Heading North in Israel, Mount Carmel

We loaded up quickly after Caesarea Maritima and headed away from the sea. Our bus took us to Mt Carmel, the vineyard of God.

Although it was January, winter, there were flowers blooming.

Below is the chapel of the Carmelites.

The view from the lookout behind and above the chapel was amazing.  Mt Carmel had so many significant events.  But the one that is most well known is the battle Elijah the Prophet had with the prophets of Baal.

As we looked down the mount and across to the other hills, our guide told us the story of the prophets of Baal and Elijah.  To summarize, Elijah won a battle with 400 prophets of Baal (a false god) because their sacrifices were ignored, and God consumed Elijah's sacrifice soaked with prayer and water.  I believe it was from the book of Kings.

Our guide said that this spot below us was the spot for that battle.  She also told us that all the trees had been planted since the inception of Israel.

Our Lady of Mt Carmel in the chapel.

Looking pretty in the garden.

So this day, we had already seen Caesarea Maritima, now at Mt Carmel, and headed to Megaddo for lunch and to see the site of the last battle.

Looking at the hills near Mt Carmel.

The water from the Sea keeps this area from being an arid region.

Just before lunch we arrived at Tel Megado.  Tel means that civilizations were built on top of one another forming what is essentially a hill.  This had been an important site since the dawn of time.

The orange flowers are aloe vera. Hummingbirds were fighting over the flowers.

Megado is on the trail or "road" where roads from Asia, Africa, and Europe met.

Today it is an archaeological site with a kibbutz that runs a restaurant and shop and probably other things.

It had rained, so there were no diggers that day.  Tel Megado is supposed to be the site of the last battle, Armageddon.

We ate lunch there, the ever present chickpea felafels and salad in pita bread. Alternatives to that were schnitzel (breaded chicken and salad in pita bread) and schwerma (grilled meat, salad and sauce in pita).  And lest I forget, this lunch came with fries inside the pita. This was the preferred lunch because the alternative was an all you can eat buffet which was expensive and too much food.

So, if you are counting, we saw three places and lunch and still had the afternoon to "kill."  I discovered something about myself that morning.  I am not the best sightseeing person.  I would rather putter and spend more time in some places.  And skip archaeological sites that didn't tell me much. But, part of the pilgrimage is to go where the tour takes me.  So, I did.

And I loved the next place.