City of Nazareth:
I and Elsa and on background the Church of the Annunciation.

Elsa on front of kibbutz entrance

Annunciation; church inside

Old Safad's Synagogue

To St. Joseph's workshop

Baha’i temple and garden

Elsa on front of a Haifa store

Kibbutz dairy cows. Annunciation church door. Spring water tunnel.

Continuing this most interesting Israeli exploration. We boarded a boat to cruise across the Sea of Galilee; we had a sunny and enjoyable, and all too short cruise to the ancient city of Capernaum, situated on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. (Sea of Galilee statistics; The lake is pear-shaped, with a length from north to south of 23 km (14 mi), a maximum width which occurs in the north of 13 km (8 mi), and a maximum depth of 48 m (157 ft); it covers 166 sq km (64 sq mi). The lake lies 209 m (686 ft) below the level.). Capernaum was Jesus's second home during his short life. There he chose his first disciples, Peter, Andrew, and Matthew. In that town before departing he performed numerous miracles. Capernaum still has many archaeological sites; it is presumed that in one site there is a synagogue of the Jesus period. Capernaum is not far from the border of the Golan Heights; occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War. From there we traveled to the site of the "Sermon on the Mount" and visited a lovely church. We then proceeded to the site of the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes; having read all our lives about it, it gave us an indescribable feeling; I suppose one has to be there to fully appreciate what I'm saying. We spent the night on a kibbutz (a cooperative farm) on the Golan Heights. Their farm was lovely. Although the place was very dangerous, it was self-contained and was run as a town. The community had schools, a synagogue, a bomb shelters and their own internal and external military security. The town leader is elected democratically. For all intent purposes, it is a small and well-run town. Haifa is Israel's leading industrial city and has Israel's very busy main seaport. It also has facilities for the American Sixth Fleet. It is the world center for the Baha’i faith and is home to the Shrine of Bab and a Baha’i temple. The Baha’i faith believes on abolishing all racial and religious prejudice, equality of the sexes, universal education, and is founded on the assumption that all great religions are good. We also visited the Crusader fortifications and the old port at Acre. We drove to Caesarea and visited the old Roman Aqueduct, the roman amphitheatre and the Crusader fortifications. We now took a deserved rest and then flew back home. Credits to Encarta Encyclopaedia.

Kibbutz bomb shelter. Baha'i and city panorama Bethlehem Mary's Grotto

Crusader fortified castle

Acre, El Jazzar's Mosque

Elsa gauging her foot

outside of El Jazzar's Mosque

Acre Crusaders ruins

Ancient spring water tunnel

Sign Guest Book View Guest Book