Walking Where He Walked . . . {Galilee 2012}

{Yes, I am home from Jerusalem. Yes, I am behind on blogging. Yes, I will continue to blog about Jerusalem as if I was still there and experiencing all of these miraculous and wonderful events. Yes, I am going through withdrawals}

GALILEE was one of the most amazing weeks of my life. 

The first day I walked  8,033 steps.

We left Jerusalem Center bright and early and drove to the Galilee. On the way there we made a couple stops, the first at a tel called Bet She’an. This is an ancient Greco Roman city, with the best preserved bath house in the world. It was beautiful day and the the hills were green. 

Heating system of the bath house

Courtney Neves

Sadly, the city experienced multiple earthquakes and is now in shambles. Courtney tried to fix it.

Cinderelly Cinderelly

Overlooking Bet Shean

Then we stopped in Nazareth and went to two beautiful churches. One contained the grotto where it is traditionally believed that the angel Gabriel visited Mary and gave her the news of her pregnancy. This church was stunning. It had mosaics in the courtyard outside, and each mosaic was from a different cultural group, depicting their interpretation of this glorious event. Inside the windows were stained glass, and I was in awe at the beauty. We saw the grotto, a mass was in session, we went upstairs, and then exited and walked to the second church, where another grotto is located, and believed to have been Joseph’s work shop. It was pretty cool to see how the churches have been built right on top of, over, and around these ancient sites.

Beautiful stained glass

Courtyard of the church

Interior of the church.

Our next stop was to a lookout. But I stood all in haze, and alas could not see but 5 feet infront of me.

Then we pulled into a cute little resort/reformed Kibbutz where we spent the next 10 days. I was expecting to be on the ocean…but due to all the rain, the water was about 20 feet higher than normal, therefore there was no beach…oh well! We skipped rocks, played soccer, and then ate a delicious dinner.