March 28, 2009 - Holy Lands



Mediterranean at Ceasarea

Globetrotting Batesy here - recovering from a bad case of jet lag. I departed from PA on 3/16 in a big suitcase. Of course no one told me where I was going, but I felt I was in the air for an awfully long time. After we landed I sat in an airport for a day while Rebecca went off on a bus. I could hear lots of conversation around me, albeit muffled by the suitcase. Couldn't understand a word of it - it was all Greek to me. Then I was flying again. At last, someone opened the suitcase & got me out.



Egypt



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 I spent a week & a half in a green handbag being carried from Dan to Beersheba - literally. I saw more ruins than I'll ever be able to tell you about. They did let me catch a glimpse of the Mediterranean Sea when I sat by the ruins of Herod the Great's aqueduct at Caesarea. A few days later, they had me out again. I guess they wanted to see how little I looked beside a big tall sycamore tree in Jericho. And then they laughed. I was actually relieved to go back into the handbag. Too much attention!

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Under Zacchaeus' tree Jericho



Then came the afternoon of March 25th. I'll never forget it - an 8-hour drive through the Sinai Desert into Egypt, with an armed guard sitting in the front seat of the bus. What a long trip! I did get out for a little while to see the pyramids near Cairo. Then it was back in the handbag again. I shook and trembled just hearing everyone exclaiming about the odd traffic patterns in between hours of blaring horns and screeching brakes. Apparently, the bus was dodging trucks and donkeys left & right.

 

Dead Sea


**** After a short stop in Athens once again, we headed home. Wonderful adventure - can't wait to go again!

~Rebecca Castang Bland