Trip Day 30 - Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv

Saturday September 30

This is going to be a totally lazy day. Not much to do. All shops are closed. All restaurants and cafes too. The whole day not a single car was driving. Every so often I watched from the balcony how everybody is walking or biking in the middle of the road. Mainly young families. The little ones are so cute. 

We are getting breakfast though in the sister-hotel. On the way back to ours I have to take another photo of the "telephone-people". 

Yesterday we did find a little box with these chocolate clusters and a granola bar for each in our room. James opened his this morning and I had to say to be careful because he had laid them right next to some lava rocks from "the Horns of Hattin". Biting on those could have been a disaster.



Around noon we had enough of being lazy in the room so we walked to the beach. James has his ambitions. He swam in the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee and now in the Mediteranaen. I went in to my knees and must say it was lovely. Also nice waves.

         

Strangely the whole length of the beach had many "swimming forbidden" signs and thousands of swimmers who didn't seem to care. I know the photos don't look like it but there were happy people everywhere. 

While James was changing like a contortionist wrapped in the hotel towel (toilets, changing rooms, lockers, everything closed) I stretched a moment in the sun.



Ha-ha, the contortionist photo got cropped.
 

And then we found front-row seats under the overhang of the restaurant where we ate twice. And there was a lot to see. That young man was putting up a band between two poles. He was working on it for quite a while and we were wondering. And then he practiced tightrope walking. Quite entertaining.



Yup, people watching. 

Eventually it was lunch time. With our provisions, James' pocketknife and the butter we "stole" from the breakfast table we made a feast. Quite nice. 

We left the door open all afternoon. The temperature was lovely. We had a kettle in the room and could make tea or coffee later. Teatime on the balcony too. We had bought some cake the day before too.

Yom Kippur

I wonder how that would work at home?

You can't drive anywhere and everything is closed. No problem in our CR community. You could just get together with your friends in the neighborhood. If you want to spend it with your family, somebody has to drive the day before and spend the night. After dark whoever drives can go home. Interesting idea. 

Sorting our luggage went better then I thought. Washing after arrival will be fun. Salt stains (from the sweat) and grey dust from the rocks (because at some point I had not been ashamed to scoot from rock to rock on my bottom). Loads of pamphlets with info I have to "digest" when home. Not many souvenirs (sorry, kids, most is made in China).

We tried to fall asleep around 9 pm. The alarm will ring at 1:30 am. The taxi was ordered for 2:15 am. Shekels saved for the taxi and hotel bill taken care of (with leftover shekels and difference with plastic ... works like a charm that way).

See you soon!

Trip Day 29 - to Tel Aviv

Friday September 29

Time to say good-bye to Tabgha and the Pilgerhouse. 

But first breakfast. We meet the Catholic priest again. We finally introduced each other.  Helmut Daniels tells us more about the Pilgerhaus building. He knows a lot about it since he is on what we would call the board of directors (I think).

The original building from the 1890's was built with the black basalt stone. He showed us some beautiful original tile floors in little side rooms. He also told us that the original dishes had been made by Villeroy & Boch. At reconstruction of the buildings broken dishes were found. Villeroy & Boch was amazed and happy to recreate the pattern for the hotel. Fishes all around the rim. You can see it in the previous blog. What you can find out when you chat with people. I enjoyed it. 

But unfortunately we had to cut it short. Josef had punctually arrived at 9 am. It had originally been arranged for him to bring us to a bus station in Tiberius. In the evening, Yom Kippur is starting, the holiest day, and everything shuts down. Yesterday we had asked Josef whether he would bring us to Tel Aviv instead and we would pay the difference. First he made a face because he said that if he is too late back sometimes people are throwing stones at cars which still are driving. No driving allowed when the sun goes down. But we said we don't mind going early and he was ok with it right away. (When we had told Helmut Daniels the day before that we had arranged a taxi drive to Tel Aviv, he mentioned the stone-throwing right away too. He knows a lot)

The drive took about 2 hours but Josef was very entertaining. Everybody calls him by his nickname Chiki and he told us how he got it too. Funny. He is a strong soccer fan. His wife is from England and when they visit his in-laws his dreams come true. His favorite soccer team: West Ham! James' nephew Jimmo will like that. There is at least one West Ham fan in Israel. 

The best was that talking with Josef gave us another glimps into how "ordinary" people feel here. He lives in a kibbutz and loves it. Most people everywhere just want to have a chance at being happy with their families, children, grandchildren. We laughed a lot. We highly recommend him and if you need a taxi driver in that area:

+972 50-7535661

Time went fast with all the talk. Since we had been in this hotel already twice we knew the area around a little and let him drop us off a little more convenient for him. Construction of the roundabout in front makes it difficult to get to the door by car. 

We checked into our hotel. The young man at the reception recognized James and brought us right away the suitcases we had left in storage. But first he told us that we needed to go and get some provisions. EVERYTHING will be closed starting at sundown to sundown tomorrow. 

First thing was to go to the ATM because may be that will close too? James of course had been there previously so that was done quickly. Then we went in search of food. James had been in the mall before a shabbat. So this is similar. Food stalls cooking for take-out all around the mall. Fascinating. 

We got sandwiches here. They were hot but we decided we could eat them cold tomorrow for lunch and put them into the fridge in our room. 

Our room is on the same floor as last time. This time we can see "the girl on the tekephone".

We went out to find a street cafe somewhere for lunch today closeby but didn't. Instead we finally found a supermarket and bought some other things. Going back to the hotel we changed our plans. Hot sandwiches for lunch today on our rooftop and picnic for lunch tomorrow. (We will get breakfast in the hotel tomorrow morning though because it's included in the room price. No maid service though which is fine with us)

It was nice. 

Because Yom Kippur is starting soon Happy Hour was from 4 to 5:30 pm. 

We did go for some nibbles at the sister-hotel across the street again. It was not quite so nice this time because there was no shade and we were not really hungry. 

An hour later at 5:15 pm we decided to walk to the beach. When we passed an ATM it was confirmed: we could not have got any money. 

Cars on the roads are already much less and most shops are closed too. 

We walk on the breakwater. It is so nice and lots to see. Some are fishing on the harbor side. I could watch the waves forever. Waiting whether a big one is coming. Peaceful.




In the cracks of the stones salt. 

The way back to the hotel is a new experience too. Really, no cars. People walk in the middle of the road. Major roads! Young parents with strollers. Little kids on tricycles. It was great.    

Contemplation about the Jesus Trail experience:

We didn't know what to expect. I thought though that we would go more from A to B "straightline". Jesus would have gone from A to B with a purpose not sightseeing. We went every day in a more roundabout way which was scenic. But then, Jesus' ways have probably evolved into the modern highways now and going a longer way ended up for me more time to contemplate. I don't know whether I had to do "my suffering" going over the Horns of Hattin and especially Mount Arbel (seriously doubt Jesus would have done that). He walked without most comfortable hiking boots, state of the art hiking poles and sunscreen. How about enough water? The greatest feeling though was to be in all the places Jesus really most likely had been. As one of my friends said: feeling Scripture come alive. 

I am sure it will take a while for me to "digest" all of these experiences. We are very happy that we have done it! We are so very thankful that we were able to have this opportunity to learn and grow. And we are most thankful that the Lord watched out over us. 

Trip Day 28 - in Tabgha

Thursday September 28

After four days of being very physical this Pilgerhaus is just wonderful and we are thoroughly enjoying it. 

View from our window at 6:48 am. 

Breakfast at 7:30 am. Afterwards we just want to go to the water's edge of the Sea of Galilee. 

The hotel's map on a big rock in front. We are in room 239 in E. 

That's me taken by James. 

Always like to see flowers. 

James checks another path and finds the outdoor church service area. 

We had arranged the Jesus Trail Hike half a year ago and were not quite sure what to arrange but Joseph the taxi driver came at 9 am to take us places (included in the package). We didn't know what Mark had arranged and told Joseph we already had been in Capernaum. Since Yael had swapped going to Magdala instead of to the Mount of the Beatitudes place that's where we went. 

The Mount of Beatitudes is the traditional site of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus spoke the Beatitudes (blessings) Matthew 5:1-12

All 8 are plaques with big letters on stones along the path to the church. I wished more people would follow 7.

It was very crowded. Overrun with several buses of tourists from Japan and China. Unfortunately not many seem to have the proper respect for Holy places. 

Don't know how I managed this "empty" photo.

I am learning patience.

The church was an octagon with a modern mosaic floor all around. 

Of course the view was breathtaking. 

Next Joseph drove us to Kursi. 

According to christian tradition, Kursi is the site of the miracle of the swine mentioned in the New Testament (Luke 8:26-39, Matthew 8:23-34). 

The monastery and church where probably built in the 5th century CE and has (as all places in this land) a long history after that. 

The mosaic floors are from that time and I just have to marvel over them. Itty bitty stones! Unfortunately most of the figures of birds and animals in the mosaics have been destroyed, probably by Muslim occupiers at some point. 

An olive press. 

The grounds were nicely kept with assembly places and this curious thing. There was fine sand in the circle. If you pushed the cone around it printed a Bible verse (from Mark 5:1-20) into the sand in several languages.

Josef is a man of many words but very clever, down to earth and full of humor. He is Jewish. He tells us that he is not fanatic but his brother is more. He said that he told his brother to be happy about Jesus because Jesus is the reason the people know about this area and it brings tourists and jobs. 

On this road (between the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee) he asked us whether we knew why there were tall eucalyptus trees? They are tall and fast growing and were a donation from Australia. The trees where planted as a bit of protection when the Golan Heights above were still Syrian and the Syrians were constantly shooting down on the Israel territory below. It blocked the view of the settlements by the lake.

Next stop: Yardenit, the baptismal site on the Jordan River

Whether this is the actual place where Jesus got baptized by John or not is totally irrelevant to me (and I think James too). People have a chance here to reflect on their own baptism, may be renew it and make resolutions for the rest of their lives. 

It was well organized and pretty. You have to remember that we are here in the off-season. 

Joseph wants to drive us around the whole Sea. First he stops at an ATM for James. Around Tiberius we see a lovely public beach from the moving car. 

 

And that is enough for now. Back to the hotel. 

We decide to see whether we can have a little snack (lunch time) on the terrace of the cafeteria. We don't need much since full dinner is included. 

OMG, my tuna salad would have been enough for both of us and another person. It made me feel bad that I had to leave a lot. 

But it was delicious and lovely to sit there ... with a beer. 

Suddenly we remembered that we had wanted to visit the Brotvermehrungskirche (Multiplication of the bread and fishes church) which is on the same property. 

We get the key for the gates from the reception and walk through the orchard to the church. 

This church was built to remember the feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21 and in the other gospels too). 

In the first 4 centuries Capernaum was inhabited mostly by Jewish christians who wanted to keep the memory of Jesus in the area alive and passed it on from father to son. 

About 383 CE  the pilgrim Egeria visited the three holy places in Tabgha and wrote a report. She said that the stone on which Jesus put the bread was being used as an altar over which a church had been built. 

As with all other synagogues and churches, there was destruction and rebuilding etc. The stone now lays under the altar. 

The cloisters. 

The church. All the mosaic floors are original. Luckily they were under the rubble after the first destruction because the muslims would have destroyed all the pictures = no images. 

The  nilometer on the right. James and I googled on it and found the explanation "it is a measure that was used in Egypt to know the height of the Nile".

We guessed that it was probably invented there and used in this region too for the level of the lake in the spring floods.  If there was more water there would be more harvest and higher taxes. 

The church gave me somehow a very special feeling and I was motivated to light a candle as thanksgiving. 

90 seconds after we had set foot into the church a busload of asians also arrived swarming all over. Of course that would be ok if they were reverent but if a child with a plastic machine gun runs around, that is upsetting. 

We sat on a bench until they were gone and everything was peaceful again. 

Then we walked back through the orchard again using the borrowed key. 

Of course we can not leave before we got our feet wet in the Sea of Galilee. 

I got my feet wet too. It's a selfie. 

Ah, I could stay a little longer in this place. 

Night night.