FineSword Travel

30/06/2024

Yes, it's been too long since my last post but great news! Tours to Israel are back after several months of hiatus. And in case you were wondering about safety, please be assured that the guides are all local and are therefore in touch with those issues affecting the safety of tourists, prompting them to make changes in itinerary, if necessary, even at the last minute. Also, resuming tours is a tangible way to support and encourage Israelis as they face unrelenting attacks from the world.

I attach a brief brochure with details of the Holy Land Classic tour, which is great! Okay, I know that the heading says "2023 Departures" but rest assured that these are for 2024!! The costs listed are inclusive, EXCEPT for extra flights that may be needed to get you to places such as JFK and Miami for the direct flights to Tel Aviv and travel insurance, which I highly recommend, the cost of which depends on factors as the traveler's age and state of residence. 2025 tours are also scheduled, so if the horizon for 2024 tours is not good, we can initiate a conversation about 2025! No problem!

06/11/2023

27/10/2023

Please continue to pray for Israel and for a lasting peace in the Middle East.

03/09/2023

The world is open and it’s time to travel again! 2024 tours and cruises are scheduled and waiting to satisfy your wanderlust! Check out the amazing offers on my agency's home page and contact me asap with what interests you!

https://www.etstours.com/agents/fineswordtravel

17/01/2023

Greetings and Happy New Year to all! The holidays are over, the new year begun and it's time to plan for this exciting tour which covers many of the same places as the one I took last month, along with a host of additional great spots! Please message me so that I can send you the complete brochure! Shalom!

11/12/2022

The Garden of Gethsemane, where there are a few olive trees are around 2000 years old. We learned that olive trees are quite hardy. They can be uprooted and transplanted, and if a trunk dies, then the roots will generate more trunks.

11/12/2022

Next stop was the Mount of Olives which offers a stunning view of Jerusalem, Old City and new! As we walked down, I noticed this Necropolis, holding bones from the 1st the the 4th centuries; used by both the Jewish and Christian communities.

11/12/2022

First thing this morning, we went to the Temple Mount to see the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. We were not able to enter either building.

10/12/2022

And here's a brief video from the evening.

10/12/2022

Last stop of the day is the Garden Tomb, which many consider the place where Nicodemus laid the body of Jesus and from which He Resurrected. This was my second visit but it was no less moving. For more details, here is the website. https://gardentomb.com/

10/12/2022

We continued our walk through the Jewish Quarter, until we got to the building erected on the traditional site of the Last Supper. Also, in this building was David’s tomb, but we couldn’t take a photo of it because it is Shabbat. Along the way, we saw the Mount of Olives across the Kidron valley.

10/12/2022

Walking through the Jewish quarter, we passed the Cardo, the "heart" of the Roman city center, and saw the walls of the city as we came to the Zion Gate.

10/12/2022

At the beginning of our walk down the via Dolorosa, our guide showed us a map, explaining the changing boundaries of Jerusalem. First stop was a convent, which was built over the water system for the Antonia fortress, where Jesus was held. These pavement stones were original to the first century and were repurposed later, but they were certainly part of the pavement of the route took Jesus took.

10/12/2022

This is the first of two days we will spend in Jerusalem. Our first entry was through the Lions Gate. We walked down through centuries of archaeological history to a first century, Roman cistern, and one of the pools of Bethesda.

09/12/2022

Capernaum was also the home of Peter, or Kefa, the apostle. Archaeologists have discovered potential evidence of his home below several layers of history.

09/12/2022

Capernaum, a city which looms large in the Gospel narratives, was another second visit for me but it fascinates nonetheless. The synagogue there dates from the 4th century, not from the 1st century when Jesus would have worshipped and studied there.

09/12/2022

It was nice to do this boat ride on the Sea of Galilee; sharing this special experience with and seeing the reactions of so many first-time visitors to Israel made it deeply meaningful for me again, the second time around!

09/12/2022

Last photo from Magdala before we headed to the Sea of Galilee for the boat ride that I did with my family back in 2010.

09/12/2022

First stop this morning was Magdala, discovered in 2009! This synagogue dates from the first century. This is the city of Mary Magdalene, and given its location on the sea of Galilee and its proximity to other cities such as Capernaum, it is almost certain that Jesus read the Torah here, and worshiped here. The mosaic on the floor and the colored plaster on the walls also remind me of what we saw in Pompeii.

08/12/2022

Last stop was the Dead Sea, in which I got my feet wet. Having enjoyed floating in it with my family years ago, there was no novelty for me to get in fully, so I photographed others in our group doing so. We've had beautiful weather the entire trip - mostly sunny, partly cloudy at times; morning lows in the high 50s and day time highs in the mid-seventies!

08/12/2022

Qumran was the highlight for the day for me!

08/12/2022

Next stop was Jericho

07/12/2022

And the last stop of the day was the Church of the Nativity, the traditional site of the birth of Christ, with its statute to St Jerome, which translated the Bible into Vulgate [Common] Latin around 400 CE, a task that took him 18 years.

07/12/2022

We had a tour of the family-owned Olive Wood Factory in Bethlehem; the craftmanship reminded me of that of the Waterford Crystal factory tour I took with my family in 2006. Such attention to detail and skill seems to be diminishing in today's mass-produced world.