Nazareth, Beth Saida, an overlook and the Galilee

So waking up in Nazareth was funny. Our hotel use to be a church, but is now close to a youth hostel. The view was fantastic, overlooking Nazareth which is actually built in a valley, but the rooms were quite small. And that was only two people in a three person room.

Most travelors skip over Nazareth, there really are only two churches of not and almost no ruins. This might seem strange considering the prominence of Nazareth in Jesus' life, but remember there are very few stories actually occuring in Nazareth. The picture above is from the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, of course a highly ornate church. This one is built atop the well used in the first century- and so the well that Jesus and his family would have used.

The next church was a Roman Catholic Church, also of the Annunciation. Since there are so few biblical stories occuring in Nazareth, these churches commemorate Mary and the 'annunciation' of the angels to Mary concerning Jesus. On the bottom level of this church, built in the 60s, is a remains of a first century home (above).

The second floor allows you to look down onto the ruins from above and also any services currently happening in the church. We came in during a mass, not in english, and had a bird's eye view. Beautiful use of space, largely open creating and causing you to walk a ways in silence and stillness from the streets.

From here we came through Tabgha, Capernaum and Bethsaida on our way around the Sea of Galailee. These are all key cities in Jesus' life and ministry, but they are names that most skip over while reading in the Bible.

Tabgha is the church commemorating the multiplication of the fish and the loaves of bread. Above is one of the most famous mosaics in the world, perhaps you recognize it.

Capernaum is mentioned often in the Gospel with much of Jesus' teaching happening in the synagogue here. And Bethsaida is the home of Peter, Andrew and Philip. I would love to post some more of these pictures but i have been fighting with computers, and for inanimate objects

From here we started our trek over to Ein Gev. The Galilee use to be one body of water, combined with the Dead Sea, and is now connected by the Jordan River. This picture is from an outlook approching the Sea of Galilee with the north shore on the left side of the picture, and our hotel is on the far side of the sea. It was so exciting for us after weeks of desert, to be able to swim in fresh water. Galilee is the lowest fresh water lake (about 700ft below sea level) and quite fun to play in. And actually, since the water was so fun, my camera never made it to the beach. Our hotel had it's own little beach, which we used to the full, and the common less than spectacular food with the exception of one fantastic dessert. We also enjoyed air conditioning these two nights and i played freeze out with my roomates who ended up in the other room because they preferred a bit more heat.