Tiberius, Sea of Galilee

19/12/08
We checked into the Hotel King Soloman's for three nights. It would be from here that we journey to the various holy sites around the Sea of Galilee. The view you see here was from the hotel room. It was sunset and the Galilee sea was calm.

Mt. Temptation

Friday Dec. 19th '08
To the north west of Jericho is Mt. Temptation ... the place where Jesus was tempted for 40 days and 40 nights (Matthew 4:1-4) to renounce God. And of course Jesus emerged victorius.
On the slopes of the mount sits the Greek Orthodox Temptation Monastery also known as the "Quarantal Monastery".
We took the cable car up to the top of the mount and had lunch at the restaurant there after which we had photo moments.

After Mt. Temptation, we journeyed to Tiberius and celebrated mass on the way at a small but beautifully decorated church. As it was the Christmas season, we did see lots of Christian churches decorated with Christmas trimmings.

Jericho

19/12/08
Dec.19th '08 morning we crossed the River Jordan via the Allenby Bridge and proceeded to Jericho. Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world and it was destroyed by Joshua (Joshua 6: 1-27). During our journey we passed by many farms and green houses. As it was the winter season, Anis our Israeli guide told us that they usually grow winter vegetables and fruits like the dates, parsimmons, and the tangerines.

In Jericho, Jesus cured a blind man (Luke 18:35-43). It was also here that Zacchaeus, the tax collector climbed a Sycamore tree so that he could see Jesus when he passed by (Luke 19 1-10).
The tree we see here is a Sycamore tree that is over 2000 years old and for all we know it's the same kind of tree that Zacchaeus climbed to see Jesus.