BYU Jerusalem: Galilee Tip: Nov 19

We left the Center today super early. We drove down into the Great Rift Valley then north up to Beth-Shean. As we passed the Dead Sea the sunrise was glistening off of the water and it was absolutely gorgeous. Beth-Shean was awesome; it was the chief city of the Decapolis during the time of Christ known as Scythopolis. The ruins were sweet, we hiked up the Tel to get a sweet look on the city and see some old ruins on the Tel. Next stop was Nazareth, the drive there was beautiful, the more north you travel in Israel the more beautiful the landscape. We visited a church that was built on top of the foundation of a first century synagogue where it was likely Christ came and read the Isaiah passage and declared himself as the Messiah. We went to the Catholic Church of the Annunciation. This Church was huge! It had a grotto in the first floor that is believed to be Mary's house. The next floor was breathtaking. They had large art pieces donated from countries all over the world depicting the Mother Mary. The one from the U.S. was kind of weird, not my favorite. Just a stone's throw away was the Church of St. Joseph, the 'step-father' of Jesus. The Chapel was nice and humble; the lower level had the supposed house of Joseph. It was a neat experience going to Nazareth. We drove to Galilee then up to Mount Arbel. This was a sweet overlook located on the North West side of the Sea of Galilee. The vista was incredible to say the least. After taking photos we drove to Ein Gev, our place of residence while we are here in Galilee. It is on a Jewish Kibbutz. Down on the beach we all watched the sunset over the mountains surrounding the Sea of Galilee. The water was like a sheet of glass, it was quiet and peaceful.