Day 3 - In and around the Sea of Galilee (and a few left over details on getting here)

Introduction

I'm not trying to mess with anyone's head or make you think we got stuck in a time warp.  We left on Tuesday, arrived on Wednesday, and slept, and here we are on Thursday.  So even though it's our first full day in Israel, the title of the post is accurate and not just a clever name.  It really is day 3 of our trip. 

The Last about Getting here

To recap a bit, a very full flight from Phoenix to Philadelphia combined with my boarding in the last group forced me to gate check my carry on bag.  I've seen this before but been fortunate enough to board early enough to get my things in the passenger compartment.

Although packed, the domestic flight was uneventful and we landed very close to on time at Gate A24 around 7:30PM.  Our international departure was to leave from A19 so I proceeded to the security checkpoint for the Israel leg and took shoes off, emptied pockets, etc.  While waiting to be screened, I heard a buzzing coming from the bin containing my cell phone and other pocket contents but obviously couldn't do anything about it.  After being declared "OK" I took my things around the corner and expected to see Dad, Pastor John, and the others from Harrison City.  I reasoned that since they had such a head start on me, they'd already have gone through.  I thought wrong.  I spent a few minutes putting myself back together and picked up my phone to see an unidentified call from the 724 area code, which is Western PA.  Turns out that Pastor John had gotten my cell number from Dad and wanted to make sure I'd gotten in okay.  They had been waiting across the hall from A19 to have access to restrooms and to be on the lookout for me.  Oh well.  Best laid plans and all that.  However, they started making their way over to the security checkpoint at A19 as soon as I had talked to the Pastor.  It was great to see Dad and I was reacquainted with Pastor John and quickly met a few others from Harrison City, including the Pastor's wife Patsy

After talking to them a bit, it turns they did land early, as expected.  So early in fact that A19 hadn't been turned into an international departure gate.  This meant that once through security, you didn't have access to rest rooms unless you exited the secure area, took care of business, then took your shoes, etc. off again to get re-screened.  They were (wisely) waiting for everyone to arrive before doing the security dance.  Unfortunately, I didn't see them and they didn't see me.


Boarding the international flight, Dad and I were now in Group 6, again the last to board but we found our seats easily.  After a little shuffling of some of the other passengers, we wound up with all four middle seats in row 17.  It was really nice to have a little extra room.

The flight left a little late but we landed in Tel Aviv at 2:30PM, 40 minutes earlier than our scheduled time of 3:10. Some sleeping did occur on the plane but not nearly enough.  Luggage was all accounted for, we boarded a bus and headed north, then northeast to Tiberias.  Traffic was thick but not terrible.  However, it took about two hours, 30 minutes to get there.  We got our room keys then tagged our bags so they could find their way to our room by way of the hotel porters.  Dad and I enjoyed our first dinner in Israel with several others from Harrison City, including the Somes Family.  I finished the night adding a bit to the blog post for today and straightening out an email send issue.  Time for a good night's sleep.

Finally, sights of Israel.  Thanks for waiting patiently

The Sea of Galilee

Our hotel in Tiberias, The Royal Palms, looks out over the Sea of Galilee and Dad and I were lucky enough to have a room looking eastward.  Here was the beautiful view from that window this morning:

The Sea of Galilee is 13 miles long, 8 miles wide and located 700 feet below sea level, making it the lowest freshwater lake on earth. In biblical times the lake provided surrounding towns and villages with a source of fresh water, a fishing industry, and a means of transportation.

We got on the "Brown Bus" (EO distinguishes their groups by color), met Mick, our local guide for the trip, and headed just a bit north from our hotel for our first stop.  Mick let us know that boating on the Sea of Galilee was a favorite of his and he always looks forward to taking groups out. 

Once off the bus, we boarded the boat below and had a marvelous time cruising the tranquil Sea of Galilee.  Both Mick and Pastor John made a few remarks and at one point the captain turned the motor off and we had a few moments to meditate and take in the serenity of the moment.  We took the boat to the north west corner of the sea and disembarked long enough to use the rest room and purchase a few souvenirs.  Here are a few pictures, starting with the boat we traveled on and Dad with Nikki from the Harrison City church.

Here's Mick on the left and Pastor John on the right.

Dad with Susan from the Harrison City church

The flags raised for our trip.  They played the Star-Spangled Banner as the US flag was raised.

And seagulls flying near the boat looking for some bread, which I'm pretty sure was gone by then.

 Mount of Beatitudes

We boarded the bus and headed up the hill from the water and around to the northern end of the Sea of Galilee.  This tranquil hillside is the site of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew, chapter 5 and another of Mick's favorite spots.  Pope John Paul celebrated Mass very near here in 2000 with about 100,000 people.  Obviously, there weren't nearly that many here during our visit.  The beautiful church is hexagonal shaped and the Sea of Galilee can be seen from all of the windows looking south.

Here's Dad, inside the church near the alter and a pretty fountain we walked past on the way to the church.

Tabgha

Tabgha is the name for a cluster of holy places associated with Jesus' ministry in the Galilee.  The first site we saw is another of Mick's favorite places (noticing a pattern?).  It was the Church of the Multiplication, commemorating Jesus feeding the 5,000 and one of the group read from Mark, chapter 6.  The amazing mosaic floor dating from the 5th century depicts the two fish and five loaves that were miraculously multiplied to feed the crowd that were there.  Other mosaic designs are of flora and birds, and other geometric designs.  I'm thinking the folks reading this blog can figure out what's what as far as captions for the following pictures.

Another holy site nearby (and another of Mick's favorite places) is the Church of the Primacy of Peter.  The current structure was built in 1933 of black basalt but foundations of a church built in the 4th century are visible.  A limestone rock in front of the current alter is regarded as the "Mensa Christi", Latin for table of Christ and is regarded as the place that after his resurrection, Jesus fed the apostles after presenting them with a miraculous catch of fish, as recorded in Matthew, chapter 16.  Here's the statue commemorating the event.

Here are two views of the church and another of Dad with his (cut off) feet right at the edge of the Sea of Galilee.

Finally, here is the Mensa Christi and one of the stained glass windows inside the church.

Capernaum

Jesus established his base here (you can clearly see the picture above calling Capernaum "The City of Jesus") and recruited some of his disciples ("Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" Matthew 4:19).  It is also the site of the house of Peter (well, Peter's mother in law, to be exact), where Jesus is believed to have lodged and another of Mick's... well, you know.  Archaeologists have uncovered Peter's house and a modern church with a glass floor is built on top of it. to allow you to see the ruins below.

Also at Capernaum are the remains of a limestone synagogue, reconstructed above a black basalt foundation from Jesus time.  Since limestone is not native to Israel, the ancient community went to great expense to transport the white limestone from a very long way.  Enjoy some pictures from Capernaum.  They should be self explanatory if you've read the short paragraphs above.

Lunch!  Mick LOVES this place!

We pulled into a resort called Ein Ger.  It is called a resort but appeared to have the makings of a farm with dairy cattle around.  We had menu options that included fish - whole or fillet, or vegetarian pizza.  Mick recommended the whole fish.  I couldn't resist.

It was really good and likely caught no later than yesterday.  We walked around the resort a few minutes before boarding the bus.  It was quite nice

Last stop for the day - Yardinet Baptismal Site on the Jordan River

Although this is very likely nowhere near Jesus' baptism, it is certainly where pilgrims coming to the Holy Land come to be baptized anew or to reaffirm their original baptism.  Two from our group (one was Nikki, pictured with Dad earlier in the day) braved the cold water and monster catfish (no, I'm not kidding) and had Pastor John immerse them.  Several others, including Dad, remembered their baptism remembered as Pastor John blessed them with water from the Jordan.  A very pastoral and serene setting for a very touching moment.  My vantage point did not provide any useful pictures.  Here are a few of the area.


Okay, this was our first day.  I'm finding that although Israel is certainly considered a first world country, Internet service at our Tiberias hotel reminds me of dial up service.  The text portions seem fine.  Things got very, very, very, very slow when I had to upload pictures to the website.  Pastor John and others that have taken the trip previously said that our hotel in Jerusalem (we'll be there tomorrow night) will have better amenities.  Hopefully that includes faster internet access.  We'll see.  Hope you enjoyed our first day.  See you tomorrow.  Shalom,
Tim