We got off to a rocky start, somewhere along the way I thought we were supposed to meet Moti at 9am. We got off of the ship a few minutes before 9 and there he was. He asked what took us so long because he was expecting us at 7am...your kidding, we wasted two hours on the ship? Man! So we had to adjust our itinerary for the first day and reverse the order. Once loaded on the buses we left the port area. We spent the first 40 minutes in the bus driving past Mt. Carmel, leading to the Jezreel valley (Valley of Armageddon). It was foggy to begin the drive and I prayed that the fog would lift so we could see everything we came to see. Within 30 minutes the fog was gone. As we drove through this large and spacious valley I imagined the armies of the world gathering in this valley and waging a devastating war. Could not believe I was here...this will be the theme of the next two days.
Our first stop was Mt. Tabor, where it is believed that the Transfiguration of Christ occurred. We had to disembark our buses at a base camp and take smaller shuttles to the top. We all filed into the shuttles, which took a little while to get everybody up to the top. It was a long and winding road to the top, but it gave a fantastic view of the valley below. There was a Franciscan church at the top of the mountain to celebrate the Transfiguration of Christ. There were three tabernacles built into the church, one for Christ, one for Moses and one for Elias (Elijah). As a side note, each place we were to visit was assigned to a member of our group. They were expected to do research and present a small devotional at each place where we could hear what happened there and read it in the scriptures. Hailey had the opportunity to read the account of the transfiguration out of the scriptures at this stop. We had a group photo here and then moved on.
Once down from the mountain we climbed aboard our buses again. Next stop was the River Jordan. The road wound through the mountains and then we could see another valley. This valley had a large lake in it, the Sea of Galilee (lowest fresh water lake on earth). It was much bigger than I imagined it to be. On the other side of the Sea of Galilee we could see the Golan Heights, Syria and Jordan. Wow! Seriously? These countries you hear about in the news...they are right there! We took our picture next the "Sea level" sign, which is interesting because you are used to the sign being near water. This one was half way down the side of a mountain.
We made our way to the Jordan River. Now this isn't the place that Jesus was baptized, it apparently is 100 Km to the south but for tourists sake they have created a stop to sell souvenirs etc. They have built a fenced off area of the River that you can go into. There is the opportunity to perform mock baptisms in the river. There were many many people that had paid money to dress in white, enter the river and have themselves 'baptized' by who knows who. I stood there in awe of what I was seeing...in my mind, making a mockery of a very sacred covenant that a true follower of Christ makes. But I had to take a picture. The river was teeming with huge catfish and muskrats, I don't think I would have entered the river even if I was paid. We had our devotional which was very nice. I bought a small bottle and went down to the edge of the river and filled it up with water. Pretty dirty, but who cares. The river itself was pretty with overhanging beaches from trees near the river bank, much like the pictures I saw in church of where Christ was baptized.
We left the River Jordan area and drove the banks of the Sea of Galilee. Our first stop was Tiberius along the shore. Not much happened here specifically, but it is in the general area of where many miracles occurred. We stopped here and had lunch.
We all had falafels (pita filled with lettuce and deep-fried chickpeas) for lunch. After 30 minutes for lunch we were back in the bus and on to Capernaum. This city did hold several stories from the bible. This is where Jesus came to preach after leaving Nazareth. He chose many of his apostles from this small town. We stopped at a synagogue that Jesus preached at, not much of it left now. We also saw the spot that is claimed to be the home of St Peter, a small circle structure made of rocks and mortar. 
Over the top of his home are the foundations of several churches that have been built. Those have all been destroyed except for their foundation, now there is a modern church/structure that has been built, which still stands. While here many people had the chance to wander down to the shore of the Sea of Galilee and gather some rocks and sand. 
Our next stop was the Mt of Beatitudes. Much like several stops there is no clearcut evidence that the Sermon on the mount was held where we visited. But it seems likely that it could have been here. And much like many places we saw, religions have built their churches over/on the spot where they think things occurred. The Mt of Beatitudes was no different, there was a Catholic chapel built at the top of the mountain and another edifice built half way down the mountain. Unfortunately, the manicured lawns, landscaping and buildings detract from what this place truly is. I wish it would have been left in its natural state. It was hard to get an idea of how people would have been gathered due to the planned landscaping.
We jumped back into the buses and started on our way back to the ship via Nazareth. Unfortunately we hit unexpected traffic on the way back and spent excess time in the bus. We would have hit Nazareth in the morning but because I was late getting our group off the ship we had to wait until the evening to see Nazareth. Everything was dark and it was hard to get an idea of what Nazareth really looked like. We stopped at the Basilica of Annunciation in Nazareth. This church was built by the Roman Catholic church and described as the place that they believe it happened. Whereas the Greek Orthodox church says that it occurred at a local spring and therefore they built their edifice there. Because we were running late we didn't have much time in the church itself.
The outside of the church had some very interesting carvings in the large wooden doors of the church. We made it in the church and had just enough time to walk through the church without stopping. We went from the second floor down a spiral staircase to the first floor. It opened up into a large chapel that held made different versions of the the birth of the savior, each one from an artist from different countries. We left the church and wandered the grounds. As we were standing there the bells of the church started to chime...I love the bells on churches. And even before the church bells had stopped the Muslim call to prayer began. I also love the call to prayer. Hearing both of these sounds competing for my attention? I just loved it.
We made it back to the bus and drove back to the port. What a great first day. We felt tired but knew that we had seen so many wonderful things. What made it even better was that I was helping my children's testimony of the Savior grow. They got to see places that, up to that point time, they had only read about in the scriptures...in the words of MasterCard...priceless.
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