travel blog

snowbird utah

2007-11-11T12:03:00.000-05:00

This weekend I am in Snowbird, Utah for work. It is hard to believe that a week ago I was in Greece. Here it is cold and snowy and beautifully stark. I have uploaded pics...http://picasaweb.google.com/laurie.griffith/SnowbirdUtah

Home

2007-11-04T21:37:00.001-05:00

Home at last. I have been up for 46 hours straight with only 6 hours of sleep the night before, so you can imagine that I am exhausted and very glad to see my own bed and my family, Oliver and Billie and the newest edition, Lewis (as in Meriwether). Kitten Lewis was 12 wks old when I left and is now 14 wks old and I swear he has doubled in size.

This will be my last post,(although I still have one more batch of pictures to upload tomorrowl, so check the pics tomorrow). Thanks to all who have "traveled" with me and sent me prayers, encouragement, emails and such. It is wonderful to have such a supportive family and community. Love you.

Coffee

2007-11-04T15:08:00.001-05:00

One last observation as I transition back to the U.S. The coffee of choice in israel was nescafe instant and many other forms of instant. Surprisingly, in Greece, the "greek coffee" also is nescafe instant. Some people drink Turkish coffee but that is generally frowned on. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that although each day we received hours of lectures on history, the 600 years of the ottoman empire rule over Greece was universally skipped. It is as though that was a back hole in their cultural background, as though the culture was not influenced by the turks at all, although it didn't end until 1828.

While I am not a huge coffee drinker, I was grateful for the starbucks waiting for me on the other side of customs in Newark airport!

2007-11-03T20:51:00.001-04:00

The last day was saved for Athens, or as the Greeks call it, Athina, with an emphasis on the middle syllable.

Athens is built on the bottom half of a mountain with the top half reserved for the acropolis. As an older man explained to me, polis means city. So, metropolis is mother city. Acropolis is height city. The acropolis or tops of the mountains are reserved for the temples and military fortifications in Greece. Athens extends out from the mountain on all sides across a vast plane bounded by three mountain ranges and an ocean on the fourth side. It holds 4.5 million people. Since there are about 7 million people in all of greece, the majority live within the bounds of this huge city.

We started the day by driving an hour south of the city to visit a temple dedicated to poseidon at the top of a high penninsula. The temple was beautiful and the vista was breathtaking. For some reason I was giddy all morning. The sun, the wind, the view, whatever. It was a fun and heady visit. It has been a long time since I have laughed as much as I have this week. It feels cathartic in a way.

For every ascent, there is a descent and during the afternoon I couldn't help but feel melancholy that the visit was soon over.

We saved the acropolis and the parthenon for last. The parthenon is a temple inside of the acropolis dedicated to the goddess Athena. While it was grand, I much prefered the 600 year younger Roman odeon, or theater located next to the parthenon. It was in such good shape that it is still in use as a musical venue.

Most of the statutes and figurines from the parthenon are in museums in other countries, so the actual parthenon looks bare.
At night the entire acropolis is lit up and is visible from every portion of the city, like a giant crown over the city.

Endings

2007-11-03T17:36:00.000-04:00

I leave in a few hours and have said goodbye to people. I am strangely melancholy in that I guess simply all things must end.

I realize it has been a while since I sent a post.

Last night we ate dinner in a cafe located directly behind the open fish market. The smell of the fishmarket pervaded the air but mixed with the smoke from the grill right next to us. There were a few tourists and many Greeks of all ages crowded into tables set in the alleyway. We ordered wine and appetizers of cheese, bread and tzaziki. Then followed with the fish. All of the fish was freshly caught that day, mine was direct from the harbour a local favorite. I have no idea what it was called, several syllables, but they were 6-8 inches long served fried whole, and I was served a half a dozen or so. I had to eat the sweet flesh longways to get it off of the bones without the tiny bones cracking in my mouth. Needless to say it was awesome.

We then wandered through the alleys to the tavern where we had had lunch as a group, and there split a bottle of red wine that was made by the proprietor from grapes he collected around Greece. It was full bodied and wonderful, much better than most of the local wine I have had in Greece. Soon there was a full house of both people from the ship and locals to listen to the greek band. The bazooka player was very good and the female singer enjoyed her music, but the guitar player left a little to be desired. I half expected one of the older men to get up and dance.

It was a full night with wonderful company and new experiences.

Internet cafes

2007-11-02T11:44:00.000-04:00

One of the most original experiences I have had has been searching for and finding the internet cafes in the cities and on the islands. they are each distinctly different. two were large enterprises that had over 40 computers and mostly teenage boys on the computers. one was a smoky, loud bar with 10 computers in the back. One was a small area off of a bar with only one computer. This one is the best by far. It is in a bar, but in a room that opens onto the bar. The bar is frequented by greek persons who are engaged in playing backgammon - probably about 20 men playing games and hanging out. There are only two computers and i am the only one on the computer. I had to go through a maze of back roads and alleys to find it, but it is smoke free and music free and just a laid back greek tavern for the locals. Quite fun, I am sure I would never have come in here except for the search for the internet. oh, usually the internet cafes charge anywhere from the equivelant of $1.25 to $6.00 per hour for the use of the internet and computer. In this quaint little bar, I simply had to buy a glass of wine (a carafe of 350 ml for 2 euros or $3.00 and the internet is free.) oh darn. While I write, two children about 8 and 10 come in and start playing cards. This truly is a local hangout!

Aegina

2007-11-02T10:09:00.001-04:00

Oops, I misspelled the name of the island. It is aegina.

Augina

2007-11-02T10:08:00.001-04:00

Augina is the land of pistachios. The whole island is covered with pistachio trees. We had a short visit today to a modern greek orthodox church designed in the byzantine model. I must say it was much nicer than the bizantine churches that tend to be filled with gilt and ornament with little form or reason. This was a beautiful church with lots of form and reason and the gilt and ornament also.

We visited the best kept temple from the 5th century BC yet, but it was kind of anti climatic after the last few days.

This afternoon is one of rest then we will go out for a freshly caught fish dinner (all those fishing boats I saw this morning came in around 3 and there was fish galore in the market.) and greek music and dancing. :)

In response to several requests I have included a couple of pictures of me. I simply don't like pics of me cluttering up the greek scenery.

Greek islands

2007-11-02T04:29:00.001-04:00

We passed back through the isthmus at 8 am and have been cruising to an island about 3 hours past the mainland. It is the nearest inhabited island to athens and to get there we pass by dozens of small uninhabited islands that rise up out of the ocean steep and rocky with sparse vegetation. It is as though we are seeing the very peaks of a large mountain range. I can't help bit wonder what the terrain looks like under the surface.

Claire Messud opens her latest novel, Emporer's Children, with a quote from Anthony Powell, "The General, speaking one felt with authority, always insisted that if you bring off adequate preservation of your personal myth, nothing much else in life matters. It is not what happens to people that is significant, bit what they think happens to them."

It seems particularly appropriate here where stories and history intermingle to such a degree that it is difficult to discern reality, but not real difficult to discern truth.

There are lots of little fishing boats in these waters and the occasional sailboat. We are the only cruise ship making it feel almost as if we are invading this space. Even so, I am grateful for the opportunity to experience the wind, the sun, the smells and the beauty of the islands

Muses

2007-11-01T09:10:00.001-04:00

We are walking up Mt Parnassus, the mount where the 9 muses of Apollo lived and overlooking Mt Helicon which is considered the source of all poetry, music and theater. I can attest to the inspirational aspect of this very real place. It is simply breathtaking, the air is clear, the path smells of cedar, the wonders of human life can be found in this one geographical place. Over the top of the temple of zeus, the early artists in the 10th century BC placed marble carvings depicting Apollo, the god of reason and logic surrounded by the 9 muses and on the other side Dionysius, the god of passion and excess. These two extremes and ideals balance each other out in life. For what would reason be without passion and where would passion lead without reason.

In the 5th century AD, Delphi had an earthquake whick destroyed many of the buidlings. The Christian leaders at the time did not want to rebuild a temple to pagan gods and the area was used as a quarry. Eventually a new town was built over the ruins. In 1896, the state moved the town about 2 miles around the mountain and began to excavate finding incredible statutes and offerings to the gods. There is a stadium like nemea and olympia, only with stone seats, and a large theater popular because of the view of Mt Helicon, a tTemple of Zeus built over a methane natural gas leak where the priestess of the temple chnnelled the god and was translated by a priest as the oracle of delphi. Underneath are shops where pilgrims would buy the items necessary to sacrifice. Even lower was the temple of Athena where the pilgrims were first cleansed before the hike up the mountain to the oracle. It is simply the most stunning place I have ever seen. My companion who has studied and taught medieval poetry and literature at a university setting for years was astonished to find Mt. Helicon was a real place after having read so many references to it in poetry throughout the ages.

I have to say that I was overwhelmed during much of the climb and simply experienced a form of ecstacy while climbing. I was not alone.

Delphi

2007-11-01T05:48:00.001-04:00

It is a spiritual experience to walk up the sacred path of delphi. We are at the beginning and I already feel almost ecstatic. It is overwhelming the history and beauty. The portion we are walking on are almost 4000 years old. Under each of these rocks may still lie gold and ivory statutes.

Delphi

2007-11-01T03:51:00.001-04:00

As we ascend the mountain toward delphi, I look back over the largest olive grove I have ever seen. It canvases the entire valley from the ocean port to the base of the mountain and is quite spectacular. the town is located at the bottom of the mountain and at the port. As we drove through the olive grove for miles the trees were very, very large so this valley must be at least several hundred years old, perhaps up to 600 years old. It is quite impressive.

Itea

2007-11-01T02:47:00.001-04:00

Today we glided into the small port of itea on the mainland. A strong contrast to yesterday's stormy entrance into patras. We will go north to delphi, once thought to be the center of the world. It is a beautiful day with clear skies and 65 degree weather.

Olympia

2007-10-31T12:28:00.001-04:00

Oh, the marble statutes in the pictures were covered under mud and preserved for centuries by the mud. They aparently graced the temple of zeus above the entrance and were created in the 9th Century BC. Inside the temple were other marble sculptures added in the 4th Century BC. Some of these are still in existance including the full body of Hermes. There is a whole long story that goes with them, maybe I will relate it later. I am in search of some food here for dinner. And perhaps and Internet cafe to upload the pics.

Olympia

2007-10-31T12:18:00.001-04:00

Today we had a long bus ride from the port city of patras on the peloponese island to Olympia where the Olympic games were held every 4 years from 776 BC to 393 AD when a Christian emperor declared the games stopped because of their pagan aspects. In 550 AD there was a huge earthquake that destroyed most of the buildings and the rivers flooded the area under feet of mud this preserving a lot of the marble statutes and and the stones used in the buildings. When Greece became an independent state in 1820's (I can't remember exactly when), olympia was the first site to be excavated in the 1830's. It is a huge geographic area that includes a stadium, a hippodropme, places for the athletes to practice, places for the dignitaries to stay, and several temples that preceed the Olympic games. The island of Peloponese is said to have been founded by Pelops. And Pelops is said to be buried at olympia and there is an area dedicated to pelops as well as two temples, one to Zeus and one to Hera, his wife. It is from the alter of Hera that the Olympic flame was lit and kept and it is from this alter today that the current Olympic flame is lit using mirrors and the sun.

The fires this summer came to the very edge of thy olympia grounds when the wind shifted and it changed direction. So that the olympia grounds are still full of beech trees, oak trees, and willow trees and the mountain range surrounding it is burnt to a crisp. When you walk through the olympia village there is a strange mixture of sweet beech and charred deciforous trees.

Aparently, the entire 1000 years, no married women were allowed to watch the games or enter into the olympia. When they were caught, they were killed. One woman was spared because her father, her husband and her sons had all won in the games. Winners were given free food for life by the state and honored as heroes. One woman disguised as a trainer but was found out and the rules change so that not only must all athletes compete naked, all the trainers must be naked also.

I have lots of pics. Including a large house that the Romans added a swimming pool into the center of the complex. It is like two large moats around a garden. Amazing.

The drive there was interesting. This is the most fertile land I have seen reminding me of Georgia or central Florida. With weeds everywhere, farms of orange trees, lettuce and melons, but lots and lots of trees and weeds. The farms are haphazard, not like the geometric orchards around mycenae. With wealthy farms next to very small, very poor farms.

It was an interesting and long day. I have met a companion (not a love interest) whose conversations makes the travel interesting. He teaches medieval literature at Dartmouth and is interested in many of the same things I am. He is related to a colleague at the Presbyterian Center, it is a small world sometimes.

Olympia

2007-10-31T03:02:00.001-04:00

Today we head on a long bus ride to ancient olympia where the Olympic games were held 2500 years ago.

Ship to patras

2007-10-31T02:54:00.001-04:00

Well, the calm waters turned stormy. Our 3 hour trip took 5 during a mighty storm. I tried to take a shower and the drains did not work so the water ran out of the shower stall, out of my bathroom, and out the door of my sleeping space into the hall. Uh oh. I spent 45 mins cleaning the water inside my cubicle, I am kinda afraid to peek out into the hall to see the damage. Of course the boat hands know how to deal with this. If I wait long enough, perhaps it will already be cleaned up.

Ithaki

2007-10-30T13:07:00.001-04:00

Vathy closed down at 2 and true to the promise, it opened back up at 5. I wandered back to the port and the square at 7 and found all the restaurants and shops open. There were some locals, and our ship of 100 or so easycruisers to dine in about 2 dozen restaurants and shop another two dozen shops. It is as though we have the town to ourselves. The locals drive by on motorcycles and mopeds. I chose a cafe on the port so look out over the water and have some food. It is warmer this evening than today, so although it is breezy, I don't need a coat. It really could not be more perfect.

Greece Pics

2007-10-30T11:13:00.000-04:00

So, I have used my allotted space for pics already, so I created a New album to hold all the pics from Greece. If you would like to view the Greece Pics, go to...

http://picasaweb.google.com/laurie.griffith/Travelblog2

Enjoy!

Poetry

2007-10-30T10:46:00.001-04:00

If one were inclined to write poetry, this island would inspire a lot of verse, probably rather insipid given the romantic environment and pace of the village (the shops close at 2 and reopen at 5 everyday). In some ways the greek myths are inspiring because there are few mortals that are not flawed in some way or another in the myths. All the human vices were as common 3200 years ago as today. Still, it is nice to sit still and at peace for a little bit. On this island, it is quiet with little to none of the white noise we take for granted each day. It is about 65 degrees in the sun with a breeze, so I expect the evening will be a bit colder. This will be the first evening I have gone out. I tend to use the day and then crash at night.

Ithaka

2007-10-30T09:20:00.001-04:00

Today was the most gorgeous day of all. We toured the island of Ithaki that has about 3000 residents on it. It is a breathtaking island that I hope to return to some day. It is the home of Ulysses and he was always wanting to get home during his travels. Today when they say that you want to go to Ithaki or Ithaca, it means that you want to achieve a goal.

When he got here he left again, so the hope is that your will achieve your dreams only in old age when you are content.

We visited a monastery at the top of a mountain that is inhabited by one man. We encountered a herd of goats just before we got to the monastery and a sign on the door asking visitors to close the doors so the goats will not wander in. The road was steep and curvy, originally a goat path with no thoughts of buses. We were on a bus that came by ferry from a nearby island. There have only been two buses this year. It is a remote island which only makes it that much more beautiful. Of course, the batteries went out in the camera so I didn't get many pictures. I did get pictures of the goats though! It is a spectacular place, rich in history and very remote. An opportunity for further explorations.

Odyssey

2007-10-30T04:22:00.001-04:00

So I have just solved a minor mystery. The greek name for ulysses is odysseus and the Roman name is ulysses.

Mycenae

2007-10-30T03:50:00.001-04:00

I walked up and down the ruins of mycenae trying to imagine life there 2600 years ago. Mycenae was founded by Perseus, the son of zeus and danae in 1600 BC. He used the cyclops (giants) to build the walls. Myces means mushroom. The hilt of the swords were also called myces and the are shaped like mushrooms. Perseus founded the perseid dynasty that lasted until Eurystheis who set Hercules about his labors. I may have my stories mixed up, but I think it was hercules who was given pegasis, the flying horse, by Athena to assist him in completing the labors. He then tried to fly pegasis to mt Olympia, the mountain of the gods, and zeus struck him down. Eurystheis died in Africa with no heirs, so the people of mycenae consulted an oracle and chose two brothers, atreus and thyestes to compete for the throne. Atreus won. Thyestes along with atreus's wife, aerope, who was thyestes' lover, plotted to overthrow Atreus but he found out about the plot. In order to punish thyestes, Atreus killed the children of thyestes and fed them to thyestes at a banquet. The gods were displeased at this and put a curse on the family of Atreus. Atreus was succeeded by his son Agememnon. Agememnon was involved with ulysses or odysseus to avenge the king of sparta. Menelaus' wife Helen was stolen by Paris of Troy and he gathered Agamemnon and Odysseus and others to help in in his conquest of Troy. This was depicted in Homer's Iliad some2000 years later. When Agememnon returned from the trojan war, he was killed by his wife Clytemnestea and her lover Aegistheus. Agememnon's son Orestes avenged his fathers death by killing his mother and her lover.

The Mycenaens were conquered in 1200 BC by the Dorians.

I saw the burial tombs of Atreus, Agememnon and Clytemnestea. Whether or not these stories are true, the tombs and the cities where they lived existed.

Now we are headed to the island of ithaki which was the home and kingdom for Ulysses who was the hero of Homers' Odyssey.

Argos

2007-10-29T11:06:00.001-04:00

Today was a long day on a bus touring from ancient corinth, mycenae, and nemea. Each of these sites were amazing and we drove through breathtakingly gorgeous valleys full of orange and olive orchards and huge grape vinyards. The farms are plentiful and bountiful. It is olive harvest time, although I didn't see many people out picking olives. We have passed burnt mountains that burned this summer. They say the pine trees helped spread the fires. We are learning about festivals and games from 2500 years ago.

I tend to romanticize this place as it is so beautiful, then I remember the stories of intrigue and murder and incest and wars. The myths describe humans striving to be perfect like the gods, but if someone got too godlike they were punished for being too arrogant.

Ancient corinth

2007-10-29T05:25:00.001-04:00

I walked the marble road and walked through the ruins of the roman ancient corinth mostly First and second century ad built ontop of ancient greek ruins. The temple of appolo is the first example of monolithic doric columns in mid 6th century BC.

Ancient corinth

2007-10-29T05:20:00.001-04:00

Note to self- get the writings of Paulsonious 2nd ad to learn about Roman corinth.

Athens

2007-10-29T04:05:00.001-04:00

So, I observed last night that Athens looked from afar like nazareth, except nazareth was on the top half of a large mountain. And Athens, as all greek cities, is built on the bottom half of the mountain. The ancient Greeks build acropolis's at the top of the mountains. Corinth may be the exception because the city was built next to the ocean and the mountain is 5 miles away. There was a marble street from the acroplis to the city of corinth. Corinth was very wealthy and a statement that one had walked the marble road of corinth meant they were wealthy.

Corinth

2007-10-29T03:51:00.001-04:00

We have loaded into a bus that will take us to old corinth. The guide is telling us myths along the way. It is kind of fun. Modern corinth is a port town. All these greek cities are all San Francisco although corinth is a bit flatter.

Isthmus

2007-10-29T02:28:00.001-04:00

It is Monday morning and the boat is going through the canal at isthmus. It is a water passage cut into rock between the mainland Greece and the peloponese island or penninsula.

Mosaics of Mary

2007-10-28T12:21:00.002-04:00

I just uploaded the Mosaics of Mary from the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth and I recommend viewing them with the Slideshow option until my Picture comes up. They are truly amazing to view up close.

Pireaus

2007-10-28T12:21:00.001-04:00

Cars are smaller here, as they were in Israel/Palestine. There are lots and lots of "Smart" cars that look like half cars with only the front two seats and a front hood that i guess has the engine. Really, small cars have more of a chance on these narrow roads. I will try to take pictures to show it.

athens

2007-10-28T12:21:00.000-04:00

I am learning new skills. I navigated through the streets of Pireaus until I found an internet cafe. this one has about 100 computers connected to the internet and members pay 1 Euro, guests pay 2 euros for one hour on the computer. It is full I had to wait for a computer. :)

Big orange boat

2007-10-28T11:07:00.001-04:00

Well, I am finally checked in to the easycruise. The space is small, but really rather spacious for one person. Two would be crowded. My goal this evening is to find an Internet cafe to upload the current pictures so I can take more including the sleeping space for the luxurious price of $20 per night.:)

Everything else is expensive on board. Internet time is $25 per hour. Whew. I am thankful for the BlackBerry.

Even though this has been a very budget conscious trip, I have still spent more than I expected. This week will be very tight. But my transportation for the evenings and most days are paid. So all I really need is entrance fees to parks and food money, so I should be fine.

We are at the port of pireaus outside of Athens. It is a very wealthy area with miles of 6-10 story apartment buildings lining a six lane highway that hugs the coast. On the street level of these buildings are very very pricey stores selling cars, diamonds, furniture, electronics, you name it. Kind of like Rodeo drive.
The other side of the highway is a park and walking path to walk along the ocean. About 5 miles in the highway turns inward. I took another bus that doubled back this time on a one way road that is used as a two way road lined with cafes and restaurants on one side and cliffs to the ocean on the other. It is a hair raising experience to ride the bus on that road. Most cars had to back up for the bus, but the mopeds and motorcycles are fearless.

The sun is beautiful as are the people. As I said, there is a lot of wealth in this neighborhood.

Cyprus

2007-10-28T02:55:00.001-04:00

Sitting in the airport in cyprus again. This time the sun is out and exceedingly bright. The island is still very flat and smells of sea air and fragrant flowers. Although a small airport, it is very international with flights to Moscow, edinburgh, Paris, frankfort, Milan and others. I am having fun listening to the different languages in this small space.

Traffic

2007-10-27T16:30:00.001-04:00

I will never again complain about bad drivers and traffic. The drivers here are totally crazy there are no rules of the road. I am not sure why they even out up signs here. The drivers like to play chicken with each other to see who will back up first when going up or down narrow windey roads.

Guns and soldiers

2007-10-27T16:26:00.001-04:00

I had heard that all israeli teenagers have to spend 2 years in the army, but I didn't think about what that would mean. Every where you turn there are kids, 18-20 in khaki army uniforms. Boys and girls try to wear the uniforms in a stylish way by pulling the pants down below their hips. This only adds to the absurdity of having children learn how to use guns and be in military. They still are willing to look stupid to look cool.

Shannon told me the guys in jeans with automatic rifles are settlers. Both boys and girls are in the military and carry rifles, but I have only seen guy civilians carrying the rifles and machine guns. So, I am a bit curious as to what they were looking for when they searched my bags at the bus station? I have lost count of how many people are carrying these large guns in the bus station. Obviously guns are allowed. I wonder what isn't allowed? Security is very weird here. It doesn't seem to be security rather than harassment. I have now had to go through two security checkpoints where my bags went through an x ray machine but the person watching the x ray machine was asleep.

Tel aviv

2007-10-27T15:03:00.001-04:00

Tel aviv feels like and looks like Los Angeles. Lots of high rises, roads, lights and miles and miles of steel and glass shopping centers, hotels and busineses.

Tel aviv

2007-10-27T14:48:00.001-04:00

Well, the bus took a very circutious route to Tel aviv. The closer we got to the city, about 20 miles away, we started to see structures made of steel and plastic and color and lights just like in the u.s. The closer in we get, the bigger the malls and corporations and computerized signs. I wouldn't know I was outside the U.S. Except that the signs are in hebrew. It is so very different from the rest of this country.

Bus to Tel aviv

2007-10-27T12:07:00.001-04:00

I have caught a bus from nazareth to Tel aviv. The buses don't run until sundown because sat is shabbot so we waited until the sunset and then took a taxi down the hill to a bus stop. My bus came first, so I left Shannon standing at the busstop. It is a new bus line that goes to jerusalem. I hope we had accurate information and it will come pick her up. We pull into a central station and I see her bus at the station, so I assume it will pick her up on time. There are many people waiting to board this bus. It is soon to be full.

Nazareth

2007-10-27T09:35:00.001-04:00

I think I like Nazareth because it smellls good. There are lots of flowering trees and bushes that are fragrant such as jasmine and roses as well as herb gardens in windows. On the streets the smell of fresh ground coffee mixes with powerful dried herbs sold in sacks and bushels. Then there are the cafes and the restaurants and the bakeries spilling out onto the street. Every where we go there is a breeze and a fragrent smell. Very nice.

Nazareth

2007-10-27T09:07:00.001-04:00

Shannon just commented that I won't have much to Blog about today. It has been a quiet day with a long breakfast, an hour at the Internet cafe to upload pictures, some time at the church of the annunciation, more pictures, a long leisurely lunch, some browsing in shops, and back to the sisters of nazareth guest house to rest on the porch until it is time to catch a bus to Tel aviv. I am just fine with the slower pace today, we have been on a whirlwind tour this week and it feels good to slow down. I am impressed with the way Shannon navigates her way about the country and gets to know people. She has a skill. It is good to hear about her experience and those of her friends. I will look for another Internet cafe to upload the pictures from the church and the mosaics of Mary. They are spectacular in person, although the pictures will not do them justice I am sure.

2007-10-27T05:08:00.000-04:00

2007-10-27T05:06:00.000-04:00

2007-10-27T05:05:00.000-04:00

2007-10-27T05:04:00.000-04:00

2007-10-27T05:02:00.001-04:00

2007-10-27T05:00:00.001-04:00

2007-10-27T05:00:00.000-04:00

2007-10-27T04:57:00.000-04:00

Nazareth

2007-10-26T13:19:00.000-04:00

We have been travelling all day, so we have turned in early. Although only 7:30 here, it has been dark for almost 3 hours. Oddly enough we can hear bagpipes from somewhere near. Go figure. Did I say that I really, really like it here in Nazareth?

Nazareth

2007-10-26T12:57:00.000-04:00

I feel as though I am home. Nazareth has a warm and friendly feeling for me. I am not sure why. Geographically, Nazareth sits on the top half (third?) of a very, very large mountain and circles the mountain. The city reminds me of San Francisco and is probably as large. Parts of the city are newer and have wide roads with ample parking and houses and apartment buildings with front lawns. The old part of the city has narrow, windey, steep streets. It is not as aggressive as jerusalem, nor as obviously desperate as Bethlehem. The pace seems slower and more moderate. We are staying with the sisters of nazareth at their guest house almost at the top of the mountain. Old city is within walking distance as well as the most breathtaking church I have ever seen. It is called the basilica in nazareth and was created to mark the place where Mary received the message from the angel Gabriel that she was with-child from the holy spirit. The basilica was built over the ruins of an 11th century church supposedly built over the spot where Mary received her news. Although I bought a book about the church, the book seems to be an abreviation of a larger book and is missing the date the basilica was built. I would guess between 1967 and 1974 from the architecture and art. It is very modern and seems like a 3D version of the Good News for Modern Man NEV bible. It is beautiful and spare, complex and simple all at the same time. Several years ago, the architects commissioned mosaics from a variety of countries to depict the annunciation of Mary. Now they hang inside and outside the church in a wide array of color and art. Tomorrow I plan to take a lot of pictures. (the batteries died when we went today). Next to the basilica is a smaller chapel built over the spot where it is thought that Joseph had his carpentry shop. These both are lacking the ostentatious pomp of the holy sites in jerusalem and instead try to show both the archeological and religious significance. Truly breathtaking.

Shannon and I arrive around 1:00 and sat down for a meal in a cafe that was a bit pricey, but delicious. We dropped off our luggage with the sisters and wandered through the basilica and old town. Friday is holy day for muslims and Friday night at sunset begins the Jewish holy day, so many of the shops are closed in late afternoon Friday. The sun sets at 5, so we made sure we were back to watch the sun set. I played with the settings on the camera trying to get a really good picture of the sun set and the moon rising. It is a full moon tonight and was just fabulously huge rising over the horizen. The sisters sold us a bottle of red wine from Bethlehem for 30 shekels or about $7.50 and we sat on the front balcony overlooking much of nazareth drinking wine and watching the sun set. The breeze is cool, about 60 ish farenheit. And I have taken over 100 pictures of the view. We will have to find an Internet cafe tomorrow to upload at least some of them so I can take pictures of the basilica and mosaics. We plan to spend the day here tomorrow also, then we each take buses in different directions, Shannon to jerusalem and I to Tel aviv to the airport. My stay here was much, much too short.

Bus to galilee

2007-10-26T04:33:00.001-04:00

We just pased through Megido. It is obviously a wealthy city. Whereas the areas immediately surrounding jerusalem are fortified by the wall and busy with multiple apartment buildings on top of each other, Megido is made up of rolling hills on which large mansions perch. It is much like southern California. There is obviously little fear here because any wall I see is simply a small garden wall. The houses are spacious and on 1/2 to 2 acre lots. They are obviously single family homes, although very large, and have some character with odd turrets and offshoots that make little sense. A couple of the sandstone houses are even painted. We pased a bright orange one that stood out not only because of the particular color but by the mere fact that it is painted.

On the other side of megido is another long fertile plain with orchards and farms. These seem to have been harvested already and the earth is a rich dark brown. We passed the first steel structure that I have seen a while back. It was a large nestle plant.

Ok, the rifle is a machine gun.

We are now in the city of arufala where we will transfer buses to nazareth. We must be near the sea a lot of the apartment buildings are on stilts.

Bus to galilee

2007-10-26T04:09:00.001-04:00

So, I am on a public bus that is like a greyhound bus. The trip will take about 2 hours and the cost was about 7.5 dollars or 30 shekels. I noticed that the bus is full, holding about 60 people. About a dozen young people are in military uniform. Nothing unusual there.

However, I just now noticed that a young man sitting two rows ahead of me across the aisle, in jeans and a tshirt, is cradling a long rifle as he sleeps. It lays across his lap with his arm protecting it as though he is prepared to use it upon provocation. A bit disconcerting.

Bus to galilee

2007-10-26T03:29:00.001-04:00

We just pased through a valley that was completely covered in crops. Mostly cotton, but also corn, melons and vinyards. I am amazed. Somehow I assumed that the political and religious divides were products of simple economics. A way for people to divide and fight over scarce resources. I am coming to a different opinion as we pass through miles and miles and miles of obviously fertile land.

Bus to nazareth

2007-10-26T03:15:00.001-04:00

We have left jerusalem on the north side and as we leave the city it is as though we are in a different world. This is israeli controlled. The roads are wide and well kept. The hills are covered in cedar and pine trees. There is nothing to distinguish this area from west Virginia other than the occassional settlement on too of the hills. It is amazing to me that all buildings are built with the same materials. In the us, we see a variety of materials and styles, but here it is always the same sandstone regardless of whether it is an apartment building, a gas station, or a highrise. The roofs are often a red tile. Occasionally we pas a bedouin camp pieced together with corrugated aluminum. Again, not too different from the shacks in the valleys in the hills of west Virginia. We are heading north into galilee.

Thurs

2007-10-25T12:10:00.000-04:00

Tonight is a quiet night. Last night the director and family of the Lutheran world federation jerusalem had an open house with volleyball and picnic. A couple of dozen ngo people gathered to play volleyball on top of the mt of olives overlooking jerusalem. The campus has a hospital which takes care of Palestinians and a number of ngo and faithbased organizations working for peace in the area. It is a beautiful place to rest after a long day. I met a couple who are working here from joining hands with hunger of the Presbyterian hunger program as well as many other like minded people. Shannon is in very good company here during her time working with sabeel.

We drove through portions of jerusalem today that are exclusively israeli. The roads are wider, cleaner and the streets are well lit and not crowded. Much like a city in the u.s. The contrast between the roads in israel and Palestine is marked. Although the boundaries between the two are arbitrary. The wall has grown a lot in the last two years aparently so that many people are still trying to get used to new routes to school and work. The wall cuts off schools from their playgrounds, grocery stores from parkinglots, residential areas from grocery stores and gas stations. The buses are constantly working up new routes as barriers appear in the middle of streets. On the other hand, construction is rapid in the settlements (an oxymoron) and the surrounding areas. Tunnells are being built to connect cities and areas that are israeli and cut off areas that are Palestinian. By the time they finish, the Palestinian areas will be fully enclosed like the bantustans in south Africa. "Settlement" is the word for the new cities springing up almost over night. In order to supply these new cities with basic necessities such as water, plumbing, food, electricity, roads, etc., those resources are diverted from existing cities primarily Palestinian. It is fascinating to be able to observe this phenomena from the window of a car or bus.

Jericho

2007-10-25T10:13:00.001-04:00

Jericho is a spa or, in the desert terms, an oasis. Actually jericho is what I thought Bethlehem would be. And perhaps jerusalem. It is a very wide valley that is about 400 meters below sea level. Even the mountains that surround the valley are slightly below sea level. The valley has desert areas with no life, rock areas with little to no life, desert areas with lots of desert life and many oasis around fresh springs that provide palm trees, banana fields and orange trees water to grow. It is a beautiful and odd terrain that is mostly flat with the exception of the mountains surrounding it.

The architecture is adobe and the like making it look very much like new Mexico.

We saw the ruins of the oldest known city, the most beautiful and intricate mosaic in the floor of ruins from an 8th century byzantine Muslim palace, rode a tram to the top of the mountain where Jesus supposedly stayed in a cave and battled the temptations of Satan, and swam in the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea has 25% more salt than the ocean and has no life in it. We rubbed salt mud on our body, let it dry, then waded into the dead sea to wash it off and floated in the water for a good hour. It was heavenly! I did get salt in my eye once and it burned for 10 mins. I wore sunglasses the rest of the time to protect my eyes. I have a pic of Shannon covered in mud, but only managed a pic of my arm and hand.

The city itself was an odd mix of poverty - there are four "refugee camps" of Palestinian villagers displaced in 1947. These homes look remarkably like the homes on the pueblo indian reservations in the southwest- and attempted wealth - there are a number of large resort hotels built in the 80's and 90's and shut down after the 2000 intifada. One was still open for tourists from Jordan. Several areas were still optimistic regarding the would be tourists and looked like a Disney world type of joint, but most of the archeologically interesting places were open, guarded by "guides" who see maybe a couple of people a day, and awaiting money to preserve the sites.

It was a fun day although we were very aware that israeli's are not allowed into jericho and jericho palestinian's are not allowed into israel. Our guide at hisham's palace lamented the fact that he had not been able to visit the holy sites in jerusalem for over 30 years. "it isn't fair, you know, those are my holy sites too. "

Home now and napping with my very soft skin from the kalia or qalya baths on the banks of the dead sea.

Pictures

2007-10-25T01:13:00.001-04:00

As I reviewed the pictures last night I had to laugh at myself. The overwhelming feeling in the cities is that of overcrowded busyness. The streets are narrow, full of people and merchants, loud and smelly. Although the smells are not what you might expect. There is a fruit that is in season that smells like an overripe grapefruit. The smell of citrus mingles with the smells of bread baking, meats grilling, sweat, and debris. Aparently I pull out my camera in the rare moments that there is not a crush of people. In the cemetaries, the gardens, the overlooks, even the wall. It gives me a new respect for the term sanctuary. It also gives me a new respect for the home. Homes are often decorated with color or soothing textures. It is truly a sanctuary to come inside away from the dust, the sun, and the smells.

I also forgot to name the refugee camp in Bethlehem yesterday, it was the aida refugee camp.

The lws also keeps a sanctuary here on top of the Mt of olives. It consists of a hospital and a number of buildings that make up an ecumenical conference center. It is a quiet safe place. Very nice to come home to.

Bethlehem

2007-10-24T12:49:00.001-04:00

Well, we joined up with an alternative tour group to tour Bethlehem and the surrounding area. First of all I observed that the area is a series of small but very steep mountains. There are three very close together that descend in size. The tallest is Biet Jala, the middle is Bethlehem, the smaller is Biet Sahour. The roads going up and down these mounts are windier, narrower and steeper than any in san Francisco. They are navigated by buses, taxis and cars - I don't know how. The taller, biet jala is older, the buildings are of ancient stone and are covered in snow in the winter. The smaller, biet sahour is "newer", the buildings dating to the 1500's with some built in the last century. Bethlehem is in the middle and seemingly more poor and run down than the other two. On the other side of the tallest, biet jala, one can look into a valley that is green and leads into a smaller, more gentle mountain range like the west Virginia rolling mountains. These are green and are the agricultural centers for the three cities on the "east" side of the mountain. I heard it called the "west bank". I never knew why, now I could visibly see why. At the beginning of the valley going to the right or north of the mountains is a large highway that leads to Jerusalem. It is limited to citizens of Jerusalem or Israeli citizens. There are checkpoints along the entrances to the highway so that no Palestinian citizen who does no reside in Jerusalem is alowed on the highway. All other roads but one are also guarded.

To the north of the mountains between jerusalem and the Bethlehem area is a much smaller mountain, more of a hill, that is covered with new apartment buildings looking very science fiction like. There are hundreds together built on top of each other. This is a Jewish settlement built in the last 15 years on formerly Palestinian lands. The Israeli government has built a wall 20 feet high from Jerusalem, around the settlement and into the heart of the second mountain, or Bethlehem, eventually the much if not all of the tallest mountain will be behind the wall and will be a part of Israel, cutting Bethlehem and biet sahour off from their source of food, vegetables, fruit and meat, and the settlement is cutting them off from Jerusalem. The portion of Bethlehem in Palestinian territory will be dependant on israel for all food and water. The wall snakes up the side of the middle mountain into the heart of Bethlehem and surrounds a very small area that is considered holy by Israel, the tomb of Rachel. It includes the site and a parking lot and is only accessible from a highway directly off of the main highway which is open only to israeli citizens. The site is also holy to Christians and muslims, but Palestinians are not allowed in. This is important when people say that the wall is built for security. There is no security reason for encasing a holy site and restricting access. On one side of the wall surrounding the tomb of Rachel is a formerly wealthy market that is now a deserted street. On the other side, a few blocks away are very run down apartment buildings that house a settlement of Palestinians who used to live in villages that were demolished in 1947 when the israeli state was created. The camps are now permanent and more like slums than anything. These folks have U.N. status as Refugees and 60 years later still identify themselves as villagers from the particular village from which they came. The children run out and immediately begin to beg, athough soon they begin to play. One small boy posing in front of the wall, another being twirled by a man in our group. Older teenagers come out to watch and are curious but aloof with sad eyes. They become animated when one member of our group shows a smaller boy how to rap and the teenagers are avidly watching and laughing. As we leave they begin practicing the moves.

The one road to Jerusalem that Palestinians living in Bethlehem are allowed to take is a cut through from the Refugee Camp to Jerusalem. The road was funded by funds from the US during Clinton's time.

In the center of Bethlehem there are many churches, the oldest of which is the church of the nativity. It was built in 300 ad over the site of the nativity where Jesus supposedly was born. It has been back and forth between Christian, Turkish and Muslim ownership. The last time the ownership came into Christian hands, there were a variety of Christian denominations that claimed it so it was split into 5 denominations each of which has a physcal portion of the church and control over that space. During Christmas or busy times, the priests will guard their portion of the church from the priests of the other denomination and will not let the other priests so much as touch or clean their section. If they do, they will lose their section of the church. The fighting priests are a smaller version of the fighting for territory happening in the city and the country.

In 2002, about 300 Palestinian Christians took refuge in the church of the nativity when the israeli army entered Bethlehem looking for terrorists . The church was surrounded for 40 days by israeli snipers. Two people were killed during the seige. One who was trying to pick lemon leaves off of a lemon tree in a center courtyard toward the end of the seige when they were starving and one person who was adopted by the priests at age 6, was mentally handicapped, and had lived for years with in the church.

His job was to ring the bells. He didn't undertand the seige or the danger and took off to ring the bells as usual. A sniper from the roof of a neighboring building shot and killed him while he was in the belltower.

Our Palestinian guide stood steps away from the alter marking the spot where Jesus was born and told us reluctantly,

in response to a question, that he lives in Palestine Bethlehem. His wife is a Jerusalem Palestinian and cannot leave jerusalem other than for a short visit or she will lose her job and her passport which gives her the ability to move around in israel. He is unable to go to jerusalem at all. Their daughter was born 5 years ago in the US and is an illegal. Her visa expired one year after her entry into the country and she cannot cross into Bethlehem because she does not have a valid passport and could be deported altogether from israel and Palestine without her parents.

It was a powerful afternoon contemplating the religious and political fanaticism in this land and the world. Jesus would be appalled.

Bethlehem

2007-10-24T08:31:00.001-04:00

Today we go to Bethlehem. Bethlehem is in palestian authority territory, so we catch a green bus to Bethlehem.

One of the guys who works at sabeel went to college and graduate school in Athens and has just arranged for a friend of his to pick me up at the airport in Athens on Sunday and take me around for the day till I embark on the ship on Sunday night. Yeah!

Bethlehem is indistinguishable from other cities surrounding it. They are perched on steep hills that hold houses and apartments and buildings in a dizzying array. The roads are narrow and steep. We pick up a cab to take us to a restaurant where we are to meet up with an alternative your group. The cab driver negotiates a fee then reveals he has no idea where the restaurant is. But it is his problem. He flags someone to come with him to figure out where they are going and periodically they stop and hail bus drivers or people on the street to ask directions. Shannon and I just sit back because we have already agreed on a price. It makes no difference how long it takes to get there. The driver takes a lot of chances but eventually gets us there safe and sound. We are at the restaurant early. Their only customer is the group they expect in an hour or so. The owner graciously invites us into the garden with grapevines and the room which is set up for a banquet. He gives us a tour of the kitchen and the stone oven for the bread and food. An older woman is making bread and a younger man is dressed up and setting tables of food.

The smells are overpowering and immediately our tastebuds are watering. The owner is a zorba type. He is very animated and brings out a book written by the current director of aeppi.

Sabeel

2007-10-24T02:38:00.001-04:00

I think I sent the Jerusalem webaddress for sabeel. I am not sure whether it will work in the states. I guess it should , but in case it doesn't, try this site.

www.fosna.org

Processing

2007-10-24T01:59:00.001-04:00

Well, I have not witnessed anthing rather spectacular, but am realizing that it is taking me a while to process the system of life here. Will try to continue to write. It is easier to write about the immediate experience than the emotional processing.

Yesterday Shannon and I went by bus to ramallah. Ramallah is one of the larger Palestinian cities and we went downtown to the center of the market district. We simply walked from the bus terminal to a cafe on the fourth floor of a building overlooking a major square in the middle of the city. From our couch we watched people and a protest for a couple of hours then we walked back to the bus stop and went back to Jerusalem. We went throug the check stop and had to get off the bus and go through security, but the security folks were asleep. Aparently an unusual situation. My main observation of ramallah is dust. Followed closely by heat and lots and lots of people. The city is either in disrepair or repair, I think the plo just got funds to do road repair, so all roads were under construction. Buildings stood next to rubble. Everything is dusty and rocky.

We then came back to the office of sabeel. And there I heard conversation of things happening. Houses being demolished, olive groves bulldozed under. Sabeeis an incredible organization and I recommend people checking out their website. www.sabeel.org.

Also, www.lwfjerusalem.org and www.eappi.org and www.wcc-coe.org

Several folks volunteering with eappi are staying at the guesthouse where we are staying. It is interesting to hear their experiences at night when they return and in the early morning as they are preparing for unpredictable. Go to their website for more of their stories.

Mt. of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemene

2007-10-23T08:37:00.000-04:00

This morning Shannon and I started out fairly early and walked from the Victoria Hospital and Guest House on the Mt. of Olives to a Carmelite structure commemorating the Lord's Prayer. We found a beautiful walled garden and cool chapel that was lined with painted tile. Each tile was a copy of the Lord's Prayer in a different language. I tried to get a picture of the English one and of one in Cherokee. I found the lord's prayer garden quite soothing despite the crush of tourists, mostly Italian tours. We then walked down the Mt. of Olives to a walled road which was lined with various religious orders. We went into one that was called the Garden of Olives. Again, it was so soothing and refreshing especially in the early morning. Again the crush of tourists. Shannon and I snuck into the sanctuary and found a large simple sanctuary with a domed ceiling that was painted to reflect Olive branches, trees, birds and water. So far, this is most beautiful of sanctuaries. Truly a work of art. I am wondering who designed it as it looked rather modern. Across the road is a walled garden that is called the Garden of Gethsemene but it is a private garden and "tour guides" offer to give us tours for a price. We decline and keep walking down the Mountain. We accidently pass the Greek Orthodox that is so prominent from above with its gold dome, but we dont realize we pass it until we are well below. It doesnt open to the public unti 10:00 a.m. It is probably just as well. I prefer the simplicity. Oddly enough as we continue to walk down the mountain, the crowds clear and we are alone. we pass an old man dressed in old garb (as a biblical costume) and a small donkey also in constume. The man calls out to us and offers us a ride on the "Jesus Taxi". I laugh and laugh. I think that is quite creative actually. The "Jesus Taxi" looked a bit small and very tired.

I try to take several pictures of Jerusalem from the top and the bottom of the mountain. interspersed along the mountain are Jewish cemetaries. The color of the stone slabs are identical to the color of the apartments in the distance. I wonder if we will be able to tell the difference in the pictures? Everything here is the color of sand and dirt. There are so very many rocks and rubble that it is hard to distinguish rocks that are natural rocks and rubble from demolished housing.

We then hike to the bus stop on the top of the next hill which is next to Old City. We get to walk along the wall of the Old City builty in the 1500's and hike from New Gate to the Damascus Gate. We wonder if the Damascas Gate has always been this crowded. I buy what looks like a really big hot pretzel that turns out to be basically a loaf of bread in a round pretzel form that is served with a couple of pinches of salt and herbs wrapped in a small piece of paper. We unwrap the paper and dip the bread in the salt and eat it for breakfast. I decide to buy a diet coke to wash it down. Every where we turn and walk there are vendors on the street and in shops. It is kinda like we were in disney world except that I doubt disney world is this dusty.

We find the bus to Ramallah and climb aboard. I, for one, am very glad to be off my feet after having walked down the Mt. of Olives and up the smaller mt. alongside OldTown.

Mornings

2007-10-23T00:33:00.001-04:00

Mornings come early here. The sun rises about 6 am and is quite bright. Roosters herald the dawn as well as a loud air siren that changes pitch in cadence with a person's speaking voice. Although I couldn't hear any words, I could tell the siren was leading persons in a prayer. Later in the am a different loud siren broadcast another loud prayer. It is a Muslim call to prayer. Religious fervor is evident here. Just walking down the street we will pass Christian priests from greek orthodox, Armenian and others in full religious garb, they look remarkably like the orthodox Jewish men in black with prayer shawls, hats, and black robes. Arab women wear punjab's over their heads and dark clothing resembling the black robes of the priests. Then there are the yamulkes available by the thousands in the shops in all varieties of decoration.

Picasa Pictures

2007-10-22T16:50:00.001-04:00

Here is the site for the pictures..

http://picasaweb.google.com/laurie.griffith/Travelblog02

Old City

2007-10-22T15:58:00.000-04:00

Well, this first morning I slept until noon while Shannon went to work. She came back and we set off to explore in the early afternoon.

Spent most of the afternoon in West Jerusalem and Old City. Old City is surrounded by a 40 ft wall built in the 1500's by Suleimen the Great. When you walk in you walk into a "street" about 10 feet wide that is lined with buildings which have shops on the first floor and living quarters on the top floors. Many of the buildings are built over the street, so that from the street level it is as though one is in a long tunnel that is lined with shops and bazaars. Each shop is open to the street and most spill out onto the street making it a potpouri of market items, colorful fabrics, fruits, raw meat, electronics, buckets of fresh roasted nuts, embroidery, rugs, cross stitch, arab items, jewish items, christian relics. It is overwhelming and exciting all at once. The kids that live above the shops are running through the streets, the adults are either haggling and trying to attract the tourist, the tourist are gawking and buying which is exactly what I did. I think I spent my entire Christmas budget - so watch out...you know what you are getting for Christmas from me, something from the Old City streets. Old City is split into quarter, one is a Jewish quarter, on an Arab quarter, one an Armenian Quarter, and one a Christian quarter. We pretty much stayed in the Christian quarter. I had no idea where we were but in pouring over a map this evening realize we didnt touch but a small portion of Old City. As I said, it can be very overwhelming. At one point we popped out of a street and there was a large, fairly empty square. The square was bounded by 5-6 story building walls, 3 of which were belonged to a church, the Church of the Sepulcher, Although the square was non-descript there were several people praying in it. We went into the Church of the Sepulcher and were bombarded with large shrines. The Church is split also into sections, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Coptic, Egyptian and Ethiopian, Armenian and Dominican. People were crawling into a small alter surrounded by an ornate large alter (probably Greek Orthodox) and kissing a cross, also a large stone slab was surrounded by large candles and people were kissing, carressing and leaning their heads on the stone. In the middle of a large rotunda was a square building. The rotunda looked like the U.S. Capital building rotunda except it had stars on the top, the square building reminded me of the small structures created in malls during christmas to house Santa. There was a line about 300 people long waiting to go into the square structure, so we opted not to stand in line and instead crawled into a stone cave that was empty. there was an old wooden alter and a smaller cave with one single candle lit in the middle. I took a couple of pics and we exited only to watch a tour of about 70 people file into the small cave. Glad we were there alone! Later we found out that the first small alter was supposedly over the site where Jesus' crucifiction occured. The stone slab was supposedly where he was laid out before burial, and the small structure marked the spot where he was buried. Not sure what the small stone cave was, although it was remarkably more like a "cave" that could have had a stone covering its entrance. It was a bit surreal to think that these spots in the middle of these tunnels lined with noisy markets in the middle of a stone church in the middle of ornate gilt alters mark the hilltop where the cross stood and the cave where Jesus was buried. it is so topsy turvey I cant begin to describe how un holy the sites seemed to me. I am looking forward to visiting other sites that are less "holy" but had more to do with his life and ministry.

Even though I spent a day shopping, I still didnt spend very much. I bought for myself a large, handmade (or so they said), leather bag to haul stuff around in while I am traveling and sandals to walk around in this arid land. I was told to soak them in Olive Oil to make the leather more supple. After much haggling, Shannon managed to talk the shop owners into charging me 50 shekels or $12.50 for the sandals and 160 shekels or $40 for the bag. I am just fine with that, in fact, I feel like I got a great bargain! Now I have something to carry my stuff in and good shoes to walk in. I am really on vacation!

I goofed and answered an email for work this morning and was chastised by both Mark and Diane, so I am going to skip all the emails that pour in for work and concentrate more on learning where I am and what I am doing. I know so very little about this area.

We are staying in a guest house that has maybe 20 rooms that are leased monthly by people who are studying or working for non-profits working for peace. it is a close but rotating community of people from all over the world. As we walk down from the Mt. of Olives, the road is lined by an Olive grove in rock and dry dirt that is fenced in with barbed wire. I am told we are going to help pick Olives in this grove in the next couple of days for the LWS. As we walk I note the trash that litters the street, but Shannon tells me this is nothing and by the time we get back I will agree. Old Town is so crowded that trash piles up. Restrooms are not plentiful. Water is scarce and plumbing is old, so all restrooms have separate recepticles for the used paper. It seems to odd to me, I keep forgetting. I am sure that most tourists wouldnt even know what to do. We get on a Palestinian bus that is so crowded we stand in the front and have to keep getting off in order to let others from the back of the bus get off. Coming back we are in a small van that is much more orderly. Shannon tells me that there are Jewish Buses that run on a schedule and are selective in who can ride them and Arab buses that have no schedule and no selection. They are usually packed, friendly and will stop for anyone with no care for whether or not there is room.

I am posting pictures on another site since I cant figure out how to post more than one pic at a time on this blog. will let you know soon where the pic site is...

Jerusalem

2007-10-22T07:04:00.001-04:00

From the mt of olives in Jerusalem, I arrived last night late after travelling for 40 hours with only 3 hrs sleep
and am finally refreshed from a good night's sleep. I am staying with a good friend who is our PCUSA Mission Coworker who is in a Lutheran world vision guest house complex. Lots of people here work with NGO's from around the world.

Drive to Jerusalem

2007-10-21T19:12:00.001-04:00

It is 1:00 am and I am in a shared van from Tel aviv to Jerusalem. The terrain at night is just like new Mexico, mostly high desert and rocks.
We are on a highway into Jerusalem. The wall separating Israel and Palestine lines many portions of this highway. Looks just like our sound walls. We just passed a place on the highway where armored cars were stopping traffic going the other way out of Jerusalem at not a regular checkpoint. Glad it wasn't us.

Tel aviv

2007-10-21T18:31:00.001-04:00

Arrived safe and sound in Tel aviv. After all the warnings, I didn't get asked anything at security, she merely looked at me, stamped my paper and waived me on. I guess I look a bit green since I only have two stamps on my passport. One in Amsterdam and one in Syria all on the same day. Athens forgot to stamp me. I am getting a shared van to Jerusalem for the equivelant of $10. People are nice. Although there is an armed guard riding with us. A young woman with a very long rifle.

Sunday evening

2007-10-21T13:59:00.001-04:00

One more stop Tel aviv. Meanwhile I am sitting in a room at a very small airport in Cyprus smelling the salt air, listening to people speak animatedly in greek and Hebrew.

Flight into Athens

2007-10-21T08:11:00.001-04:00

Breathtaking. Almost impossible. We flew over the ocean littered with mountains rising out of the sea. Each island has a history, some that includes humans. It looks like a storybook, like what I envisioned in some of the fantasy/science fiction books I read as a kid. I almost expect to see dragons flying out from some of the rocky faces. Some of the islands are small and flat and others are pinnacles of a mountain range as wild as the Rockies but set in the ocean. Most of the ocean is a deep blue-Grey but around some of the islands, the waters turn emerald. Now I know the setting for Ulyssis' travels in the Odyssey. My imagination did not stretch quite so far!

The airport Is set away from any town in a flat plain surrounded by mountains. Reminds me of albequerque. I have a 4 hour layover till I leave for Cyprus. I didn't get stamped here. Each country does its security differently, but so far the European countries pale in comparison to the crap the US puts us through. No bagging liquids, no removing laptops. The security people don't even look at bags or passengers. European women are very skinny and lots are wearing very high heels. Seems silly in an airport, but it adds to the illusion of long legs which seems to be the ideal. Guys are skinnier too, the guys who are really skinny are all speaking french. The greek guys seem to have more heft and in some cases girth to them. They remind me of Kentuckians.

Off to read the Odyssey and wait for my connection.

Homer

2007-10-20T11:07:00.001-04:00

I am finally figuring out that I will be visiting many of the sites featured by Homer in his Iliad and Odyssey, so I am going to have to pick up copies of these soon! I always thought it was myth but apparently myth has its roots in reality and I will be visiting reality soon. What fun to explore the home of the scary descendents of zeus in mycenae. Apparently mycenae exists and was excavated in the late 19th century unveiling 4000 years of historic ruins.

Itinerary

2007-10-19T16:49:00.000-04:00

10/20/07 Flights - Louisville, Memphis, Newark, Amsterdam, Athens, Tel Aviv

Arrive Sunday evening 10/21/07 around 10:30, take shuttle to Jerusalem, meet up with Shannon!

Week 1 Israel

Monday: Jerusalem- Old City, Mt. of Olives and other Holy Sites

Tuesday: Bethlehem

Wednesday: ?

Thursday: Jericho

Friday: Nazareth

Saturday: Sea of Galilee/Tel-Aviv

Sunday: Fly from Tel Aviv to Athens

Week 2 Greece

Sunday
Piraeus (for Athens) Enjoy Athens by night
embark on boat from 2.00pm - 5.00am (Monday)

Monday
Corinth visit Ancient Corinthand Nemea or Mycenae
9.00am -11.00pm

Day trip to Ancient Corinth, Nemea and MycenaeDuration 6 - 7 hours. At Ancient Corinth, you will see the magnificent remains of a powerful city-state, from the impressive Market Place to the remarkable Temple of Apollo.Next comes the world-famous prehistoric citadel of Mycenae and home of Agamemnon. After a leisurely lunch follows the site of Ancient Nemea; home of the Lion of Nemea, the Nemean Games, and some of the finest wines produced in all of Greece.

Tuesday
Ithaki island home of Odysseus
noon - 4.00am (Wednesday)

Wednesday
Patras (for Olympia)
9.00am -4.00am (Thursday)

Day trip to Ancient OlympiaDuration: 6 ½ hours; tour includes lunch at a local restaurant. At the birthplace of the Olympic Games one can see the extraordinary architectural and sculptural remains, inspired by the pursuit of physical excellence.

Thursday
Itea (for Delphi)
9.00am - 4.00am (Friday)

Day Trip to Delphi. Duration 6 hours, tour includes lunch at a restaurant in the town of DelphiBuilt on the slopes of mount Parnassos resides the timeless Delphi. Throughout antiquity, it was considered the centre of the world and countless people journeyed there to consult the famous oracle. Throughout antiquity, people made so many dedications and offerings to the sanctuary, that it is a veritable archaeological treasure trove.

Friday
Aegina Temple of Aphaea
noon - 4.00am (Saturday)

Day: FridayPort: the Island of AeginaExcursion: Half Day Island Tour: Temple of Aphaia and church of Agios Nektarios followed by lunchDuration 3 hoursThis island is home of the legendary Achilles and the splendid Temple of Aphaia. Standing on a pine covered hill, this temple is the most imposing ancient site of the Saronic Gulf, its sculptural remains famous for their vibrant and well-preserved colours.
Saturday
Piraeus (for Athens) you can see the Acropolis and the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion
7.00am - overnight

Day: SaturdayPort: Marina Zea, Piraeus near Athens.Excursions: Full Day Tour to Athens, the Acropolis and Sounion BayDuration 8 Hours,These excursions take you to the very heart of the ancient city, the Acropolis; the political and religious centre of Ancient Greece, where the awe-inspiring Parthenon resides. The guided tour will be followed by some "free time" to explore the site itself and Plaka, the charming old quarter of Athens. After lunch at a local taverna, we will drive along the coastline to visit Cape Sounion. There lies the There lies the Temple of Poseidon, famous for its spectacular sunsets.

Sunday
Piraeus (Athens) Catch airplane home via Amsterdam

2007-10-18T11:03:00.000-04:00

Anticipation

2007-10-18T00:03:00.000-04:00

Well as the day of embarkment gets closer, I decided to set up this blog so that friends and family may keep up with me during my first foray oversees without worrying too much and without the necessity of having to lug my laptop all over europe. Theoretically, i will be able to send blog updates from the blackberry and perhaps even pics. We will see how technology works. Finally looked at maps this morning and then started reading about the places I will visit. I wish I had more that one week in Israel and one week in Greece. There is so very much to see and experience.