Be at the airport at least 3 hours prior to departure for your International check-in procedure.  Hot meals and in-flight entertainment are per airline policies

BLR – Bible Lands Resource daily readings

BLR: p. 2 – Roads, Rivers & Crossroads

Arrive Tel Aviv this afternoon.  Proceed through passport control (keep the white entry paper in passport.)  Meet your guide outside in the group parking lot.  Depart to your hotel for lodging. D

BLR: p.  6 – Coastal Plains

Visit Caesarea Maritima (Acts 10. Peter’s encounter with Cornelius) to view the Roman theater, Caesar’s home and overview the stadium.  Continue to the Crusade Fortress, the Roman harbor and the aqueducts.  See the ruins of Megiddo. Depart for Nazareth for a ridge view of Mt. Tabor and the Jezreel Valley.  At Nazareth visit Mary’s Well.  Depart for the Mt. Arbel Cliffside overview of the center of Jesus’ operations at Galilee.  Proceed to your lodging for the next two nights. BD

BLR: p.  6 – Coastal Plains #2, Coast of Sharon, #5 Lower Galilee

Circle the sea, visiting sites of Jesus’ ministry.  Depart for the Yarmuk River and ascend the Aphek Plateau for an unobstructed view of the Sea of Galilee from Kfar Haruv.  Continue past Koursi (Jesus cast demons into swine), to Bethsaida, home of Peter, Philip, Andrew.  Visit the Mt. of Beatitudes, Jesus Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7).  Optional is a foot descent to the seaside of Tabgha.  Visit Capernaum, the center of Jesus’ Galilean ministry.  Optional is a lunch-break to sample St. Peter’s fish.  Sail the sea in Jesus Fishing Boat, a double-scale replica of a Roman fishing boat.  Visit the modern baptismal site of the Jordan River.  BD

BLR: p.  6 – Mountains and Valleys, Overview, #4, #5, p.7 – Jesus at Galilee Rift Valley

Return to the Mt. of Olives for orientation to Jerusalem’s Old City.  Walk the Palm Sunday route past the Dominus Flevit Church to the Garden of Gethsemane.  Enter the Ophel Ridge.  Walk on the Herodian pavement, view and touch the Temple foundation, and visit the Temple steps where we know Jesus walked and taught (Lk. 19-21) for a devotional time.  (Western Wall tunnels are subject to time confirmation).  Lunch (self-host) will be at the U.N. promenade.  Depart for the Judean Hills and Bethlehem.  Visit Shepherds’ Fields, the Church of the Nativity, and take time for olivewood shopping before returning to Jerusalem.  BD

BLR: p.  7 - #12 Judean Highland

Motor beside the Dead Sea to the Masada fortress.  Ascend by cable car.  View the ruins of the Zealots last stand against the Roman forces, including the siege ramp and the synagogue.  Descend to the sea level and swim in the Dead Sea.  Continue to Ein Gedi (David spares the life of King Saul).  Walk the path to the waterfall is optional.  Depart for Qumran to view the caves.  Return to Jerusalem.  BD

BLR: p.  8 - #19 The Dead Sea

Sunday morning we will worship in the Garden Tomb.  The balance of the day is for leisure for personal interests and shopping (yes shops will be open).  BD

BLR: p.  7 – Jesus at Jerusalem

Enter the Dung Gate and visit the Western Wall.  (Bar Mitzvahs this morning!)  Ascend the Temple Mount to pass the El Aksa Mosque and view the Dome of the Rock.  Continue to the intact St. Anne’s Crusader Church (hymn-sing?) the Pools of Bethsaida and the Ecce Homo Arch.  Walk through the market place into the Jewish Quarter to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  Continue to Zion Gate, Mt. Zion, and the Upper Room.  After a lunch-break, revisit the Jerusalem Garden Tomb for a private tour and a communion fellowship.  Proceed to the Israel Museum to view 1/50 scale model of Herodian Jerusalem and the Dead Sea Scrolls Museum.  BD

BLR: p.  7 – Jesus at Jerusalem

Transfer to the Tel Aviv Airport for the morning flight to Munich.  Upon arrival, proceed through passport control into customs.  You will be met and assisted in the transfer to an overview tour of Munich, the capital of Bavarian Germany.  BD

This morning tour Munich.  Visit the Marienplatz Square, view the Town Hall with its famous glockenspiel, Frauen-kirche twin towers (in the distance), and some other overviews of the city.  Depart Munich and motor through the foothills of Bavaria to the Wieskirche (resplendent rococo church in the meadow) and proceed to your lodging for the Passion Play.  BD

For 2010, the schedule is revised to permit time to stroll and shop and have leisure in the woodcarvers’ village.  The fabled Oberammergau Pasion Play is performed this afternoon, with a 3 hour dinner break.  The play concludes at about 10:30 pm.  The villagers made an oath to God during the Black Plague in 1634 that if He spared them, they would be faithful to tell the story of the Passion of Jesus to the end of the ages.  The Black Plague decimated one thied of the European population, but the villagers were spared.  Today you will withess their faithfulness.  You will be given an English translation.  BLD

Depart the village to visit the Mad King Ludwig’s ‘fairyland” Neuschwanstein Castle (an interior visit).  This is the castle used as a replicate at Disneyland.  Continue to Munich, Bavaria’s capital city.  The balance of the afternoon will be at leisure in Munich.  Dinner tonight is self-host to permit sampling of Bavarian cuisine. B

On days 14 and 15 you will see the highlights of Paris!  You may stay with the group or venture out on your own to visit the city’s famous destinations. 

● The Louvre may be the worlds greatest art museum. 

● The Arc’ de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806, is the world’s largest traffic roundabout at the meeting point of 12 avenues.

● The Notre Dame Cathedral has been Paris’ masterpiece of French Gothic architecture for seven centuries.

● The Champs-Élysées is one of the most beautiful and famous avenues in the world.  We will enjoy its cinemas, cafés luxury specialty shops and stunning trees.

● The Eiffel Tower, made of iron, was the world’s tallest structure when it was built in 1889. It is one of the most recognizable structures in the world.

● The Seine River, with its islands, bridges and quays, is the lifeblood of Paris. Its romantic heritage is heightened after dark when it shimmers with the watery reflections of floodlit monuments and bridges. C'est magnifique!

● Other attractions of your choice!

We will use the Metro (subway) to move from one place to another.  These trains are color coded, picture coded and word coded. Nights will be spent in a charming hotel in Paris.

On day 16 we will return to the airport for our return flight to Los Angeles.