Day 5 from Bethlehem to Galilee

Our fifth day took us out of Bethlehem which meant we left the Palestinian Territory, traveled through Jerusalem and onto the Mediterranean Sea. We first arrived at the aquaduct built by King Herod too bring fresh water to Ceasarea by the Sea, the Roman port ciity he built. You see the aquaduct and below and then a picture of my son Thomas, my mom Judy and I in front of the Mediterranean.

We then moved to Ceasarea itself and below you see the Roman theater, the ruins of the royal palace (complete with a fresh water swimming pool which  was the square area you see in the second photo) and other ruins along the sea. 

The cross on the  piece of column you see below at this ruin means it was used AFTER the Roman Empire became influenced by Christians.

This city was the place that the Apostle Paul was tried and where he was imprisoned before he was shipped to Rome. We read from the book of Acts together before heading out. Pontious Pilate also lived in this palace and traveled from here to Jerusalem during Passover which is why he was there when Jesus was arrested and tried. This is why you find his name on one of the ruins that you see pictured in the second photo below.

The next leg of our journey took us to Mt. Carmel where Elisha defeated the prophets of Bael. You see the statue that remembers this event and then the amazing view from this National Park. We were struck but the lush forests we drove through up the mountain, seeing families like the one below resting on the Sabbath.

After lunch we hiked the Mound of Megiddo, refered to as "Armegeddon" in the book of Revelation. This strategic area contains the ruins of almost 30 civilations. Whoever controlled this area could control the entire Jezreel valley and entry into the Holy  Land, thus battle after battle occurred here with each victor building right on top of the other. You can see the ruins in the photo below. In top photo you can see the round mound which was a sacrificial altar.

At the top of the mound you find these iron chariots. It was appropriate for these Durango folks to ride the "Iron Horse."

To exit the mound we descended 185 steps and then out through the underground tunnel which  was the  water system into fortress of Megiddo. 

The survivors exiiting the tunnel!

Our final stop of the day on our way to Galilee was Cana, where it is remembered that Jesus did his first miracle of turnning water into wine at a wedding. We actually did a renewal of vows ceremony in the chapel for couples on the trip, an unplanned, the wedding bells wrang as we finished the final prayer. There was even a wedding happening in  the main church while we were there. Below is the exterior of the church and these tiles recount the story as you enter.