Exploring Caesarea Maritima

Our first full day began early with a mediterranean breakfast consisting of eggs, potatoes, spaghetti noodles (?), yogurt, bread- of course, and thank heavens, coffee.

The first stop on today's itenerary was in Jaffa, the city were simon the tanner supposedly lived.  We got to see the house where the scholars believe simon's house is to have been.  The city was quite amazing, being the home of co-inhabiting christians, Jews, and Muslims.  A testament to this fact was the adjacent location of a beautifully crafted mosque and a church (Roman Catholic) on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.  It was quite refreshing, and honestly surprsing to see 3 very different religions as well as cultures successfully living lives that commonly interact or intersect with such a peaceful manner.

We got an impromptu lesson about the symbol on a door of someone's home that seemed arbitrarily placed.  The symbol painted on the door was a cross with the greek shortening of Jesus Christ, Victor.  Jim loved this humble, yet powerful reminder that our Christ DOES NOT FAIL: which gives an entirely new way to interpret the symbol and meaning of the word Nike.  ( as well as being a beautiful reminder of our redeemer and the promise that was prophesied long before his coming.

Our next stop was Caesarea maritime, or Caesarea by the Sea. This was King Herod the Great's paradise palace.  He dedicated it to Caesar and built a temple to the god Roma and as well as placing a statue honoring Caesar in a place where idols are put; This caused disdain and loathing in the hearts of the Jews for the ruthless king.

We saw an amphitheater, and to test its acoustics Jonny and Dan preformed an amazing rendition of a classic Les Miserables Song ( a soundtrack that we have been serenaded with throughout our entire trip :) )

 We saw the arena where chariot races and entertainment games were thought to have been held.  A very interesting tidbit of information that we learned about was the ingeniousness of the engineers and architects so early in history: they came up with the means and designs to build a floating port so that the city could compete with Rome. A little ways down the road we saw another architectural masterpiece that withstood the trials of time.  It was a massive aqueduct designed to bring water to the people inhabiting the area.














We drove up to Mount Carmel and drank in a view of many Holy cities---it was breath-taking, and though a fog obstructed some of the scenery from our view (particularly the Mediterranean sea) it was still as view over looking nazareth and the surrounding cities and mountains.

The next stop was in a town called Accra.  This was not a holy city, but rather a functioning village in a very old city  Dan experience a bit of confrontation from a camera shy man's misplaced angst.  But do not fear we resolved the issue along with befriending Beyonce's biggest israeli fan.  Our bus driver then drove us a little further insuring that he knew of a beautiful view that we would most definitely want to snap pictures of (this is one of our best skills, as well as our ability to form circles, without fail, at every entrance that we come across!) Its great having Haled,a native, with us to show us the gems of Nazareth.  It was a beautiful landscape the time was probably half-past 6, and the sun over the ocean was just magnificent.

 There was the smallest of mishaps that resulted in some damp and salty clothes along with a good sized bruise and bump--but we are aware and grateful, knowing that it could have been much worse... right Meg?

Tonight we rest our heads in Nazareth, the place where Jesus called home as a boy.  The place of the people that his home-town boy success brought honor and respect. And the place that would later reject him and his truth.  Its going to be an amazing day tomorrow.

Shalom.