Stopping for lunch in Israel can be tricky on Saturday as Jewish establishments are closed for Shabbat. However, we had arranged for a falafal lunch and salad bar at a nearby Druze Village. Then it was off to Caesarea Maritime on the Mediterranean Sea. Caesarea was the ancient Roman seaport capital of Israel and we saw archeological evidence of Pontius Pilate having made this his base. We toured the theatre and the hippidrome; we looked out at the swimming pools of King Herod. We walked through the remenants of a Crusader City and we marvelled at the aqueduct system. Some of the group dipped their toes into the clear, refreshing waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Our last stop of the day was at Jaffa where we walked by the traditional site of the "House of Peter the Tanner" and took time to enjoy gelato, coffee and freshly roasted nuts in the artsy surroundings of Jaffa.
In less than an hour we were entering Jerusalem, listening to "The Holy City”. There weren’t too many dry eyes as we stopped on the top of Mount Scopus. In spite of cool temperatures and blowing wind, we will likely always remember the “Blessing for Jerusalem” our guides led us in. You can not imagine how delighted we were to arrive at a hotel where we would stay for 5 nights - we could actually unpack our suitcases!!!!
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