Capernaum, Galilee and Beatitudes

Our Kibbutz Hotel, Nof Ginosaur is located right on the Sea of Galilee. We took a little walk down to the dock after breakfast this morning!

Then we took a bus ride up to the headwaters of the River Jordan at a place called Tel Dan. It was a beautiful nature preserve, with lots of flowers and water. I wanted to stay all day!

We  found a fig tree with green figs on it. We learned it has two crops a year. The one in the spring is green, and the one in the fall is brown!

While I was taking a picture of the fig tree, the entire group of 28 people disappeared. I hurried to catch up with them, but unbeknownst to me, they had turned around and gone back to the parking lot! I sent an SOS to Crystal, who sent Ed on a rescue mission to find me. I got back just in time, but missed my potty break and had to hold it all morning! The text should say "fig" not "pig."

While I was wandering alone in the woods I saw some very pretty places the rest of the group missed out on!

From there we went to Capernaum, where Jesus spent the greater part of his ministry. 

There are remains of a very beautiful synagogue in Capernaum that date to later than Christ. But, there was also an earlier unexcavated synagogue in the same spot, where it is believed Christ had taught.

Ed helped Kathy get around with the wheel chair to help her get around faster, but there were still plenty of stairs and doors for her to navigate through.

We learned more about the miracles Christ performed there. Unfortunately, Christ got discouraged with the people in Capernaum, and actually cursed the city. The once thriving city of 10,000 almost completely disappeared a couple of centuries later.

We stopped for lunch at St. Pete's Restaurant, right on the sea of Galilee.

We enjoyed the fresh tilapia, right from the lake. One of the ladies found a shekel in the head of her fish. Her name is Mabel! Just like our granddaughter! Lucky Mabel!

We also had our first taste of fresh dates on the trip. They were so sweet we figured they must have been dipped in sugar first!

I've been taking lots of flower pictures, because I have gotten into the habit of it! But, I finally got some wildlife--a nice big lizard outside the restaurant!

Crystal also got a nice pastoral picture of some cows with a 'tel' in the background. That is a hill that has ruins in it, but it hasn't been explored yet.

Next we went for a boat ride on the sea of Galilee. It was very peaceful and serene.

Daniel talked about Christ's miracles on the sea. Nobody volunteered to try to walk on the water!

We enjoyed watching the seagulls and the other boats as we sat in the boat.

After the sea, we went to the site of the Sermon on the Mount. They have a beautiful church on the spot, that has equally impressive landscaping!

This is one of the many churches designed by Antonio Barluzzi, who became the "Architect of the Holy land," because he designed so many of the pilgrimage churches in Israel.

We sat under some trees facing the sea of Galilee and talked about the Sermon on the Mount.

Right next our hotel is a small museum that has the hull of a boat that was found in the Sea of Galilee. It was extricated and preserved. It is from the time of Christ, but was never really finished before it sank.

It felt so good to finish up by 5 today! Every other day we have finished up at 6:30 and have been exhausted by the time dinner was over. This is our original group of 9 (minus Laurie, who went home already). We only have one more day left on our tour, and this was the first time we really got to sit and visit!