Mount of Beatitudes

After the West Bank we drove to Galilee, past the Dead Sea. I would have loved to stop, but we were trying to get a ton done in one day, so we didn't. As we drove George pointed out an electric fence that divides Jordan from Israel. It has a dirt road on the Israel side of the fence, then the fence, followed by some space, or a DMZ, and then another electric fence and another road. The roads on either side of
the fenced off DMZ are patrolled by police and military. Needless to say, if either patrol catches anyone near the fence there really isn't time for explanations of what they're doing there. It is so sad and tragic to me that such a horrifying place exists.

These are some pictures I took of the Dead Sea as we drove past:
This one you can actually see the water, which is nice, but the other one...

The rays breaking through the clouds here are amazing! When we were much younger my sister would refer to those as a "God Thing" when she couldn't remember the name. That has always stuck with me, and here I think it's more apropos than normal.

We also didn't stop at Galilee. George jokingly suggested that we stop and swim. Uncle said that we had forgot to bring our swim suits to which George replied that we could just swim in our underwear. Yeah, right! However, we were planning on stopping in Galilee and eating at a fish place. Tragically, we decided not to, in the interest of time.

We drove up to the Church of the Beatitudes in Tiberious. George explained that the church we were at wasn't the location of the real sermon on the mount, but that the church had moved it up higher on the mountain to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city. We arrived there five minutes after they closed for lunch. George got out of the car and "talked" to the guard, "asking" him to let us through anyway. Aunt and Uncle didn't see what was going on, so I explained, "I think he's bribing the guard." When George got back in they asked him if he had. He said, no, he was just talking to him. Aunt asked what he had said, and George told her, "I told him, 'I know your sister.'" I laughed! He wasn't going to tell her — that's just the way life is, you bribe your way through, and don't let the tourists know what's going on.

The Church of the Beatitudes was beautiful. A sign said pictures were permitted, so I took a two inside. I was really simple inside, the building was round, with a copper dome on top. When we walked in, the dome had the beatitudes written in Latin in stained glass at the base of the dome, and an altar in the middle with a smattering of benches around the edges for people to pause and pray. I felt a little bad taking pictures, given everything that I was taught about other peoples' churches, and museums, but the signs said it was ok. However, I opted to not use my flash.

This is the altar inside. That was pretty much the whole thing. If you look at the top of the picture you can see the bottom of some of the Beatitudes.










Uncle took this picture on the out side of the Church. The view of the Sea of Galilee is quite striking, and you can see how well the grounds are kept. I can see why the building was moved, and, frankly, it's not really vital that the church is in the traditional spot, what is most important is the feeling that one gets while visiting the church.