Our Trip

Our Trip was amazing!  If you ever get the chance to go then do it!  This is going to be long and I am going to leave a lot out.  Sorry.

We left Austin and flew to New York and then on to Rome, Italy.  We went by bus to the Mariner of the Seas Royal Caribbean Ship.  We spent two wonderful days floating on the water on our way to Alexandria, Egypt.  We were docked there two days.  On the first day there we had a chance to  to Cairo and see the Pyramids but decided not to go.  One reason was it had only been six weeks since Doug's surgery and it was going to be a 13 hour day with 5 hours travel time on a bus and the other thing was the unrest there and our children's fears for us.  We watched others as they got on the buses to go and saw men in suits get on the buses with guns! It was for their protection.  We talked to several the next day and it was a disappointing trip for them.  There was a demonstration and an explosion that took place that day but you will not hear about it.  We did go into Alexandria, well right off the ship to a market place.  There we met Jimmy Green from Missouri!  Actually he was an Egyptian trying to sell us things.  He was so funny and we did buy some things from him.

The next day we went on an excursion in Alexandria.  We went to the library there and saw the Gutenburg Bible and some of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other manuscripts.  Then we went to see a catacomb.  This was really interesting.  We saw other sights around the town also.

The next day we were in Ashdod, Israel.  We went to Jaffa and Tela Viv that day.  We went to the area where Jonah boarded the ship running away from God, and also where Peter might have been when he had the vision of the sheet with all the animals on it when God told him to teach all men.  We ate Falafas in downtown Jaffa.  We drove through Telaviv.  It is a very modern and worldly city.

The next day we went to Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  This was an amazing experience.  Things are commercialized but still knowing Jesus walked those streets at one time and you are there walking those streets is amazing. We went to the Garden of Gethsemane.  There are still some of the same Olive Trees there that were there 2,000 years ago. Now remember I am telling you what our guide told us.  She also said a lot of what she was telling us was not in the Bible but was tradition that had been handed down for 2,000 years and was right.  There are church buildings built on top of all the places you go so you take everything with a grain of salt so to speak.  Still amazing.  We then went to the wailing wall.  It is divided and the men go to one place and the women another place.  You are not allowed to go together.  We also saw several Barmitzvas (I don't know how to spell it.) taking place while there.  It was very crowded.  Then on to the market place and the 12 stages of where Jesus walked carrying His cross.  According to this guide He fell three times and Mary came and kissed Him at one place and there is a place He put His hand to keep from falling and other things along the way.  They now have doors on the stalls of the Market Place so they can leave their wares there and close them up at night. We went to the burial place of Jesus.  A large church building is built there also.  Then we went to lunch at a large modern hotel there.  Then a bus ride to Bethlehem. Now since Bethlehem is under Palestinian rule it has been walled in.  You have to go through gates and security to get in.  The people living in Bethlehem are not allowed in Jerusalem with out special permission.  We went to the Church of the Nativity. We were not able to go down into the cave because we arrived there late and it would have been a two hour wait and we had to travel back to the ship.  We did however tour the building and when we went into the sanctuary we sang "Silent Night" as a group.  This was really neat.  We traveled by a place that was the area where David slew Goliath!  So much to see and I know I am leaving out a lot of things.  You just have to go yourselves! 

We had another day at sea then docked in Athens, Greece.  We went to the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon but the thing Doug liked best was he got to stand on Mars Hill and quote Paul's speech! We also went to a place where they make cameos.  They are made out of shell.  Well I didn't buy one.  I told Doug I had plenty of shells at home he could just watch the master carver and make me one when we got home!

We had another day at sea and docked at Naples, Italy.  We went to see Pompeii.  This was so amazing.  These people were so beyond their time in so many ways.

The next morning we were in Civitevechia, Italy where the ship docked for the last time.  We had to leave the ship and ride a bus back to Rome and head back to the United States.  Now I love our country but I knew when I got back I would have to go back to work.  Now my job is not a hard one but when you have been pampered, fed, and entertained for 11 days it is hard to get back in the groove of work, cleaning, doing laundry and cooking.  I think I might need a few prayers.  No I will need a lot of prayers!!!

I know this has been long and I left a lot out.

God is amazing and He created all the places we went.  He is such a great and loving and caring God. But most of all He is a forgiving God.  That is such a peaceful feeling.  While we were on the ship we had our own "Sunday" worship service together in another country and it was still God's country!

Isn't God good!