After Egypt, http://www.pbase.com/ageojo/egypt , and Jordan, http://www.pbase.com/ageojo/jordan__petra , we crossed the King Hussein Bridge and arrived at the Allenby check point in Israel, where we saw a huge crowd. There were simply too many people, locals and tourists, that did the same thing we did. After a long wait, we finally arrived in Israel. Although it was not a strict pilgrimage, our tour visited historical sites mentioned in the bible.

The tour started in Jaffa/Tel Aviv and we headed to Caesarea at the Mediterranean Sea. Caesarea was the capital of King Herod that reigned when Jesus was born. Then we went to Mount Carmel , where Elijah issued his challenge to false prophets and to Megiddo to see the remains of Solomon's days and where the battle of Armageddon will be fought. Nazareth, the childhood town of Jesus was next on the list and we stayed overnight in Tiberia at the Sea of Galilee. In the morning we boarded a boat and sailed on the Sea of Galilee to see a wooden boat from the time of Jesus that was discovered in 1986. We visited Caesarea Philippi, where one of the springs that feeds the Sea of Galilee/Jordan river is located and the Grotto of Pan. Traveling through Golan Heights, we continued to Tabgha, the site of feeding of 5,000 people with 2 fishes and 5 loaves of bread then to Capernaum, where Jesus ministered a synagogue and where he stayed in the house of Peter's mother-in-law.

We visited the baptismal site of Yardenit along the Jordan river and witnessed several tour participants being baptized and then we headed to the ancient city of Beth Shean and drove to the lowest altitude in the world, the Dean Sea. Indeed, with that high salinity content, you will be floating on the water in the Dead Sea. The following morning we were off to see Masada. Built by King Herod, Masada is famous for being the last stronghold of apocalyptic Jewish rebels against the Romans. We then visited Ein Gedi and finally off to Qumran where the famous Dead Sea scrolls were found in several caves there. On the same day, we arrived in Jerusalem and saw a typical burial ground from the time of Jesus and then we visited Mount Olive, overlooking Jerusalem.

We stayed 4 nights in Jerusalem and visited various sites within the city, where numerous events in the bible took place, including but not limited to the Pool of Bethesda, King David Tomb, the Upper Room, where the last supper took place, Garden of Gethsemane, Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrow) with 14 stations of the cross, and the Garden Tomb. We also went to Bethlehem for several hours which is located in an area controlled by Palestinian authority. There we visited the Shepherd's Field, the Church of the Nativity, the location of the manger and shadow of the Bethlehem Star.

I had a tough time choosing a representative image for Israel and finally decided on the sunrise scene at the Dead Sea. I felt that rowing a boat similar to a surfboard could only done one the high salinity water of the Dead Sea. Nowhere else one could use a "surfboard" as a boat and would be able to float like that with the weight of an adult.

The sequence of the images in this gallery may look weird. It is strictly based on the date/time of capture. While staying in Jerusalem for 3 nights, we went to Bethlehem for a few hours and because of that, some images may look out of sequence. When we moved from one religous location to the other, I also posted a few images I took along the way between the two. That may create the same situation to some.

Photography tidbits:
On this trip, I took 2 zoom and 2 prime lenses with a Canon full frame body. In total, I took approximately 3,500 images, including the time in Paris. The most used lens was my 16-35mm f/2.8 Mark II with which I took more than 2,000 images. The other zoom lens, a 70-200mm f/2.8 Mark II, some in combination with a 1.4X TC, was used to take 700 images. Out of the primes lenses, I used my 50mm f/1.2 for some 550 shots and the 24mm TS-E Mark II lens for slightly over 100 shots and mostly in Paris where we stayed 3 nights on the way over to the Middle East.

Thank you for visiting my gallery. Please feel free to leave your comments on the gallery or images you see fit.