Bethleham and Jericho

22/12/08
Finally in the afternoon we entered the walled city of Bethleham and went on to shop for souvenirs at The Three Arches.

In the late afternoon, we headed to Jericho and checked into Jericho Intercontinental which would be our base for the next 4 days while we visited Bethleham and Jerusalem.
We were supposed to stay in another hotel in Bethleham but due to security reasons we were booked into this hotel. (On this day the truce on the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Hamas ended).

Jaffa or Joppa

22/12/08
Having passed Caesarea we continued our drive to the oldest sea port in the world (3,500 yrs. old) and that is Jaffa also called Joppa. It was here that Peter raised Tabitha to life (Acts 9:36-43) and he stayed on for a considerable amount of time in the house of Simon, the tanner
(Acts 9:43).

Here we had photo moments of St. Peter's Church. We reached it too late and it was closed for the day.

Haifa

Monday 22/12/08
We checked out of Hotel King Solomon and began our drive to Haifa to visit the Carmelite Monastery of St. Elijah on Mt. Carmel. Here we saw the beautiful Stella Maris Church built over the cave where the Prophet Elijah once lived. And it was here that the Prophet Elijah convinced the people that the God of Israel is the true God (1 Kings 18:17-40)

From here we continued our way to Caesarea. On the way we stopped by the ruins of the Herod's Aqueduct. This structure was to supply fresh water to Herod's new city.