It's another body of water to touch....
the Mediterranean Sea no less!
Let's get into the water boys and girls!
the Mediterranean Sea no less!
Let's get into the water boys and girls!
It's another beautiful Israeli morning and we are off to Caesarea on the Mediterranean coastline. We file into the bus, make sure we sit in our own seats, as by now to take a random seat would be an insult to the friends we have made in our group on the bus. We each get our daily bottle of water, stow our packs and settle in for the adventure ahead. Caesarea is a 120 km. distant, so it will take about one and a half hours to drive.
Gilla our tour guide, true to form begins to point out items of interest as we move along the highway.
She begins by pointing out wreaked trucks on the side of the road left as a reminder of the 1948 blockade of Jerusalem. We drove by too fast for me to get a photo! Many people died in the attempt to break through and get food to the residents of Jerusalem.
Then, there is the road to Emmaus where Jesus appeared to some of his disciples after the resurrection. Next was the valley of Ashkelon where the sun stood still for Joshua.
Gilla our tour guide, true to form begins to point out items of interest as we move along the highway.
She begins by pointing out wreaked trucks on the side of the road left as a reminder of the 1948 blockade of Jerusalem. We drove by too fast for me to get a photo! Many people died in the attempt to break through and get food to the residents of Jerusalem.
Then, there is the road to Emmaus where Jesus appeared to some of his disciples after the resurrection. Next was the valley of Ashkelon where the sun stood still for Joshua.
Suddenly we got a shock. Gella pointed out this new soccer stadium and us Winnipeggers just about fell off the bus. This is practically a replica of our new football stadium "Investors Field" in Winnipeg. How did this happen? Who copied who? Suddenly we remembered, we have the Aspers in Winnipeg, a longstanding Jewish family who were behind the push for our new stadium. AAAhhh.... ????
Here is a little known fact. We were all surprised to learn that Caesarea has the only golf course in all of Israel! What is that all about? Does that mean these people here don't relax? I always thought business people needed golf courses to network and do business deals as they hack their way along. But, I guess not. Israel has shown you don't need a golf course to do business. I guess we here in the west are really busted on this one. Oh well, hope no one notices!
Here is a little known fact. We were all surprised to learn that Caesarea has the only golf course in all of Israel! What is that all about? Does that mean these people here don't relax? I always thought business people needed golf courses to network and do business deals as they hack their way along. But, I guess not. Israel has shown you don't need a golf course to do business. I guess we here in the west are really busted on this one. Oh well, hope no one notices!
Let's talk about Caesarea. Above is a photo of the shore-line and some of the ruins of Herod the Greats many building projects. This is where Peter met the centurion. Paul was jailed here for two years, then sent to Rome. Philip the evangelist lived here. It became a major Christian centre.
What it is known for most is the numerous and amazing building projects Herod the Great built here, mostly to impress his Roman bosses. He dedicated all his lavish accomplishments to Augustus Caesar.
What it is known for most is the numerous and amazing building projects Herod the Great built here, mostly to impress his Roman bosses. He dedicated all his lavish accomplishments to Augustus Caesar.
Here is the huge Hippodrome (One of the largest in the whole Roman Empire.) where chariot races happened. I took this photo from where Harrod's palace was located at the end of the racetrack. This way he could just step out onto his patio and watch the races at his leisure. This photo is of the end where the contestants had to round the corner and begin the other direction. Lots of dramatic accidents happened reight here. Nice seat he had.
This is a diagram of the state of the art harbour he built. This was his crowning achievement. His goal was to rival the port of Alexandria in Egypt. It had a market, an aqueduct, baths, government and business offices, villas, pagan temples, a circus and so on. The port was a masterpiece in engineering. He used a special new kind of cement that hardened under water!
There is a lot more I could talk about, but let me end with this. The Roman Theater. This theater could seat 3, 500 people.
Here our group of 950 people, pilgrems from 40 countries are moving into this Roman Theater for a special event. That evening we had a show by a group called "The Planetshakers" and it was awesome. Can you imagine, sitting in a theater, listening to a music group, with the Mediterranean Sea in the background. Wow.
Here our group of 950 people, pilgrems from 40 countries are moving into this Roman Theater for a special event. That evening we had a show by a group called "The Planetshakers" and it was awesome. Can you imagine, sitting in a theater, listening to a music group, with the Mediterranean Sea in the background. Wow.
Below is the view we had as we came to the parking lot to look for our buses after the show. Here they are, 20 buses lined up in a row and in order from # 1 - 20. Our bus was bus number six, the best bus group of all, of course.
In an hour and a half, we would be back in our hotel in Jerusalem, ready for a good nights sleep.
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