Who would have thought that I would find a Pete Dye golf course in Israel?
My journeys in golf transitioned into something a bit more spiritual so no surprise that Day 9 of my Spiritual Journey to Israel & Palestine should include a little golf!
Privileged & blessed to walk & play the Pete Dye Signature Caesarea Golf Club, Israel joined by members Iser & Zeev!
It was a beautiful walk in a beautiful park which happens to be a golf course!
With smiling Iser on the tee at the par-3 12th!
Caesarea GC has the feel of a Scottish Links course with a sense of place that takes one far beyond the start of the game of golf to a place where civilization begun. What a primitive and exciting feeling! What a setting in which to tee it up!
The picture of me and Iser on the tee at the par-3 12th still has Iser with a big smile from his recent ace on the hole!
A BIG thank you to Michael, Iser, & Zeev for hosting Andy’s Golf & Travel Diary! Ditto for Perry Dye and Dye Designs, this is a challenging & lovable Pete Dye Masterpiece!
(Andy Reistetter; Facebook Post with 34 Pics; 1-14-19)
After the tour I ventured into the upscale though outdoor Mamilla Mall and then onward to Ben Yehuda Street and the best schwarma in all of Israel & Palestine!
This time though instead of passing by the taxi-cab corral and walking the couple of miles to Nativity Square I decided to take a taxi. I would like to say I chose the cab driver but more accurately he chose me seemingly remembering me for the snub from a week ago.
With an experience driver and tour guide like Khalid one simply could not be driven to their destination, at least not directly. I asked him what would be a good place to visit, somewhat nearby and related to the birth of Jesus. Without hesitation he said Shepherd’s Field. He was right as their role that sacred night and later along with the Magi is so biblical!
Day 13: Bethlehem; Christmas Day Feast at the Casa Nova Pilgrim House!
The Casa Nova Pilgrim House put on an amazing Christmas Buffet literally fit for Popes! Many Popes have come to celebrate Jesus and dine here in the very same banquet room with breath-taking views of Bethlehem.
After eating it was a quick Good-Bye to St. Catherine’s and the Nativity Churches and off to Checkpoint 300 by taxi. No lines, literally no inspection and back to Israel I went!
Merry Christmas from Bethlehem, the birthplace of Our Lord & Savior! May the New Year be one of love, compassion, & mercy inwardly & outwardly, for you & me! TROML Baby (an exclamation of joy)!!!
I am fascinated by the palm tree forests. As beautiful as the pine tree forests back home at Chenango Valley State Park where the trees were planted on 3-foot centers back in the Civilian Conservation Corps days of the Great Depression. Evidently the palm trees are the date producing kind and people eat a lot of dates in this part of the world.
The park closed at 4 pm, sunset was an hour or two off so it was now definitely time to head directly south through the Negev Desert to my bed in Eilat on the Red Sea. The 215 km seemed to go on and on through the desert. Especially after dark knowing there was beauty around me that I could not see. I passed the Ben Gurion Memorial but the sun was setting so I did not stop. Just as the sun seemed ready to disappear beyond the horizon I came across what looked like the Grand Canyon to me. It’s massive, so massive that it stretched so far to the east that on my way north via the eastern route I would see all of its glory in Timna National Park in two days’ time; actually less as it would be the morning of the day after the next.
There were lights along the way and of the stars in the sky above. Once I saw the lights of Eilat I knew it was Eilat as it is a planned city on a gentle slope upwards from the darkened Red Sea. It was a grand entrance coming down through the mountains to the final oasis of the Negev Desert. I took a cursory drive around town and knew Eilat was my kind of town when I saw a huge heart at one of the main turnabouts.
What to do with one day in a resort city on the Red Sea in Eilat, Israel? Well, for starters why not have a latte on the beach and ponder the possibilities. Then let’s linger a bit with a walk along the Promenade.
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I came across a birdwatching park and watch a big silver bird come in gracefully and land a bit to the south. Caught it on video too!
What a beautiful spot on this Earth is Eilat, Israel; where three countries come together on the tip of the Red Sea! My heritage is the Czech Republic and Slovakia and seeing that Karlovy Vary and Piestany are sister cities of Eilat I know why I feel so welcomed and comfortable here!
Susan Grayson Thank you so very much for sharing your incredible trip with all of us it has brought back so many incredible memories for me God bless you!
Jakub Konečný Eilat is twin town of my hometown Piešťany! 
Lisa Bennett-Fish Just like riding a bike?
Timna Park is the Grand Canyon of Israel in the Negev Desert for sure! Unbelievable mountains and canyons; Solomon’s Pillars, Mushroom and a Half, and so many majestic ones with no names! But the experience that took me back was the Rock Art, literally art drawn on the rocks which is still there from the period between the 14th and 12th centuries BCE! Unbelievable that I could stand in a place where human beings stood 3,300 years ago and wrote on the rock. Still is hard to comprehend!
What a day! From one park to another park; a drive of about 200 km due north along the not-so-far-away Jordan border. Up along the high desert of Negev with all things being high relative to the Dead Sea. The landscape turned white as we approached the lowest point on Earth, a sign of the salt that had plated out over time; time since time had begun in this part of the world.
Time was of the essence to get to Masada and have a few hours of daylight to see it, explore it, and experience this mountain top retreat and palace of King Herod. And when I did arrive and take the gondola up to the top—WOW, what a breath-taking site! One could easily imagine an early civilization all to its own being located here. The colorful mosaics unearthed and the colorful pillars of the northern temple were quite amazing.
