We started our day three with a relaxing ride on the Sea of Galilee. Yesterday's weather was cool and damp. We actually rained on us yesterday which is very unusual. In this area it doesn't rain from April to October and it rained on us. We were afraid that the view on the sea would not be good; boy where we surprised. It was absolutely breath taking today. We left the dock in Tiberius and headed to toward the northwest coast. We could see Caperneum, the Cove of the Sower where Jesus preached to the multitude, the city of Magdala where Mary of Magdalene was from, Bethsaida, the location of the Sermon on the Mount, the feeding of the multitudes, and the Ginosaur. The Ginosaur was a museum that held a 2000 year old Roman boat from the first century. It was found off the coast of the Sea of Galilee buried in mud and water. The area had been in a drought, so the water level was very low. The boat was discovered by two brothers who where fishermen. It took 9 years to get the boat in a good enough condition to display. We watched a video on the excavating and preserving of the boat.
We then rode the bus to beautiful ruins of Caperneum. It is said to be known as the City of Jesus. This place held lots of photo opportunities like the ruins of the synagogue, ruins of what is believed as Peter's house, and ruins of large pieces of stone used in everyday life, like an olive press. This is also a place where Jesus performed many miracles like the healing of the paralytic man on the Sabbath and and the curing of a man with a withered hand. He also taught in the synagogue and the twelve apostles here in the city.
My next favorite place was Herod's Spring. This was not on our itinerary, but was a great spur of the moment decision. Of course, all along our journey we have to remember that the landscape doesn't look exactly the same as it did during Bible times. Our landscape is constantly changing due to the changes in nature, but I was very surprised at how small spring and its stream was. Remember this is where Gideon is getting ready to go fight the Midianites and, he has thousands of men ready to fight, and God tells him that he has too many men. Gideon then tests the men. They go to the spring for a drink and depending on how they drank was how he decided who he was taking with him to fight. Gideon had 300 men and defeated the Midianites. This spring sits at the base of Mt. Gilboa. I always thought of this spring and water flow to be much larger than it is. This is also the area where Saul and Jonathan were slain.
Another big story of the day was lunch. We ate what was call St. Peter's fish. The fish was deep fried and still had its head on when it got to our tables. Needless to say, there was lots of giggling and snickering from many. There is just something about eating food that is staring back at you! We were very grateful for our lunch, and once we got past the fish staring at us in disbelief, we devoured everything but the head.
I have to make mention that we brought a visitor along on our journey, and his name is Flat Stanley. He is a third grade project that my cute little nephew Dillon is doing for class. Flat Stanley has had his picture taken at the Mediterranean Sea and in Caperneum at the Sea of Galilee. I hope Stanley has had as good a time as we have.
So much history and so little time. We have been in information overload ever since we got off the plane, but it has been quite enjoyable, and now I can see in my mind the places that I teach about in Bible class. I plan to learn as much as I can.
To be continued,,,
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