Day 3 of sightseeing in Israel

  

     The following day, I took a Sherut back to Jerusalem.  Sheruts are 10 passenger vans like the shuttle vans used at airports to take you to your rental car.  They depart from the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv and travel to various cities throughout Israel.  To go to Jerusalem, the cost is about $7.00.  Unlike busses or trains, they don’t run on a set timetable.  Instead they leave when there are 10 passengers on board, and then make a speedy trip to their destination.  The cost is the same as a bus but without the stops along your route.  They fill up almost immediately from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, whereas the return trip may take 15 to 20 minutes before they are full and depart.

     Once in Jerusalem, I took a taxi to the Israeli Museum with a stop in front of the Knesset for a couple of photos.  This could have been another all day visit to a museum, but since I wanted to also go back to the Old City, I made a hurried trip through most of it with the intention of seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls. 

          Like the Holocaust Museum, no photographs were allowed inside the depository for the Dead Sea Scrolls. The depository is in the shape of the tops of the clay urns the Scrolls were found in.  It is amazing they went all those centuries undiscovered!  Equally amazing is, after they were discovered and sold to various collectors around the world, they were recovered and are now housed in Jerusalem.  Some of the Scrolls look like burned or scorched pieces of paper while others are in perfect condition.

 

The urn shaped museum the Dead Sea Scrolls are located in with the flat roofed Knesset in the background

 

 

     Beside the Dead Sea Scrolls repository is a 1:50 scale miniature of what Jerusalem looked like during the late 2^nd temple period from descriptions in 70 AD.  The buildings of significance are recognized on plaques around the outside of it as well as the Via Dolorosa.

 

The Jewish 2^nd Temple is in the foreground.  It was destroyed by the Romans and the Muslim Dome of the Rock replaced it approximately 600 years later

 



 

Another view of the Walled City of Jerusalem in 70 AD

 



     During my stay in Tel Aviv, I spent each evening along the beach.  Many nice restaurants are located there to eat either inside the restaurant or at tables outside to enjoy the sunsets.  My first night at the Embassy Hotel, which I noticed was a very quiet and relaxing place, was interrupted by chanting.  Being right across the street from the U.S. Embassy, I discovered a protest against Obama’s plan to fire missiles into Syria.  All available gas masks in Israel had been purchased should missiles containing poisonous gas be fired from Syria into Israel.  The country of Israel is on alert at all times, surrounded by countries who want to destroy it. The Jewish protesters were not interested in having an outsider start a war right on their northeastern border with an enemy who would retaliate against them also.

     My return home trip was like the rest of the time on this well.  No definite end to my trip!  Because of the rainy weather on the eastern U.S. coast, like the floods in Colorado, our United Airlines jet was delayed leaving Newark, New Jersey and getting to Israel.  This caused a delayed departure from Tel Aviv to Newark. The weather there had delayed and cancelled many flights all day so I got to spend a rainy night in Newark in a hotel.  The rain prevented viewing the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor or the Empire State Building and the new 1 World Trade Center in Manhattan.  Even the flight the next morning was hazy, and  I departed while it was still dark, so unlike the other flights into and out of Newark, I was unable to catch a glimpse of these landmarks.

      I arrived in Colorado late morning after all the rain and flooding.  Thankfully, none of my family was affected by this terrible disaster. 

    While in Israel, I heard rumors of another well being drilled offshore, possibly next year.  If this occurs, and I am lucky enough to be involved, I will continue this blog at that time.



 

 

 

 

 

Day 2 of sightseeing

The following day I booked a tour along the coast of Israel northward to the border with Lebanon.  This tour included a visit to Caesarea, the ancient port city built by Herod the Great to honor Augustus Caesar.  The amphitheater was still there and in use today for plays and other events.  The hippodrome, where chariot races took place and gladiators fought to the death, was also visible.  At the location where Herod’s palace stood, there were stones from the remains of the palace lying around with Latin inscriptions on them.  On one column was the name Pontius Pilate, showing that he was  there outside of the Bible.

 

Caesarea’s Amphitheater restored and in use still today

Hippodrome where gladiators fought and chariots raced

Roman carving in stone with the name Pontius Pilate on it
Click on the photos to enlarge them.

From Caesarea we traveled north to Haifa, the largest port in Israel.  From the heights above the city the port was visible as well as the Bahai temple and gardens, remnants left from a religious sect who moved  to Israel escaping persecution in Iran.  Here they built the beautiful temple and flower gardens under which the members of this faith reside.  Haifa was settled by German immigrants so there is a significant German influence in the architecture of this city.

The city of Haifa and the Bahai Temple and gardens

We continued north to the underground Crusader and Turkish city and crypt of Akko, pronounced Acre.  It is amazing that it is so well preserved after all these centuries.

Our trip ended at the border with Lebanon at the Rosh-Hanikra Grottos.  These caverns, created by the waves of the Mediterranean, at one time contained a train tunnel where trains ran between Damascus, Syria and Alexandria, Egypt.  Of course, with the current political situation, the tunnel running between Israel and Lebanon has been sealed shut.

Grottos on the Israel/Lebanon border

Through the fence is Lebanon

We were on the border with Lebanon where there is a large Israeli military presence both onshore and off, including a cable that runs out into the Mediterranean dividing the two countries even there.

This was an interesting trip up the coast.  Having stayed at a hotel in Ashkelon, which is 7 miles north of the Gaza Strip on the southern end of the country, I was able to travel along the coast almost the entire length of this tiny country as well as travel to the eastern borders with Syria and Jordan.  I did not get into the southeastern part of Israel south of the Dead Sea.







Final Trip to Israel

     This two month project lasted for nine months. My first trip to Israel began December 27, 2012 with my final trip ending on September 13, 2013. I left the Atwood Beacon drilling rig on September 8th. The Jewish New Year and Shabbat had just ended so our boat was allowed to return to the port. I had planned my departure for the 12th of September because we were unsure of the day I would leave the project. I stayed in hotels in Tel Aviv and did some sightseeing. After the first night I located a very nice hotel named the Embassy Hotel right across the street from the US Embassy and one block from the beach.
 

Crowne Plaza Hotel and Azrieli Center

      Originally I had planned on traveling home through Europe and visiting the WWII beaches at Normandy, but my lack of knowing when I would be departing Israel prevented me from booking tours early and they were filled through the end of October by the time I had a departure date. Instead, I spent those three extra days touring and revisiting sites in Israel. One thing I enjoyed while on the drilling rig out in the Mediterranean, was the sunsets. Having grown up so far away from any ocean and with very few visits to them, this was quite an experience for me.

One of the many sunsets I watched while in the Mediterranean.

 

 

During these three extra days, two were spent back in Jerusalem.  I had not seen the Holocaust Museum of Israel.  Dale and I had been to the one in Washington D.C. and planned on going to the one in Jerusalem in February but ran out of time.  Therefore Monday, September 9^th, I made a trip to Jerusalem to see it.  Unlike the one in Washington D.C. which concentrates on the Holocaust, the Israeli museum in Jerusalem begins with persecution of the Jews from the beginning and goes through the Holocaust to modern day.  It is an interesting and moving place.  No photographs were allowed inside the museum.  The only photo I could shoot was of one of the train cars the people were packed in while being transported to one of many concentration camps.  I was amazed at all the personal items that had been collected and displayed in this museum.  One of the most moving exhibits was of shoes collected by the Nazi’s.  They were displayed under Plexiglas in the floor of the museum.
 

Nazi railroad car used to transport Jews to concentration camps.

 

 

Back to Israel

            After leaving Israel in April due to hole problems, I returned to the project in late June.  We resumed drilling the offshore well to our next casing point at which time I was able to return home late July while the rig ran the casing.  I am scheduled to return to the project on the 8^th of August and will remain until the end of the project which should be sometime in September.

            During the time I was back on the rig, the Israeli military ordered  three evacuations from the rig so they could do some missile testing.  During one of those two day evacuations, 17 of us took a trip to Jerusalem.  This trip I had a movie camera which took both movies and snapshots.  We spent our time in and around the old city.  We followed the Stations of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa and visited the Garden Tomb, another possible crucifixion and burial site of Christ.  I was able to capture sights and sounds with the video that I could not with my SLR camera I was using in February.  I will be updating and adding to the February 11th blog Following Christ's Path to the Cross with some of the pictures I took in July.

            When I leave the project for the final time, my intention is to fly to Frankfurt, Germany, then take another flight to Paris, France.  I will spend a couple of days in Paris taking in the sights before taking a train to Normandy to tour the WWII battlefields.

            At that point I will return to Paris, then Frankfurt and home.  I will be posting photos and descriptions of that portion of my trip once I return home.

Helicopter landing on the rig helideck.  Some transportation occurs by helicopter, mostly the travel is by boat.

Photo taken on the helideck of the sun setting in the Mediterranean Sea.

Return to Tel Aviv

     After Athens we returned to Tel Aviv.  Our trip to Italy and Greece was on Atalia Airlines but from Greece to Tel Aviv we flew Cyprus Air.  From Athens we flew to Larnaca, Cyprus, changed planes and continued to Tel Aviv.  I knew little about the Island of Cyprus and still don’t know much other than it is the third largest island in the Mediterranean.

     We arrived back in Tel Aviv early in the morning of Feb 24^th.  Dale’s flight to the US was early on the 26^th of February.  Back in Tel Aviv we had a studio apartment for a few days while Dale got ready to travel home.  This apartment was about 2 blocks from the beach and near an open air market where just about everything was sold, including food. 

     The afternoon of the 24^th, we took a taxi to Old Jaffa (Yafo).  Tel Aviv was built around Old Jaffa which predates it by about 7450 years. Yafo is mentioned in several books in the Bible.  It is an ancient port on the Mediterranean.  We went to visit the old city which is similar to the Old City of Jerusalem but with more modern and expensive shops.

Narrow streets of Old Jaffa

Tel Aviv beach area from Old Jaffa

     The 25^th was spent packing and strolling along the beach, wading in the Mediterranean and picking up small sea shells to take to the grandkids.

Tel Aviv hotel district along the beach

The Tel Aviv beach looking south toward Old Jaffa in the distance

     

     The temperature was about 80 degrees on the beach while it was snowing in Denver

with 8” of snow on the ground and temperatures in the 30’s.

   The day was sunny with a few clouds until we walked back to the beach to get a photo of the sunset.  By then the clouds had moved in to the west so our sunset photo has the sun hidden by clouds.  The sun set on this day and also on a trip of a lifetime for us.  As we reflected on all the amazing things we had seen and wonderful people we had met, we were most impacted by a conversation we had with a young Israeli man that we talked with while doing laundry.  When he learned that John was working on a project to hopefully find oil just off shore, he said, “Before we look for oil, my friend, we need to find peace.”  Please join us in prayer for peace for the people of this area and for people all over the world whose civilizations have been shaped by their history.

The sunset  is behind us and behind the clouds

     Dale has returned home and I have returned to the well offshore.  I will add more pictures to the blog from the well and rig, maybe try another sunset photo from out here with no clouds in the way. Then I hope to make a stop in Germany and France on my way home either after this rotation out of Israel or the next rotation.  I leave for home on April 4^th and will be returning to Israel on the 6^th of May.

Athens, Greece part 3

Because of poor bandwidth on this internet on the rig, I have had to divide the Athens blog into several parts.  This is the final part of three separate blogs.  

      Very near the Panathenaic Stadium is the Greek Parliament building which houses the Grave of the Unknown Soldier in front of it.   An honor guard of two Evzone (elite infantry unit of the Greek army), now the Presidential Guard, stand watch over the tomb.  Their ceremonial uniform dates back to Kephts who fought the Ottoman Turks.  Their uniform includes a fustanella, a kilt-like garment with 400 pleats representing the 400 years of Ottoman Turk occupation, white shirts with wide sleeves, a waist coat, white stockings, and red clogs with black pompoms.  They carry an M-1 Garand with a bayonet.  During the ceremonial changing of the guard they move slowly with high goose steps. Very impressive to watch the precision and how they can keep their balance when they stop with one leg vertical at waist height.

Honor Guard at the Greek Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Changing of the Guard

     Our hotel was very near the Roman Forum of Athens  which contained one wall of Hadrian’s Library, the Tower of the Winds to honor the wind gods, and many remains of other buildings.

The  remains of the Roman Forum of Athens

A remaining wall of the Library of Roman Emperor Hadrian

Sights we observed while walking around Athens

Athens with Mars Hill in the foreground

A neighborhood and street between our hotel and the Acropolis

Olive Trees

Ancient Byzantine Church in an Athens square

A young street musician

Athens, Greece, part 2

     Because of poor band with on this internet on the rig, I have had to divide my original blog into separate blogs.  This is the second part of the original blog.

    After we left Mars Hill, we continued to the Ancient Agora (“gathering place”) of Athens.  During the classical period of Athens it was the home of Plato’s Akademia, Aristotle’s Lyceum, the birthplace of people like Socrates, Pericles and Sophocles.  The Agora was the center of this being the public space for commerce as well as political, religious and military activity in the city.  It originally contained many Stoas, long buildings where people set up their shops and sold their goods. The Stoa of Attalos was reconstructed in recent times and serves as a museum dedicated to the Agora.  An extensive water system runs through the area, still visible today as are the ruins or at least the foundations of many of the structures that were once there.  The most complete structure is the Temple of Hephaestus, a Greek temple which looks like a small version of the Parthenon. 

The Ancient Agora of Athens

Reconstructed Stoa of Attalos – a museum now

Greek potty chair in the Stoa museum

Temple of Hephaestus

     The principal road running through the Agora is the Panathenaic Way which was ancient Athens’ main street.  It was lined with important temples, legal buildings and businesses.  To walk along that road is to walk in the footsteps of people like Socrates, Aristotle and Plato.  Also serving as the main parade route, this is where every year in ancient Athens thousands of citizens would participate in a parade on  Athena’s birthday to take a new dress to adorn her statue at the Erechtheion. 

  

The Panathenaic Way

     We traveled to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, King of the Olympian Gods. This temple was started in 6 B.C. but not completed until the 2^nd century A.D., some 638 years later when the Roman Emperor Hadrian had it completed, making it the largest temple in Greece.  Little remains today of the short lived temple, as barbarians sacked it in the 3^rd century and it was never restored. Near it is Hadrian’s Arch, which resembles a triumphal Roman arch.  Built in honor of the Emperor Hadrian, it spanned an ancient road from the center of Greece past the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

Remains of the Temple of Olympian Zeus

Roman Emperor Hadrian’s Arch

     Continuing past these sites, we came to the Panathenaic Stadium, the oldest stadium in the world made entirely of white marble. It is where the ancient athletic events, the first Olympics, took place.  Originally built of wood, in 367 BC it was rebuilt using  white marble then enlarged in 140 AD to a seating capacity of 50,000.  It was reconstructed  for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.  It houses the eternal flame used in all Olympic games.  The area where the ancient athletes trained and dressed is now a museum with posters and an Olympic torch from each of the modern games. 

Panathenaic Stadium

View of the Acropolis from the Stadium

Athens, Greece part 1

     The next stop on our trip was Athens, Greece.  Because of weather and being the month of February, we opted to spend our time in Athens and not try to get to the Greek islands.

     Athens is an amazing place.  You couldn’t walk more than a couple of blocks without encountering ruins, either Greek or Roman.  Our hotel was in the Plaka district which is very close to the Acropolis (“high city”) and many of the major ancient sites.  We could easily walk to where we wanted to go.  The hotel we stayed in had a rooftop lounge where, at night, you had an incredible view of the Acropolis. It was lit up and looked like a painting.

Click on each photo to enlarge it.

The Acropolis at night from our hotel roof lounge

     We kept track of the weather during our trip and planned our outings accordingly --museums during rain, outdoor sights when the weather was good.  Luckily in Athens we only had one rainy morning and it was over early.

     Of course, the Acropolis is the principal attraction in Athens.  As high as it looks in the photograph, it wasn’t a bad walk to the top from the other side.  Walking is the only means of transportation up the hill at this time of year. They have an elevator for handicapped that operates during the summer.

     The entrance to the Acropolis is the Propylae, designed as a “grand gate” to put  ancient visitors in awe before ever seeing the Parthenon.   Beside it is the Temple of Athena Nike. Once inside the entrance, the Parthenon is in front of you and to your right is the Temple of the Erechtheion.  Legend says this was the spot where Athena and Poseidon fought for naming rights to the city.  Athena won by stabbing a rock with her spear, causing an olive tree to sprout near the Porch of the Caryatids on the south side.  Also called the Porch of the Maidens, it consisted of six beautiful maidens which formed the columns on that side of the temple.  In ancient times the 30 foot tall statue of Athena Promachos stood in the Erechtheion.

The Propylae

The Temple of the Erechtheion

Porch of the Caryatids (Porch of the Maidens)

     The Parthenon is the largest structure on the Acropolis. It was a temple dedicated to the maiden goddess Athena and considered the finest temple in the ancient world.  Due to deterioration and the stupidity of man, much of it has disappeared over the ages.  In 1687 the Ottoman Turks used the Parthenon to store ammunition which was ignited during a Venetian bombardment.  In 1806 while still under Ottoman Turk rule, Thomas Bruce, the 7^th Earl of Elgin purchased many of the surviving sculptures from the Ottomans and in 1816 sold them to the British Museum where they are still on display today.  Since 1983 the Greek government has been trying to have them returned but with no success.

The Parthenon

The Theater of Dionysus

     After visiting the Acropolis, we walked down to Mars Hill which is where the Apostle Paul preached to the Greeks as told in the Book of Acts.

Apostle Dale preaching, which she often does, at her husband! 

         Due to slow internet and bandwidth, I am having to divide this blog into more than one blog.  Once all blogs are posted, you will see the last one first and the first one last, unless I can figure out a way to switch the order of all my blogs..