More photos

Hello again, Here are some more photos. Enjoy!

Nain to Mt Tabor

Another amazing day here. We left early this morning to travel to the small town of Nain then went on to Cana, the place of Jesus's first miracle. Of course all the little tourist shops are called The First Miracle and they are full of trinkets and bottles of Cana wine. We went to the Wedding Church and came upon four Filipino couples renewing their wedding vows. The afternoon was spent up at Mt Tabor where we had Mass in a beautiful chapel. Now at last here's some photos. When I get more time, I'll add an explanation of each photo. Enjoy!

Tiberias

Well what an amazing day this has been. We left Jerusalem this morning and travelled through desert land, first to the River Jordan and then by day's end to here in Tiberias. Our hotel is on the shores of Lake Galilee and every room has a view out over the lake. Our room is on the 15th floor and as today we've been at the site of ruins caused by the earthquake of 748 a room this high up makes me feel somewhat nervous. We've heard so much today about the massive fault line along the valley that it really was the last thing we Cantabrians needed to hear. It was super hot today with little shade in which to take refuge. Keith - here's one for you! Our guide has struggled to sleep these first few days, but last night she fell into a deep sleep .... Until she got a phone call at 4am from you asking if she had any houses to sell!! Now what are the chances of me being in Israel with the same tour leader who was regaling her tale at breakfast this morning of being disturbed by you!! Still unable to post any photos. We're hoping there's an Internet cafe here in Tiberias. We didn't bring the laptop this time. Only the iPad which we can't do the photos from. We just didn't appreciate we'd encounter difficulties doing this. But we're not in Europe where there's a cafe on every corner. We've taken a zillion photos and we're only at the end of day three!

Day in Zion

Well, what an exhausting day today has been. Crammed 10 hours visiting holy places into 7.5 hours. Still more to go before we finish the day. Have taken hundreds of photos but need an Internet cafe to upload them as I can't upload from the iPad. I'm sunburnt ... The weather varies from cold in the wind to hot in the sheltered places. We went to many places mentioned in the gospels. Most are solid rock, cave type dwellings. But the modern stuff is amazing, especially the churches. Hundreds of tourists everywhere, but most of a Christian disposition. Or is the muslin? Any way people generally smile at you. Seen lots of Jews, especially men in full regalia. And we saw a camel and a donkey. With riders! Ciao for now, Paul and Marie

At last!

Greetings from Jerusalem. I did try to make a new post last night but we couldn't connect to the place we could create a new post. You will find an update in the reply part to Paul's post from Singapore. I am sitting at the desk our hotel room which has a fantastic view out over the city. It is all so white. When I first opened the curtains yesterday morning it looked like snow had fallen. Far from it! It is very hot here. We will post more news later tonight as we've paid exorbitant money to get an Internet connection which lasts for 24 hours. We're about to leave for the day and have to be on the bus by 8am.We'd love to get some photos up but that may be a few days away yet. You can also take a look at another blogspot created by Fr John O'Connor. Johncoconnor.blogspot.com Love to all. Marie &Paul

Singapore airport - again!

Hi folks, We've reached Singapore. I'm writing this post from the transit hotel using the free internet. Yeah!! We can't post any photos yet. Our cameras are with our luggage and our luggage is in transit to Istanbul. We have 6 hours here in transit at Singapore and it's 6:39pm Sunday as I write this. Not sure what that is NZ real time. We board the Boeing 777-300 to Istanbul sometime round midnight. But this transit hotel is pretty fantastic. It has nice coffee, free food, showers, massages, and nap rooms!! I could spend the three weeks here. Nay. Just kidding. Not much else to report, Ciao, Paul and Marie

We are away... well almost

Hi folks, Quick post before we leave. We are waiting at the airport. The plane we board has just landed and its 9:20 am. Thanks to Marg and Rod for bringing us to the airport and for boarding us the last week. Bye for now. Ciao, Paul and Marie