January 5, 2005
Scott's Parents Arrive
Scott's parents arrived in Israel to spend two weeks with us. We were glad that the new airport terminal had just been opened so they arrived in a modern, clean, new terminal instead of the 50 year old one. We were so excited that they came so far to visit us. We hadn't seen them for a year, so it was wonderful to be together again.
Scott's Parents clearing customs
After they arrived, we took them to our grocery store. We think they were a little overwhelmed by how much they couldn't recognize. They also picked Tyler up from preschool. Tyler was thrilled to see his grandparents, but he wouldn't say grandma and grandpa in Hebrew for his teachers.
The next day we let them recover a bit from jet lag.
On Friday, we went to Caesarea. It was fun to show them around the ruins. Tyler loved "driving" the chariot at the hippodrome.
Tyler the chariot driver racing at the Caesarea Hippodrome
Here the guys are relaxing in the stadium seating of the hippodrome.
Tyler, Scott and Dad in the Hippodrome stands
We hadn't been to the Caesarea aqueduct yet, so it was fun to visit it . It is right next to the beach, so Tyler had lots of fun running around on the sand.
The Roman aqueduct at Caesarea
On Satuday we went to chuch. Mom and Dad were fortunate that we had visitors from Jerusalem so we had more people in attendance and we had a potluck after church. After church we drove along the Sea of Galilee. It was quite a cold and windy day, so we saw how choppy the sea can get. It was the first time we had seen it like that, and we were able to imagine what it would have been like for Jesus and his apostles to be out on the lake in a small boat during a storm.
Of course we took Mom and Dad to all the key sites: Tabgha (supposed site of the feeding of 4000), St. Peter's Primacy (where Christ told Peter to feed his sheep), Capernaum and the Mount of Beatitudes.
Sunday was Tiffany's birthday. We went shopping at the mall and had dinner at our favorite restaurant, Hashmura.
On Monday we went to the Baha'i gardens. Israel is the headquarters of the Baha'i religion. In Haifa, there are beautiful gardens and a shrine to one of their prophets. The garden was perfectly manicured. We descended over 500 steps from the midpoint of the gardens to the bottom. We didn't know that we weren't allowed to go back up the steps, so we visited the German Colony and then spent 30 minutes walking back uphill along the streets next to the gardens to where our car was parked.
Tyler on one of the 500 steps to the Bahai shrine
On Wednesday we left on our vacaction within a vacation. On our way to Masada we stopped at a roadside stand and ate Bedouin pita filled with Lebaneh cheese, olive oil and Za'atar spice. It was delicious.
Roadside standWe spent most of the day in Masada. Tyler's favorite part was the cable car that took us to the top. He couldn't stop talking about the cable car (later when we returned home, we built a cable car out of Legos to keep him happy). We saw more of Masada than we had seen in the past. It helped to be there on a warm winter day instead of a hot summer one. We were a little disappointed that most of Herod's palace is still closed for restoration.
Arch at Masada
Masada and the Dead SeaWe stayed at our 5 star hotel right on the Dead Sea (5 star by Israeli standards, which is nice, but not what we would think of as 5 star). Our rooms had beautiful views of the Dead Sea. Did you know in Hebrew, the Dead Sea is called the Salt Lake? Hmmm, where else does the Jordan river flow into the Salt Lake?
Sunrise over the Dead SeaAfter a large Israeli breakfast we headed towards Jerusalem. We decided to stop at Qumran, which is the site of the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls. It was fascinating to learn the history of the site and see the caves.
QumranWe will cover Jerusalem and the rest of our trip in our next post.
Tyler-isms:
"Why are they lighting candles? Don't they know Hanukkah is over?" - In a Catholic church
"Umm, Umm, I want of of those" - Asking the waitress to bring him his own dessert after she gave one to us.
"Sound toothbrushes" - Grandma and Grandpa's are battery operated.
"We need to clean up all the rain and put it back in the sky so we can go to school." - Tyler loves going to school and didn't want to be slowed down by the rain.
"Daddy's parents" - Yes, but you can call them Grandma and Grandpa.