Shaha Shenanigans: Galilee

Our eight day trip to Israel was broken up into two days in the Galilee area, two days in Jerusalem, and four days in Tel Aviv, where Ben had his conference. After our first day there, we had to seriously readjust our expectations. There's only so much you can see with three kids in tow… we didn't get to do the Dead Sea or Petra in Jordan or lots of other sites we wanted to, but we were ok with that.

This post will show pics from our two days in Galilee.

I know I gave Ben a hard time about being a "total spaz" when we travel, so I need to acknowledge that none of this would be possible without him… I could never imagine traveling to Israel with three small children if it weren't for Ben and the work and dedication he has put into his military career. He was such an awesome guide, I felt so safe there with Ben at the helm!

So, here are the top FIVE things that stand out to me about our two days in Galilee:

1. How easy-peasy it was to get around. The roads were well paved and marked with signs in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Traffic was light, and really, it felt like we were driving in the states. It also helped Ben had already been there twice, so he was familiar with his surroundings.

2. How green and lush everything was. I was not expecting this. Flowers, palm trees, greenery, it felt like Southern California.

3. The size and calmness of the Sea of Galilee. I thought the sea was a lot smaller. And it was so calm… no ripples, like a glass mirror

4. All the tourists! What?! I'm not the only one who wants to see where Jesus fed the 5,000? A ton of huge tour buses (I have to say, though, that I did NOT see any other children besides our own) with pilgrims coming from around the world to be where Jesus once stood. Groups from South America, Africa, India, Poland, France, and the States.

5. All the holy sites were built up… visitor's centers, souvenir shops, ice cream stands, and a Catholic church to commemorate the holy sites. This was kind of disappointing. I was expecting it to be just as it was when Jesus was there, with maybe a little sign or something.

Ok, I said five, but I have to add this one too...

6. The food… oh my, the food. I've always just tolerated hummus, until I ate it in Israel. And Tahini. And the kebabs. Sooooo good.

Our first night… we drove the rental car from Tel Aviv to Tiberius… on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. This beach, recommended to us by some random gals we met, was rather sketch.

I know, terrible picture of me (remember I'd been up since 4:30 a.m.!) but absolutely adorable of James, so I couldn't resist.

Photo bomb!

The kibbutz where we stayed… it's like a community on a farm. Here are some of the guests eating breakfast. We met so many different religious groups

Morning jog around the kibbutz

Breakfast at the kibbutz

That morning we went to the

Church of the Primacy of St. Peter. This site was supposedly where Jesus appeared on the shore to his apostles after his resurrection (John 21)… where he prepared a breakfast for them after they had a successful night of fishing.

Peter holding the keys

I love this picture: telling the girls Bible stories… Jesus calming the sea and also Jesus walking on the water

And then, of course, the girls decided they had to reenact Jesus and Peter walking on the water. Caroline is so irreverant

We loved this restaurant so much in Tiberius that we went back twice!

That night James had a HORRIBLE night of sleep. We could do nothing to get him to conk out. Those nights are the absolute worst. Ben got so fed up he took him for a drive… at 3 a.m. They went to the Mount of Transfiguration. Why not?

Ben got to see the sunrise that morning, after pulling an all-nighter with James. AND it was daylight savings. Not a good day.

The next day we went to the Mount of Beatitudes, where, despite it being very built up, it was BEAUTIFUL. We really liked it here and wish we had had more time there.

Can you see the five loaves and two fishes?

Ben reading part of the Sermon on the Mount to the girls. This was my favorite part… going to the sites and reading the scriptures with the girls. So very cool.

Jordan River: this place was nuts. It was way touristy with a ton of visitors getting baptized. I mean, it would be cool to get baptized in the Jordan River, but I wasn't too fond of the circumstances here… it felt very unauthentic. The river was beautiful though!

I have to say that I loved seeing where Christ's ministry began… where he lived and the setting for so many Bible stories I've heard my whole life. I just loved the overall spirit of the area.

So, then it was on to Jerusalem. We left the green luscious northern area for the HOT dry Judean desert.

Just outside Jerusalem we stopped to fill up for gas and came across these dudes selling camel rides… a total tourist trap that we fell into. That camel was NASTY. His hair was coming out, there were flies all over him, he had GREEN teeth and check out his tongue. Seriously nasty. Just rode it for the picture.