Post 6. Sea of Galilee - Tiberias- Jaffa

It’s been a long hiatus since I wrote to you last about 

Israel and the wonders of the Holy land.

 My heartfelt apologies!

I have been building a lot of hype around the most 

awaited meal of the trip. You don’t have to wait any 

longer to know that it was the St. Peter’s fish.

A certain variety of Tilapia made it big by attaining a 

mention in the Holy bible and I was on cloud nine as I 

waited for my plate of whole fish and Rice. 

I imagined it

 to have also been one of Jesus’ favourites.

As we sat down patiently waiting for freshly deep fried 

tilapia with the Sea of Galilee in the backdrop I noticed

 a lot of patient men baiting their hooks and throwing it 

into the Sea of Galilee in the hope of a good catch. Even 

more patient was the cat sitting by these men to get its 

share.

The soft flesh would melt in the mouth and was served 

with a large slice of lime, a tomato based sauce, raw 

vegetables and bread. We finished our sumptuous meal

 and waited for the wooden ferry for a little sightseeing 

around Tiberias and Sea of Galilee.

The Curious Cat

The Band

I had no idea what a ride I was in for.

There was a band to entertain us and they started off with instrumentals moving on to hoisting our Indian flag and singing the Nation Anthem with the highest level of Pride. And then they sang a few Malayalam devotional songs…Say what?

Yes they did. Better than us. Diction to the tune!. I was

shocked… then elated. ..Then embarrassed. So do we 

sing 

our devotional songs enough?

Sunset at Tel Aviv

After a content meal and boat ride (stomach and heart 

full ) we were easing up on our bus seats allotted as we 

proceeded to the other side of town to visit the 

Franciscan church at the City of Jaffa.

It was comparatively a longer drive and we would soon

be heading to our three day stay at Jerusalem from that

 night onwards.I looked forward to having the same bed

for at least two days in a row.

We were passing Tel Aviv, Israel’s second most populous 

city. Not surprising as the city made me fall in love with 

it the moment I looked around. This would probably be 

the only place where I can fit in words like Fashion, 

Lifestyle, nightlife, recreation and modern life in my 

entire series of blog posts on Holy land. We also saw 

many embassies of either sides of the road arranged with 

great discipline.

I looked around and almost felt at home. I have always

 loved beach destinations where I could see the sun set, go 

swimming, sun bathing and surfing in my bikini 

flaunting my skin.

Church at Jaffa

It was cold and dark when we reached the city of Jaffa

 just in time not to miss the interiors of the beautiful 

church maintained by the Franciscan order of priests. We 

were greeted by a very pleasant priest who blessed us and

 said how he visited Kerala few years back and how

much he likes the girls and the way they are in India.

In the candle light and smell of fragrant oil, I prayed.

That night we were travelling uphill to 7 Arches hotel

from where we could see the entire view of Jerusalem. I 

started feeling suffocated and undeserving being around getting to sleep on the holy hill.

The mountain on either side had several gravestones and 

thousands of dead people who would be given the first

 chance to go to heaven on judgement day.

I did not feel scared. I repeatedly brought up my gratitude.

Continue the Journey with me till i take you uphill to

witness the View of the Golden dome and holy city of 

Jerusalem.