Capernaum - Our Biking Adventure

Wednesday morning we rented bikes in Tiberius and rode the 16km to Capernaum.  We thought about riding all the way around the Sea of Galilee, which is about 62km, but it was rather warm so we decided just to go to Capernaum as planned.  We stopped halfway for a break to see the "Galilee Boat". 

 

Two brothers discovered the boat in 1986 when a drought caused the lowering of the waters of the Sea of Galilee.  The brothers were walking along the shore and found ancient nails, when they dug down into the mud they found remains of a boat that was later to be found over 2,000 years old.  Because the boat had been in the mud for so long, as soon as air reached the wood it dried out and crumbled.  Volunteers kept the boat sprayed with water to keep the wood damp as excavators hurried to unbury and cover the weak vessel in a cocoon of fiberglass and polyurethane foam.  After 11 years of an extensive conservation process in a specially built pool, the boat now can be viewed by the public in the Yigal Allon Center.

 

Numerous repairs, the reuse of timbers, and 12 types of wood evident in the hull suggest that this vessel had a long work life and an owner of meager means.  The boat is mainly made of Cedar and Tabor Oak, with repairs done with Christ Thorn, Carob, Sycamore, Laurel, Aleppo Pine, Hawthorne, Willow, Judas Tree, Plane Tree, and Atlantic Terebinth.

 It's pretty amazing to think that maybe Jesus preached from the boat! 
Or was this the boat he was asleep in when he calmed the storm?
 



After we left we rode along a banana grove...
 



 

Behind Joshua and Dad is the mountain where it is said that Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7.  We also passed by where tradition says the multiplication of the loves and fishes took place.

 

 We also rode beside these Olive Trees...and of course Daddy decided to pick some!

They were the ones left over from the harvest and were quite shriveled!

 



 The path was covered in figs that had fallen from the tree

 

by the Sea of Galilee...

 



The town of Capernaum is reported to have been near the hometown of the apostles Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John, as well as the tax collector Matthew. Jesus chose this town as the center of his public ministry in the Galilee.  One Sabbath, Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum and healed a man who had the spirit of an unclean devil.  Afterwards, he healed a fever in Simon Peter's mother-in-law.  According to Luke, it is also the place where a Roman Centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant. Capernaum is also mentioned in Mark 2, it is the location of the famous healing of the paralytic lowered through the roof to reach Jesus.

 

This is the "White Synagogue built in the fourth century on the remains of the "Synagogue of Jesus."

On our way back to Tiberius we were going down a hill and all of a sudden I realized that I had gotten a flat tire on my bike.  The hotel we rented them from told us to call if we had any flat tires, accidents, etc., but that's kind of a problem when you have a frugal dad! lol His phone worked but it would have been an exuberant charge since we weren't in the US.  Daddy remembered that there was a gas station ahead, but it was a little over 2 km away.  So Daddy got on Joshua's bike and pushed my bike beside him while I rode his bike with Joshua riding double with me!  We were quite the sight going down the highway!  We found a man with a cell phone...

...but the hotel wasn't answering their phones...

 



We finally got a hold of the hotel and after 20 minutes they brought me a new bike and we rode the rest of the way back.  It made us laugh to see the other tourists speeding by in their air-conditioned buses while we sat at a gas station with a flat tire! :D 

 

The stop signs in Israel are different than the ones in the states!

 



Falafels for dinner once we got to Tiberius.

 

On our last day in Tiberius, before heading back to Jerusalem, we went to the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon stream... post about that will be coming soon!  God bless...

 

~Kaitlyn

Tiberius - Sea of Galilee & St. Peter's Fish

We left Jerusalem on Tuesday morning and after the three hour bus ride we arrived in Tiberius around noon.  Our hotel was almost right next to the Sea of Galilee, so after checking in we walked down to the water to see about getting a boat ride over to Ein Gev.  As we were walking along the promenade, a guy comes up to us and says that we can rent his "orange boat over there," for 120 shekels for half an hour.



 

After a lot of pressure from the salesmen we decided to take him up on his offer, (after some haggling of course, never pay the asking price! :)  He gave us the boat driving course in about thirty seconds, not like here in the U.S. where you sign your life away with a boat rental release!  Within ten minutes of walking down to the water we were on the Sea of Galilee in our own boat!!  It was a tiny little bottle stopper of a boat but that made it all the more memorable!  We got out into the water and we're just put-putting along and Dad says, "Guys, this is full throttle!" haha!

 

 

 

 

After our time was up we returned the boat and walked down the promenade.

We stopped for dinner at one of the restaurants along the Sea of Galilee...



...and had fish and chips!  This was Joshua and my first time to have a whole fish served to us! 



It was a little strange to have a whole fish on your plate but it was pretty tasty!


 Dates for dessert...

Somebody else was enjoying their fish from the Sea!

 

On Wednesday we rented bikes and rode the 16km to Capernaum and had a little adventure on the way back!  Post about that coming soon!

 

~Kaitlyn

Masada & the Dead Sea

On Monday morning we took the bus to Masada.  For people who aren't used to riding the public buses, our ride to Masada was quite an experience!  We were the last ones to get on at the central bus station and the bus was already full so we had to stand in the aisle along with about ten other people!  After about forty minutes of sitting in the aisle enough people had gotten off that we could sit in seats! lol We truly had a real Israeli travel experience that morning! :D

It's not out of the ordinary to see the Israeli soldiers carrying their M-16's with them everywhere.  In case there would be a surprise attack from one of Israel's neighboring countries, everyone is prepared and ready to take action.

You'll even see teenagers in civilian clothing with a machine gun slung over their shoulder!

 

 The view of the Dead Sea from the bus on the way to Masada.

Once we arrived we took the cable car to the top of Masada.  Masada is a rugged fortress overlooking the Dead Sea.  It's a symbol of the ancient kingdom of Israel, its violent destruction and the last stand of Jewish patriots in the face of the Roman army in 73 CE.  It was built as a palace complex, by Herod the Great, King of Judea.  The camps, fortification, and ramp that are around the monument show the most complete Roman siege works surviving to this day.
 

The visitors center at the foot of the mountain has lots of artifacts on display that archaeologists have discovered there at Masada.

From the top you can see remains of the Roman camps.  There are eight of these squares visible from the fortress.  The line you see in front of the square is the remains of the Roman circumvention wall they built around Masada.
 

The ramp the Roman's built up to the western side is still there and can be climbed by foot.  This is where the siege ended.  At the top of the ramp was the siege tower, and in it was the battering ram which the Romans used to assault the casement wall.  The rebels had built a wall of earth and wood, so the battering ram was ineffective against it.  The Romans thought it would be easier to destroy this wall by fire so Silva ordered his soldiers to hurl burning torches at it.  When night fell it was obvious that the situation was hopeless for the Jews and the Romans would break through at dawn.  Eleazar Ben Ya'ir assembled his followers and called for a mass suicide of the 960 Jewish rebels and their families at Masada.  The Romans were shocked at the sight that met them when they broke through the next day.
 





We hiked down the 700 steps along the 2 km path to the bottom.

 



We met up with this Arab dude along the way down ;P

It was pretty hot with the sun beating down so dad wrapped a shirt around his head to keep from getting burnt since he forgot to pack a hat!

 



 

After Masada we rode the bus back to En Gedi where we went floating in the Dead Sea!

 

 



The Dead Sea's surface and shores are 1,388 ft below sea level, making it the earth's lowest elevation on land. It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water. It's 9.6 times as salty as the ocean!  Because the water is so salty it makes for an environment in which nothing can live.  This is why it is called the "Dead" Sea.  Because of the salt density it is impossible to sink!  You just lay back in the water and float without even trying!  It's important not to put your head underwater or get any splashed in your eyes because the salt will burn!

 

salt on the rocks...

We rode the bus back to Jerusalem and this time we had seats! :D
In the evening we went down to the Old City and got to walk on the Via Dolorosa!



 The Via Dolorosa is a street in the Old City of Jerusalem. 

Tradition says this is the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion.

Walking through the Arab shuck there are all kinds of shops and stands. 
I thought this was a neat way to display a pomegranate...

 



...a pyramid made out of spices!

 



We also went back down to the Western Wall...

 



Any male that is not Jewish is required to wear a "Kippah" when they go near the wall.

 

On Tuesday morning we left on the three hour bus ride to Tiberius where we would be spending the next three days.  Posts coming soon!

 

~Kaitlyn