On our second day in port at Haifa, Israel, Neil and I traveled about two hours by bus to Jerusalem. For the second day in a row it rained steadily in Israel. Despite this obstacle to photos and such, we went to the Garden of Gethsemane and the church attached to it. Some of the olive trees there are still producing olives after 3000 years. Gethsemane means in Hebrew something like “olive press.” One of the things that surprised me was the steep hills—almost like mountains—in the city of Jerusalem. Evidently, three valleys all converge in the city.
Another feature that was emotive for us was our visit to the “Wailing Wall.” Men and women are separated and can go, touch, and pray there. This western wall was what was left of the Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in response to a Jewish uprising in Palestine between 66 and 70 CE. This was a deeply moving experience—even in the pouring rain. Well, how many times are you going to be in Israel, after all?
The following two days, we were at sea and then passed through the Suez Canal. It was very cool and took us from 3:30 am until 4:00 pm. Thus, it was much longer and larger than I realized. The Suez Canal had an interesting history deriving from centuries before Christ. The canal and its usefulness also had the attention of people like Napoleon and other middle east potentates. There are two tunnels under the canal, and we sailed right under the only bridge that spans the canal.
Our next port was at Aqaba in the country of Jordan, which I have to say was a great eye opener and, of course, quite captivating. Although we did not get to explore this city of 140,000 people, Neil and I did go to Petra—the UNESCO world heritage site and named one of the seven “modern” wonders of the world. To get to the site, we hiked down and back over seven miles and it was well worth it. When we got off the ship it was 64 degrees F. In Petra, the temperature dropped all the way to 42 degrees F. Neil got some great photos of the site.
We are doing well and meeting very interesting people from many different countries. It is going well for us so far. (From the editor: We will be at sea for the next six days with no access to internet.)
From your friends,
David and Neil
David and Neil's Excellent Adventure 