My trip to Israel

Israel – wow, what a country!  The Israelis define themselves by their religion, whether or not they are practicing.  The majority are Jewish, but there are a large number of Moslems, some Christians and a few other religions besides.  They mostly rub along with each other, but some areas are designated Jews only, or Arabs only.  It felt really strange, coming as we do from a largely secular culture.  I guess the nearest we’ve had would be Northern Ireland during the Troubles.  Most of the time we felt quite safe – the only time I was a bit uncomfortable was in Nazareth, which is a largely Arab city where we were told foreigners weren’t particularly welcome.

We packed so much into our six days – visiting about 6 different sites per day, the coach leaving at 8 o’clock in the morning and often not getting back to the hotel until after 6 in the evening.  The first 3 nights we stayed on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, then moved south to Jerusalem for 3 nights.  We visited many places familiar from the Bible stories, both Old and New Testament.  I’ve been asked what was the highlight of the trip, but it’s so hard to single out just one thing – we found ourselves frequently overwhelmed by what we were seeing.  Such as the home of St Peter’s mother-in-law in Capernaeum, setting for the story of the man whose friends lowered him down through the roof to be healed.  Or the actual steps in Jerusalem that Jesus would have walked up the night before the Crucifixion.  And the Western Wall (also known as the Wailing Wall) where Jews, Christians and Moslems alike go to pray – that was such a peaceful place. 

And it wasn’t only religious sites that we visited – we went to the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, which was harrowing, and we visited a national park where we hiked up the mountainside past beautiful waterfalls and saw ibexes (a type of deer) and a small mammal a bit like a tail-less badger, known as a coney.  They were quite tame, and we managed to get some good pictures.  And we swam in the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth at 411 m below sea level.  A bizarre experience – the high salt content in the water means it’s impossible to sink below the surface – you literally just lie there and float.

My head is absolutely chock full of my experiences, and it’s going to take a while to come back down to earth.  I would definitely recommend Israel, but if you decide to go it’s best to be part of an organised party.  Our guide was brilliant, and we learnt so much more than if we’d been travelling independently. 

Shalom!