I awoke today ready to start the tour, or so I thought. While getting ready I found that our hotel was on the shore of the Mediterranean, and I mean on the shore, I took in the view while getting ready and eating breakfast (which was quite different from any American breakfast).
We started out with a quick trip up the shore line to the excavated city of Caesarea (not to be confused with Caesarea Philippi). Caesarea is famous for multiple things, including being where Cornelius the Centurion, and first Gentile Christian, lived. As well as where Paul was imprisoned and where he made his appeal to Caesar, which happened in Herod’s palace, which has been excavated. We got to stand in the room where that exchange likely happened. In the first century Caesarea was the hub of roman activity in Judea, even the little that has been excavated is huge, and carries much history.
We then hopped back on the bus and took a ride to Mount Carmel, where Elijah had his famous showdown with the prophets of Baal, the mountain is considered to be a symbol of God’s blessing throughout the Bible, and from the top of the mountain you can see much of the surrounding landscape including Nazareth, Mount Tabor, the Valley of Jezreel, and Armageddon. The valley below the mountain marks the historical trade route between Egypt and the rest of the world, as such more wars have been fought there than anywhere else in history.
From mount Carmel we drove to the sea of Galilee, also known as the lake of Tiberias, or Kinneret. After a lunch of pita, hummus, and various fillings, fresh tilapia caught from the lake, an dates for dessert, we traveled around the north side of the lake, where Jesus did the bulk of his ministry. We Visited the excavated town of Capernaum, where Jesus called his first disciples and lived for some time, as well as a first century synagogue at Magdala, where we can definitely say that Jesus preached, and where Mary Magdalene was likely from. We saw the places traditionally said to be where Jesus fed the five thousand, and gave the Sermon on the mount. In each of these places a small cathedral, chapel, or monastery is now built, which I guess is an effective way to mark a sight as significant, but I feel ruins the experience, as you can no longer see the sights as they were…
After that we took a nice boat ride out on the lake, where we could see where Jesus walked on water, calmed the storm, healed the demoniac, and the likely “City on a Hill” that Jesus spoke of in the Sermon on the mound. Our hotel for the next couple nights is just off from the lake. It included a buffet style dinner, with many Mediterranean style dishes.
This entire day was a whirl wind, with so many sights being seen and explored, I would like to be able to come back and spend a day in each of them, rather than rushing through them as we did.