Good Morning from Israel

I’m writing this note–hurriedly–from our room at the Dan Panorama Hotel in Ceasarea on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in northern Israel. It’s bright and sunny and warm in Israel this morning.

Karl and Ann Olsson at the Istanbul airport.

After a long layover in the Istanbul airport, and after sitting on the tarmac in Istanbul for an hour, we arrived in Tel Aviv around 1:40 AM, and after making our way through Israeli Customs, we met our guide Malcolm. We arrived at our hotel around 3:45 AM, got to our rooms at 4 AM, and got a wake-up call at 8 AM.

L-R Sharon Schneider, Bill and Irene Danson, Katie Westcomb.

L-R Marlene Pritchard, Tips and Marvin Just, Bev Barner.

Malcolm welcomed us to the Promised Land, and immediately began to explain the historical significance of this strip of real estate that has known perhaps 150 years of peace out of the last 4000 years. “This is the most fought-over land in the world,” he said. 

Karl Olsson and Dean Ersig

I don’t have very many pictures yet, mostly because we’ve spent all our time in planes, in airports, and a few brief hours in our hotel room. This morning we start by touring Ceasarea where Herod the Great created a vast seaport. This is where the Apostle Paul was held prisoner for two years and made his stirring defense before King Agrippa (Acts 26). 

Israeli breakfast buffet.

This doesn’t look anything like Cracker Barrel.

You eat much healthier in Israel.

Then it’s on to Mount Carmel where Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 17), then Megiddo (otherwise known as Armageddon), then Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus. We’ll pass by Cana where Jesus turned water into wine (John 2), and end our day in Tiberius on western side of the Sea of Galilee.

The sign to our hotel.

The view from our room looking toward the Mediterranean Sea.

The folks next to us are doing their laundry–a common sight when you travel.

We’re all a bit bleary-eyed this morning but in reasonably good spirits. How can you not feel good to be in Israel, land of the Bible?