Shiyin??’s Blog

I feel ashamed that I had actually never written this blog till today – Sep 8 while I am trying to post everything. However, the memory is still quite vivid: in order to save the last-night hotel cost, I went to the Tel-Aviv airport in the afternoon after visiting Qumran (where the Deadsea scroll was found) and Jericho (basically completely ran down, but at least I got to see this legendary city with my own eyes) – I planned to spend more time in the Tel Aviv city, but since it was Friday, most things were completely closed out – I didn’t do enough homework on the Jewish culture. I did visit the oldest street started by Family Rothchild in Tel Aviv which was built 100 years before. This year is actually 100 year anniversary for this beautiful city. It’s a very live city and really beautiful. Architecture is unique and food is good. I found a Frozen Yogurt place with Wi-fe and almost spent the whole afternoon there – probably ate more frozen yogurt than I ever did in my entire life!:)So I ended up at the airport in early evening. Since my flight is at around 5am, I had a whole night to kill.

Tried to sleep in my car at the airport carpark but the effort was not very successful.  Finally went in the terminal at around 2am being extremely tired, hoping to take a good nap inside the lounge, and my nightmare started: even before I got to the check-in counter, I was stopped by two young custom officers, one of them even spoke Chinese: he told me that he studied in Beijing for one year. They started asking me all kinds of questions, even ordered me to show all pictures I took, all hotel and rental receipts, my travel journal and especially every single visa on my passport and I’ve had 4 passports in the past 8 years! The only reason was they didn’t understand why a single Chinese would visit Isarael alone – I guess I became the most suspicious one…. It was really quite annoying at this time of the day. I was so exhausted but had to answer all the stupid questions again and again. Almost got into an argument when they asked me why I came to Israel while there are so many places to visit in the middle east and Israel was not safe. I was close to explode: this was not the story I read on the Israeli official tourism site! However, I realized later that it didn’t help me at all to argue with them since I could have been kept there forever, so I shut up and just answer „Yes“ and „No“. They opened all my bags, piece by piece. I didn’t get in my gate until almost to departure time so didn’t really get chance to relax in the lounge. What a disappointing end of my visit!

Today is my last day in Jerusalem. I will meet with Dorit, visit her friend in town and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem – very excited since this is always something I enjoy: to visit the local homes instead of just being a normal tourist going to the touristy spots. I was delayed at the hotel reception for a while because the lady there tried to charge me US$3 per stamp for the postcard stamp that is printed only 3.80 local currency (which is around 90 cents) – this is something I’ve never experienced traveling to so many countries. Finally got to Kind David’s hotel almost 30 minutes later than planned because I was not familiar with the roads in Jerusalem. 

It was very nice seeing Dorit again, especially in Israel, her hometown instead of Germany. Dorit is probably one of the sweetest and most graceful ladies I’ve met. Although we haven’t known each other long, I really like her. She is also passionate about the far East since her parents used to live there. We drove to her friend Shushana’s home on the Ethiopia street – one of the oldest street in Jerusalem. Suddenly left the crowds and noise of the Old city, I found myself in a Jerusalem that I didn’t discover before: small streets, beautiful old stone houses, green gardens, peaceful and elegant. Standing in Shushana’s beautiful garden and the elegant old house, I felt being in a different world. All the heat, noise, conflicts seem to be so far away. We had a nice breakfast in a beautiful backyard and I really enjoyed the conversation with the two interesting local ladies – both are wise, intelligent, and traveled around the world. 

Next step is the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This is the biggest university in the Middle East. There I met Sabena, a German lady who has been in Israel for many years and working for the university. She introduced to me the history of this legendary university and a great tour of the beautiful campus. The architecture is again amazing, just like any others in Israel. And the view from many spots on campus to Jerusalem is also breathtaking. Unfortunately I was not able to take any pictures of the campus because of security – after last year’s bombing at the university cafe, they are much tighter now, which is really sad. Honestly I have never been to a place in the world with such rigorous conflicts between religions as it is in Israel and Jerusalem is again the extreme of Israel – it is the holiest city for Judaism and the spiritual center for Jews since 10th century B.C, holy place for Christianity and the third holiest city for Islam (it is believed by many Muslims that Muhammad ascended to heaven from there). Guess everybody, every religion and every believer wants to claim this is THEIR place, therefore Jerusalem is never peaceful.

I was really shocked by the difference of the people’s lives on two sides of the wall the day before, but didn’t realize how soon and how much it would impact me: after lunch (had the famous St. Peter fish which was really delicious) with Dorit and Shusanna, I wanted to drive to Ein Karem, where John was baptized and raised at, and then go to my next destination “Dead Sea”. However, after I input the hotel address at Ein Bokek, the GPS kept asking me to take Route 1 West towards Tel Aviv, but Dead Sea is on the east of Jerusalem. I was completely confused and because of the bad traffic in Jerusalem, I was back and forth, stuck on different roads until I finally completely forgot about the GPS and just followed the map. But since I didn’t have a detailed map of Jerusalem and the it was really difficult to drive back in many streets, I wasted almost 3 hours until I got on the Interstate 90 towards Dead Sea. GPS still has no signal. Suddenly a thought hit me: There must be part of the roads belong to West Bank which was why GPS was leading me a huge detour just within Israel – 2.5 hours for 45-min drive!!! But how would I know as a foreigner!!! It is really amazing how much the political situation can impact a person’s life, even me, as a visitor….While driving out of Jerusalem, there was sign on the rocks next to the highway showing “Sealevel”, then “-150 meter”, “-300 meter” and my ears can really feel it. It was an interesting experience driving below the sea level. By the time I arrived at the Dead Sea, it was already – 400 meter – the lowest place on earth. It was getting darker and darker and dead sea was on my left hand side and desert cliff was on my right. There was fog on the water because of the low altitude – I saw the most amazing scenery in my life: it’s hard to describe by words and the photos can only capture 1/10 of the beauty! Have you ever seen sea with reflection? That’s the Dead Sea!!The landscape was just breathtaking! I had to stop so many times by the highway just to look and take pictures…

I have a whole day to discover Jerusalem, however, I am not too excited because the sun is really burning and it is scary to even think about stepping into it!! My plan is to cover all the rest of the Old city and then visit City of David – later on I realized that was too ambitious because of the heat.Surprisingly found that the 1000 local currencies was almost all gone after only 4 days – honestly it is really expensive in Israel, a lot more expensive than I expected. The price is close to Germany!

I first went to the Garden Tomb where Protestants believe was the real persecution site. It is very close to my hotel so I just stop by there. There are still lots of debates on which is the real “Golgotha” because General Charles Gordon in 19th century promoted the idea of Golgotha being outside of the city wall while the Holy Sepulchre is inside, and also the shape of the “Skull hill”. However, after some more research, I read that the city wall of Jesus time was actually different from now and the church was outside of the city wall at that time. But, to me it’s not really important which site is the real site. I truly believe Jesus was persecuted and he rose again after three days. Salvation is not depending on the certain location, but on the reality. I did like the site of the Garden Tomb though since it’s a lot quieter and not as touristy. People are able to walk around and sit and pray, memorizing the sacrifice that Jesus has done for us.I didn’t want to take Damascus gate to go inside the Old City again since that was just too crowded. So I walked outside of the city wall until I reached the Herod’s gate. It is a lot quieter and immediately I was walking in the residential area of the Muslim quarter instead of the local bazaar. There were very few tourists along the way and I really enjoyed that.Although I was not too impressed by the food in Israel (maybe also because I didn’t really want to spend money on restaurants so I just went to the cheap places:)), one thing I really loved was the fresh pita bread – I can just eat that for a meal, haha! That accompanied me for most of my drives on the way! So took a picture of the breads for memory!

Along the way looking for the Dome of Rock – the Golden Dome, I passed by the church of St. Anne close to the Lions gate, where also located the Pool of Bethesda – Jesus cured a paralyzed man (John 5:1-15). The church was built in 12th century during the Crusader’s time replacing the original Byzantine church, in memory of the birthplace of Anne, Virgin Mary’s mother. The church was built perfectly for hymns: the acoustics was designed for Gregory chant. It is said that a soprano or a tenor solo voice will sound most perfect there. Groups and groups of pilgrims sing inside the sanctuary while they visit: I was there while two groups of American pilgrims singing beautiful hymns and you really felt that the sound was from heaven.

Church of St Anne is also located at the beginning of “Via Dolorosa (Way of suffering in Latin)” – where Jesus carried thecross walking towards the persecution site. There are 14 stops on Via Dolorosa and the three falls were the third, seventh and the ninth stops.

I have a whole day to discover Jerusalem, however, I am not too excited because the sun is really burning and it is scary to even think about stepping into it!! My plan is to cover all the rest of the Old city and then visit City of David – later on I realized that was too ambitious because of the heat.Surprisingly found that the 1000 local currencies was almost all gone after only 4 days – honestly it is really expensive in Israel, a lot more expensive than I expected. The price is close to Germany!

I first went to the Garden Tomb where Protestants believe was the real persecution site. It is very close to my hotel so I just stop by there. There are still lots of debates on which is the real “Golgotha” because General Charles Gordon in 19th century promoted the idea of Golgotha being outside of the city wall while the Holy Sepulchre is inside, and also the shape of the “Skull hill”. However, after some more research, I read that the city wall of Jesus time was actually different from now and the church was outside of the city wall at that time. But, to me it’s not really important which site is the real site. I truly believe Jesus was persecuted and he rose again after three days. Salvation is not depending on the certain location, but on the reality. I did like the site of the Garden Tomb though since it’s a lot quieter and not as touristy. People are able to walk around and sit and pray, memorizing the sacrifice that Jesus has done for us.I didn’t want to take Damascus gate to go inside the Old City again since that was just too crowded. So I walked outside of the city wall until I reached the Herod’s gate. It is a lot quieter and immediately I was walking in the residential area of the Muslim quarter instead of the local bazaar. There were very few tourists along the way and I really enjoyed that.Although I was not too impressed by the food in Israel (maybe also because I didn’t really want to spend money on restaurants so I just went to the cheap places:)), one thing I really loved was the fresh pita bread – I can just eat that for a meal, haha! That accompanied me for most of my drives on the way! So took a picture of the breads for memory!

Along the way looking for the Dome of Rock – the Golden Dome, I passed by the church of St. Anne close to the Lions gate, where also located the Pool of Bethesda – Jesus cured a paralyzed man (John 5:1-15). The church was built in 12th century during the Crusader’s time replacing the original Byzantine church, in memory of the birthplace of Anne, Virgin Mary’s mother. The church was built perfectly for hymns: the acoustics was designed for Gregory chant. It is said that a soprano or a tenor solo voice will sound most perfect there. Groups and groups of pilgrims sing inside the sanctuary while they visit: I was there while two groups of American pilgrims singing beautiful hymns and you really felt that the sound was from heaven.Church of St Anne is also located at the beginning of “Via Dolorosa (Way of suffering in Latin)” – where Jesus carried thecross walking towards the persecution site. There are 14 stops on Via Dolorosa and the three falls were the third, seventh and the ninth stops.

Today is a very very special day – the highlight of my entire trip!! I experienced probably the most beautiful Sunday service at the most beautiful site possible: the Gottesdienst from the Church of Loaves and Fishes right on the lake of Galilee. Because I am the guest at the Pilgerhaus, I was invited to this service, which is normally not open to public. Passing through the beautiful private garden of the church, I really enjoyed the fresh and crispy air in the morning. While I was just wondering where the service location is, I ran into a western lady and she signaled me to follow her. Then we started a conversation and I found out she is a German volunteer originally from Köln so we changed our conversation language to German. There were already about 25-30 people sitting quietly waiting for the service to start and I am just stunned at the natural beauty of this special sanctuary: it’s outdoor, right facing the lake, all the natural woods are seats for worshipers. So simple but I can’t think of any other church more beautiful than this! It was a Catholic service in German but thanks to the Holy spirit that I was able to understand a lot of it. This is the first German service I attended after I was able to communicate in this language so that really excited me. I know that I would always remember this special Sunday service that I attended. 

After coming back from church, I was finally able to check my emails after two days and also wrote a bunch of postcards before checking-out. Since today I am going down to Jerusalem and there are a list of sites I would like to stop by on the way, I need to leave as early as I can. I went to the St. Peter’s primacy first – this is where Jesus appeared in front of his disciples the third time after resurrection and gave the responsibility of the church to Peter (John 11:1 and 17). The church was built in the early 40’s by the Franciscans in dark rock. The big rock inside the church is “Mensa Christi (Spanish)” on which Jesus conferred on Peter the responsibility of being the future head of church. 

My next destination is Mt. Beatitudes, which was named after the Sermon on the Mount, during which Jesus proclaimed the Beatitudes to the crowd that came to listen to him (Matthew 5:3-11). Unfortunately again the church was closed at that hour so I just walked around and took couple of pictures of the church and the view of the lake from the top. Then I headed down along the Lake Galilee to Beit She’an and Yardenit. On the way I didn’t stop at the location where they stored the ancient wooden boat in which Jesus and his disciples took passing the lake 2000 years ago which now I am a little regretted. So I got the picture from internet to show here:The boat was discovered in 1986 and the scholars found it was close to 2000 years old. Of course people cannot prove that this was exactly the boat Jesus took, but it’s still a good visual sign. My GPS was not able to find Yardenit again so I stopped at a Chinese restaurant by the lake in Tiberias to ask for direction and also have my lunch. Of course it was not really authentic Chinese and the owners were local, but still good to have some good warm food. I was excited when I arrived at Yardenit since it was supposed to be the place Jesus was baptized by John. The place is busy – many Americans were standing in the water getting baptized and there are scriptures of different languages on the wall. Water is very clear and cool. It’s a beautiful place and also the start of the Jordan river. of course later on I found that this was actually not the original place – the real place is down in the Jordean desert in Jordan side (I saw later on the way) but not easily accessible. So they decided to move it here since this is the start of the river – honestly I found that I little ridiculous, oh, well. 

The drive along the Jordean valley was interesting since the landscape changes dramatically. In no time I was driving through the desert. I took quite a few pictures while driving – definitely dangerous so I won’t recommend that! In the middle of the highway I saw the sign “Jericho” so I was naturally turned towards that direction – this is one of the oldest city in the world and I read about it so many times in the Bible so I was very curious. However, the road discontinued for some reason. So all I could do was to take a picture of my rental car in front of the big rock. I was basically driving along the border of Israel and Jordan (my GPS didn’t work most of the time but I didn’t know why at that time yet). One sign on the highway shows “Baptismal site” so I knew that was the “real” location so I follow the sign. But after about 500 meter I saw big iron walls – I could see the church through the wall but I cannot pass because it’s in the Jordan site. And I couldn’t take pictures either because it was a military base. Sigh! 

Then continued drive for about 10 minutes Route 90 split and it signals Jerusalem to the right. I was getting more and more excited. The landscape again changed and I had never seen desert like this! The big granite rocks were almost orange color in the sundown and although there was a lot of traffic, I was just so excited, seeing the amazing nature and looking forward to the holy city! Jerusalem, I am coming!

Originally I planned to drive to Nazareth at 7am to join the Pilgrim 11-mile walk along Jesus’ path, however, when I woke up, I found it was already 730 – somehow the alarm didn’t ring and I was obviously too tired to wake up by myself… Oh well, guess I will need to find my own way exploring the holy path then.

My first stop is, of course, the Church of Loaves and Fishes in Tabgha (means Seven Fountains in Greek) right next door. It also belongs to the Deutsche Verein so it’s a German church. The big rock in the sanctuary is marking the exact spot where Jesus laid the two fishes and five loaves (how amazing!!). Another famous spot in the church was the original mosaic on the floor showing a basket full of laves between two fishes but unfortunately I couldn’t take any picture because of the distance. The church was crowded by tourists that was almost unpleasant – although it says on the sign at the entrance of the church “This is a holy place for worship and please be silent inside the sanctuary. Please do explanations outside of the church”, there were still groups in front of the altar making lots of noise:( I guess most of the tourists came here out of curiosity instead of worship. 

I left rather quick since I was really afraid of crowds. In the yard there were ancient Olive press which is kind of interesting.

My next step was supposed to be the Church of the Primacy of Peter right next door, where Jesus showed himself in front of his disciples after the resurrection, but I missed the entrance so decided to come back the next day since it was so close to my hotel. I visited the Greek Orthodox church instead where Jesus also performed miracles at. That church is completely different style: so colorful that’s almost a little too much for me. But I really liked the outdoor worship area on the lake which I took the cover picture. 

The next stop is of course Capernaum: the village where Simon/Peter lived and Jesus performed many miracles at, also known as “Jesus’ own town (Matthew 9:1). It’s a very interesting historic site with all the ruins from ancient time. You can see the remains of Simon’s house (where Jesus cured Simon’s mother-in-law (Matthew 8:14-15)) (While I was standing on the original site of the Synagogue (where Jesus raised the daughter of the Synagogue leader) and looking at the village ruins, I really could see Jesus dressed in white robes walking through the small alleys with his disciples and other people surrounding him. I can even hear his voice and feel his breath! It was amazing! The new church built on top of the ruin was truly magnificent. I really admired the architecture – such a clever design! There was service going on so it was close to the public, pity! 

I was so excited driving towards Nazareth – this is the town Jesus grew up in! Also the place where Angle Gabriel appeared to Virgin Mary and told her that she was going to bear a baby. On the way I also passed through Cana – the village where Jesus performed his first miracle at the wedding: changing water into wine. Now it’s a very popular place for weddings:) The traffic was absolutely crazy in the middle of Nazareth which I didn’t expect at all. It’s a small town!! People really drive crazy on the main road – there is only one in the old city and extremely crowded. I managed to finally found a parking plaza and decided to walk. The heat is unbearable: it was only around 27 degree but felt more like 38!!! I can only imagine how it’s going to be like in summer! The city is situation over the hills in lower Galilee. 

First I went to the Greek Orthodox Annunciation church but unfortunately it was closed on that day. It was built on the site of Virgin Mary’s well. The vendor next to the gate was so friendly that he explained to me that it wouldn’t open until 6pm that night because the Greek Orthodox were celebrating their Easter, which was one week after us. Too bad. I didn’t think I can stay that late since the drive back would be about 1 hour long. Then I walked to look for the biggest and the first church in town, the Besilica of the Annunciation. Walking on the busy street for a long while but couldn’t find it. I saw it from the top but it disappeared as I got closer. I decided to stop at a small local restaurant which I saw before called “Vasace”. The woman owner was very nice and she spoke some English. It seems that the only food available there is Doener here. But I don’t mind at all. I always like Doener. What surprised me was the price: one Doener and one soft drink cost me about 7.5 US dollars – that’s quite expensive, at least a lot more expensive than China!!

After a quick lunch I went to look for the church again but actually walked into the local Bazaar first by accident. The alley was so small, actually reminded me of the local market in Xi’an by the Mosque. I was really not interested in the goods so just took some pictures but found the church along the way:) It is probably THE most beautiful church I’ve ever seen! The architecture was just overwhelming! The dome was built over a crypt enclosing the Grotto of Mary and Joseph’s home. The “Upper church” which you can see from the lower level through is remarkable with the daring design – I really admire the Italian architect Giovanni Muzio who made this landmark! Really impressive! Ironically, Nazareth is now the largest Arab city in Israel (I was told by the locals it’s because they have more babies…)

After about 2-hour walk under the Middle East sun, I had to stop and drove towards my next stop: Mt. Tabor, where Jesus transfigured in front of this three disciples at the top (Mark 9). Tried to set it on GPS and got really fooled by the stupid system. It took me to all the tiny local roads and then about 3-km unpaved road – so bumpy and dusty! Then going through very small town up the hill, so steep that finally I had to give up. I was sure the GPS had problem! I had no choice but to drive back to hotel. I got back on Route 90 and saw the “Mount Tabor” sign on the way!! It was a very high mountain. Probably the most steep and wining road that I’ve ever driven on! Parked the car at almost top (didn’t feel comfortable driving up anymore) and walked to the mountain top. The church was unfortunately already closed but I saw the magnificent view from the top so it was well worth it.

After about 7-hour travel (with over 1 hour layover at Zurich airport), I arrived in Tel Aviv at 3:30 in the morning. Surprisingly the plane from Zurich to Tel Aviv was completely full – I realized later that it was the last day of the Passover holiday in Israel so many people were going home finishing their holiday and they want to be back before Shabbath – Friday sundown. I picked the last window seat on the plane and was going to take a good nap, however, a young Jewish couple were sitting across the isle and they would like to switch seat with me. Although I was not too happy, oh well, as a Christian, I had to, right? While asking for forgiveness about my unwillingness silently, I changed to the middle section and didn’t sleep at all for the 4-hour flight so was dead tired when I landed.

Although it was so early in the morning, the airport was almost packed. I guess many flights arrive at that time. I got my rental car from AVIS (funny thing is that there is a passcode lock in the car so I need to input the code in order to start the car – this I have never seen in other countries!!) and a GPS device (note: GPS rental is extremely expensive in Israel – about US$13 per day while my car was only $35 per day!) and first things first, catch my SLEEP! I parked the car in the parking lot and slept 6 hours on the backseat. At 11:30 am, I got my energy back and ready for my adventure in the Holy Land!

My first destination is Old Jaffa (Joppa in the Bible) – it’s situated inside Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is a relative new city built by the Jews as an extension of Jaffa exactly 100 years ago. Of course now it is the second largest city in Israel and became the commercial center of the country. It was not difficult to find Jaffa with the help of GPS – only about 15-min drive from the airport. Although the temperature was not that high (about 23 degree), the sun was so strong that my skin was burning! From the old Jaffa port looking over Tel Aviv, I was really really impressed – never know Tel Aviv is this beautiful! My previous impression about israel is all about wars and desert. But the city looks so beautiful with the white sand and blue Mediterranean sea!Jaffa is a place for the beginnings in the Bible: Jonah’s journey, Tabitha’s restoration to life, and Peter’s conversion of Gentiles all began here. In Jaffa, Peter was divinely led to “think out of the box.” The story in Acts 10:5-23, finds Peter on the rooftop of the House of Simon the Tanner (the house was closed for renovation but I took a picture by accident:)), where he had his famous vision (Acts 10:12-13), that led him to preach the Gospel to the gentiles at Caesarea. Peter’s resurrection of the righteous Tabitha (Acts 9:36-42) is marked at the Russian Orthodox Church of Tabitha. Unfortunately the St. Peter church was closed until 1600 so I cannot visit inside since I needed to leave for my next stop: Caesarea. This church was built between 1888 and 1894. I walked around the narrow alley in the old town and overlooked at the Mediterranean sea from the old fishing port, it was truly enjoyable.

About 50-min drive later, I arrived in Caesarea. Although GPS doesn’t really have the exact location, I managed to find the Caesarea national park myself. The drive was rather pleasant since most of the Route 2 was along the Mediterranean coast. Caesarea, an ancient port city with almost 2300 years of history is now more of an extremely rich residential community managed by private organization instead of municipal government. King Herod built a massive manmade deep sea harbor in 23 BC which now is mostly under the sea. It underwent vast changes with the change of governance (Romans, Byzantine, Arabs, Crusaders, etc), earthquake and mediterranean sea shift. Current ruins are from the Helenistic period (3rd century BCE) to Crusader period (12th century). After watching a movie introducing the history of the harbor, I had to sigh that no matter how magnificent the human creations are, it’s just a blink of eyes in the long history. Just like in the Chinese saying: “watching the high mansion being built, watching it collapse…” The harbor Herod built was so phenomenal at that time, but it can never fight time. There is nothing lasts forever in this world but we can only seek that in God’s kingdom. Simon/Peter’s vision led him to Caesarea and Paul’s missionary journey also disembarked here. Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea while later being persecuted in Rome. So this is a very important stop in the Christian history. In Byzantine time, it was one of the most important Christian centers and according the Christian history, it was here that the first idol worshippers was converted – the Roman centurion Cornelius.

After Caesarea, I planned to go to my next stop according to the suggested Christian itinerary: Meggido. However, I was not able to find the exact spot. Since it’s getting late, I decided to drive to Tabgha directly. My destination is Deutsche Verein vom Heiligen Land (Holy Land German Association)’s Pilgerhaus Tabgha, which was recommended by my Israeli friend Dorit. However, they don’t have a exact address that I can input into the GPS, just direction from Tiberias. So I drove to Tiberias instead and then looked for Route 90 to get to Tabgha. Tiberias is obviously a tourist’s town since it’s located right on Lake Galilee and kind of busy so I just drove through. The view of the lake is really beautiful though. Route 90 was along the lake and the landscape along the way was extremely lush and rich – I now understand why in Bible it was the Canaan promise land.

One thing I found difficult was to disguise myself as a tourist in this country – I am just too different, especially as a Chinese solo female traveler – the combination caught too much attention and too much curiosity in this place. Everybody asked me where I was from and why I was here alone along the way which after a while gets a little tiring, and also unsafe which I realized later in Jerusalem.

Around 18:30 that day, I finally arrived at the Pilgerhaus Tabgha – driving through a 24×7 secured iron gate, the buildings were situated right on the lake. It’s such a peaceful place! I really fell in love with the place once I arrived.

The first thing I did after checked in my room is to take a walk along the lake. Sitting on the rock of the lake beach, thinking that Jesus was preaching and spending time with his disciples at the exact same place was just overwhelming. It is probably one of the best place in the world to pray and read God’s words! So I ended my day with prayers by the lake that Jesus spent most of his time around – how perfect…