Our Itinerary -- We're Going Overseas!

Andrew and I, along with my brother Nate, are about to embark on a wonderful adventure: touring the land where our Savior, Jesus, walked the earth and ministered, where He died and rose again. You could say we’ll be visiting His old neighborhood! I’m so excited, and even more thrilled to get to share this experience with my brother, who’s never been out of the United States before now. I’ve gotten used to overseas travel, so it’ll be fun to see things through the eyes of a first-timer!

For those of you who are interested in following our journey, I am going to post our itinerary below.

We would really appreciate your prayers for:

*Safety and protection while traveling
*Spiritual refreshment and renewal
*Health and stamina for the long days of sightseeing

Thanks, and I’ll check back in when we return!
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The really quick, flight-only version of the itinerary is as follows: Sacramento ---> Portland ---> Chicago ---> Istanbul ---> Israel ---> Egypt ---> Istanbul ---> New York ---> Portland ---> Sacramento! For the more detailed version, keep reading! :-)

Saturday, March 4th – We are flying to Portland this afternoon, and spending the evening with my parents and brother.

Sunday, March 5th – This morning we have to be at the airport at 6:30AM for our 8:30AM flight to Chicago. After a 2 ½ hour layover, we fly out to Istanbul, Turkey (about a 10 hour flight) aboard Turkish Airlines.

Monday, March 6th – We arrive in Istanbul at 10:20AM. We’ll check into our hotel and rest for an hour or so, then head out on a tour of some of Istanbul’s most well-known sites: Topkapi Palace, the Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque, and the Grand Covered Bazaar. Then back to the hotel for dinner and overnight.

Tuesday, March 7th – After a buffet breakfast at the hotel, we’ll check out and visit St. Sophia, one of Christendom’s oldest churches, originally built in the 6th century, then converted into a mosque, now a museum. After this we’ll head to the airport for an early afternoon flight to Tel Aviv, Israel (about a two-hour flight). Once in Tel Aviv, we’ll board our tour bus and travel through the city to Bat Yam, a suburb of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean. We’ll check into our hotel and have a brief overview lecture of our trip before bed.

Wednesday, March 8th – (I’m not sure exactly what we’ll be doing today, since the original itinerary they sent has us staying in Tiberias tonight, but the hotel list they sent shows we’re staying in Galilee. So, I’ll just list what’s on the itinerary, but I’m not positive this is what we’ll be doing!) This morning we start our day with a stop at Jaffa (Joppa), the city of Jonah, where Peter had his housetop experience at the home of Simon the Tanner. Proceed to Caesarea, capital of the Roman procurators of Judea. Visit the Roman port, Crusader’s Moat, Roman theater, and aqueduct. Continue to Muhraka on Mount Carmel. This afternoon we proceed to Megiddo to visit the excavations that unearthed 20 different civilizations. Traveling through the Plain of Jezreel, we visit Nazareth, boyhood home of Jesus. We will be staying tonight at a hotel in a peaceful setting overlooking the Sea of Galilee!

Thursday, March 9th – This morning we will visit the valley of Gennesareth to view the New Testament boat found below the sea and to visit the kibbutz. Then on to Chorazin, through the Hula Valley to Hazor, ruins of the powerful Canaanite city destroyed by Joshua and rebuilt by Solomon to command upper Galilee. We continue to the northern limits of Jesus’ travels as we cross the River Hatzbani to Dan and Banias (Caesarea Philippi), where Peter made his great profession of faith. Driving to the foot of Mount Hermon, we ascend onto the Golan Plateau for a magnificent view of upper Israel. Return to the hotel in Galilee for dinner and overnight.

Friday, March 10th – This morning we will take a relaxing boat ride on the Sea of Galilee where we will be able to look to the shore where so many miracles occurred. We continue to Capernaum and see first century ruins, then visit Tabgha and the Mount of Beatitudes. Continue to the River Jordan where some members of our group may choose to be baptized. This afternoon we travel via the Crusader fortress of Belvoir along the Rift Valley to Bet Shean, where King Saul and his sons were pinned to the walls. It became the Decapolis Capital and was traveled by Jesus and known as Scythopolis. We’ll see the ancient theater, Circus Maximus, and Cardo Maximo. We head down the Jordan River Road and head to the Judean wilderness on our way up to Jerusalem. We will enter the Holy City via the Mount of Olives with the beauty of Jerusalem before us. Continue to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Saturday, March 11th – This morning we visit the New City of Jerusalem, Mount Zion, the Upper Room, the tomb of King David, and Dormition Abbey. We enter the Jewish Quarter of the Old City to visit the Wohl Archaeological Museum, displaying the newly restored Herodian Quarter. Remains of this area of Jerusalem date back to the time of the Herodian Dynasty (37 BC to 70 AD). We proceed to the Shrine of the Book where we see the Dead Sea Scrolls on display, then view the Knesset (Israeli parliament) building. Continue to visit Yad Vashem, a memorial of the Holocaust, and then visit the Model City. This afternoon we continue to Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity, the Manger, Crusader’s Cloister, and the Grotto of St. Jerome. We then visit the cave in Shepherd’s Field and view the Fields of Boaz. En route to Jerusalem we see the Tomb of Rachel and other antiquities before returning to the hotel for dinner. The evening ends as we share personal experiences of the day.

Sunday, March 12th – This morning we will board our bus for our exciting tour to the famous Rabbi Tunnel, where we will enter by the Western wall and go down to the foundation of the Second Temple. We will see a model that will demonstrate where we are in location to the time of Christ. We continue along the tunnel as we proceed to the entryway to the Holy of Holies. We will then head to the Temple Institute where we will see the making of instruments for the new temple. For lunch we will visit the Biblical Gardens and view reconstructed biblical culture, including possible crosses used by Romans, goat skin tents, tomb of Jesus, and then conclude with a meal in a re-enactment of Jesus’ “last supper meal.” This afternoon we will head to the Southern wall and visit the Mekev pools and the steps that Christ would have used to enter the Temple area and would have taught from. Return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Monday, March 13th – Today we drive to the Mount of Olives for a panoramic view of Jerusalem, visit the Church of Pater Noster and the Chapel of Ascension, and then proceed to the Garden of Gethsemane. Crossing the Kidron Valley, we pass the tombs of Absalom, Zechariah, and Saint James, then visit the Pool of Siloam and the Church of St. Peter of Gallicantu (Caiaphas’ House). We enter the Old City this afternoon through the Zion Gate and see the Cardo and the remains of Nehemiah’s Wall on the way to the Western (Wailing) Wall. We visit the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, the Church of St. Anne, the Pool of Bethesda, Pilate’s Judgment Hall, the Chapel of Flagellation, Lithostrotos, and the Arch of Ecce Homo (“Behold the Man”). We follow the Via Dolorosa (“Way of the Cross”) to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and end our day in the Garden Tomb before returning to the hotel for dinner and overnight.

Tuesday, March 14th – We begin our day with a stop at Bethany, home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. We travel to Jericho, the world’s oldest city. From the excavated tel atop the ruins of ancient Jericho we view the lush green Jordan Valley, Elisha’s spring, and the Mount of Temptation. Proceed to Qumran and the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Continuing alongside the Dead Sea, 1,300 feet below sea level (the lowest spot on earth) we stop at Ein Gedi, where we will have the chance to float in the Dead Sea, and for the adventurous ones, walk into the nature reserve and see the waterfall that David would have used while he was hiding from Saul. This afternoon we drive to Masada and ascend by cable car to the magnificent ruins of the fortress where, from 70 to 73 AD, Jewish defenders made their last stand in the Judean revolt against Rome. We see the remains of storehouses, cisterns, and a 6th-century Byzantine church. Then we had back to Jerusalem and return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.

Wednesday, March 15th – This morning we will have free to enjoy the beauty of the Red Sea, and maybe take a glass-bottom boat ride or go to the underground observatory to view some of the most colorful fish in the world! This afternoon we will go into Egypt at Taba. Continuing through the desert, we come to St. Catherine’s Monastery and the traditional location of Mt. Sinai, where Moses received the 10 Commandments. We’ll be staying at a little hotel just a few miles from the Monastery.

Thursday, March 16th – Those who desire may get up at 1:30AM to climb Mt. Sinai to see the sunrise, while the rest of the group can sleep in and tour St. Catherine’s Monastery in the morning, where a very important and early Bible manuscript (Sinaiticus) was found. We’ll visit the Chapel, then go to the traditional site of the Burning Bush and the Chamber of the Skulls. We then travel by bus to Sharm el Sheik and board a quick flight to Luxor, where we will check into our hotel for dinner and overnight. Our hotel is one of the biggest and most popular 5-star hotels in Luxor, built on 28 acres of sub-tropical landscaped gardens directly on the Nile, in the middle of the shopping center of Luxor and just a few minutes’ walk from the famous Luxor Temple. After dinner we will take a moonlight stroll through the beautifully illuminated Temple before turning in for the night.

Friday, March 17th – Today we will cross the Nile to the West Bank and see the Colossi of Memnon, the beautifully terraced Temple of Queen Hapshepsut (one of the most brilliant accomplishments in the history of architecture). We’ll continue on to visit the vast site of the Karnak Temple, built over a 2,000-year period. This evening we will head to the train station for our overnight journey to Cairo (we’ll be in sleeper cars). Dinner will be provided on the train.

Saturday, March 18th – Early this morning we will arrive in Cairo and head for breakfast. We will start our tour with a visit to the Egyptian Museum with its priceless gems from the tomb of Tutankhamen and other world-famous relics. We tour Old Cairo, including the Coptic church of “El Moallaka,” dating from the early 4th century, and the Mohammed Ali Mosque. This afternoon’s excursion includes an exciting camel ride to the Pyramids and visits the Sphinx. Return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Sunday, March 19th – This morning we get acquainted with Cairo. We take a felucca ride on the Nile, then continue to Mohammed Ali Mosque and proceed to the top of the Citadel for a famous view of the city with the Pyramids far in the distance. Continue past the City of the Dead to the Khan El-Khalili Bazaar, where we can browse among the 12,000 tiny shops. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.

Monday, March 20th – We will actually be awakened about midnight in order to arrive on time to the airport for our 3:45AM flight to Istanbul. From Istanbul we fly to New York, arriving at about 3:30PM Eastern time. Then from New York we fly to Portland, arriving about 11:00PM. This is one LONG day of travel, considering we will go “back in time” about 10 hours! My family will pick us up at the airport and we’ll spend the night with them.

Tuesday, March 21st – We will spend the day with my family and then fly back to Sacramento in the evening, arriving home around 8:30PM.
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WHEW!!! What a journey this will be! I can’t wait to share stories and pictures with you when we get back! Thank you for your prayers! Until we meet again…