Wonderful time in GALILEE

Ok, I do have pictures of Galilee, I just felt like hiding them for awhile. Obviously. Those past ten days were beyond what I could have imagined...I guess that is the simplest way to put it. Galilee is a place I will always remember and wish that i could go back. We'll see how the cards play out for the future on that one.

First off...HAPPY LATE THANKSGIVING!!!! I am grateful for many things. I'm grateful for my family. I'm grateful that I am here in Jerusalem. I'm grateful for LIFE and good health. And many many other things.


And secondly...HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY JANINE!!!!  I love my sister! I recently found out that she will be in Fresno for Christmas time so I get to hang out with her! Yay!

:) Good times. We went on a family cruise in 2007 and it was sooooo fun.

So here is a quick rundown of my 10 days in Galilee (at least, quick in comparison to the 1,067 pictures I took on the trip!!!)

Day 1

Ruins at Caesarea, on the Mediterranean coast.

On the Cliffs of Insanity! Aka: Mt. Arbel, overlooking the Sea of Galilee!

Our bus broke after this stop hahaha, luckily it was our last stop of the day. So we all played missionary tag in the dark while we waited for the replacement bus. So we didn't get to Ein Gev until after dark.

 Ein Gev is the kibbutz we stayed at and it was a blast!

Day 2

This is what we build on the beach. Our sandcastle. We are such nerds. For those who do not understand, we have spent hours and hours studying history relating to the First and Second Temple periods. Our sandcastle that we built was of the Second Temple, or Herod's Temple, because we have received many lectures and have read many articles relating to the topic. Yup.

SEA OF GALILEE!!! I LOVE IT! 

Day 3

Church on Mt. of Beatitudes. Loved it there. We got to read and talk about Sermon on the Mount. 

Capernaum! One of my favorite places in the entire Holy Land that I have visited!

Day 4

Hiking down from top of the Golan Heights! Seriously. 

Happy.

Day 5

Gamla. "A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid..."

Synagogue in Gamla. Jesus almost for sure was in this exact synagogue, with the same stones and everything. It was special to be there.

So domestic! Ancient Talmudic village we visited. I got lost a couple times, with 3 different groups. Bro. Muhlestein says that is how reading the Talmud is haha so I guess it was an educational experience.

Look Mom! I ate fish! GROSS

We decapitated the dead fish...

Day 6

Gorgeous view from the Tiberias branch building.

Standing in the Jordan River, near a spot where Jesus might have been baptized.

Day 7

Church on top of Mt. Tabor, one of the 2 most likely sites of the Transfiguration. 

BUDDHA

Just standing next to some ancient Roman pillars. This is at Bet-Shean, a Decapolis city back in the day.

Day 8

That's Lebanon behind me!

And that's Syria!

Nimrod's Castle! Pretty view.

Oh hey

Which way? At this stop we were in the Golan Heights (Israeli occupied Syria), and we were right next to the border of non-Israeli occupied Syria. Cool beans.

What does that look like?

Day 9

We saw a lot of mosaics and old stuff...

But this was pretty cool. This is a manger, or a water trough for animals. This is what Jesus would have been put in after he was born.

Love them :)

Love the Med.

Day 10

Last time in the Sea of Galilee :(

Manger at Megiddo.

Beautiful harbor at Haifa. Very modern-looking city.

And that is about how my adventures in Galilee went! I had the best time and learned a lot and saw a lot and enjoyed almost every minute of it! I got sick the last day, and so that day driving home on the bus and still making lots of stops was not so good...A LOT of us got sick with about the same thing all around the same time...it was really weird. 

I LOVE GALILEE :) :) :)