On the road to Jerusalem

Today was the day we left Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee. It is such a beautiful area that I hated to say goodbye. The scenery quickly changed and we crossed the Jordan river which was not much larger at that spot than the creek that runs behind our house. We soon began to understand the meaning of the words "wilderness" and "desert". Jesus' temptation in the wilderness took on new meaning after seeing that. They are doing great things now with making some of the land more functional, but it truly is a desolate and barren land. The first stop for the day was at Beit Shean, where they put Saul's head after he had fallen on his sword as told in the book of Samuel. The ruins there were amazing and we walked to the top of the tel (hill) which had a view of the entire area. It was quite a site. There was an earthquake there several thousand years ago and it toppled many of the columns and other buildings. A Coke surely did taste good when we got back to the entry! Starting at sundown last night, the jewish community was observing their sabbath so we had numerous stores and things that were closed. But we worked around it fine. We stopped at a truck stop type place for a break in the travel after that and there were camels to ride, which none of us ventured to do at this point. From there, we went to Jerusalem and we first went to a high point and overlooked the city. It is not at all like I pictured it but it is a beautiful place. We are staying at the Olive tree hotel here and we can get internet in our room so this helps! At the lookout point, a vendor that Hillel (our guide) knew came and helped us with some souvenirs! His pockets were lined nicely when we returned to the bus.
Next we went to Bethlehem but Hillel could not go with us into Bethlehem. Israeli citizens are not allowed in Bethlehem is administered by the Palestinian authorities. So he got off right before we entered the checkpoint and we went to the Nisson brother's establishment for lunch, followed by a rousing shopping trip next door at their store! And they provided us with a good guide through the city of Bethlehem as well-all helping the Christian community which has been suffering the last few years due to the drop in tourism. The shopping had everything we could want in one place and we were quite pleased with several of our purchases.
Next we went to the Shepherd's field which really didn't look too much like a field at all. They have built a beautiful chapel there and we had a very meaningful devotion and Bible reading and sang several songs relating to Jesus birth. There was a Greek Orthodox service going on at the Church so we had to go see different areas of the church which has been built over the place that they say is where Jesus was born. We finally were able to go down to the cave like area and we had another Bible reading and sang several nativity songs. It was a very special experience. We then left Bethlehem and said goodbye to our guide there and at the security point, a soldier came onboard the bus and checked us out and we headed on back to Jerusalem, which is not far at all. We checked into the Olive Tree hotel and had a good evening meal. Several of us walked over to a nearby hotel that had a beautiful garden, but we had not taken the camera. Hopefully we can get back over there before we leave.