I just got back from Israel! What an amazing trip!

This was my first trip to do social media while on safari. It was unusual because I would shoot pictures for my blog with my Canon Elph and for Facebook with my iPhone. Caused me to shoot way more pictures than I normally would. All the pictures here are from my Canon. It’s worth looking at my newsfeed on Facebook to see the shots I got with my phone. Just click on Tim A. Cummins! And get the “live” version of the story.

I left my car with Jesse and he took me to MARTA (the train station) which took me to the airport.

Flew to Chicago, OHare airport. I like the dinosaurs there.


Not a good look for any traveler.

Flew on Turkish Airlines to Istanbul and then to Tel Aviv.

It took me about 19 hours to get from Atlanta to Israel.
Salvador Dali made this menorah for the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

Stayed at Little Tel Aviv Hostel my first night.

Rode the express bus from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem the Wednesday morning the 4th.


I stayed on the ground floor of this house. It was an AirBnB which are houses where a family rents out rooms to travelers.

Lots of beautiful flowers in Jerusalem.

I visited the Western Wall and left a note.


Beautiful sunset over Jerusalem which was actually the end of my third day of my trip. I lost most of a day with the time change and long flight over.


Took me about 30 minutes to walk from my house to the Old City.

Thursday morning the 5th, I met up with my tour group at Jaffa Gate to take a tour of the Old City.

Tomb of King David.

Saw the 14 stations of the cross.


Jesus leaned against the wall here.

Visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Jesus was crucified and buried according to Catholic tradition. A few days later I visited the Garden Tomb, where I think the crucifixion and burial actually took place.

Plenty of places to buy souvenirs!

I got a Baylor shirt, but an Israeli large is only an American medium. Bahd luck.

Later that night, I went on the Ultra Orthodox Jewish tour. The “Rebbi” was a famous person there. Not sure why they called him, “Rebbi,” rather than Rabbi.

Visited a Yeshiva where some Jewish young people go to school. It’s like a seminary.

Friday morning the 6th, I explored Jerusalem on my own, then went on the Shabbot Jewish experience that evening.

Went back to the Church of the Sepulcher. I like to light candles at churches for our family.



This is where Jesus’ body was laid. Pilgrims rub crosses or other icons on the rock to get some holiness on it.

In America, the next day starts at midnight. In Israel, the next day starts at sunset.

Saturday the 7th, I visited Masada and the Dead Sea.
About an hour trip through the desert from Jerusalem.

We stopped at Sea Level to see a camel.

These are the caves of Qumran where they found the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Then on to Masada, the last vestige of hope for the Jews before the Romans wiped them out.

These are where the Romans camped out to attack Masada.


Two friends of mine from New Zealand and I caught up with another tour group to get more information about what happened there.

Quite a view to the Dead Sea below.

The watch tower was still standing 2,000 years later!

Herod had built his own heated bath house.

Archeologists and reconstructed many of the walls.

Water was always THE critical variable. Herod built aqueducts to fill huge cisterns at Masada.

Some of the mosaics were still intact.

These stones where thrown by Roman catapults. They were about three feet tall and weighed hundreds of pounds each.

Eventually, the Romans had Jewish slaves build a ramp to the top. They used Jews because they knew the people in Masada wouldn’t kill them.

Down the cable cars. I’m pretty sure the same company made the cable cars at Stone Mountain!

To the Dead Sea! Incredible colors. The water is 23 times the density of regular sea water.

The sea is drying up because of using water from the Jordan River. It is getting about three feet more shallow every year.


The draining of the sea causes sink holes. They actually had to move the road and hotels are not even close to the water any more.

It was amazing how you could float! I didn’t get my camera anywhere near that super saline water.

Sunday the 8th, I explored more of the Old City. It is a vast expanse of crisscrossing streets split up into four sections: Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Armenian. I was in the Christian section when I saw this group of Spanish speaking pilgrims carrying a cross down the Via Dolorosa.

They stopped at the first station where Jesus fell carrying the cross.

While I was walking down the street, I saw news about the massive forest fire in Canada. Sad.

My next tour took me under the city to explore the tunnels of the Western Wall. I saw these youngsters on the way in.

The tunnels are super cool.

Feels like Indiana Jones.
This is what the original topography of Mt. Moriah looked like. It’s the spot where Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac, and where Jacob saw a ladder of angels going up and down towards heaven. Jews believe that ALL prayers go to this spot and then up to God!

King Herod shaved off one edge of the mountain, built a retaining wall and filled it in to create a flat area where he could then build the Second Temple. Solomon’s temple had already been destroyed by that time. In fact, all of Israel’s history seemed to be one long list of invading armies.


The Romans eventually destroy this temple as Jesus had prophesied. The next conquering army were Muslim. They built the dome of the Rock there. The dome is supposed to be about as big as the outcrop of rock where Jacob saw the ladder.

There was a news crew down in the tunnel talking about some new findings.

Herod built arches to hold up the city. He filled in the valley to put houses on top.

It’s easy to see Herod’s work because he always made this channeling carving.

Herod also built a wide pathway around the temple. Very likely Jesus walked on this stone!

One of my guides told me that there are engineers working on uncovering this pathway all the way from the pool of Siloam where the Jewish people would purify themselves to the Temple Mount.
There was a huge cistern for holding water. There were 17 of them. This was the smallest. It’s equal to 6 Olympic swimming pools. The water is still being used! After being boiled, of course!

I bought a small oil lamp that was made during Herod’s time, over 2,000 years ago when Jesus was there. It will be an heirloom for my grandchildren. These are pictures of some of the lamps found in the area.

After the tunnels, I made a short trip to the Temple Mount. Christians can’t get very close to the temple. Jews don’t go there at all.

Food was expensive in Jerusalem. I ate a chicken shwarma with cucumbers and hummus pretty much every day.

It was about a thirty minute walk back to my house at 4 Nehar Prat from the Old City. I saw this sign walking home.

Lots of interesting graffiti and street art.

I had a wonderful day above and below ground!

Ashley made me a big picture of Penelope for my room.

Monday the 9th, I went on safari to the Garden Tomb and the Mount of Olives. I loved seeing the blooming Jacaranda trees!

I walked through the Ethiopian Coptic section of the city on my way to the Garden Tomb.


The flowers at the Garden Tomb were stunning.




A large wine press that indicates a person with a lot of money lived there. Probably Joseph of Aramathea.

This is where they laid Jesus.

This channel is where the large rock was rolled in front of the tomb.

Here’s Golgotha, the place of the skull. Really does look like eyes and a nose.

Here’s the area from 1900s.

I got a new Red Thread while in Jerusalem. My old one fell off. This one was baptized in the Jordan River, Elisha’s spring, Pool of Siloam, water from the Garden Tomb and City of David and rubbed on the stone where Jesus was laid.

Drove up to the Mount of Olives and walked to where Jesus ascended to Heaven!


They say this is his footprint.

The Mount of Olives is where Jesus taught his disciples to pray the Lord’s prayer. Here it is in Swahili.

The blooming cactus was amazing there.

This are graves on the Mount of Olives. Cost about $500,000 to be buried there. When they clean the Western Wall of notes, they are buried with a person here.

This is where Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. There’s a Russian Orthodox church there. Shiniest gold I’ve ever seen.


This is the column where Jesus was scourged.

The Garden of Gethsemane.

The Pope gets his olive oil to anoint people from this garden.

Church of All Nations.

The rock where Jesus prayed is in it.

Beautiful place!

USA!

This is where Mary was supposed to be buried. She’s not there. Jesus came back and brought her body to Heaven.


Lots of beautiful Greek Orthodox icons.

I thought this was interesting.

Tuesday, May 10th I went on safari to the West Bank and Palestine. First stop the Jordan River! I didn’t fully immerse myself in this water. I’d read it’s polluted.
Sprinkle on my head was enough!

Looked like Africa. I didn’t swim in that water either.

The other side of the river is Jordan. This sign reminded me of the constant tension there.

The modern city of Jericho!


This is THE sycamore tree where Zachias was supposed to have climbed.


I didn’t climb it. But I wanted to.

The world’s oldest walled city: Jericho. Over 10,000 years old. 26 different civilizations lived here.



The Elisha Spring fountain.


From Jericho, we traveled up through the Judean desert.


Still have Bedouins with their sheep and goats.

We visited a sweet shop with giant cups of coffee.

Making kanafa. Kind of a sweet cheesy dish.


Visited Arafat’s grave. Not a big fan of his. I still got a picture with a soldier.

We did a walk through Ramallah.

Some possible copyright infringement.

Reminded me of Madagascar.

Also went to Bethlehem. Here’s the Church of the Nativity.


This is where he was born.

Banksy is my favorite street artist of all time. He had several paintings in the area.



Peace. Job #1. My graffiti.

Wednesday, May 11th I went to the Israel Museum.

I loved the reproduction of the city of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time.





This is where the Roman Garrison stayed.

And the Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls are on display. At least some of them.


This is one of the actual scrolls.

I liked the centerpiece of the museum. It contains a copy of the entire scroll from Isaiah.

The Egyptians had a presence in Caanan.

Hadrian changed the name of Israel to Palestine to spite the Jewish people.

People have lived the area for hundreds of thousands of years. I’ve found hand axes in Texas almost identical to this.

At one time people put images of themselves by their graves.

I have a piece of Roman glass from a vial like this.

I learned this blessing in Hebrew.



This looked just like the Garden Tomb’s lay out.

I went through the modern art section. One of the artists had used the dove symbol from Banksy.

May 12th was Independence Day. I loved seeing all the flags!

This is the flag of Jerusalem.


There seems to be a fervor for the country in Israel that I don’t see in the USA as much. I guess we just assume we could never lose our country.

Happy 68th birthday to Israel! And just in the shadow of the Dome of the Rock.

On Thursday the 12th, I explored the City of David.

This was the well where Isaiah was thrown.

Parts of David’s palace.



I loved being where David and Isaiah walked.

What the area looked like then and now.

This is the Canaanite Pool. It’s where Solomon was crowned king. Amazing.

Pool of Siloam. Jesus healed a man here.

It was a grand place at one time. A pool for purification before going to the Temple Mount. Over 600,000 people would come to Jerusalem three times a year.

Herod made a large pathway for the people to walk.

These are parts of the same stones.

David was a rocker!

Truth!

Fantastic flowers.

This was called the Tower of David although it was constructed hundreds of years later than David.

There was going to be a big concert there because of Independence Day.

Interesting exhibits there.

What the inside of the Dome of the Rock looks like.

The Tower of David.

I liked the street art. Kept seeing things that intrigued me.





Friday the 13th I went on safari into the Judean Desert.

I liked the sticker.

We went off road and got to see where the Bedouins lived.


I found a piece of a stone knife near this circle of stones.

This desert was made of stone rather than sand.

The British helped them make wells.

Captured rain water.

Our guide said that just a couple of months ago this was all green and blooming. Doesn’t take long to dry up.

This is where it’s said that Jesus was taken to be tempted by the devil.

There was a monastery built there that was destroyed by Muslims.

The Bassa Monastery was built like a fortress and never captured.

The monks made rooms that reminded me of Hopi cave dwellers.

At its height, there were 4,000 people living in the area. Now around 20.

I liked the desert flowers.

This limestone reminded me of Georgetown, TX.

One of my very favorite African birds is the Hoopoe. I had no idea it was the national bird of Israel!

Bedouins were bringing their camels to the market.

The perfect desert animal.

Muslims think Moses was buried here.

Our final desert destination was a Wadi Prat, a place that Jeremiah likened to Heaven.


Massive boulders.

A monastery was built in this area, too.

Water means life.

On Saturday the 14th I went on a bike ride around Jerusalem. Beautiful!








This actually ground grain.

The YMCA!

The King David hotel had famous guests sign the floor.





They converted the old railroad station into a recreational and cafe area.

Maurice was my guide and biker buddy.

TRUTH!

My grocery store near my house.

Sunday the 15th I took a bus back to Tel Aviv. Shalom, Jerusalem!

Tel Aviv has some impressive buildings.

Old Jaffa port at the Mediterranean Sea.


Tel Aviv in the background.

The house where Simon the Tanner lived. Peter received a vision from the Lord to work with the Gentiles here.

There was ancient Egyptian influence here as well.

Old Jaffa was interesting.

Art in Tel Aviv.



3am on Monday the 16th I gathered my belongings, headed to the airport and caught a flight from Tel Aviv to Istanbul, Turkey.

My flight from Tel Aviv to Atlanta was the first ever! They even had bands at Atlanta to welcome us. I felt like a visiting dignitary.

It was an amazing trip and an incredible way to end it.

I know this was a long post. I hope you enjoyed it. I’ve only shared a fraction of the pictures I took: 1,647!