Author Archives: allthegobro
Nazareth notes
Nazareth has been around for a long time. Today, it is a city with an Arab population, many of whom are Christians as opposed to being muslims, and a minority Jewish population. It is a bit of a melting pot which has largely lost its rural roots. Today we travelled for about 45 minutes to reach Nazareth and visited the Nazareth Village project.
The modern city of Nazareth, no longer a rural hamlet!
Now this project is a bit like the Jondaryan Woolshed concept. But in a setting right in the middle of Nazareth; houses, apartments and shops hemming it in. It is a re-creation of a first century Nazareth Village environment. Hillside farm terraces, olive trees, grape arbors, donkeys, goats and a flock of sheep roam the land. There is a fully reconstructed village including homes, shops, a synagogue and a working olive press. In clearing the land for the village project a first century grape press was also revealed having been carved into the rock surface below where the garden terraces would have been and are now reconstructed. The objective of the Project is to introduce us to the lifestyle of villagers at the time of Jesus and the impact this culture had on his teaching. I think it succeeds and is well worth the visit.
Donkeys on the go in Nazareth Village project
Some sheep too
Later we visited the Church of the Annunciation which sits on the site (Mary’s house) which has traditionally been associated with the visitation of the Angel Gabriel to tell Mary she was pregnant with Jesus. To what extent this site is it or not seems when you visit the place to be a bit irrelevant compared to the feelings and imagery conjured up by just being there.
The Church of The Annunciation and its courtyard area is filled with mosaics of representations of The Virgin Mary and Jesus from around the world. Whilst it is the same subject the representations are all different and reflect the culture of the country. This is the Australian one which is one of the few that are actually inside the Church.
We returned mid afternoon to the hotel and to get ready to go up the Golan Heights tomorrow and, amongst other things, overlook the Syrian border.
Walking on sunshine
We have had a wonderful day today doing what I call ‘walking on sunshine’ . We have spent the day travelling up and down that part of the shores of the Sea of Galilee where all the evidence (archaeological, biblical and geographic) points to the historical Jesus and his disciples living and proclaiming their message to the local population. One of the overwhelming understandings gained is the small geographical area within which it all took place. The Beatitudes sermon, feeding the 5000, his appearance to the disciples on the Seas shore after the resurrection and so on all took place in this tight little space. It was from this area that Christianity then spread out through the world.
The day started with a visit to the museum that holds the fishing boat found in the mud of the Sea dating back to the time of Jesus. From there we went in our own boat onto the Sea and looked towards the shore in much the same way as they did 2000 years ago. We had a short Communion service on board. Returning to land we then visited the mountain (a big hill) where the Beatitudes sermon was arguably delivered, if not there then not far away. On then to the site of the multiplication of the 2 fish and 5 loaves, followed by the shoreline area where Jesus most likely appeared to the disciples after the resurrection. Finally, Capernaum and Peter’s house, if not actually his then one dating about the same time. Some extensive archaeological evidence supports this conclusion. It was from the fishing village of Capernaum that Jesus early ministry was based.
We returned a little weary to the hotel but having experienced a rewarding day of connecting ‘stories’ to their locations and thereby enhancing understanding.
Off tomorrow to Nazareth.
Galilee is the go
We have made it to the Sea of Galilee! Now our guide, David Goldberg, reckons it is more like a big lake and maybe so but it still looks great late in the day with the afternoon sun lighting up the Golan Heights. It has been a long 10 hour day on the road getting here from Tel Aviv, with plenty of on and off the bus stuff to wander around various sites.
First stop was Caesarea. Now this was a town built by Herod the Great as a port city and very much designed on a Roman plan.’ It was the place where The Holy Land connected with the outside world. Outward flowed the agricultural trade with Rome and inwards the things to keep the Romans in the Holy Land happy! Helped keep Herod in a job too.
The port site at Caesarea today,in Herod the Great’s time it extended out 3 times as far.
Caesarea is remembered for a number of things. Among them the story of the conversion to Christianity of Cornelius, the Roman centurion, by Peter following the insight he received in Joppa (see yesterday’s notes). It is also the place from which Paul was sent by boat to Rome by the authorities. At one point today we were standing on a spot where the biblical and archaeological evidence suggests Paul was questioned by the Roman authorities, if not that spot then within yards of it.
This is the spot where it is thought Paul was questioned ahead of being put on the boat to Rome. Nice view.
Caesarea, is also the place where we have a clash of two cultures. The rather blood thirsty Roman existence, gladiator games, chariot racing etc where blood and gore was entertainment; but to the Jews blood (whilst being involved in sacrifice ) was considered to be life. Little wonder the Romans and the Jews did not see eye to eye. The Caesarea that Herod the Great built has long gone and what we walked over were the not insubstantial remnants uncovered by archaeologists and now protected within a National Park.
The Aquaduct that brought water from Mt Carmel 80 km away to Caesarea.
From Caesarea we moved onto Mt Carmel. This was after a short stop at the aqueduct that carried water to Caesarea from a spring at Mt Carmel, a distance of about 80 km. A very significant piece of engineering. At Mt Carmel Elijah dealt with the Baal worshippers. Our guide is pretty convinced that the biblical and archaeological evidence points to Mt Carmel, perhaps not exactly where we were but not far away, for this event in biblical history. The linkage is the reference to the spring on top of the Mt. Mt Carmel is quite high up and looks over the Jezereel Valley, which connects the coastal area to the inland, the Jordan River and Sea of Galilee.From here we headed off to Mt Megiddo. This is a largish hill which has been built up by 25 layers of historical occupation. From memory the guide suggested 5000 years of history is lying underneath. This is also the place which overlooks the plain of the Jezereel Valley where John in Revelations claims the battle of Armageden will be fought. Not sure I will be around to see it. The big event here was wending our way down 270 odd steps to the bottom of a shaft that was dug to connect via a tunnel at the bottom to a water sorce outside the walls of the city. Leanne (true to form) and a couple of others got a bit twitchy here descending these steps, but all made it! Including getting out at the other end up 80 steps.
Taking it easy down the shaft at Megiddo
Across the Sea of Galilee to the Golan Heights.
From Megiddo we headed off to Tiberias on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and our beds for the next few nights….
Israel,Tel Aviv, Joppa and onwards we go
Beachside Tel Aviv
The Tel Aviv boardwalk area, nice spot for a drink and take in the action
Well, Allthego and Leanne have arrived , with all the others, in Tel Aviv following a relatively calm flight from Oz via Bangkok and then Amman in Jordan. There are 30 all up in the party and no one has got lost at this stage. There are quite a few tired souls settling into the Metropolitan Hotel a block or so back from the Mediteranian and not far from Joppa (or Jaffa as it is known today) where Jonah set sail all those years ago. Have been keeping an eye out for whales or other big fish whilst walking along the beach. Did not see any. Although as you see from the picture they are around these parts………..
Simon the Tanner’s digs
That Whale!
Spent the afternoon down in Joppa checking out the sights and the sites. The main one we took in was the ‘House of Simon the Tanner’, this is the guy Peter stayed with when he got his insight into the possibility for the conversion of not only Jews but also the Gentiles to Christianity. This is one of those standout points in the development of Christianity. Anyway it seems the house we saw was not around at the time and it is more of a tradition that this is the ‘ place’ where Peter stayed. If not right on this spot then around this area………….
Back to the Hotel for dinner and an early night ahead of leaving to go up to Gallilee tomorrow…..
Stars consider jumping
We have now arrived in Vegas and emerged from a short sleep after a full day and late night. It was a bumpy flight up from Dallas. We were in the last row seated behind a group of Vegas school girls returning after taking on their Dallas counterparts in some sort of sporting event. Princesses to a tee. Very entertaining giggles and squeals.
Finally hit the sheets at 2am after traversing the strip and seeing Cirque du Soleil at the Mirage in their Beatles performance. Early on we ascended the Stratosphere Tower to get the general lie of the land and see the various rides atop this 380 m structure.
Allthego!
Star jump, not this time around, there would be no one to take the picture!
You can jump from level 108 which is about 280 m up. Now one of the Stars gave this some consideration,. but only for a very short period of time. The other Star faded at the thought. Quite a few took the plunge while we were there and it looked pretty straight forward. There were a few other rides that took you out over the edge, which seemed pretty tame. R went to the top open air deck to take in the views whilst L settled for a chardonnay in the bar.
L encountered a crocodile at MGM Grand.
Are we in Venice?
Leanne trying to here the ‘tick tok, tick tok’……is this for real……..
Crawfish in season
A 35lb bag of live crawfish, we cooked two such bags
Here is a pack of the special herbs and spices
tchell celebrated his 33 birthday along with brother-in-law Jared at a crawfish cookout held at Kerrie’s Mom and Dad’s place. This reminded me a bit of the deep-fried Thanksgiving Turkey affair of 12 months back.
The same implements are used except that instead of oil we have the crawfish boiled up in a special Louisiana spice mix. Prior to this a whole lot of potatoes, garlic cloves and corn cobs are cooked up in the mixture and these are eaten as sides to the crawfish. Now these crawfish are not unlike Aussie freshwater yabbies perhaps a bit smaller. One has to eat several plates to get a feed. We cooked up about 70 lbs of them to feed the 15 or so adults, there were a few serves left over and a big pile of shells.
A plate of the little critters ready to go
Later today we head off to Las Vegas for a few days, via a short stop over in Dallas.
Texas Pat takes Stars to Lupe Tortilla
Leanne enjoyed a catch up here in Houston with Texas Pat, with R tagging along to keep things in order and so they wouldn’t talk about him. Texas Pat is a former practising member of the Thursday craft group in Brisbane. She retains honorary membership having now returned to Houston. She passes best wishes to all who follow allthego.
Texas Pat and Leanne at Lupe Tortilla
Lupe Tortilla is at Katy an outlying suburb of Houston, which is where Pat lives with husband Wes. The Lupe speciality is a lime marinated beef fajita and it was rather good I must say.
Lupe Tortilla, no one took shortcuts here
Back at Texas Pat’s house we had tea and coffee and had a look at some of Wes’ hunting trophies. Quite an impressive collection including a black bear, moose head, a NZ elk and some rather large fish. Kerrie’s dad has not long returned from a hunt where he bagged a deer. He is having the head and shoulders preserved for display, whilst the rest has made a significant quantity of various Venison cuts and sausages. Hunting runs in the blood down these parts.After some technical discussion around knitting and cross stitch we headed back to base.
Along the way we came across a small herd of Long Horns .
Texas Long Horn, looks a bit skinny and might be being fattened up!
Star thought lost at Fuddruckers later found safe in car park
It’s a day off on the allthego trail and we have today visited Fuddruckers and many of my Brisbane readers will remember this ICON establishment from the early 90s thereabouts when it had an establishment down on the river about where Il Centro now is. Well they are still allthego in Houston. It’s a make your own burger place, along with the special Fuddrucker cheese sauce……..actually not bad and Mitchell says it’s the only place he has come across where you can get a fried egg on the bun, as well bacon. Plenty of coke to wash it all down.
Following the burger delights Russell headed for the rest rooms for a break and the rest of the gang, including the other Star said they would meet R at the car.
Fuddruckers entrance, they waited here!
Being a caring group and thinking the Star might become disoriented and lose his way the gang waited at the entrance. But the Star is an enterprising fellow and exited by the back door recognising this was a shorter route to the car. After waiting sometime at the car he headed back to the restaurant thinking the gang had become disoriented and lost their way. Well the gang were most agitated having requested a Fuddrucker employer to check the restrooms for a burnt out Star. There was then some agitated discussion about doing things as a group etc etc before things settled down and we all moved on.
Stars at Top Golf
Yes, we are still here in Houston having recovered from the Bloomin Onion. Have enjoyed the last few quiet days lazing around.
Piper having some quiet time with Grandma
Our peace was disturbed though yesterday with a trip to the Top Golf range for a round of ‘stand and deliver’ from the tee, blasting our chip controlled ball away out into the night sky to try to land on the computer controlled multi coloured greens. Scoring points accordingly. The trick with this establishment, however, is that upon arrival we discovered we had to wait 210 minutes to get our slot. This is apparently somewhat longer than normal as there is an NBA Allstar Game extravaganza on over this weekend in Houston, with all the attendant partying.
Chicken Pieces to nibble on while we wait
In the meantime we sat down and enjoyed some beers and a selection of chicken pieces in Buffalo, BBQ and Asian spices. Finally, we got our slot and proceeded to the tee. A bit of mayhem for the next couple of hours as all the skills were on display.
Where did that ball go?
Earlier in the week Tyler had attempted the Woodland Orchard Drive underpants wearing record. He fell short by one (I think?) managing only 23 pairs and will have to try again. This was a most entertaining performance and we await a renewed attempt.
Attached photo does not do it justice but there are a couple of videos to record the attempt.
Tyler nearly there but not quite!
A day of rest today after the golf
Now at Houston and a new Star Piper Brown, ‘Bloomin Onions’ too
Piper Brown bouncing around
We are now in Houston for a couple of weeks with Mitchell and the gang. It is a 3 hour flight from LA and another 2 hours time difference. Settled in well and enjoying suburbia after being allthego in LA. Out today for lunch at the Outback Steakhouse for some Aussie fare, including that well-known Aussie speciality the ‘Bloomin Onion’. This is a gastronomic delight and a recipe for cholesterol and heart disease, but it tasted pretty good! This speciality of the house is a 16oz deep-fried brown onion, with a secret batter recipe and cheesy sauce. We all hoed into it with the exception of the new Star Piper, who seemed to prefer a bottle of milk.
All 16oz of a ‘Bloomin Onion’ at the Outback Steakhouse
Mitchell and Kerrie will be off to work tomorrow with fingers crossed leaving Piper with The Olds for the day while Hayden and Tyler are at school.
Piper Brown in her first thongs made by Grandma
Old Stars and new Stars – Getty Villa and Paramount
The Bronson Gate at Paramount
The coast at the end of our bus ride
The last couple of days have had us down the Malibu coast at the Getty Villa seeing some old stars from Geek and Roman antiquity and then at Paramount Pictures seeing some stars from more recent times. Getting to the Villa was a long local bus trip down Sunset Bl to the ocean followed by a twenty-minute walk along the Pacific Coast Hwy to the Villa. It was a really excellent site though. The villa was originally built by Getty to display all his collections of art. It was subsequently restored and expanded and now ‘just’ holds the antiquity material, the rest of the paintings and furniture is up at the Getty Centre in the hills behind LA. The villa is modelled on an original villa at Herculaneum that was buried when Vesuvius erupted.
At the Getty Villa
The modern stars at Paramount was also an interesting visit where we saw the working studios as well as a bit of film history retold on the lot. NCIS was being shot while we were there and Leanne was pleased to see Mark Harmon running around in the flesh. Afterwords we strolled around the Hollywood Forever graveyard where many of the old stars lie gazing up at the Hollywood sign up in the hills.
Head off now to Houston.
Johnny Ramone at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Stars and more Stars
Well, well aren’t there just a lot of people around here hanging around looking for a buck! And not just stars, all sorts of street jockeys and their angles. From guys selling tours at half price just for you to CD sellers and would be actors masquerading on the streets as MM and Iron Man, Cat Woman and Spider Man not to mention Disney characters and the rest…..
Keeping that sign up there!
Just had to go on the Hollywood Sign and Star’s homes tour to escape them. Guess who sold us the ticket (at half price of course) …a guy called Noah from Wingham, NSW! Leanne’s sister Sandra and family come from there. He said the only things worth seeing in Hollywood could be seen on his tour….as you would expect of course. Well it was OK the guide played spot the celebrity, you had to try to stare down people in side-walk cafes and cars to see how much they flinched before driving off when the lights changed. Didn’t see any celebs, maybe they saw us and headed in the opposite direction……….anyway we drove past a number of homes, many of which you could only see the front gate and letterbox, for all the trees and walls around them. Frank Sinatra’s last LA digs had just been levelled for a redevelopment of some sort.
Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown LA
Dorothy and the gang hang out on the Metro subway walls along with others Stars
We also travelled today on the Metro to Downtown LA for a walk around the sights. A busy CBD centre with a few historical leftovers from the Spanish days, which go very much understated. The relatively new Disney Centre looked an interesting place to see some music and theatre action, but we were between shows here. The old Central Markets were a fascinating wander, these date back to early LA days when they were the first fresh fruit and veggie shop. We had lunch at a Kabab bar amongst the oranges, meats and nuts etc. Quite tasty.
On Hollywood Bl at the Hard Rock Cafe
Got back a bit late to the hotel after dinner, hoping to see some celebs, there were a few hoping to be celebs lurking in the hotel bar, we avoided them. Thankfully, they didn’t notice us.
Two new stars in Hollywood
At home with Halle Berry
At the El Capitan Theatre with Jake and the team
Here we are allthego again in the United States. Off to visit our son Mitchell and his family, including the new grand daughter Piper. They live in Houston but we have stopped off in LA for a few days beforehand to aclimatise to all things US. On arrival there was a lot of action around town welcoming us. All the bars seemed to have parties starting, there were flags and people dressed up all waving at us. It was great, then someone told us it was for the Superbowl or something, bit deflating.
Yesterday, upon arrival we lobbed into the Hollywood Hills Hotel, which sits sort of underneath the famous Hollywood sign. Not a bad spot but a little further away from the action than it seemed from their website. Later on we wandered around the Walk of Fame (all those stars on the footpath) and then into Madame Tussauds to meet the Hollywood movie gang in the wax so to speak. Very entertaining spot and reportedly much better than the old Hollywood Wax Museum, which has been around since Cecile B de Mille. Caught up with all the girls, including Halle Berry and Angeline Jollie. Leanne met Jimmy Stewart and George Burns which seemed to satisfy her, bit old for her I thought.
Minnie Mouse met up with Russell on the street
Today was a bit more of the same after sleeping in. Down to wander the rest of the Walk of Fame, also the Chinese theatre area where there are a whole lot of Stars foot and hand prints with signatures and notes, many going back to 1920s and 30s. After lunch we were into El Capitan Theatre, one of those old style movie houses, and saw a re run of Peter Pan on the big screen. Back to the Hotel and dinner, steak followed by Leanne eating an enormous banana split and I a Chocolate Brownie waffle. Both covered in ice cream and the banana split cream. All this was accompanied by a bottle of house red…labelled ‘dago red’ after its Italian heritage. It was appropriate after a long day wandering around.
Bargara and Rainbow Beach……….end of the road…….not quite yet
We are now at Rainbow Beach having moved on from Bargara after leaving Mt Morgan. Last night of the trip as we head back to Brisbane tomorrow to resume the grind until the next adventure calls. Dropped a line in the water here to try to for an elusive fish, they were much too cunnning for me on this occasion and remain at large. We are camped in a wooded area just back from the water, very peaceful listening to the birds and the hum of insects.
Not a lot of people around here.
Until the journey continues I now sign off from this trip.
You have to be careful of bears at Bundaberg
Leanne waiting to catch a wave at Bargara, close to the edge
Camp site at Rainbow Beach, on the bay side of the village
Mt Morgan at last
Left Emerald a little late and arrived at the end of the day at Mt Morgan, the old mining town just west of Rockhampton. Booked into the local van park and discovered the manager used to work at Sumner Park just down from us at home, he loves it at Mt Morgan………………not the stress……….after a day here you can see what he means.
Went off on a town tour and had a run down on the old mine site and associated buildings and plant remnants, all of it is heritage listed but in need of a lo t of work. A real eye opener to late 19 and early 20 century mining, although processing continued up until 1990 thereabouts. A real mess to clean up though with the contanimated flooded mine pit. Checked out the heritage railway station and their plans for a short rail operation with a restored old mine steam train….requires money and it is the same old story..not enough is available. It would be good to see this project eventually succeed.
A few interesting old pubs remain in operation in the town to keep the old mining tales going.
Next stop on the trip is Bagara out on the coast from Bundaberg.
Golden Nugget Pub at Mt Morgan
View from our ‘porch’ at the Mt Morgan Van Park
The old Mt Morgan mine pit is 600ft deep and full of contaminated water that is being treated…..it will be a long task….but looks great!
Allthegobro 