Today we awoke to light rain. The previous days have been sunny and mild.
So out come the raincoats and the umbrellas.
At 8:30am we left to go to Mt. Tabor to visit the Monastery and Greek Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration. Our guide explains that it is located on the top of a small mountain next to a Catholic Church. Since the road is narrow and winding we will be dropped of at a transfer point and get in minibuses/vans and be driven to the Church.
http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/TaborGreek.html#background
He further explained that the Monastery is occupied by one Abbot and a number of nuns, some of them Romanian. Father Helarion is the name of the Abbot and he greeted us and then whisked the Metropolitan away into the reception room while we viewed the Church and beautiful icons. Some of the group went into the gift shop to buy gifts for family and friends. The gift shop was right outside the reception room and as soon as the Metropolitan had his meeting with Helarion he came out to shop at the gift store. We went into the reception room to take some photos with Father Helarion.
Once we were done with shopping and taking photos Father Helarion gathered us together in the Church to give us a talk. He then asked us to form a group so our guide could take photos of us.
We then left in small groups to get in the minivans and down to the transfer station to board our bus. The transfer station had bathrooms, snack bar and some souvenirs however only shekels were accepted- no dollars.
At 10:35 we left to go to Nazareth which is approx. 40 mins away where we will visit the Church of the Annunciation and the Church of Mary's well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Orthodox_Church_of_the_Annunciation
We then went to the Church of St. Joseph which in Jesus's time was a place of baptism.
http://www.seetheholyland.net/nazareth/#Church of St Joseph
After our visit here we got on the bus and Yiannis our guide announced we were going to visit Nazareth Village (this was not on our itinerary) to see how people lived during Jesus's time.
http://www.nazarethvillage.com/
Nazareth village is a museum and a recreation of some buildings from the time of Jesus. After the museum tour we went out up a hilly path to one of several buildings where two volunteers dressed in period costume explained about what tools were used to make things during this era. After the talk we went into a large hall and another guide spoke to us about life in the village.
Since we have a similar experience every year in Redwood City, this was sort of tame. Bethlehem AD is a recreation of Bethlehem complete with people in period dress, shops, and animals. One can go through the village and experience life in Bethlehem.
http://www.bethlehemad.com/BethlehemA.D./Home.html.
So Nazareth Village was ok for us but a big experience for the rest of our group.
We had some free time before we had to get on the bus for Cana. We left at 2:30 because Father Chrysostomos had a 4pm appt. As a group we decided to postpone lunch so we could meet Father Chrysostomos and tour the Church of St. George.
We arrived around 3pm and headed for the Church. This is the place where Jesus performed his first miracle, changing water into wine. Inside the Church are two of the original stone jars. After our visit inside we went outside to have a group photo with Father Chrysostomos and Metropolitan Nikitas.
Father arranged for us to have a sample of the Cana Wedding wine and several in our group bought some.
It is now around 4 pm and the decision is to head back to the hotel and meet for an early dinner.
When we got to our room we were starving so I called room service and ordered cheese sandwiches. The waitress who answered was in the snack bar and suggested I go pick the food up as it will be quicker and save the room service charge. The sandwiches were really good!
Everyone was in the dining room earlier that our meeting time as they were famished.
We headed back to our room to pack as tomorrow we head back to Jerusalem.
The Ron Beach Hotel was very comfortable, the service good, the personnel very friendly and the food was very good. It was a good place to stay and I recommended it on Tripadvisor.
So out come the raincoats and the umbrellas.
At 8:30am we left to go to Mt. Tabor to visit the Monastery and Greek Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration. Our guide explains that it is located on the top of a small mountain next to a Catholic Church. Since the road is narrow and winding we will be dropped of at a transfer point and get in minibuses/vans and be driven to the Church.
Interior of Church
http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/TaborGreek.html#background
He further explained that the Monastery is occupied by one Abbot and a number of nuns, some of them Romanian. Father Helarion is the name of the Abbot and he greeted us and then whisked the Metropolitan away into the reception room while we viewed the Church and beautiful icons. Some of the group went into the gift shop to buy gifts for family and friends. The gift shop was right outside the reception room and as soon as the Metropolitan had his meeting with Helarion he came out to shop at the gift store. We went into the reception room to take some photos with Father Helarion.
Once we were done with shopping and taking photos Father Helarion gathered us together in the Church to give us a talk. He then asked us to form a group so our guide could take photos of us.
Metropolitan Nikitas next to an icon of St. Nikitas
At 10:35 we left to go to Nazareth which is approx. 40 mins away where we will visit the Church of the Annunciation and the Church of Mary's well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Orthodox_Church_of_the_Annunciation
We then went to the Church of St. Joseph which in Jesus's time was a place of baptism.
http://www.seetheholyland.net/nazareth/#Church of St Joseph
After our visit here we got on the bus and Yiannis our guide announced we were going to visit Nazareth Village (this was not on our itinerary) to see how people lived during Jesus's time.
http://www.nazarethvillage.com/
Nazareth village is a museum and a recreation of some buildings from the time of Jesus. After the museum tour we went out up a hilly path to one of several buildings where two volunteers dressed in period costume explained about what tools were used to make things during this era. After the talk we went into a large hall and another guide spoke to us about life in the village.
Since we have a similar experience every year in Redwood City, this was sort of tame. Bethlehem AD is a recreation of Bethlehem complete with people in period dress, shops, and animals. One can go through the village and experience life in Bethlehem.
http://www.bethlehemad.com/BethlehemA.D./Home.html.
So Nazareth Village was ok for us but a big experience for the rest of our group.
We had some free time before we had to get on the bus for Cana. We left at 2:30 because Father Chrysostomos had a 4pm appt. As a group we decided to postpone lunch so we could meet Father Chrysostomos and tour the Church of St. George.
We arrived around 3pm and headed for the Church. This is the place where Jesus performed his first miracle, changing water into wine. Inside the Church are two of the original stone jars. After our visit inside we went outside to have a group photo with Father Chrysostomos and Metropolitan Nikitas.
Father arranged for us to have a sample of the Cana Wedding wine and several in our group bought some.
It is now around 4 pm and the decision is to head back to the hotel and meet for an early dinner.
When we got to our room we were starving so I called room service and ordered cheese sandwiches. The waitress who answered was in the snack bar and suggested I go pick the food up as it will be quicker and save the room service charge. The sandwiches were really good!
Everyone was in the dining room earlier that our meeting time as they were famished.
We headed back to our room to pack as tomorrow we head back to Jerusalem.
The Ron Beach Hotel was very comfortable, the service good, the personnel very friendly and the food was very good. It was a good place to stay and I recommended it on Tripadvisor.
