population, built a fortress atop an isolated mesa overlooking the Dead Sea. The fortress even included two palaces for Herod. The fortress was essentially a back-up plan if he were forced to flee Jerusalem.  Masada was also strategically located to block an invasion route crossing a shallow bank in the Dead Sea. Herod never had need of the fortress.  

 

During the revolt against Roman rule in 66 AD, about one thousand Jewish extremists held out in Masada for three years. The Romans used slave labor to build a ramp upon which they could move a siege engine against the walls.  When the Romans arrived at the top, they found the inhabitants had committed suicide rather than be carried away into slavery.

 

In modern times, Israeli soldiers are sworn into the army at Masada. They climb the snake path to reach the top. We took a cable car!

 

We carried our water with us, toured the ruins on top and breathed in the fabulous views of the Dead Sea. Upon our return to below sea level, we applied mineral rich Dead Sea mud to our bodies and floated effortlessly in the briny water!

 

Qumran was a pottery manufacturing site in the first century.  When the revolt failed, the temple priests carried their scrolls here, placed them in clay jars and hid them in caves in the cliffs above.  The scrolls are the famous Dead Sea Scrolls.  

 

 

 

 

Masada    Masada  Qumran  Qumran  Dead Sea
Dead Sea

Bethlehem

Indians pressed in behind us as we pressed on the

Birthplace of Jesus from atlastours.net

Romanians ahead of us. Hundreds of Pilgrims packed like sardines in the airless corridor inched forward taking small steps toward the birthplace of Jesus.  As we converged on a circular set of steps leading to the grotto below, forward motion stopped; the Romanians had prostrated themselves in front of the birthplace.  One couple opened a music sheet and started singing.  Despite the heat and the sweat of so many bodies packed together, this was a holy moment. Their music filled the grotto.  We were in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. 

Like Jericho, Bethlehem lies within a Palestinian Autonomous Zone.  As our bus passed through a security check point and a walled barrier, Marian again moved to the middle of the bus and pocketed her Israeli ID. After rolling by a Kentucky Fried Chicken sign with a peace message, we stopped to pick up a Christian guide who was born in Bethlehem.  The city once eighty-five percent Christian is now about eighty percent Muslim.

After lunch at a cafeteria style restaurant, we assembled for Mass in St Jerome's Grotto hidden below St Catherine's Church. St Jerome, Father Jerry's patron saint, translated the Bible here from Greek and Hebrew into Latin in the fourth century.   

Listen as he expresses mixed sentiments about the visiting pilgrims in his time: 

 They come here from all over the world, the city regurgitates every type of human being; and there is an awful crush of persons of both sexes who in other places you should avoid at least in part but here you have to stomach them to the full. 

Maybe he was hot, tired, crushed and sweaty when he penned the words above. He also wrote:

 The very best of the Christian community comes to the Holy Land; they speak different tongues,  but the devotion is one and the same. There is no sign of conflict or arrogance, no differentiation whatsoever, except in the mode of dress. No one censures another, no one criticises or judges his neighbour.”  (Copied from See The Holy Land website.)

He could say the same today.

After our visit to the churches, we stopped at a Christian souvenir store. I thought the prices on the olive wood carvings must have been a mistake. They weren't - the lowest price, $350 negotiable, but there's only so much one can negotiate! We bought some less expensive stuff as did most everyone else.

As we were leaving, the shop owner thanked us for coming and recited the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke.
 
Eastward toward the Judean wilderness, the earth appeared to drop away at the edge of Bethlehem. The blue sky disappeared into a dusty tan haze.

As we exited Bethlehem, Israeli security guards armed with automatic rifles bordered the bus requesting us to hold up our passports and then blew us off and waved us through. We had dinner and slept in Jerusalem's elegant Dan Hotel.  

Jericho

In Biblical times, travelers seeking Jerusalem from Galilee, crossed the Jordan River to the pagan East Bank where the going was easier and then crossed back again a few miles from the oasis of Jericho.  Crossing the Jordan was considered a ritual bath to cleanse oneself upon entering the promised land. Joshua crossed here. Elijah parted the waters here. John baptised Jesus here. 

A narrow road through no man's land bordered by barbed wire and a security gate brought us to the crossing - and what appears to be an isolated Orthodox church, lies in the country of Jordan on the other side of the river.   The river appears to be very narrow but in flood much wider. A sign on a wall of the baptism site records the water level in flood stage, January 13, 2013.  See photos.

After crossing the Jordan, travelers make their way across truly barren land to the Oasis of Jericho.  Today, Jericho lies within a Palestinian autonomous area so our Israeli guide pretended she was an American tourist even though the Palestinians knew she wasn't.

Here, we bordered cable cars to ascend the Mount of Temptation. A Greek Orthodox Monastery hugs the side of the mountain. Within the monastery lies the stone that the devil tempted Jesus to turn into bread. 

The monastery can be reached by an arduous climb in stifling heat or by cable car. We took the cable car.  Ethiopians came by foot. Humanity converged on the steps to the monastery.  Think hot and think crowded. No queueing here!

Upon reaching the stone,  the Ethiopians prostrated themselves, reached out to touch the stone and prayed. What made this place holy to me was not the monastery, the icons or the stone, but the Ethiopians who struggled up the mountain.  One should know that they are persecuted in their own land by Muslims who burned over fifty of their churches in 2011.







Christians in Ethiopia

Jordan Valley

Judean Mountain

Nazareth

On our way to Nazareth, we stopped at Kfar Kedem, located at Hoshaya, a moshavim type community of  about five hundred orthodox families.  After a few missed turns as our bus rolled through the community that looked like an American gated subdivision, we arrived at our gateway to Biblical times.

We learned, among other things, that farmers must a leave a corner of the field unharvested for the poor and that a donkey and an ox must not be yoked together. This reminded me somehow of Molly and Warbonnet harnessed to the hay wagon back in West Texas. Molly would slack off and Warbonnet would pull for her. Without a Git Up, Molly, Warbonnet would have worked himself to death .  I don't think an ox would do that for a donkey!

Joanne ground wheat into flour the old fashioned way before we all made pita bread for a snack before lunch.  Many of us got a kick out of riding the little donkeys before we continued to Nazareth.

Nazareth was a very small and very poor community of about two hundred in the boyhood time of Jesus.  People lived in interconnected caves .  Nazareth is now a city of eighty thousand, the Arab capital of Israel.  Eighty percent Christian twenty years ago;  it is now eighty percent Muslim.

We visited the Basilica of the Annunciation built in 1969 on the site of earlier Byzantine and Crusader churches that mark the site of the Annunciation.  The basilica has no arches; shapes of "A" and "M" remind us of Ava Maria.  I snapped a few photos of the many mosaics of the Virgin donated by communities from around the world.  Below this upper church lies the the Grotto or Cave of the Annunciation, where the angelic announcement to Mary occurred. 

Just down the street from the basilica, Muslim billboards proclaim Christians to be losers.  Perhaps the signs express anger and resentment - Muslims tried to build a Mosque here to overshadow the basilica but Israel intervened at the request of the Vatican.     





Nazareth - Catholic Encyclopedia Nazareth - Wikpedia
Nazareth - Bible Places

Kfar Kedem, Galilee Kfar Kedem, Galilee  Moshavim

Who Do You Say I Am?

Caesarea Philippi  - Pan is a prefix of Greek origin meaning

all or everything from which we get words like panic, pandemonium and pan grilled fillet!  Pan was also a Greek god with the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat.  Worshiped here on the southwestern slopes of Mount Herman at the source of the Banias River, a tributary of the Jordan,  Herod the Great's son, Philippi, built a temple to honor Caesar.  Jesus led his disciples here to affix them with "training wheels" before he sent them out own their own. 

Father Jerry twisted and turned on a makeshift pedestal as he portrayed a hell and brimstone preacher here before the gates of hell in this pagan place. Standing before the temple and the pagan gods, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" And they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."  He then said to them, "But who do you say that I am? "And Peter answered "You are the Christ."

Following this devotional interlude by the cool and flowing water, we boarded our bus to ride through the Hula Valley and on to Mount Tabor, the traditional site of the Transfiguration.  However, the actual site was probably somewhere near Caesarea Philippi  on Mount Herman.  

What did happen here was a victory of the Israelites over the Canaanites in the time of Deborah as described in the book of Judges.  Deborah wisely withheld attack until she saw clouds approaching from the Mediterranean.  The clouds meant rain. Rain it did, miring the Canaanites chariots in mud and thus giving the advantage to the chariotless Israelites.

Tour buses cannot navigate the steep and switch-backing road that leads to the top of mountain so we boarded small vans for the ride to the top along with a dozen or so other tour groups.  One would think, we would queue up for a ride back down. But tempers flared as tour groups and their guides tried to push ahead of us for the ride down. Apparently the concept of the queue doesn't exist in the Middle East.

On the top of the mountain, Antonio Barluzzi built the Church of the Transfiguration. Outside the church in a little courtyard, Father Jerry held another devotional. 

Once we were all down from the mountain and back on the bus we headed to a kibbutz near our hotel for dinner as the sun set over the Sea of Galilee. Along the way, I snapped a few pictures of the sea from sea level.  See below... 

 

Golan Heights

On the Golan Heights, Yom Kippur, 1973 - Syria invaded

Israel on the holiest day of the year with an overwhelming advantage in tanks, artillery and men.  The Israeli army held on at great sacrifice. One of the greatest tank battles in history played out in the Emek HaBakha Valley commemorated now as the Valley of Tears.  At a war memorial, we listened to a recording of a tank commander's radio communication while he was surrounded by Syrian forces. Although in Hebrew, we could feel the tension in his voice. For a detailed description of the battle click
War on the Golan. 


Our time on the Golan was, in contrast, serene with the exception of our wild ride in TOM CAR ATV's from
Kibbutz Merom Golan  to an old Syrian "hospital" near the border. We kicked up a lot of dust and made some noise! The "hospital" building, now abandoned, was actually a Syrian weapons depot and command post. We were right on the border about the time Israel bombed Syria to destroy weapons destined for Hezbollah.  But all was peaceful on the border.


Before the Six Day War, Syrian forces shelled the Hula Valley at will forcing children to sleep in bomb shelters. But the more serious issue was Syria's attempt to cut off two of the three sources of water for the Sea of Galilee, the only water supply for Israel at the time.  The water orginates in the Golan Heights.

Much of the Golan Heights looks like West Texas, good land for cattle.  Now that Israel controls the Golan Heights,  farms have blossomed on the land. Later, after touring a winery we had lunch at an olive oil factory here.

The next day we traveled North through the heights to Birket Ram, a Druze village, for lunch. We had Falafel, ground and fried chickpeas, in a pita with salad and humus. Yum! After lunch, we turned East to Banias - also known as Caesarea Philippi.  More about that later.

St Peter's Primacy & Capernaum

Rock Upon Which Jesus Cooked
 the Fish - copied from Wikipedia

May 3 - Again, the sky is clear and blue over the Galilee .  After a visit to the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, we moved a  short distance along the shore to St. Peter's Primacy. The former church marks the site where Jesus fed the five thousand. The latter marks the site where he fed the apostles after his resurrection.  Here Jesus told Peter to feed his lambs, marking Peter as the head of his church. See also the Wikipedia articles on St. Peter's Primacy and the theological debate about Peter's appointment as the leader of the apostles. 

We had Mass here in a beautiful spot on the shore of the Galilee.

Before heading up the Golan Heights for the afternoon, we watched a movie about the discovery and preservation of a fishing boat from the first century. See Jesus Boat.

May 4 - Dawn brought another beautiful morning on the Galilee. We visited Capernaum before heading for the Golan Heights again. A big bicycle race around the Sea of Galilee closed the roads so we were stuck for a little while before the police agreed to escort our bus through the race course. How nice was that!

 Capernaum, unlike Nazareth, was located on an "international" travel route. Its residents would have been routinely exposed to new and different ideas of travelers from a wider world than the Galilee. That Nazareth, on the other hand, was relatively isolated may explain why Jesus was accepted in Capernaum while facing rejection in his home town of Nazareth. 

Capernaum was also a fairly wealthy town, its residents receiving income from farming, fishing and taxes on travelers crossing the border.

A church built in 1990 sits above an earlier church built to mark the location of Peter's house. We had Mass here.

Check out the excellent photos at  Bible Walks-Capernaum.

We learned something else from Marian along the way. When the Bible uses two names for a person, the second name is a modifier that emphasizes something about the person. Take Mary Magdalene, for example. Magdalene refers to the town of Migdal and also the Hebrew word for strong. Migdal was a wealthy town. Thus, the Bible is saying Mary Magdalene was a wealthy and a strong woman. 

On the Shores of Galilee

Living Water - The Jordan River flows into the Sea of Galilee from the North and continues flowing through the Jordan River Valley at the south end of the sea. So, the Sea of Galilee gives as well as receives. The Jordan ends by flowing into the Dead Sea so the Dead Sea receives but does not give. By this example,  Israeli  school children are taught that those who give as well as receive live; those that only receive die.

Ten hours from Newark, our plane landed in Tel Aviv without incident. Bags collected and pilgrims herded together, we boarded our tour bus to travel via a highway that follows the ancient trade route, the Via Maris, to the Ramot Resort Hotel that overlooks the Sea of Galilee. Following an excellent meal under the stars, we fell into our beds over twenty-fours after leaving Punta Gorda.

The next day we started at 9 AM and did not return until 10 PM.  Following a visit to the Mount of Beatitudes with a devotional interlude with Father Jerry, we toured the archeological sites of Korazim and Bethsaida. The latter link will lead you to a site with a cool video about the ongoing archeological work at Bethsaida. 

After lunch at the fish restaurant of the Ein Gev Kibbutz, we boarded a boat for a trip across the Sea of Galilee.  Engine shut down, our boat rolled with waves in the middle of the Galilee while we celebrated Mass.

Before dinner at Decks in Tiberias, we were also baptized in the Jordan River at the Yardenit Baptismal Site.

Each day begins early and ends late - sometimes as late as 10PM. After three days of touring, we took Sunday morning off for a little time to relax around the pool. 



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