First visit of the day is the Mount of Beatitudes, where a local pastor leads our meditation as we perch on rocks in the beautiful grounds of an impressive church, ruled by angry nuns.
Then to the Church of the Apostles where we picnic looking out over the lake. It might have been more fitting to have lunched at Mensa Christi, where Jesus shared the spoils of the disciples catch, however large signs instruct that modern day visitors are forbidden from following suit.
I don’t think I’m the only one suffering ‘church-fatigue’ and when the choice is given of one more visit or the option to return to the Pilgerhaus to spend the rest of the afternoon by (and in) the Sea of Galilee, the group is in unison.
Having spent the week at a pace, packing it all in, running where Christ walked, it’s biss to kick back and relax. Donning swimwear we head to the rocky beach in front of the guesthouse and paddle, swim and float where Christ walked (that whole hovering on water thing wasn’t really working for us).
Galilee is truly beautiful, with amazing views over to the Golan Heights.
It’s actually a lake rather than a sea, but the lack of salt in the water is more than compensated for by its green colour. Such murkiness is easy to forgive however, when you look out over the water to such refreshingly unspoilt scenery.
You just need to watch out for the Hyrax – strange rodent creatures, they reportedly spat at one of our group that attempted to get close. Then again the same party was also crapped on by a bird at Dominus Flevit, so it could just be that he’s at war with the natural world...
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