Tales from Israel, Part 4.

When we arrived at the Sea of Galilee, a windstorm was sweeping the empty campsite. After trying in vain to find a shield from the wind, we decided to risk it and started setting up the tents. Mother Nature laughed and shook her head at us, and so we argued for a ridiculous amount of time about what to do.

After three failed tent pitching attempts we ended up back where we started. That's when suddenly the wind just turned itself off, and we stopped yelling at each other.

We finished just in time for the sunset...

The water was freezing! But it was oh so magical. After a quick shower we had dinner; hummus, pitas, eggs and lots of fresh veggies. 

The next morning was spent running all over Nazareth, visiting churches and learning... 

The synagogue where Jesus preached.

Tabgha; and the actual ground where Jesus fed 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.

 

Mt. of Beatitudes

The Church of the Annunciation, where Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce the birth of Jesus. Artists from countries all over the world contributed their version of the event; this one was my favorite...and ironically, the one from the US.

The Church of St. Joseph

Church of St. Peter's Primacy, where Jesus showed himself again to the disciples after the resurrection. 

Cana, where water was turned to wine.

We drove back to Jerusalem and spent the rest of the day doing laundry and recovering from a lot of site-seeing. It was official: we had fallen in love with Israel. But alas, it was time to go. The next morning at 4am we hopped in a strange shuttle to the airport. Our plane to Athens arrived right on time a few hours later.