Earth to Travelling Nabateans....

Wondering what's been happening dear reader? Well the Travelling Nabateans took the great bird in the sky home and have taken a few days to concentrate their brains on the important task of blogging . There is something to be said for camel travel - fresh air, space, no jet lag ...ah but that was another time and place.

Travel is best described in pictures so here is our final selection. Thanks for sharing the journey, may your own journey be safe, peaceful and full of great adventure!

The Travelling Nabateans

Nice day at the Old Port Tel Aviv (below)

(Below) Carmel Market Tel Aviv

(Below) Old Jaffa Tel Aviv

The Sea of Galilee

Bunker The Golan Heights: Israel/Syria border

Church of the Beatitudes (below)

Safed Northern Israel

Baptismal site River Jordan (Israel)

Church of the Annunciation Nazareth (Below)

Nazareth

(Above) Old Jerusalem model Israel Museum

Israel Museum - Home of the Dead Sea Scrolls (below)

Captain's log

Star date 2011.333. After beaming across from Galilee to Tel Aviv by the way of Akko, Haifa, Meggido (Armageddon) and Caesearia me and my crew landed at Dan Panorama overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Due to equipment malfunction visual input will be delayed....clearly this is written by Travelling Nabotean Vasant as TN Bernadette has no idea what any of this means.

Now dear reader...having arrived at Tel Aviv (Spring Mound) in wet and windy conditions the Travelling Naboteans managed to achieve a lot dressed as wet weather snow people. We walked to Yitzak Rabin memorial square and through the interesting night streets of Tel Aviv (much more cosmopolitan than Jerusalem) to find a nice Italian restaurant called Rustico. Next morning bright and chirpy we explored Old Jaffa, then the Carmel food markets and the Old Port area.
Today we got rained out and we are now waiting for the chariot that will take us to Tel Aviv airport to wing our way from the Holy Lands to Sydney...

Shalom until the next travel adventure the Travelling Naboteans

From the Galilee

Well dear reader the travels continue and since our last post we have visited New Jerusalem including the Knesset, Museum of Israel and were saddened and a little overwhelmed at the Holocaust Museum. We then entered The Galilee in sunshine ..starting with the place of the Annunciation in Nazareth, drove through the valley of Armageddon, sailed on the Sea of Galilee, ate St Peter's fish for lunch, visted Capernaum and we were a bit shocked to actually experience some rain and cold in Tzfat, a lovely artisan village but sadly we were probably more focused on warm coffee, then the Golan Hts and bunkers from the 1973 Israel and Syrian war.



Dinner awaits



Shalom from the Travelling Naboteans

Our Last Supper in Jerusalem

Dear reader, Here is a quick photo summary of our adventures so far...but we do have to mention three scoops 1) A bedouin in Masada offered 4 camels for Bernadette however Vasant wanted 5.... 2) first Johnny Depp and now a close encounter with Kevin Rudd at the King David hotel in Jerusalem. We shook his hand and had several pictures taken by the official photographer.... 3) In an ultra conservative Jewish neighbourhood in Jerusalem , Bernadette had cold coffee thrown at her legs because she was immodestly showing her knees....Undeterred by all these events the travelling Naboteans are now off to have their last supper in Jerusalem.
Shalom!

Place of Jesus' birth marked by star with 14 points (Above)

(Right) Waiting at the Church of the Nativity while our tour guide did a deal to get us on the Armenian short line rather than the Greek Orthodox long line to see the cave where Jesus was born



(Below) Something happened after the birth of the Prince of Peace - lots of security and a fence separating the Palestinians and Israelis at Bethlehem


Entrance to the Field of Shepherds church (below)

(Above) Not all is love and peace at Bethlehem but people seem to be doing their best to get on with their lives

(Below) More security getting into Bethlehem

Vasant at the Church of Nativity with Bethlehem in background (below)

(Above)Original entrance to the Church of the Nativity (Below) Place of the manger

(Above) Place of the Last Supper - tree of life with the wheat and the wine

(Above)Mural in the Church of the Field of Shephards











(Above) Look mummy no hands...floating in the Dead Sea (Israel) Photo of Bernadette will be published at the next available opportunity....:)

(Above) Via Dolorosa Jerusalem (Below) Entrance to the Garden of Gethsemene (Olive Press)

(Above) Dome of the Rock Jerusalem - third holiest place for Moslems

(Above) Lot's wife who turned to salt (Jordan)

(Above) Our lunch feast just outside the Old City of Jerusalem

(Above) Western (wailing wall) Jerusalem - the holiest place for Jewish people. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the holiest place for Christians) will be published soon in the interests of religious tolerance:)

(Above) The Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock in the background

(Above) Dead Sea - Jordan

Shalom

Shalom dear reader,

A short trip across the Dead Sea yesterday afternoon and we arrived in Tel Aviv. We were wisked (the travelling Nebotean in the front seat noticed the speedometer at 130km at some stages) to the hotel in Jerusalem, settled in and ventured out for dinner.
Today we exlpored the local area, including the welcome find of most travellers - the laundrette who takes your desert red clothes and returns them washed and folded in just a few hours. Fortunately our cultural tastes are higher than laundry and we walked to the Old City from the hotel and self guided ourselves around the Western (wailing) Wall, Jaffa Gate, Zion Gate, Church of the Holy Sepulcure and tried (mostly unsuccessfully) to work out which street we were in.

Tomorrow we go to the Old City as part of the tour as well as the Mount of Olives.

Will sign off now dear reader, as yes a G&T awaits, before we meet the rest of the group.
Shalom
The travelling Neboteans

Farewell Jordan

So dear reader our time in Jordan draws to an end. Here is a sample of what we have enjoyed ...



The Travelling Neboteans xx







Hukkah @ Aqaba

Sand dune Wadi Rum

Johnny Depp and me

Vasant and the donkey - donkey on the right

Bernadette at the Treasury - Petra

Entrance to the Siq - narrow passage to Petra

Enjoying turkish coffee at Madaba - outside Byzantine Church

Roman ruins - Jerash

Hercules temple the Citadel - Amman

Marahba!

Greetings dear reader,
It's Monday evening in Aqaba - we are catching our breath at the swanky Radisson resort on the Gulf of Aqaba and I write this post an aromotherapy massage and G&T. So it's a uber modern contrast to the history and nature we have climbed over in the past days....starting with the Roman citadel in Amman and Hadrian's legacy in Jerash on Friday, the path of Moses and the Crusaders on Saturday, the awesome (in the true sense of the word) carvings of the Nabateans in Petra on Sunday (why are the best sites always a the TOP of the mountain?) and today the awe inspiring Wadi Rum via jeep. The camera was snapping as we went so you will be on the edge of your seat waiting for us to post some shots tomorrow (internet speed allowing). The Jordanians are again friendly and very proud of their country and king, and thankfully despite any contra news reports you may have heard, it's very peaceful here.
That's it from us - dinner awaits. Will catch you on the next post insha'allah!

Bernadette and Vasant.