Caperanaum, Cruise on Sea of Galilee, St. Peter's fish, Tiberias, Tabgha, Jerusalem

9/28/11
Sadly, we left Peace Vista and our cozy cabins (at kibbutz Kfar Haru on the Golan Heights) with modern conveniences including internet. Bev woke several times in the night including 4 a.m. when she looked out to darkness withOUT the bright lamps on. Quickly donning eye glasses, she saw the star-filled sky then motioned Steve to join her outside. Wow! Just what we dreamed of: stars galore in an absolutely clear sky over the Galilee with the lights of Jericho sparkling on the opposite shore!

Packed by 7:30, breakfasted by 8:00, and out the door close to 8:15.  Bye-bye, Peace Vista and the Golan Heights! Thank you for a welcoming and peaceful visit!

Thence down the hills and round the hairpin turns to several stops:
- Capernaum: the 4th century Byzantine synagogue built on top of the basalt-stone synagogue thought to have been from Jesus' time. We also saw archeological finds (a dig in progress) of a community built (basalt) very compactly with a main street and houses and oil press all very close together for safety. It was also very exciting to see what is believed to be some of the remains of Peter's house -- the central gathering room and side rooms. Above this structure was built a contemporary Catholic church through the floor of which one can see Peter's house below. This church is beautiful in its simplicity -- somewhat octagonal and with beautiful wood carvings depicting Jesus' ministry. Peaceful.

Remains of St. Peter's house, now under a church built to commemorate the great spiritual significance of the site

Dark stones show Jesus synagogue

Inside the newer, white stone Synagogue

Richard and Edith

Olive mill from Roman times

Olive Oil Press

A room where Jesus may have been

Note tree coming out of restauran

Next stop was a 20-minute cruise on Lake Kinneret (Galilee) on a wooden boat, followed by a lunch of St Peter's fish (tilapia) at the Galei Gil restaurant by the Galilee, in Tiberias where the Jordan River flows into the lake. Bev skipped the fish and had the baked potatoes and salad after several appetizers shared with all (humus, pita, Greek taboule, pickled beets, etc). A stroll through old Tiberias before lunch had us buying some light food for times when we can't find restaurants open because of Rosh Hashana and then Shabat.

Old Tiberias

Nearby, we enjoyed seeing the Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes at Tabgha, having passed a red-domed Greek Orthodox church (name?) on the way.

After lunch we piled into the bus for the 3-4 hour ride to Jerusalem which took us out of the lush green land around Galilee and into the Jordan Valley with many crops. The land changed to desert and then more severe desert at which point there were no more crop lands. Then we were in the Judean desert -- where we passed the road that led from the Allenby Bridge border crossing by which Steve and I, Pat and George, and Jeanne and Jim passed from Jordan into Israel on Sept 22nd -- and then into Palestinian territory using highway #1 which is a joint project between Israel and Palestine.

Tired foot against carpet, Harmony Hotel room

Time to quit writing for tonight except to say that we arrived in Jerusalem with a driving orientation by Nurit who then took us on a short walking tour of the neighborhood of the Harmony Hotel on Yoel Moshe Salomon St, not far from New Gate and Jaffa Gate in the Old City where we will spend a full day tomorrow!