Day 7
Today was our last breakfast  at the Kibbutz and Beth and I  enjoyed  another beautiful  but chilly walk down to Lake Genessaret, otherwise  known  as  the  Sea of Galilee.  I picked up some stones  that I believe are fishing weights  from the days before lead weights.  Had ano egg poached  in tomato  sauce  and found out what that tasty almond-flavored thing I  have  been  eating  was...cheesecake!  No wonder  ithat was so yummy!  Had grapefruit that was  as sweet  as  most oranges, too.
We then walked down to the gift  shop  associated  with  the  Jesus  Boat and I picked up  a  couple  of  souvenira and gifts.
The first leg ofor our bus journey took us to Kursi, the reported place where Jesus healed the man named Legion in our texts, and the  demons were sent into the hard  of pigs that ran off the clifield and onto the  Sea.  Here, high up on the  hill, people would  bring their children  who were mentally  unstable  or  disabled and place them in a special  chair  and  pray for them,
the bus ride was long and we crossed from Israel  into Palestine.
From there we went  to  Beit  Shean, the largest Roman city  of  the  Decapolis  and the only one in Israel.   At its peak, Beit She'an  had 40,000 residents and one HUGE bath house!  It took up a city block almost and showed  how the hot rooms were  heated  with fires and billows!  Beautiful  Corinthian  columns all came crashing down in 748 when a major  earthquake  leveled the city, never to to built again. The archaeologist whof dug this site was pretty aggressive  and found it worthrhile.
Beit  Alpha was not too far away the building of the kibbuts we saw sa a movis that rein acted how the floor as nest laid.
From  here we went  to  Jericho  where we had lunch,  good food and better  conversation!
Back in the bus to the site of the baptism  of Jesus, which has been  open to the public a short time.  It was muddy and higher than  I expected due to the rain earlier this week.  It was a moving place-especially  since  the  Jordanian side of the river is no  more  than 12 feet access!  What really freaked me put was the 4 soldiers  there 2 Jordanian  and 2 Israeli.  It madequate me  cry and I pretty  much  zoned after that.
We droveto  the  traditional  site  of  Zacchaeus  and the sycamore  tree.  Problem  is  the tree's  only 500 years old!
Tel Jericho  was a neat archaeological  site  where they found a city watchtower  and at least 24 layers of city ruins
We are staying  at the Oasis Hotel.  3 pools,  Turkish bath and good food.  We had lots of choices and I started with lentil ,  some yummy salads, Chinese with lamb, chicken, and desserts .
Tonight Kaliel  talked about being Palestinian in Jerusalem.  More tears as he shared his own personal  experience  with the Israeli  government and  his life under the occupation.  It was so sad...
I am  exhausted and the trip has just begun...