DAYS 17 & 18- Coming Home from the Holy Land!

Jordan to Frankfurt to Toronto to SLC, Utah

John and I left for the airport at midnight to catch our 3 a.m. flight to Frankfurt, Germany.  Here are some photos that I took in the airport.  We hung out there for  quite a few hours.

I remember seeing this on our European trip back in 2013 - MEMORIES!

Germany is famous for Cuckoo Clocks.  I remember picking one up for my parents when I came to Germany for the first time with the American Youth Symphony and Chorus back in 1969.  Oh!  Good memories!

Now to Toronto, Canada, for the last day of my journey.  What a layover it will be!

Since I was to have an 18 hour lay-over in a city I had never been to, I decided to take a train to downtown....even though I had had VERY little sleep the night before on the flight from Jordan.

Toronto is the capital of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located within the Golden Horseshoe in Southern Ontario on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. With 2,731,571 residents in 2016, it is the largest city in Canada.

I really enjoyed the modern architecture of downtown Toronto!

The CN Tower is a 553.3 m-high concrete communications and observation tower.  It is struck by lightning approximately 75 times each year. 

A panorama view from the CN Tower (pulled off the internet, since I didn't go up into the tower.)

Crazy little guys on top of the roofs of the buildings

I decided to spend some time at the railway museum, walking around the many buildings and warming up in the sunshine.  It was CHILLY, although the skies were bright blue!

The Toronto Railway Museum is dedicated to preserving the physical legacy, history and experience of rail transportation in Toronto and Ontario.

Toronto is a city of high-rises, having 1,800 buildings over 30 metres (98 feet)

Roundhouse Park is a 17 acre park in Downtown Toronto in the former Railway Lands. It features the John Street Roundhouse, a preserved locomotive roundhouse which is home to the Toronto Railway Museum, Steam Whistle Brewing, and the restaurant and entertainment complex The Rec Room

The John Street Roundhouse was built in 1929-31. Following the renovations of the roundhouse in the 1990s, the area to the east of the building became a city owned park named Roundhouse Park in 1997. The Toronto Railway Museum occupies Roundhouse Park and officially opened in 2010. The Museum occupies three stalls of the John St. Roundhouse and features an indoor display, an indoor restoration facility, a full size diesel cab simulator, an outdoor miniature railway, numerous railway engines and rolling stock as well as a fully restored railway village which includes Don Station, Signal Cabin D (with toolshed), a Watchman's shanty, a Water Tower and a coaling tower.

The Toronto waterfront is the lakeshore of Lake Ontario.  It spans 46 kilometers.

A cute garden on the waterfront

Basking in a little sunshine for a nap

AIR CANADA CENTRE...Large arena hosting pro hockey, basketball, and la crosse events.  Everywhere I went, I saw people coming to a game dressed in red.

I went to a little market to get some food and saw many different kinds of mushrooms for sale.

These are NOT real woodpeckers on the post, but they sure looked real!

MORE little people - real modern art all over the place!

Guess I'll settle down for a little "shut eye" in the airport.  Hope I don't sleep through my take-off!

Although these last couple of posts from my Holy Land trip are nearly a year old, memories are vivid and I'll always remember the trip of a life time - to WALK WHERE JESUS WALKED!!

DAY 16 - EASTER Sunday at the River Jordan

EASTER 2017 - a Dream Come True!

Look close and you'll see the River Jordan - REALLY?  I believe it's been shrinking!

This is a shelter over the remains of a church at Jesus' Baptism Site - so exciting!

A scholar from Jerusalem discovered the Madaba Map [in Madaba present day Jordan], in 1897. This map was a 6^th century Mosaic depicting a map of the Middle East in the 6^th Century. The discovery and subsequent analysis of the map led to a renewed interest about the exact location of the Baptism Site. Pilgrims started to return to the area east of the River Jordan hoping to find clues to the location of the site.


Excavations at Bethany Beyond the Jordan began only 20 years ago, in 1996.

The baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, the act that launched Jesus’ public ministry, most likely took place on the Jordanian side of the Jordan River, in a riverbed called the Wadi Al-Kharrar.

On one site near the river Jordan, mosaic remains were found; then marble remains; then more remains. In total, the remains of five different churches, built at separate times, were found. Why were churches built on this spot in particular on five different occasions? 

Here the remains of more than 20 Christian sites have been discovered, including several churches, a prayer hall, baptismal pools and a sophisticated water system. These date back to the Roman and Byzantine periods.

We'll never forget this special Easter Sunday, will we, cousin John?

A mural depicting the Pope's visit to this area

Piers for arches on which one of the churches of Bethany Beyond Jordan was built

World War I, the fall of the Ottoman Empire, World War II, and then the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict with wars in 1948, 1967 and 1973 made the Baptism Site a no-go area for most of the century.

One of the churches appears to have been built around a natural cave containing fresh spring water — possibly the cave that Byzantine pilgrims called “the cave of John the Baptist”.

Greek Orthodox Church of St John the Baptist at Bethany Beyond the Jordan 

Bethabara is the name used by some versions of the New Testament for the site "beyond the Jordan" where John the Baptist preached and performed baptisms.

At the head of the Wadi Kharrar, springs emerge from the barren landscape to create a small oasis of tamarisk and palm trees, reeds, grasses and shrubbery. From here the Wadi Kharrar stream flows eastward to the Jordan River, its 2-kilometre route flanked by thick vegetation and identified by the murmur of running water.

The fresh water of the Wadi Kharrar stream would have been more suitable for baptisms than the murkier Jordan River, which in John the Baptist’s time was also subject to heavy seasonal flooding.

The area was guarded by the military.  They wanted to make sure we didn't swim across the River Jordan to the other side cause that area was Israel.  We were not allowed to go unless it was over the designated border crossings.

The Baptism Site was a militarized zone, full of mines when Jordan and Israel signed their peace treaty in 1994. The treaty allowed for the de-mining of the area.

We witnessed many people getting baptized.  There were shouts of joy after they were immersed in the waters.  It was a pretty exciting sight to see!....especially on Easter Sunday!

Back to our hotel and relaxation!  Such gorgeous flowers!

The Marriott Hotel has gone all out here - amazing food, great service, beautiful pools - what a wonderful way to end our amazing adventures in the Holy Land!

We were treated to a special Easter buffet and the food was to die for!  Enjoy the following photos!  I took lots of pictures of the array of sweets!

A giant chocolate Easter egg was our centerpiece going into the dining room.

I'll take one of each, please!  Actually, the buffet was so good that I had no room for dessert.  I asked if I could take some to go.  HA!  They made me up a box with lots of treats and brought it to my room.

Unfortunately, I gave the box to John to carry and forgot to get it back from him - I hope he enjoyed them!

Now to pack up and get a little sleep before leaving at 3 am for a LONG trip home!

The past three weeks have been amazing!  To walk on hallowed ground in the Holy Land was a dream come true!~  Thanks Cousin Lloyd and Cousin John.  It was wonderful to room with you, Joanne.  You are an inspiration!