Days 1 and 2: So off we went - we arrived in Tel Aviv late on Christmas Day and went straight to our hotel in the sleepy Mediterranean town of Netanya. Our tour would start from this hotel in two days, but we wanted a few days to get over the jet lag and just relax on the beach. We spent most of the first two days sleeping and taking in different aspects of the culture around us. We found the people to be very friendly and we loved seeing the Orthodox Jews walking around with the mostly black outfits with top hats and long sideburns that were usually either braided or curled. Contrary to what the news will tell you, we found Israel (not the Palastinian territories) to be an extremely peaceful and relaxed place. The food was excellent! Hummus for every meal along with a vast assortment of veggies, fruits and cheeses. We ate falafel at every opportunity! I thought that my pregnancy was starting to show while we were in Israel, but once we came back to Germany and my belly went back down to size, I realized it was all from the buffets!
Day 3: Today was the start of our tour. Ben and I really didn't want to do a tour at first. We wanted the knowledge that would come from having a tour guide but we didn't want to feel like we were being hearded around like cattle. We expected to be the youngest people on the tour by about 30 years so we were surprised to find out that the ages ranged from 10-60. There were 39 people on our tour and we had some great personalities and comedians which made for an always-entertaining time!
O
ur first stop was Caesarea. It is an ancient harbor town on the coast of the Meditteranean. It is mentioned in the Bible in Acts 10:1 and again in Acts 12:19. The missionary Paul and author of Acts started and finished some of his journeys to Turkey and Greece from this town. Peter also did some of his teachings in Caeserea. It is a Roman town so there were plenty of Roman features like the bathhouses and amphitheatre. The harbor view and the ruins of one of King Herod's palaces can be seen in one of the pictures. The other picture is of a Roman aqueduct. After that, we continued on to Mt Carmel, where Elijah battled with the prophets of Baal mentioned in 1 Kings 18
. The Mt. overlooked Nazareth, the Valley of Megiddo (the site of Armageddon, Ezekiel 37), and the Mt. of Transfiguration (Matthew 17). (You can see all three of these sites in the picture.) Then we traveled on to Tel Megiddo which is a hill that contains ruins from over 25 civilizations from history. Then it was on to Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus. We visited a village that had re-created what it would have been like during Jesus' time and it brought some of the parables of Christ to life. It was easy to see what Jesus was talking about with the parable of the 4 soils (Matthew 13) because this village had all of it right there in plain site. The landmarks mentioned in Matthew 21:33-46 had been unearthed by archaeologists and you could plainly see where a vineyard was with a wall around it, a wine press and a watchtower. It was phenomenal to look at while our guide read us the scripture. After that, we traveled to our hotel in Tiberius, right on the Sea of Galilee. 
ur first stop was Caesarea. It is an ancient harbor town on the coast of the Meditteranean. It is mentioned in the Bible in Acts 10:1 and again in Acts 12:19. The missionary Paul and author of Acts started and finished some of his journeys to Turkey and Greece from this town. Peter also did some of his teachings in Caeserea. It is a Roman town so there were plenty of Roman features like the bathhouses and amphitheatre. The harbor view and the ruins of one of King Herod's palaces can be seen in one of the pictures. The other picture is of a Roman aqueduct. After that, we continued on to Mt Carmel, where Elijah battled with the prophets of Baal mentioned in 1 Kings 18
. The Mt. overlooked Nazareth, the Valley of Megiddo (the site of Armageddon, Ezekiel 37), and the Mt. of Transfiguration (Matthew 17). (You can see all three of these sites in the picture.) Then we traveled on to Tel Megiddo which is a hill that contains ruins from over 25 civilizations from history. Then it was on to Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus. We visited a village that had re-created what it would have been like during Jesus' time and it brought some of the parables of Christ to life. It was easy to see what Jesus was talking about with the parable of the 4 soils (Matthew 13) because this village had all of it right there in plain site. The landmarks mentioned in Matthew 21:33-46 had been unearthed by archaeologists and you could plainly see where a vineyard was with a wall around it, a wine press and a watchtower. It was phenomenal to look at while our guide read us the scripture. After that, we traveled to our hotel in Tiberius, right on the Sea of Galilee. 
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