A Good Day

We were up for sunrise today over the Sea of Galilee. I don't know why I was up before the alarm went off but I was and we got to see something special before breakfast began at 7am.

We went to the restaurant and gave our room number 202 and were told to go into a crowded and noisy side room. I looked in there and didn't recognize anyone and so I asked him to confirm and he said yes, go in there, you are with a group. Well, we are but not with that group that all had luggage with them as they were leaving today. Anyway, 4 of our group wound up in there crowding them out of their seats while the rest of our group ate at small tables on the sun porch in peace and quiet. I am guessing that tomorrow when it is our turn to check out that we'll be in the noisy side room again. We'll see.

We had another busy day, but not moving hotels is so much easier. Plus it was still daylight when we got to the hotel so I'm not trying to write this up at bedtime! We got a new bus and driver today as yesterday we had a weak engine climbing a hill and today we had to climb the Golan Heights.

We started the morning leaving Scots Hotel in Tiberius at 8:30am. We started at 700 feet below sea level. The Sea of Galilee is Israel's only significant fresh water lake and not a sea at all. Our first stop was at the kibbutz of Ginnosaur to board a wooden boat for an orientation cruise on the Sea of Galilee. It was a nice relaxing way to start the morning. We saw all the places we would visit today from the water.

Next we visited the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. Afterward Clay told me when he was about 14 years old he gave a similiar sermon. Huh? It felt sacred. Next was a visit to Tabgha where Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes. We saw the actual big rock he was supposed to have performed the miracle upon. It was a special place but didn't feel particularly sacred.

Last visit of the morning was to Capernaum. This is where we visited the ruined remains of Peter's house where Jesus lived with him. There is a church over it now and is the most recent of a series of them. We also saw a ruined synagogue built atop the basalt stone foundation of the one that stood there when Jesus lived there. So, I don't know what destroyed all the ruined places we saw today but we were told the Capernaum was one of three cities Jesus cursed. It was destroyed in 749AD by an earthquake and never rebuilt. It and Tabgha were supposedly always spots of Christian worship even during the early Christian period of time when it was banned.

We drove up into the Golan Heights to have lunch and spent the afternoon. We went to Quatsrin or Katzrin. We had lunch at Golan Brewhouse. It was served family style like yesterday's lunch but it was unanimous that it was prefered to yesterday's lunch. It was heartier and tastier. They served some very nice little beef sausages on top of sauerkraut that we finished at our table. They had beer for sale, but we had included OJ, lemonade, water and mint tea or coffee. Clay had a dark beer for 17 shekels and it was good though a small serving. He bought a t-shirt. After lunch, we crossed the street to Olea Essence. We learned about olive oils and by products. It was a very popular stop amongst the shoppers. Last stop of the day was a few minutes away by bus. Golan Vineyards. We had a very thorough tour of the barrels to the bottles followed by a tasting of 2 whites and a red. Very well done and good wine. We have really enjoyed all the wines we've had here. They gave us each a wine opener as a gift. Nice touch.

So, as I said we got back to our hotel before sunset. It is now about 30 minutes to our 7pm dinner and I need to post this and put my shoes back on.

Photos