Today we toured the sea of Galilee with its green hills and banana plantations. The Kibbutz we are staying at is about 650 ft below sea level and has a warm micro climate in general although today the temperatures were in the 70s. About thirty miles away at mt. Hermon in the Golan Heights there is a ski area. The hills are green and the valleys are filled with agriculture from olive and mango trees to wheat and vegetables. There is a lot of good grazing for horses but only a few to be found. The area is populated by Palestinians (Moslem and Christian) and Israelies with no walls between the areas as there is in the west bank.
We headed north around the sea of Galilee which seems about the size of the Quabin reservoir but with a more rounded shape. The Jordon river entering the sea is the size of a small stream. Even it's exit from the southern end isn't much bigger. It probably should be called the Jordon creek. Our first stop was at Capernaum a couple of miles north of our Kibbutz. We saw St. Peters home and the mount of the Beatitudes with their respective churches. The excavations at Capernaum provided a good feel of a tightly packed town of small stone houses with a large synagogue. It is all nicely done but the facilities are not as informative as those I encounter in Greece. Our guide just sort of recites the bible stories with little additional background so it is best to read up on your own before such a trip.
We continued around the sea of Galilee with the beautiful contrast between the green hills and blue sea. At the south end we visited the first Kibbutz which is about 100 years old. These were socialist communes but this one become more capitalist in the last 10 years with members responsible for most of their own finances. We had lunch at the Kibbutz which was consistent with dedicated suffering. Our next stop was the purported site of Christ's baptism by John the Baptist. A number of people (none from our group) took off their clothes and enter the water. The facility sold baptism robes but not all used them.
Nazareth was our next stop after another trip through the beautiful hills and valleys. The whole area is much nicer than I had expected. Nazareth was a very busy city and other than the church of the annunciation over what is purported to be Mary's home was just a crowed city. The church which is relatively new was beautiful with many nations providing impressive mosaics on the walls of the courtyard. It is built over the excavations of Mary's house with the lower level showing the excavations and the upper eve being an impressive church with a hole in the floor showing the excavations.
Tomorrow we head for Jordon.
Carl
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