Beth Saida,, Caesarea Philippi, Church of the Beatitudes and a boat ride on the Galilee

Monday, May 18 2015

This morning, we had breakfast at our German Pilgrim Guest House. Have I mentioned how nice this place is?  I actually commented to Joanne that these German pilgrims shouldn't be staying in such a luxurious place. Several people have said it feels like we're on vacation from our vacation - and Saint George's is nice. The name of the place we are staying is Pilgerhaus Tabgha. 

Anyway, we headed out to Beth Said. This is the place where Jesus fed the multitudes (loaves and fishes). It was also the birthplace of several disciples. This área was recently excavated (in The 1990's). There are the remains of first century houses. Here's a photo of Debbie and Joanne walking down a first century road and another of the sign by the wine merchant's house. 

Then we got back on the bus to drive to Caesaria Phillippi. We drove through the Golan Heigts and could see Lebanon. This area is right by the border of the 3 countries - Israel, Syria and Lebanon, except that Israel took the Golan Heights from Syria so that border is quite a ways away now. We passed tanks and many signs warning us that there are land mines on the side of the road. We passed Kiryat Shimona, which is the northernmost town in Israel. 

Then we went to the Church of the Beatitudes. This is the site where Jesus preached the sermon on the mount. We had lunch in the restaurant there. I had St. Peter's fish. It was delicious. 

The church and restaurant are run by Franciscans. There was a photo of Pope Francis on the wall of the restaurant. After lunch, we went into the church. There is a sign saying that Pope Paul IV came there and read the beatitudes. 

After the church, we went to get on a boat on the Galilee. It was very hot today - over 100 degrees. It was a little better on the boat. We went out to the middle of the Galilee. It's pretty big. Then they turned off the motor so it would be more quiet. We read the story of Jesus walking on water and reflected. After the boat started going the guys on the boat announced things for sale - shirts and necklaces. I bought a shirt for $20. It says "I sailed the Galilee". 

Our boat looked like this. 

Then we came back to the guesthouse. We took showered. It felt really nice to be clean and put on clothes that aren't sweaty. Then we went to the bar for some wine. Then dinner. They had fish tonight. At dinner, I got started talking with Alain and Peter (Canadian) and Nick. We started on the Israel / Palestine situation, then Us and Canadian politics. I learned a lot about Canadian politics.