The Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee

Monday we were up and out of the door for a bus to the Lower Sea of Galilee. We decided last minute to go to Tiberias, the guidebook said it was the ultimate tacky experience and included two abandoned mosques. Plus there were beaches. So, we decided to buck the whole religious aspect and go tourist trap.

We enjoyed the view of the city as we wound down the mountain to the lake. We happily got off the bus and found the best falafel in town just across the bus station (it was delicious), and then we wandered into the main part of town. There were a few people on the main street, eating lunch at the shops, but there wasn’t anyone on the promenade. Not a soul. Shops were closed, except for a few restaurants and a bored looking ice cream seller.  

We stopped and saw the Crusader’s Catholic Church with its Polish monument. It was quite a pretty little spot nestled between modern buildings. But it had not livened up at all during our time in the church—the promenade was still dead. It was very dirty too. Garbage and disheveled buildings lined the promenade and please, do not look into the water.

We saw a couple swimming around one of the old fortress walls, so we headed back into town to try to find how they got into the water. We found one pay beach, but no one was guarding the beach, so we went down. Peacocks wandered the yard, and a few tourists were there, out of the water. There was no beach, just a ledge to jump in. It didn't match the pictures and was very, very odd. We left and tried to find another way into the water. We passed the burned out hotel clinging to the hill, past the Scottish Church, and around the corner by a dumpster we found the free beach or rather, garbage dump. It had started raining, so we sadly wound our way back to the main part of town for a beer to drown our sorrows.

Cool architecture in Tiberias

We were quite disappointed, but then again, no trip to Israel would be complete without a trip to the Sea of Galilee. I recommend though, that people go to the north sea instead of the lower. Despite our disappointment, we managed to kill several hours there and still made it home rather late that night.

Tuesday was a beach day, we spent all day in the huge, amazing waves. By the time we got back to the house and showered, everything was closed because of the holiday. So we went to the Russian market and purchased some dinner staples and made dinner. By the time we had finished dinner the taxi Inbal had ordered was there and we had to go to the airport.

Unfortunately, security in Israel takes FOREVER. I actually managed to go through the bag scan quickly, but had to wait forever to get my bags rummaged through, and some of my souvenirs shipped because they were deemed “unsafe.” By the time this was finished, I could only quickly say goodbye to Matt. I wisely jumped into the security line early, it took two hours to get through the security.  I reached my gate just shortly before boarding to find out that the weight was weird on the plane so many stand-by passengers would have to sit in coach. Thankfully, I was THE last priority to get business class. THANK YOU!

The rest of the trip was uneventful. I made it to Boise earlier than scheduled and met my parents. Unfortunately, Mom got pneumonia the next day, so her birthday was not as great as we all had hoped. She is now feeling better, thankfully.