What a busy day! I began the day at the Jaffa Gate inside the Wall of Jerusalem looking for a Turkish coffee...hotels all serve instant Necafe..YUCK! While I waited for a shop to open..was only 6:45 am.. I walked through the Jaffa Gate and looked at the Tower of David. The city is so different before it comes to life about 7 am. Once we boarded the bus, we headed south towards the Dead Sea, the lowest elevation on earth. We passed some Bedouin groups along the way. Our first stop of the day was the ruins of Massada, a palace of King Herod. It is an amazing story of a siege between the Jews and the Roman army. In the end,the Jews chose death over slavery to the Romans. It has magnificent views of the Dead Sea. From there we headed to the Jordon River to the site of Jesus' baptism. It is at a space on the river where the country of Jordon is about 30 yards away. On both sides of the river people were going into baptize themselves or someone else. The irony was the juxtaposition of Israeli soldiers on one side and Jordanian soldiers on the other, each making sure no one crossed to the other side. From there we headed north to Tiberius to the Sea of Galilee for lunch of St Peter's fish. The trip starts in land of rocks and dust and ends in the Jezreal Valley which is the bread basket of Israel, it is green and lush. Our day ended at the ruins of the city of Capernaum, the city of Jesus. There is a very modern cantilevered church over the ruins of Peter's mother in law's house. We watched the sunset over the Sea of Galilee form there. Tomorrow is our last day before the long plane ride home. We have lots to see before our 11 pm flight. I am anxious to be able to post photos once I am home to show all these magnificent sights we have experienced.