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With Vellinga's Travel / Cruise Holidays

Touring in Israel

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Our visit to Israel took us to Caesarea, the ancient Roman seaport capital of Israel where Pontius Pilate has his base, Mount Carmel with the Mediterranean Sea and the Jezreel Valley on either side, Megiddo, which is Hebrew for Armageddon. This is strategically located on the main trading routes between Babylonia and Egypt. Here is where King Solomon built a giant fortress and city.

Our day ended with a visit to Nazareth where Jesus spent his childhood and dinner at our kibbutz on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

We spent two different nights at a Kibbutz. Kibbutzes are located throughout Israel’s beautiful, rustic countryside, near all places of interest. Each kibbutz has its own unique characteristics, just like each one of us do and are individually run.

Our visits on other days took us to Tel Dan which is a national park and archeological site which blended the natural beauty of Israel and Biblical history.

We visited Caesarea Philippi, the Golan Heights, Mt Bental, where we seen snow. This was very interesting because they had not received snow on Mt. Bental in the last eighteen years. Most people drove four hours to see snow here. Many of the people here had never seen snow in their lives.

Driving around the Sea of Galilee we saw the Mt. of Beatitudes where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount. We visited Capernaum, Tabgha at the foot of the Mount of Beatitudes where the miracle of the loaves and fishes happened.

We also saw the Jesus Boat Museum exhibit. This was discovered during the drought of 1986.

This fishing boat, through carbon dating would have existed during the time of Jesus. A boat ride on the Sea of Galilee was next, which for many in our group was one of the highlights of the trip.

From here it was off to Jerusalem. On the way we stopped at BetShe’an which is the largest of Israel’s archeological digs. We stopped Gilgal where Saul became King, visited underground caves and walked through an archeological dig where we seen bone fragments and bits of steel and wood that had been unearthed.

Stay tuned for more from Israel in the next edition.

For more information on Israel or any other trip, rely on your personal travel experts at Vellinga's Travel / Cruise Holidays.



Vellinga\'s Travel / Cruise Holidays is a full service travel agency taking great pride in our relationships with our customers. We love travel and cruising, and it is our aim not just to satisfy our customers, but to exceed all their travel planning needs. We have been providing excellent service for over fifty years to the Chatham Kent area.