Mommy and Me: England/Scotland 2019

I've been debating for some time now whether to blog about this trip.  I guess part of it was that the novelty of having a blog wore off a while ago.  Part of it is that writing takes a lot of time and effort.  Mostly, it's because this trip happened right after my boyfriend and I broke up and that event put a bit of a damper on my mood throughout the trip.  But by chance I was talking with a friend today who is currently driving by Route 66.  I wanted to refresh my memory about that section of the road so I went back to my blog from 2015! It was so cool to re-read what I wrote while I was living those adventures!  (It's so hard to believe that was almost 5 years ago now!!!)

That's when it hit me.  I'm not writing this for other people.  I'm writing this for me.  I'm writing so that when my memory fails me, as it so often does, I can go back and re-live my own adventures all over again! Someday I won't recall so clearly where I was and how I felt then.  But hearing my own voice calling from the past conjures up all those old emotions and memories that have long since otherwise grown distant.

It's incredible just how quickly one's best laid plans can unravel.  My Mom and I discovered this on Day 1 of our trip when we were sitting on the plane.  After sitting there for a while, the pilot announced that they could not get the engine to start and were also unable to fix the mechanical issue so they had decided to cancel the flight altogether!  This announcement launched us, as well as the hundred other folks sitting on the plane with us, into a frenzy of trying to salvage out plans and figure out what to do next.  Fortunately we ended up with a free night at a hotel by the airport and a new flight scheduled to leave the next evening.  Although we were frustrated by the turn of events and extremely tired, we were relieved that the crew discovered the issue BEFORE we got into the air.

We arrived in London, England a full day after we had planned to and immediately hit the ground running, ignoring our jet lag as best as we could.  Our first adventure proved to be navigating the double decker bus system!  It was more difficult than you might imagine, especially with almost no sleep!  After getting off the bus at the London Bridge and almost not being able to get back on another one, we decided to just take the ride and view the sights from on board.  Luckily, I still got some great pictures and we managed to land ourselves on a bus with a LIVE narrator!  This redeemed the experience to a large extent!

Fortunately, we were able to finish off the first day with a BIG plate of the traditional British meal: fish and chips (pictured above)!  I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was!  I spied on the locals sitting next to us to watch how they went about eating theirs.  Turns out they had a few good ideas.  The key to enhancing the dish is apparently to add malt vinegar, salt, and mayo to both the fish AND the chips.  It was SO good!!!

The next several days we packed in a LOT of touring!  We hit big sights such as Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, as well as St. Paul's Cathedral.  We also went on a walking tour of Oxford and a walking tour around part of London with the Christian Heritage Group.  Some of my favorite experiences included seeing the pub where C.S. Lewis met with his friends from The Inklings literary group to write, collaborate, and discuss ideas for upcoming novels. The exterior of The Eagle and Child is shown below in a photograph.  I also enjoyed soaking in the English atmosphere via charming towns, friendly people, and delicious scones. 

   

Potentially the coolest part of the Oxford walking tour, however, was when our tour guide took us to the place where C.S. Lewis presumably found the inspiration for his book "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe".  We stopped in an unassuming alleyway between two buildings.

On the left was the door pictured here, framed by two golden fawns.  On the right was an old church. 

  

Straight ahead was a tall, black lamp post.  The story goes that Lewis had just finished giving one of his wartime radio talks inside the church.  As he walked out the side door of the church and into the falling snow, he looked up and saw the door and the fawns.  Then, as he turned to walk away, he saw the lamp post covered in snow.  As we all know very well, that's the scene around which the rest of Narnia takes shape.


Overall, I enjoyed my time in England.  I admit, though, that London was a bit too busy and crowded for my taste.  I would liken it to the British version of New York City.  I suppose the Park Ranger in me was ready to break away from that scene and head into more wide open spaces.  Luckily, I got my fill of that environment in Scotland where we spent the last four days of our trip.

 The first and last nights of our jaunt in Scotland were spent in Edinburgh.  Despite still being a city, it was much smaller than London and felt more like home.  I especially loved the colorful buildings on this one street (above) and all the stonework everywhere else.  The stone architecture gives the city a bit of a medieval vibe and when it rains, which is most of the time, the rain clings to the stone making it darker and richer somehow, lending to an air of mystery.

Two restaurants are worth mentioning here because they both, in their own special way, made a positive and memorable impact on our short time in Edinburgh. The first restaurant was called Howie's.  We happened upon it because the folks at the front desk of our hotel recommended it.  Once we got there, we got lucky and nabbed the last non-reservation table for the night!  While we were waiting to sit down we started talking to a couple who also happened to be American.  Then by chance, our tables ended up being side by side in the restaurant so we were able to continue our conversation! It turns out that they are Christians too.  That made them the second Christian couple we randomly met on the trip!  (We met the first couple at the airport in Philadelphia.  They were missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators.)

But the real reason I liked Howie's so much was the adorable Scottish waiter.  I might get myself in trouble with my future husband someday if he ever reads this, but that waiter was the most gorgeous human being I have ever laid eyes on.  That, paired with the accent..... Wow!  We shared a special moment when I asked him for directions to the castle.  I was kicking myself for the rest of the trip for not giving him my number.

The second restaurant we both loved was The Conan Doyle right down the street from the Hotel Indigo.  Again, we didn't have a reservation, but after a short wait we got a table.  I think the best part of the meal was how cozy the atmosphere was.  Our table was in the front room in front of one of the windows overlooking the main street.  My seat was more of a window seat, carved out of the wall and tucked back from most of the restaurant.  My Mom's seat was also not just the standard chair.  It was more of an upholstered, soft, reading chair from what I remember.  In addition to the cozy seating, the meal was amazing!  My favorite part was probably dessert (big surprise there!) as it was a classic Scottish dish called Cranachan.  Basically, it was a bowl of sweet whipped cream and fresh raspberries doused in honey.

The absolute best part of our Scotland adventure was travelling to the Isle of Skye!  Skye is the most beautiful, enchanting part of Scotland, in my opinion.  Despite the weather, which was mostly inhospitable to humans, we ventured out and about the island to explore as much as possible.  Thanks to being part of a tour group with an awesome guide, we learned a ton of history and made sure to stop at the most important sights.  After about the 5th castle those got old, but the lush green scenery never did.  You couldn't go very far without seeing another waterfall.  It seemed there was always at least one in view and the numerous lakes were beautiful too.  The restaurants in Portree were impressive despite its remote location and we got lucky again both nights to be able to eat despite not making any reservations.  I have no idea where so many people came from but it was a cut throat experience to be able to score a table anywhere for dinner at a reasonable hour!

Four days in Scotland was honestly just not enough.  Some day I will have to go back and see the things I didn't get to see on the first go 'round.  Maybe I'll be lucky enough to go with my own daughter... Wouldn't that be something?  This trip was one that my Mom and I will treasure forever.  I loved having the opportunity to make memories with her that will last a lifetime.  

Easy Peezy

Santorini was the second island that our travel group hopped to.  It was also the farthest away from the mainland.  Even by high speed ferry, the journey took us about 5 hours!  When we arrived at port, the first thing I noticed was the giant cliffs right in front of us!  Santorini is known for its cliffs and its extensive volcanic history.  I enjoyed this island the most out of all our stops. 

Santorini is one of the most visited of the Greek islands.  It appears in calendars and its name rolls off the tongue.  Some of the things I enjoyed most about it were its culture, beauty, and lack of crazy parties.  There was plenty to do here... almost too much!  I decided to do it all which made me really ready for Ios by the time we got there. (I'll explain later...)

The first day in Santorini we received an orientation/overview of the island by tour bus.  We visited a church at the highest point of Santorini which commemorates the prophet Elijah.  Next, we visited a town and walked its winding, steep alleys to another church and another view.  We had the opportunity here to do some brief shopping.  Our next stop was a winery!  I tried a sip of a friend's dessert wine and found it incredibly delicious.  To be honest, though, the views were worth drinking in more than the wine!

Believe it or not, that was just the morning!  After lunch, we hopped on board another ferry which took us over to a volcano!  This very same mound of land was the same volcano which had erupted thousands of years ago to form Santorini as we know it now.  It was a little unnerving to know that the volcano was still considered to be active (!) but the tour guides assured us that it was safe to be there.  We worked up a sweat on our hike but thankfully the next stop was a swimming spot!  The boat stopped a short distance from shore and anchored there while we jumped off and swam into a volcanic hot spring!  The hot spring was more of a warm spring, but it was still exciting to feel the pockets of naturally warm water, see the bubbles, and put volcanic mud on ourselves.  

Upon arrival back at the main land we were presented with several options of how to get from sea level up to the town at the top of the cliff.  I decided to ride a donkey instead of taking the gondola or walking.  It was an exciting, and slightly frightening, ride!  At times I thought my donkey would surely throw me off the cliff or try to scrape me off along the stone wall, but he brought me all the way to the top in one piece.  

I capped off Santorini on the last day with an ATV ride to some black sand beaches and a hike along the caldera out to a plateau with some amazing views of the island!  That hike was much longer than advertised and the temperatures were the highest of the entire trip but worth the effort in the end.  I'm proud to say that I did it!  

Santorini is perhaps most famous for its blue domed churches and sunsets.  Both can be found together in the little town of Oia (pronounced E-ah) at one tip of the island.  Believe it or not, the blue domed buildings are hard to find!  I always thought that the entire scenery in Greece would be dotted with them.  I was wrong.  The three in the picture above are basically the only ones!  They're not easy to find either.  If you don't know where you're going, you might never find this photo op.

Oia put on a show for us later that same night.  As the sun set over our last day in Santorini, we relaxed on our private balcony, sipping drinks as the sky lit up with hues of orange and pink.

When we arrived in Ios I was ready to relax.  Good thing too because there wasn't much else to do. The main town in Ios caters more to the party crowd and less to the tourist crowd.  There are literally no shops open during the day!  Everything stays closed until the sun sets and then opens up for an entire night of revelry.  Good thing I did most of my souvenir shopping on the first two islands!

I can't complain too much though because laying by the pool, swimming, eating amazing food, walking on the beach, and getting a massage at the hotel spa were all pretty wonderful.  In addition to all that, I also spent one day on a sail boat which anchored at one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.  The water was surely the clearest blue I have ever encountered and the beach was clean and quiet - unmarred by other people or the trash they often leave behind.  We spent the afternoon playing games, relaxing, and eating a picnic lunch under the pavilion.  Hopefully they never decide to make a road to this beach.  I would love to see places like this remain undiscovered for as long as possible!

The picture above is a good summary of what this trip meant to me.  Great weather, amazing food, diverse and fun travel companions, and a talented trip manager who held us all together.  I will never forget this adventure in the Greek islands.  The Greeks know how to do life right and I'm glad I got to take a lesson from them!

Opa!

It has been quite a while since my last trip!  Martinique feels like it was both forever ago and just yesterday, all at once.  Hard to believe an entire year has passed since then... As a result, I was clearly long overdue for another world adventure!  It actually took me quite a while to decide where to go.  At first I was thinking Norway, then I shifted gears and tried to plan a visit to England and Scotland (both are trips I hope to do in the near future), but finally I settled on GREECE!  I'm so glad I did!  I have my supervisor to thank for allowing this trip to happen.  He gave me 2 weeks off right after Memorial Day! Those are prime dates for a vacation. I never would have even dreamed of asking for those dates (because that's smack dab in the middle of our busy season in the park) but it could not have worked out better.  The tourist season had not fully kicked off in Greece yet so the crowds were very manageable and the temperatures were PERFECT!  I don't believe it got above 85 the entire time I was there and the humidity felt very low as well.  

The trip was 12 days long.  On my first day in Athens, I met my travel mates from Contiki (the travel agency I booked my trip through). We met in the lobby of the hotel on the first evening after I had arrived and checked in.  I was really excited to meet these 20 other adventurous young people and they all, in their own way, helped make this trip special. We spent the first night chowing down for the first time as a group at a local Greek restaurant.  We learned quickly, the hard way, that the Greeks eat multi-course meals and that its important not to fill up on the appetizers, no matter how delicious they are!  This is a lesson we would carry with us throughout the rest of the trip.

Our first full day in country was spent exploring the ancient ruins of Athens and learning about the rich history of the city.  To wrap up the day we spent time swimming at the roof top pool before dinner. Pool time was multi-purpose, however.  On the first night our trip manager, Jacqui, gave us a long list of optional activities that we could sign up for.  She gave us a summary of each option and it all sounded amazing!  The only catch was that each option also cost an additional sum of money.  Well, after pondering my options for a day, I was supposed to know which ones I wanted to add on and which ones I wanted to skip.  It's hard to really know what you'll be wanting to do 2 weeks from any given moment but there wasn't any other option... and, not wanting to have any regrets, I signed up for basically everything.  C'etait tres chere! (It was very expensive!)

After leaving Athens, we took a ferry to our first island: Mykonos!  Mykonos is known for it's windmills.  It is the windiest of all the places that we visited on this island hopping excursion.  I was quite glad that the other islands were less windy... although the wind keeps temperatures down, it can be a bit strong sometimes. 

Our walking tour of Mykonos town brought us to the famous row of iconic windmills right as the sun was beginning to set.  I took the above panorama with my iPhone and I think it does a great job of accurately depicting the beauty of this island.  The deep blue sky, the shimmering waters of the Aegean, white washed houses, and a relentless sun.  

   

On the last day in Mykonos, I had the opportunity to visit the island of Delos.  This island is an active archaeological site and best known as the mythical birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, the Greek gods of the Sun and the Moon.  This was one of the optional excursions.  Because of the fact that it was largely educational, and involved no opportunities to consume alcohol, most of my trip mates decided to pass up this amazing opportunity.  I will admit, the island was very windy, the sun was hot, and if you aren't the type to enjoy a slow, guided, walking tour then this probably would not be for you.  Our tour guide also did not speak very loudly so if you wanted to hear her over the wind, you had to make an effort to stay close by.  But the artifacts were very interesting and the stories that our guide told helped to bring the place to life again.  I was glad that I went! An additional bonus to that day was a fresh seafood dinner in Mykonos town after we got back from Delos.  I have never tasted better lobster!!!

(On Delos, ruins in front of the Aegean Sea)

On one final note, I would be remiss if I did not mention the parties on Mykonos... I never went to one of them so I cannot speak from experience but that's a good thing, I think.  It became clear from Day 1 that I should expect to be surrounded by drunk and/or hung over people for the remainder of the trip.  It was a bit sad hearing the stories of lost personal items (i.e. phones, wallets, virginity, etc.) at breakfast every morning.  But the drama was also quite entertaining.  Let's just say that I will remember more details of this trip than anyone else will and I do not for a second regret skipping all of the parties!

There's still more to tell but this post is getting a little long... so hop on a ferry and meet me at the next post to read on about the rest of my Grecian adventures!

A Small Slice of a Big Pie

What happens when two Heather's go hiking?  I had the privilege of finding out last week.  My Mom's best friend Heather had been wanting to hike a few sections of the Appalachian Trail for quite a while.  When she approached me about doing some sections inside Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, I happily assisted with the planning and offered to tag along.  Fortunately, she had most of the camping gear we would need so all I had to do was provide another car for vehicle shuttles and trail maps so we wouldn't get lost.  We also got lucky on lodging!  Huge shout out to AMC Camp Mohican in New Jersey for letting us tent camp and use their facilities for 3 nights.  They have a great program up there and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay!    

The first day of the hike dawned hot and humid.  By the time we got on the trail it was already in the 80's and very hazy as well.  We hiked from Camp Mohican to Millbrook Road. Fortunately, the first day was the shortest at approximately 3.5 miles. The views were beautiful but a bit short sighted because of the dense, hot air.  The highlight of Day 1 was the Catfish Fire Tower!  I had heard about this amazing tower from many of my co-workers but this was the first time I had seen it in person.  Climbing up to the top provided stunning views of the surrounding landscape.  I already have plans to come back in the Fall to see the leaves turn from this amazing vantage point.

After completing the first few miles of our hike, we set up our tents and took a shower.  Shortly after eating dinner it became clear that a big storm was brewing.  As it turned out, we wouldn't be needing our tents that night because the weather threatened a tornado and the rain, lightning, and thunder got so bad that the staff offered us a key to a cabin for the night. We gratefully accepted.

Day 2 of our hike was approximately 5.5 miles long.  The photo to the right shows a nice, flat section of the trail which we enjoyed for a good distance and which enabled us to make some good time.  I highlight that flat trail because the entire rest of the distance we hiked was the exact opposite!  In fact, I will be happy if I never see another rock again for the rest of my life.  The terrain was a nuisance and we are lucky that neither of us twisted an ankle!

Millbrook Road to Crater Lake was a beautiful section of the trail.  Probably the most memorable part was right at the end when we encountered the rock wall.  As it turns out, we almost missed it completely because we had taken a wrong turn.  When we figured that out, we turned back and got on the AT again which immediately greeted us with a nearly vertical wall of rock to scale!  With some determination and careful foot placement, both Heather's made it to the top successfully.

 Day 3 of the hike took us from Crater Lake to Brinks Shelter Road in Stokes State Forest (5.5 miles).  Out of all four hiking days I was the most nervous about that one.  I knew that there was a possibility that we may have to do a water crossing at the end to get back to the main road where I had parked my car but I was in denial and hoping against actually needing to.  Unfortunately, that hope did not pan out.  The thing was we had finished our AT section for the day.  We were both incredibly tired and our feet hurt quite a bit from the rocks and the steep nature of the trail that day.  We were only about 1 mile from my car but all of a sudden we were stopped in our tracks by a giant SWAMP.  The funny thing about the swamp was that it still looked a bit like a road.  You could see where the road used to be but you could not actually see where the road picked back up on the other side of the water (or even if it did at all!).  Upon consulting with my map, we had no other option.  We would have to walk THROUGH THE SWAMP.     

Heather and I took off our shoes and socks and ventured slowly into the murky water.  I went first.  At first, it was not that deep and I could see my feet.  However, as the trek wore on, the water got deeper and deeper until it covered my knees!  At that point I could not see my feet or how deep the water got so I asked for one of Heather's hiking poles.  Fortunately, this helped me judge whether or not to take the next step.  What it did not tell me is whether there would be a fish or a turtle or a snake waiting there for my foot.  I'm glad we made it through without the local wildlife making my foot its next snack!

For Day 4 of the hike, we turned south.  Camp Mohican to Sunfish Pond and down the Garvey Springs Trail for a total of 5.5 miles. The last day was the least eventful but definitely the most rocky and steep.  At the end of the hike, we were both happy to be done.  We felt extremely accomplished! I wanted to note how many times this hike reminded me of Route 66.  Danielle will remember the main similarity.  I reminisced about how dependent we were on the little brown signs to confirm to us that we were still on the right road.  It was the same thing on the AT.  Only, instead of looking for little brown signs, the endless search was for the next white, rectangular paint blaze.   

Braving the elements, admiring the views, peeing in the woods, and experiencing being one with nature for 4 days was more fulfilling and renewing than I would have expected.  No wonder so many hike the entire trail from Georgia to Maine.  I am truly in awe of the people who accomplish the entire thing!  We met a large handful of those people along the trail and each one of them had a different story and reason for hiking the trail.  It was cool to interact a bit with all of them and I wish them the best in completing their endeavor.  

Maybe one of my future posts will tell tales of a section hike of the AT in Shenandoah NP!  It's already in the works. Stay tuned to find out...

26 en Francais

I've had some pretty cool birthdays in my time, but I must admit not one has been quite as adventurous as 26 was for me this year! On my flight from Miami to Martinique all I kept thinking was, "I can't believe you're actually doing this!"  Now, looking back through all the pictures I took, I keep thinking, "Wow.  I can't believe you actually DID that!!"  See?  Sometimes I even impress myself.

Everyone who found out about my travel plans usually asked me some form of the question, "Why there?" My answer was slightly difficult to explain in French but, honestly, I saw an advertisement on Instagram last year sometime and tried to make it work then.  Plans fell through and I forgot about it for a while.  Then, earlier this summer my supervisor and I were driving around the park and he asked me whether I had any vacations planned yet.  I told him I did not because I figured all hands were needed on deck to keep all hell from breaking lose once schools let out for the year.  His response essentially pushed me to go on the adventure of a lifetime.  I doubt he expected me to take his advice to such an extreme, but the pieces fell into place and I booked a flight which would land me in the French Caribbean for one week in late July.
  

I learned a lot on this trip.  Chief among those lessons was that island life is EXPENSIVE.  I had planned on spending a certain amount on the flight and hotel but had not factored in forgetting my beach towel, lunch and dinner every day, transportation to and from the airport (because the FREE shuttle didn't exist), and other miscellaneous expenses.

I also learned that although it was definitely peaceful to travel alone, next time I will try harder to find a travelling companion.

I was pleased to discover how much of my French education I have retained over the years. Reading is my strongest suit, next is speaking, and last is comprehension.  All three were rusty when I first arrived but with practice and a good translator app on my phone, I managed to maneuver the island with success.

 During my stay in Martinique, I quickly discovered that exploring the entire island would prove to be cost-prohibitive.  Instead, I spent a lot of time by the hotel swimming pool and sitting on several different beaches within walking distance of the hotel.  Fortunately there were also many restaurants across the street from where I was staying so I never got bored with the food selection.  These were also significantly less expensive than the restaurant on the hotel grounds which I ate at on the first night.  Let's just say I learned that lesson quickly!

The highlight of the entire trip was definitely my birthday!  My parents encouraged me to pick a special activity to do for the day and offered to sponsor it.  Now that it wasn't my own wallet taking the hit, the world became my oyster.  I located the pile of brochures which I had picked up on the first day in the hotel lobby and I found one for a day-long catamaran cruise.  It looked like a lot of fun!  So the next morning, I woke up early, ate breakfast, and headed down to the marina.  I ended up getting on the boat with a group of 22 other folks who quite obviously knew each other already.  I found out that they were all friends and family who had gathered for a mutual friend's wedding on the island the day before.  They were from Aix-en-Provence in the south of France.  One girl in particular, Martine, really befriended me and introduced me to the whole group.  She spoke English very well and was even able to translate some of the tour for me!  It was such a blessing to meet these people and spend the day with them.  They made my birthday the best one yet!

The cruise took us around the southern part of the island.  I got to see beaches I would not have otherwise seen and I got to go snorkeling three times!  The first two times I saw multi colored fish and the third plunge treated us to views of a sea turtle eating a fish!  At one point on our way back to port, we stopped and got onto a dingy in small groups.  The dingy operator took us into a cave with bats hanging on the ceiling, crabs skittering along the walls, and brightly colored coral visible just under the water.

Despite the terrible sunburn I got on my back from all the snorkeling on my birthday, I wouldn't have changed a thing.  Well, maybe besides putting more sunscreen on!  And for the record, in case anyone else isn't sure, women can travel on their own just as well as men can! 

Au revoir et a demain,

Noelle   

Rivers in the Wasteland

I had the privilege of leading a short devotional for the group one morning while we were in Israel.  Some requests have been made for me to write it down, so I will record it here...

Ezekiel 37: The Valley of Dry Bones

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.  And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.  And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, you alone know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.  And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord." So I prophesied as I was commanded.  And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.  And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them.  But there was no breath in them.  Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

As I reflected on these words, I was reminded of the change in landscape as we drove from the Golan Heights, an area of lush green pastures and agricultural abundance, into the desert landscape surrounding the Dead Sea.  Honestly, as the scenery changed to desert, I thought to myself that the land there matched very closely to the landscape of my heart over the past year and a half.  My spiritual walk with God has been more like a desert than an oasis.  

But in the middle of the desert, God began to speak whispers to my heart.  First, at the caves of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, He reminded me that great treasure can be found in the most unexpected places.

Next, at En Gedi, He showed me that even in the middle of a desert He is able to provide streams of fresh water to quench our thirst.  He is able to do even that which seems to be impossible to us.

Finally, He showed me several times throughout the trip, through the words of hope and encouragement of many new friends, that what we see as bad, He can use for good.  He spoke through others to remind me that there IS a light at the end of my tunnel.  That He is still here and that there is meaning to be found in the pain.

Before I left to go on the trip I read a book by C.S. Lewis.  A quote stuck out to me that fits this analogy perfectly.  He says, "Ah, the Saved... what happens to them is best described as the opposite of a mirage.  What seemed, when they entered it, to be the vale of misery turns out, when they look back, to have been a well; and where present experience saw only salt deserts, memory truthfully records that the pools were full of water." (The Great Divorce, 69)

 My prayer for each and every one of us, whether we are struggling through a desert or we have been blessed and led by quiet waters and rich pastures, is that God would breathe new life into each and every one of us. May we recognize His voice no matter where we find ourselves in life.

Amen.

"Some of the Rock"

You all know the famous mosque, pictured above with the golden roof, as the Dome of the Rock.  Well, I accidentally renamed it when I sent this picture to myself in an e-mail.  It was a typo and I had a pretty good laugh when I realized that I called it "some of the rock" but then again, that's really not so inaccurate!  The mosque is built on the site (or at least pretty close to it) where the first two temples of Jerusalem once stood.  All three places of worship were built over a stone called the foundation stone which is the top of Mount Moriah.  Today, we just call it a rock and we put a very pretty golden dome over the top of it as a shelter.  So this piece of rock seems to be pretty important.  This photo was taken from the Mount of Olives which was our first stop on Day 8. 

You can barely see it in this picture, but on the right hand side there is a double arched gate.  Today, the East Gate/Golden Gate, which is located in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem, has been sealed by that community and a graveyard has been planted directly in front of the gate in an attempt to prevent the second coming of Jesus from taking place. The graveyard is because priests from the order of Melchizedek cannot defile themselves according to Biblical law by entering a graveyard, which would make themselves unclean.  The theory therefore, is that Jesus, being a priest in the order of Melchizedek, would be unable to return simply because of these two physical barriers... How small a view they have of God! No human could possibly hinder the plans that God has set in motion.  

The Mount of Olives was historically covered in an abundance of olive trees, hence its name.  It would have been much more remote back then, of course, but still covered in trails which would have been used as a popular route to travel between Jerusalem and Bethany and other towns on the other side of the mountain. We retraced one of those paths (which is paved now) from the top of the mountain, past the graves of three minor prophets (whose names escape me now), and to the Garden of Gethsemane.  The garden was small and unassuming.  Today it stands next to a church which is dedicated to the agony of Christ. Without a proper introduction, I would have walked right by it without thinking twice! And that's what almost happened! Fortunately we clarified its identity with Jeremy and were able to then appreciate it for what it is and was.  

The image I had in mind of the garden where Jesus prayed so hard that his sweat came out as drops of blood was much different than what I observed here.  Maybe it didn't feel right because today it's located right next to a busy street with cars zipping by.  Or maybe because salesmen are loudly selling maps and photos and trinkets just outside the wall.  Either way, I was impressed by the fact that some of these olive trees were probably witnesses of the very night when Jesus was arrested.

From there we traced our way backwards in time to the place where the physical birth of Christ happened in Bethlehem. The city of Bethlehem is currently held by the Palestinians and they have built a wall around it with security check points at the entrance.   Israeli citizens are not even allowed to enter the city! I had no idea it was like that. Fortunately, the area is still open to tourists so we had no problems getting in.  We didn't stay long but just enough to see the church which was built around the cave where Jesus is said to have been born.        

The church, which marks the location of this momentous event, is mostly under construction still.  There is scaffolding set up everywhere and most of the floors and walls are covered up while construction crews complete work on it.  The tour guide mentioned that the czar of Russia gave three chandeliers (left) to the church as a gift.  They are incredibly beautiful and ornate but then we all had to laugh because of the modern fluorescent light bulbs they had screwed into the candle holders.

Eventually we made it down into the underground cave area.  Our group was led into a small chapel (pictured below) where we sang Christmas carols acapella.  The acoustics were amazing and I got chills as we sang O Little Town of Bethlehem and Silent Night in praise to our Savior who was born in that very same city.

 At the end of the day, and for our last stop of the trip, we got to visit the site of Jesus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection!  It was a powerful experience that I cannot even begin to describe here but we worshiped again in a small chapel on site and had the privilege of celebrating these sacred events by taking communion as a group there.

This is a trip that I will remember for the rest of my life.  It was a privilege to walk where Jesus walked and to experience it all with the 43 wonderful individuals who joined me on this adventure! If any of you that are reading my blog ever get the chance to travel to the Holy Land, please take my advice and don't pass up the opportunity!