Short night, long day

With the time difference between New York and Israel, a flight eastbound makes for a day missing seven hours. The group arrived in Israel this morning after a nine and a half hour flight. It was just a little after 4 AM. After clearing immigration, getting our luggage, and finding the bus we were on our way.

Our first stop was the Elah Valley where David fought Goliath. At each stop during our trip we will hear the story that took place at the particular site and the application we can make to our life and ministry. 

Following a stop for some breakfast snacks and coffee we headed up the coast past Tel Aviv to Caesarea Maritima, Caesarea by the sea. It is a city built by Herod the Great and plays a significant part in the book of Acts. First, Peter took a two day journey from Joppa to meet with the centurion, Cornelius who became the first Gentle convert. Paul was later imprisoned for two years in the former palace of Herod the Great before heading to Rome. 

Leaving Caesarea behind, we climbed the Carmel ridge to the site that is believed to be where Elijah fought the prophets of Baal. It is a clear day and we had a magnificent view of the Jezreel Valley. We were able to see all the way to the Transjordan plateau, the southern end of the Golan Heights. 

Our next stop was Nazareth Village for lunch and a tour. Our tour guide, Amer, is very involved in the management of the Village and trains the tour guides. He was our guide following lunch.

Lunch was made from grain, fruit, and nuts that would have been available in the first century cooked in the way and with recipes of the times. No one went hungry and we needed the walk around the village to work off our lunch.

This evening we will we staying at Nof Ginosar on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It has been long day but well worth the effort to stay awake,

Top left: Where is the Elah Valley? Craig and Amer.Top center: Taking careful notes at Caesarea Maritima. Top right: The public toilets in Caesarea Maritima.

Middle left: Statue of Elijah on Mount Camel. Middle center and left: explanations.

Bottom: Apples at Nazareth Village

Another oh my day

Today is our last day in Victoria. We began the day at the horticultural center where the University of British Columbia field trains their students. It is a demonstration garden. Following the tour we had high tea at the home of Prince Abkhazia and a tour of the gardens. Two of the pictures below will have surprises in them. Enjoy.

High tea

Abkhazia home

Oh my!!!

Today we visited Butchart gardens. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Victoria gardens

Today we toured 5 gardens in Victoria. The first was probably the most impressive and belonged to the government of the province of British Columbia and is the residence of the Lieutenant Governor. The grounds are kept by a host of volunteers who work on Tuesday and Thursday to maintain the 140 acre ground. The next three gardens were private residences belonging to our guide, his parents and a neighbor. Two of the three were largely taken up with vegetable plants in a historic neighborhood. The final garden was a public park in the middle of the city of Victoria. It as a lot of walking and we ended by noon. The afternoon was free time.

Sweet pea—both the flower and the woman

Blackberries

The west end of the Trans-Canada highway

BC parliament building

The Empress Hotel

Well is it that way?

Today we started our day with a self-guided tour of the Van Duden botanical garden. It is a former golf course converted into an amazing array of plants, shrubs, and trees. They have plants from almost every part of the world. We could have spent all day in the garden but only had about two hours. It would be worth a return visit. From the garden we drove to the ferry terminal where we loaded a ferry boat that would take us to Swartz Bay about a 40 minute drive from Victoria. At least it was supposed to be a 40 minute drive until the bus started to quit running about every 1/4 mile. The bus driver was finally able to get it off the road and into a parking area where we waited for a replacement bus which took us directly to the restaurant for supper. Because the first bus wouldn’t start they couldn’t get the doors open to retrieve our luggage. Fortunately, when we finally arrived at the hotel our luggage had arrived before us. Julia, our tour manager, did an exceptional job helping us roll with the difficulties. It was a good day and a very beautiful one.

Joy loved this garden with a combination of golds and deep purple

They make them big in BC

The entrance to the gardens

Our ferry ride

Gardens and art

Gardens and art go together. This morning we began a tour of street art in a section of Vancouver. This is sanctioned art that appears on over 200 buildings and covers the sides of the building. We got a sample of some of the artwork from a local official who lives in the neighborhood and serves on the Vancouver advisory planning board. During the remainder of the morning, we toured a traditional Chinese garden which would be in the courtyard of a scholar’s house. A scholar was a wealthy, government official in the Ming dynasty of China.

A mural illustrating a Greek myth

A First Nation’s woman welcoming us into the community

The artwork of a South African

One artist’s commentary on electronic communications

Expressing emotion by an Argentinian artist

The Chinese garden

One park and two gardens

Today was a beautiful day to tour gardens. The morning was cool but it warmed up and we enjoyed sunshine all day. We began with a bus tour of part of Stanley Park which is one of the largest public parks in North America. There are trails throughout the park in all types of botanical environments. Following our walk and a visit to a section of the park having totem poles we drove completely around the park which is situated on a peninsula. From Stanley Park we headed south of Vancouver toward the University of British Columbia with a stop for lunch. At the UBC facility we began a visit to two gardens. The first was a Japanese meditation garden dedicated to Inazo Nitobe. Our guide provided a history of both the garden and Nitobe, both were fascinating. It was an impressive garden and the Japanese garden style was enjoyable and designed for quiet reflection. We finished the day with a tour of the UBC botanical gardens. A volunteer took us through a number of different gardens and environments. Again enjoyable and informative. Tonight we’ll walk down the street for supper.

Chinese skunk cabbage

Part of the meditation garden

First Nation totems

Flowers in Stanley Park

Stanley Park headquarters garden

Gardens and flowers tomorrow

Joy and I are currently in Vancouver, British Columbia and tomorrow we start a flower garden tour of this city and Victoria which is on Vancouver Island. We will be seeing multiple gardens each day so you will see pictures from many if not most of them. Today we took a long walk along the harbor area, looked at the yachts, and watched seaplanes taking off and landing. Our goal was to get to the Vancouver Center which has a observation deck near its top. Today the visibility was good enough for us to see a mountain down in Washington state that is over 150 km away. We ate lunch sitting on a bench in an old area of Vancouver called the Gas Light district. Tonight we have a welcome dinner. Tomorrow the gardens.

Steam powered clock

Seaplanes

The last city

Yesterday we left Oberammergau and drove to Munich. There we were dropped off and walked to the main square of the old city. Joy and I visited several churches and found a shady place to sit and eat our lunch. After lunch our guide took us around the city by bus to see the Olympic center (1972) and a number of neighborhoods, some quaint, others more modern and busy. Our destination was the Nymphenberg Place, the summer residence of one of the Bohemian royal families. Our farewell supper was at a famous beer garden in Munich where we enjoyed an outdoor meal and a lot of memories of the trip. Today we fly from Munich to Frankfurt and then New York. Should be fun as we have only an hour to change planes in Frankfurt and the arrival and departure gates couldn’t be further apart.

Top left: our last views of the Bavarian Alps. Top center: The old town hall in Munich. Top right: A small portion of the Nymphenberg Palace. Bottom: A small portion of the gardens at the Palace.

Swans swimming in the Palace canal

A lot of sitting

Two days ago we drove from Prague to Oberammergau, Germany. It was a long day on the bus and we saw a lot of beautiful rolling countryside. Yesterday, we attended the Passion Play in Oberammergau. The Play is given every 10 years, usually on the decade. Very impressive. No pictures though. The Play is given in two parts, each lasting about 3 hours, all in the same afternoon and evening. Oberammergau is a beautiful town with a reputation for its scenic situation and its painted buildings. We did a little shopping of course. Today we head for Munich and tomorrow we get on an airplane to head home.

Top left: Hops growing along the road in Bavaria. Top middle: The mountains around Oberammergau. Top right: One of the painted buildings. Bottom left: A restaurant in Oberammergau. Bottom middle: Oberammergau. Bottom right: Painting and lace.