Jerusalem

Unfortunately I can't post that many pictures here, but once back home I will be able to post many more. But for now, here is Carson and I on the Mountain of Olives looking down at Old Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock. On the other side of the Dome that you can't see is the Wailing Wall.

We've got two weeks under our belt at the archeological dig in Manot, Israel. The cave was shut off from the outside world for 20,000 years. That means whatever lived in it before that time hasn't been touched--a good thing for archeologists that study Neanderthal and early hominids (us).

 

It was discovered by the Manot village. They were laying a sewer pipe in 2008 for a new subdivision when they broke through the top of the cave. The locals repelled inside and found the top of a skull that has features of Neanderthal and human--basically inconclusive. They brought it to the authorities who chastised them for moving it. Now we don't know where to look first. After an official survey, they began digging in 2009 by repelling down a water carved shaft. Since then they've made an opening with heavy steel doors to keep out people and keep the cave dark and moist. The cave is still active forming stalactites and stalagmites. So it is open for 1 month out of the year to keep it from drying out. We've been finding flint tools, flint flakes, animal bones, a couple of suspected hearths. A possible third one is called, "Michael Hearth." (Luther is mad about that. He wanted to find it first.) Although we have a chemist, radio carbon specialist and many professors from dentists to bone specialists etc, these things take lots of time and cross checking before they'll say what it is for sure.

 

About 30 people are at the dig. We had Israel's minister of antiquity with 60-70 other rich and dignitaries taking a tour one day. That meant no breaks so they could see us in action. It's kind of cool being the eye-candy.

 

After the first week the Clevland Ohio, Case Western, and Kent University professors and students greatly increased our human power. That meant we could dig in more areas than the one we started on in area E. So Megan, Gadi and Carson started in area G. Megan was doing all the work digging when Carson came along and pulled up an interesting flint rock. It could be a Neanderthal tool from that time period of 30-40,000 years ago. A period they are really interested in gaining more knowledge. (We even had a small fauna specialist here looking at all of our tiny bones and teeth. He have a short lecture and passed around samples of things we dug but didn't know it at the time.) 

 

One of our chemists is building a data base from cave rocks that will help discern what is what. They are forbidden to take samples from the cave rocks because it would damage the cave's growth. But if you accidently break some off they can use those samples. When Megan's head knocked some rock off, they were fine with that. Way to use your head, Megan!

 

Weekends are tours and beaches. We saw the only city Napoleon could not conquer. It's also the place where the Nights Templar first built their fortress during the time of the crusades. The best preserved crusader castle in the world is in Okra thanks to the Turks. "The Butcher", had the Night's castle filled with sand to build on top of it. That was nice of him for archeologists. (Luther wondered why the called him "the butcher." When he found out, he got very quiet and then asked, "So the advisor that got his nose and ear chopped off for ill advice still served him as an advisor?" "Yep, you heard it left. The man didn't have to worry about getting his nose dirty on the job.") We walked through an old hospital, nights quarters, and lots of tunnels. One tunnel is suspected for smuggling past the tax place from the shore. They are leaving the old stone, shoring it up and adding new to rebuild it for tourism. It will be pretty cool.

 

It's interesting to note that the ancient shore line was 2 km further out when the ocean levels were meters lower in the 1000-1300 AD range.

 

A trip to the border of Lebanon was weird. We took a short gondola ride down to a chalk stone laced cliff with flint. We watched a video on a screen in an old WWII train tunnel. At one time this line connected South Africa to Moscow. The train line bridge was blown up out of fear the enemy would move their troops to attack. So now it's a tourist area. On the other side of that movie screen is a bricked up wall and beyond that is Lebanon. Anyhow, the water makes large crevasses in the sand/chalk stone where waves crash. These are the grottos. A walkway goes inside near and not only do you get sprayed but your ears pop a lot due to the wind pressure caused by water swells. Got some footage for the sites and sounds. (After Luther jumped in, we had to get some help to fish him out. After a scolding and a dryer ride, all is okay.) I will be uploading some footage when we get home.

 

What do we do at a dig? Some are in the cave digging about 5 cm down at a time in a 1 by 1 meter square. When we find something interesting we put it in a labeled find-Ziploc. The rest of the dirt goes into buckets with labeled tags. This way they know exactly where an artifact was found. We measure each square's sea level elevation before we begin and after we stop. Then the buckets are hauled out by hand to a wet sift area. Using water hoses we wash away the dirt, pick out more big finds and spread the little washed stuff onto labeled trays to dry. After they are dry, people use tiny paint brushes to separate out any flint, bone or interesting item from the gravel, sand, and small dirt clods. All of those will be sent to universities where they are analyzed by professor types for a growing body of knowledge about primitive humans and Neanderthal.

 

Also a few miles from here is another dig. It's working on a 2000 BCE Canaanite palace. It is so large they still haven't found the ends of it over the 6 years of digging. Although orange and black squares line the floor are cool, they need pottery or human remains or something more to positively identify the palace. (A major spring is near Manot--water for the ancient people was very important.) This year they found something which I cannot say that might help them get more funding! Most of the things we dig isn't to be put out on the Web until some authority has done the study and releases an official report. Pictures of the dig can be taken for personal use but not for the web. So I'll post some of the beautiful cave but not where we are digging. It's a pretty big cave that has a steep slope. Anyhow, we are learning a ton and having a great time. I highly recommend volunteering for a dig. All those years of sand box playing will pay off. If you don't like to sweat, get muddy and find new swore muscles, it might not be for you. (Luther doesn't like it. Mostly because there are university students who love my puns!)

Florence - the Duomo

The city of Florence decided to build the biggest dome in the world in the 1400's, without knowing how to achieve it! Brunelleschi, the architect for the dome, devised a system of an inner shell and outer dome to distribute the weight of the cupola, with thick walls negating the need for further buttressing.  They left the cathedral uncapped for years waiting for  a solution to be devised.

The Colosseum

Apparently, over 5000 different types of exotic animals were killed in sport here during its heyday. A movable wooden floor covered in sand to soak up the blood concealed the animal cages and sophisticated technical apparatus, from winches and mechanical lifts to ramps and trapdoors.  These contests were also used to eliminate slaves and proscribed sects, Christians and criminals, political agitators and prisoners of war. 

With the fall of the Roman Empire, the Coliseum fell into disuse.  The ruins were plundered to create churches and palaces.  Apparently, this was an early sustainability practice!  HA!

Dinner in Rome

Who needs to speak Italian?  Hand gestures say it all. 

The Ryan's at Ponte di Rialto

My sister Cindy and me (Melissa)

 Mike and Melissa

 Megan, Michael, Melissa, Carson

 Melissa's sister Cindy, husband Matt, Erin and Drake.  The Wheeler's joined us on the trip. 

The Gondola Ride

The Gondola holds 6 people, Mike and Matt opted out.  Ever since I was a child, I imagined riding the Gondola in Venice.  A dream come true!

Ponte di Rialto, Venice's most famous bridge.  The balustrade bridge is single-span and has two parallel rows of tightly packed shops. The previous wooden drawbridges built across this point all collapsed, necessitating the erection of a more weighty stone structure.  Antonio da Ponte beat the greatest architects of the day, including Michaelangelo and Palladio, to secure this commission in 1588-1592.

Less graffiti here than in Athens, but still some samplings. This one was interesting. 

The Gondola driver knows when to duck.

Our driver

More from Venice

There were beggar's as well in Venice as in all the cities we visited.

Cousin Erin and Megan

A fellow book lover.

 

Try to look past the color of the water.

 

 Cindy showing how narrow the alley can get.

Glass making is one of the Venice islands special craft.

 

 What would you like?

Doge Palace interior courtyard. 

Mike in St Mark's Square

 

Venice in its glory!

Wow, I can't stop taking pictures!  Venice is so beautiful, every corner, every street is delightful.  Our first day, we did not run into many tourist.  These pictures are from June 23rd. 

Where in the world is Luther? It's a city without a single motor car or bicycle. It sank about nine inches and the sea level is rising. Gondolas are everywhere and the bus from the airport is a boat.

If you guessed Athens or anything besides Venice, you're wrong. I haven't talked about Athens yet. Therefore it must be Venice. Below is a picture outside our Bed and Breakfast. The canal is blocked off for construction on the adjacent building. That's the orange thing on the right bottom corner and the boat is filled with construction supplies under a tarp. Yes, there's caution men working even in water canals.

We had one full day of getting lost in the side streets. Our bed and breakfast is on the far side of St. Marc's Square. That's a good thing considering the amount of people filling the square and side streets from the cruise ships. A city three decades ago held 160,000 people but has shrunk to 60,000. The cost of living here and no jobs outside of tourism means you move. (Luther felt at home as some side streets were four to six feet wide. He could shimmy up and over the four story buildings. Walking around you might come across a huge church or façade that looks like something out of the 1700-1800's. (Luther said, "The city started around 1000 AD and most of what you see has been built since 1500 to the 1800's." I said, "Oh.")


 
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(Luther was relieved there were many side streets that weren't flooded. I told him the canals were actually streets for boats. He thought that was weird and said, "Whatever floats your boat." He didn't like dragging his suitcase over the rough rock streets. "This is a real drag!")

















Check out the lollipop style boat bumpers. There are two factions of people in competition. Those who want to cater to tourism and those who want their city to be a place of art. So they end up with a combination of both and split resources. Maybe that's not so bad.


 A tucked out of the way restaurant between buildings near its own small square is just what the stomach ordered.









But the main square is where the tourist action is happening. It's the Piazza San Marco is the main square of Venice. Not pictured here by the way, look down 2 pictures below. I really don't remember where the one to the right was taken.  The one below is a square in Venice but not the famous one where St. Peter's Basilica and the Doge palace, bell tower and so on are located.

 

 

 Inside the courtyard of Doge's palace where still today you'll find administration offices in use while the original ones have become a museum.

 

 We are looking over the balcony of the Doge's palace out into the sea over the Piazza San Marco Square entrance. This is where towering cruise ships port and thousands suddenly swarm the square. It's best to get there early to get tickets before the cruise ships.








The scenic side canals run throughout the city as well as normal walking streets. This is one of the bridges to cross when walking from the Piazza San Marco square across town to the Archeology Museum.










You never know when you walk down a narrow street what might pop out at the next square. Here is a church façade in marble. The lions on both sides of the doors within the huge doors are three dimensional. They pop out while the hallway scene behind them give the illusion of a hallway. This picture does not do it justice.








Sometimes you have to wait for the bus. Like these people. But for people like us, we'd rather walk across the small city. You can walk from end to end in less than an hour, providing you can find the bridges and the right narrow passageways that always curve. A compass would have been handy.




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 Homes and apartments were for sale. Anywhere from 40,000 Euros to over a million. Lots were for sale as the town numbers dwindle. It makes me think of a great retirement home (apartment). Think about it.










Here we are in the main floor of our Bed and Breakfast. It's dark an the floor is stone. Above are the apartments. This is where you might store your boats once upon a time. The doors in front of Megan are not for walking. There are steps that go down to your boat when the tide is out. Otherwise you need to go across the 2x4 when the tide is up.

 

 The tide is in and the boys could not resist walking out on the board. I didn't think it was for walking until the locals were using it to get to their motorboat. Looked like fun to me. There was some sort of crab-like creature on one of the steps.

On the opposite side of Piazza San Marco square are many places to eat on the water. They look across to a walled palace still in use.












We were in Doge's palace, the seat of power during the lucrative spice trade flowing out of India into Europe. Part of that palace was a wing of prisons. After a court found a person guilty and sentenced them to prison, they would walk through a small passageway over a cannel in a covered bridge aptly named, "The Bridge of Sighs." We were in a line with hundreds of other people making our way towards the prison cells. Luther and I were in front of a priest giving his teenage group a tour. "Father, where are we going?" He explained in English why the bridge got its name. Immediately they all began giving him big sighs. He exclaimed, "Guys, we're not even on the bridge yet." You have to love youth groups. Below is a hole into a prison cell where you might receive water or watched. On the left is the prison courtyard where you can see a well for water. But if you are one of the hundreds of prisoners you might have to wait to get some.

















Even the hearses for funerals and the ambulances are boats! Didn't the get the picture though.

It seems the rich in the big Italian cities had no problem getting statures from the Roman Empire's ruins and setting them up in their own palaces.

The palace, the art museum, terrific architecture visited by the multitudes makes the entire island of buildings one gigantic museum. (Luther wasn't so sure. Something smelled fishy with the sea in the canals filled with greenish smoky water, a far cry from the Mediterranean sea off the coast of Naxos. For some reason he didn't want to swim.) Although the city is in decline, there's something beautiful about it.
The wrinkles of age tell many fascinating stories.