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Our travel agent is Chris Winchell, Pinnacle Travel Services LLC in El Segundo, California. Note: Flights and other itinerary items are subject to change. Keep checking back here! |
Questions should be referred directly to Lane Hensley at St. Margaret’s. Please note that our travel agency deals only with issues surrounding the flights, and not with anything that happens on the ground in the Holy Land.
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, DAY 1: DEPART USA
Bus service from Palm Desert to LAX, (departure time from Palm Desert TBD)
United Airlines flight 481, LAX–SFO, 5:30 pm – 6:43 pm
(1:13 hrs. flight time; Airbus A320)- United Airlines flight 954, SFO–TLV, 9:15 pm – 9:15 pm next day, Tel Aviv time
(10 hrs ahead; 14:00 hrs. flight time; Boeing 787 Dreamliner) - Total flight time, including SFO transfer: 17:45 hrs.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, DAY 2:
ARRIVE TEL AVIV / TRANSFER TO JERUSALEM
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, DAY 3:
ST. GEORGE’S CATHEDRAL / HORIZONS OF JERUSALEM
Introductions- Walk to Damascus Gate to get the feel for the distance and our surroundings
- Holy Eucharist at Saint George’s Cathedral
- Lunch
- Israel Museum and the Shrine of the Book (Dead Sea Scrolls)
- Scale model of the Old City of Jerusalem during Jesus’ time
- Mount Scopus, with a view the Judean desert, Mount of Olives, the City of David
- Dinner and overnight at Saint George’s Cathedral Guest House
- Guest Speaker: Lecture on Islam
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, DAY 4:
DOME OF THE ROCK / OLD CITY /
CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE
- Western Wall near Al Haram Esh Sharif (the Dome of The Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque)
- St. Anne’s Church and the Pools of Bethesda
- Lunch at the Lutheran Guesthouse
- Walk the Cardo to the Constantinian Entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
- Dinner and overnight at Saint George’s Cathedral Guest House
- Guest Speaker: Contemporary Issues — An Israeli Perspective
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, DAY 5:
SHEPHERD’S FIELD / BETHLEHEM
Bethlehem and the Shepherds’ Field, a first century cave dwelling
“And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” (Luke 2:8)- Lunch in Beit Sahour
- Church of the Nativity at Manger Square, the Oldest Church in Christendom
constructed by Constantine in AD 326 and the traditional site of the Nativity - Dinner and overnight at Saint George’s Cathedral Guest House
Bethlehem and the Shepherds’ Field, a first century cave dwellingFRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, DAY 6:
JERICHO / NAZARETH
Early morning at Wadi Qelt (a desert valley) to watch the sunrise and get the feel for the desert- Tell Jericho (Sultan’s Hill), “the oldest town in the world”
- Lunch in Jericho
- Mary’s Well, the site of the only spring-fed fountain in the city,
and most likely the place where Mary would have gone to draw water - The Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation with an introduction to the Icon
- Walk the path to the Latin Basilica of the Annunciation, the traditional site of the angel Gabriel’s appearance to Mary, telling her she would conceive Jesus, the Emmanuel
- Dinner and Overnight at the Sisters of Nazareth
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, DAY 7:
SEA OF GALILEE / JORDAN RIVER /
CAPERNAUM / BEATITUDES
Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinnereth)- Renewal of Baptismal vows at the Jordan River
- Capernaum: the ancient synagogue and St. Peter’s House
- Mount of Beatitudes
- Lunch by the Sea of Galilee
- The Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes at Tabgha (Heptapegon)
- Chapel of St. Peter’s Primacy
- Dinner and overnight at Sisters of Nazareth
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, DAY 8:
SEPPHORIS / CHRIST CHURCH
- Sunday Eucharist at Christ Church in Nazareth
- Excavations of the Roman/Byzantine city of Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee at the time of Jesus
- Dinner and overnight at Sisters of Nazareth
MONDAY, OCTOBER 16, DAY 9:
BURQIN / NABLUS / TAYBEH
Burqin, where Jesus passed through on his way to Jerusalem from Nazareth
As he was passing by the village he heard cries for help from ten lepers who were isolated in quarantine in a cave. (Luke 17:11-19)- St. Photini the Greek Orthodox Monastery in Nablus
Photini lived in first century Palestine, and was the Samaritan woman Christ visited at the well asking her for water. We will visit the church built over Jacob’s Well and drink from the well. - Lunch in and visit to Taybeh, the only 100% Christian town in the Palestinian Authority. In the fourth century the Emperor Constantine and his mother St. Helena built the Church of St. George in the village. The ruins of the Church still are found on a hill in the town. Taybeh is also the home of the only Palestinian brewery.
- Dinner and overnight at Saint George’s Cathedral Guest House
- Guest Speaker: Contemporary Issues — A Palestinian Perspective
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, DAY 10: FREE DAY
- Shop, explore, re-visit favorite sites in Jerusalem
- Dinner and overnight at Saint George’s Cathedral Guest House
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, DAY 11:
DOMINUS FLEVIT / GETHSEMANE / DEAD SEA
Mount of Olives walk down the Palm Sunday Road ending at the Garden of Gethsemane- Lunch
- Dead Sea, with the option to swim and float
- Dinner at the Qumris’ home in Jericho
- Overnight at Saint George’s Cathedral Guest House
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, DAY 12:
WAY OF THE CROSS & EMMAUS
Early morning walk and prayer on the Way of the Cross- Silent reflections at the Empty Tomb
- Emmaus Nicopolis: Celebrate the Eucharist at the ruins of the Byzantine Church
- Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport after dinner for return flight
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, DAY 13:
THE LONG JOURNEY HOME
- United Airlines flight 955, TLV–SFO, 12:55 am – 6:00 am same date
(10 hrs. behind; 15:05 hrs. flight time; Boeing 787 Dreamliner) - United Airlines flight 1912, SFO–LAX, 7:30 am – 8:50 am
(1:20 hrs. flight time; Airbus A320) - Total flight time, including SFO transfer: 21:55 hrs.
- Bus service, LAX to Palm Desert
