Jerusalem 2008

So part of our ventures to the Middle East included a day trip up to Jerusalem. What a great city for history! We ended up leaving our hotel in Taba Heights at 2:45 am. Yes, that is correct. It took 2 HOURS to get through Eypgt/Israel border control. 2 hours. It was pretty intense, and quite boring.

Our bus trip up to Jerusalem included a very BRIEF stay at the Dead Sea. It is 140+ feet below sea level... the lowest point on Earth. And 37% salt. So you float in the water. Unfortuately we were only there for about an hour, so didn't get a chance to float in the water. But we did take some Great pictures and buy some lovely Dead Sea lotions and Bath Salts.

Jerusalem is a city like no other. You would need at least 3 days to even scratch the surface. Our tour guide used the Bible for reference points, which made it totally cool. You could relate and picture all those stories you heard in Sunday school. It finally makes sense.

We walked through the Garden of Gethsemane, The mount of olives and the Via Dela Rosa...which ironically is now a HUGE Bizzarre of merchants. The place where Jesus was crucified was a hill, turned into a church and surrounded by a shroud of gold decorations. Very different than what you think it will be.

The old temple that Herod built was interesting to see. The old city was not that big at all. The wailing wall, amazing. All that paper stuck in the cracks of prayers of people looking for answers. We were there on the Sabbath, so unfortunately I only have 1 shot of the wall (you're not supposed to take pictures on their holy day).

Jerusalem was a fantastic experience, and everything seems so much clearer. I would like to go back one day and really experience the city for what it's worth. The city that King David was born is not that far away, neither is Bethleham. How cool to go visit Bethleham. 6 miles down the street.

We will return, I'm quite sure.

Petra Adventure

We decided to ditch the trip to Cairo to see the Pyramids and go to Jordan and see Petra. Petra is an old civilization carved out of limestone moutains, just recently voted one of the seven wonders of the world. You take a ferry from Taba Heights over to Aqaba, Jordan. From there you bus 2 hours up into the mountains to the town of Petra. Then you walk through the mountains that have parted through the shifting of the titanic plates within a gorge. Beautiful colors and fantastic views of the city carved out of the mountainside. David and dad tried some authentic turkish coffee.. can't say either of them enjoyed the coffee grinds that were included in the warm beverage of choice. Lots of camels and donkeys.. you start to get used to it! Definately worth the treck up the mountains and the day trip it consumed.

Adventure Egypt 2007

So for New Year's, we headed down to Taba Heights, Egypt. How cool is that?! We stayed with the family at a resort on the Red Sea. From the hotel you could see Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Pretty cool. We ate a lot of Rice, Chicken, Beef and pita bread. Let's just say we were ready to offer the lady that made the fresh nann every night a job at our house! She was fantastic. We sat out by the beach every day we could (if we were not on an excursion) and rang in the new year in style! With authentic Egyptian dancing and festivities. It was a bit cooler than we had thought, but overall, reading a book in the sun on the beach was just what the doctor ordered!

London 2007

As you may know, we took another trip to visit the family for the holidays this past year. We left on Christmas Day (which to commencerate last year, there was a nice snow storm that ushered us out) and arrived bright and early on the 26th. We visited Camden Town which had quaint little mom and pop shops and a few other shopping areas around London. Mom, Ashton and Brooke went to see Wicked... which was FABULOUS! We had fish and chips and lots of laughs. We were able to take in a church service at the Hillsong London church... definately makes you wish you had a great church in your city to attend.

We decided to take a trip out to one of the last stops on the tube one night... as if we had nothing else to do! It was a nice little town called... Cockfosters. Yes, you read that right. We visited the Temple Church (in The Da Vinci Code) After it was all over, our adventure to London was well worth the trek... more to come.