This is our excursion of Galilee and Northern Israel. We left early on Monday morning in Sheldon's rental car. Ruth took him to work that morning and our only obligation was to pick him up at a particular place near his work at 7 P.M.  We were on our own!
This is Nazareth -- the city where Jesus grew up. Then it was a small agricultural village - now it is a huge tourist city.
Look carefully on the right. Those wires are Christmas decorations in front of the Church of the Annunciation.
It is a new church built in 1969.  But the mosaics
 and come from different countries around the world. 
Upstairs, a service and a nativity scene.
Supposedly the exact place the annunciation happened.
A thriving market outside the church.
This is the entrance to Cana - of wine-making fame.
Two churches claim authenticity for the real place. Above is the Greek Orthodox Wedding church
Franciscan Wedding church -- note the broken text.
On to Tiberius  --  this is the choppy sea of Galilee.
We are 700 feet below sea level. The distant hills are 700 feet above sea level. The bird is somewhere in between. 
New boats on the sea.

It took eleven years of careful preservation. The soggy, wooden boat was soaked in a solution of polyethylene glycol to replace the water with wax.  Then the hull was allowed to dry slowly and cleaned of excess wax. The boat is now exhibited in this atmosphere-controlled museum. It's has been here only since February, 2000.
The amazing story of the OLD ancient Galilee Boat.
A few kilometers north, we visited a museum at Ginosar which houses this discovery. Two brothers found it in 1968 when the Sea of Galilee was at a very low level due to a drought. In eleven days, experts encased the boat in a cocoon of fiberglass and successfully floated it to the Yigal Allon Center. Part of the cocoon was displayed at the Ginosar museum.
This nice gentleman gave us a private tour. They were able to identify the wood as coming from many different kinds of trees. 

Above, each strip of wood was identified. The chart on the left demonstrates in detail the entire reconstruction process with pictures showing each step. A fascinating process.
Go to Galilee II, the rest of our drive