Accommodation In Israel

During my recent Israel trip, we (as in me and my mum and our tour mates) stayed three nights in Tiberias in the Galilee area, and four nights in Jerusalem. The hotels we were given are not too bad, and comes with buffet breakfast and dinner. 

In fact, for Tiberias, we were given a hotel that faces the Sea of Galilee, so in the morning, we could go for walks along the coast of the Sea of Galilee, and see the sunrise and sunset over the water. There is also a spa of sorts opposite so we went to the jacuzzi and pool there during one of the evenings. This is free for our hotel guests. We only need to go to the reception to get a towel and make our way to the spa.

In Tiberias, the hotel we stayed in is called Rimonim Mineral Tiberias Hotel. What I like is the revolving door! We got a double room with two twin beds, attached bathroom and bathtub, with a balcony that has a view of the Sea of Galilee. Housekeeping is available everyday and the staff is friendly. The moment we arrived, we were given a welcome refreshing citrus drink.

The room is not too bad. There is a little sofa and a foldable multi hanger to dry our clothes. The only gripe is that there is not enough electricity sockets for us to charge our phones, cameras and my mum's iPad. In fact, the wall socket she was using does not seem to be working well as her gadget could only be charged halfway. Other than that, the room is pretty okay.

However, there is no free Wifi though. We need to have a password and pay a certain amount for an hour or so before using the internet. Hence, we did not use the internet at all throughout our stay there. We rather use the free Wifi provided in our coach.

 Rimonim Mineral Hotel, where we stayed in Tiberias

I like the revolving door!

 View of the Sea of Galilee from our hotel room

 Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee

The spa opposite

In Jerusalem, the hotel we stayed in is a local kibbutz hotel called Ramat Rachel. The meaning of a kibbutz means it used to be a farmhouse with a piece of land. Our hotel was converted from a kibbutz, and there is still a big garden and grounds within the compound. There is still remnants of the old stone and adobe architecture in the hotel.

Our room happened to be 666 - that number! But the room is bigger and cosier than that of Tiberias. Even though there is not much of a view except for the city of Jerusalem, we could still see sun setting in the horizon.

Again we have two twin beds, but this time, the beds are bigger size. There is a lounge sofa where we can lie down and read. No balcony but the windows are bigger. The bathroom has more facilities, like a floor mat, and bigger space for wash basin, and more electricity sockets that work perfectly!

Most importantly, there is free Wifi! But only in the lobby. The Wifi in the rooms are not free. So for those who wish to surf the internet, they will go to the lobby to utilise the free Wifi. This hotel also comes with a Sabbath Elevator, that will not work on Saturdays. In fact, on Saturdays before half past eight in the evening where the Sabbath ends, the lift will automatically go to every floor and we cannot press the buttons to bring us to our desired level. But it is working well on the other days and timings.

 Lobby area

 First time I came across a Sabbath Elevator

 Our room - what a number right?

 View from our hotel room

 Dining area where we had our breakfasts and dinners

 This corridor leads to the lobby

 Grounds of the hotel

 Wedding Canopy for Jewish weddings

My verdict? I think the Jerusalem hotel is better. There are lots of hotels in Tiberias and Jerusalem, ranging from very high class like King David to mid-priced like Leonardo. But I have no complaints about our hotel, since we only go there to rest, eat and sleep, and nothing else. So it was good enough that we managed to live in pretty comfortable lodgings throughout our stay and we could actually rest enough!

The Garden Tomb

Our last place in Jerusalem was at the Garden Tomb, the other place where Jesus was supposedly buried and resurrected. The problem with this confusion is that some people interpreted that Jesus was buried and then risen at the Holy Sepulchre in the old city of Jerusalem, where the last few Stations of the Cross were, whereas some people believed he was brought to the Garden Tomb to be buried, and then resurrected. 

In any case, we were brought to both places, and personally, after reading the Bible, I would think the Garden Tomb is more plausible. Still, it is up to people which they like to believe, but as long as we believe that Jesus was indeed buried and risen, that is all that matters. Perhaps no one can ever know the exact tomb of Jesus despite all these speculations.

There are quite a lot of signs leading to and outside the entrance of the Garden Tomb. So one will never miss it. We started off the Garden Tomb with a little tour and then a brief overview of where the "Skull Mountain" is. Someone found a rock in the shape of a skull about a hundred years ago. Of course that mountain has now diminished since a bus terminus is now at the foot, but when it was discovered, there was just stones and empty land at the foot.

 Can you tell the skull in the mountain?

 See the bus terminus at the base?

 I am always intrigued by this fusion of religion - a church and a mosque side by side

After seeing the "Skull Mountain", we then went on to the "tomb" proper. It was very small inside, so only a few could go in at one time. Inside, we saw an empty "tomb", and the words in the doorway where "He is not here, for He has risen". How apt!

 Interior of the Tomb

After coming out from the "tomb", we went to one of the sections in the Garden for a communion service. My tour mates thought since Jesus was supposedly risen from here, it would be appropriate to partake of his flesh and blood.

 The communion table

We sang a couple of songs, then one of the tour leaders passed around the olive wood cup filled with grape juice (which we can keep as a souvenir), signifying Jesus' blood, as well as a piece of biscuit or bread signifying Jesus' body.

 The "body" and "blood" of Jesus Christ

The Garden Tomb is indeed a beautiful place. I can stay there the whole day and just relax, read, or give glory to God. If I come back to Israel again, the Garden Tomb is definitely a place I will go again!

Birth Place Of The Virgin Mary

On our second day in Jerusalem, we were brought to the Church of St Anne's with the Pool of Bethesda, incidentally also the site where the Virgin Mary was supposedly born. Unfortunately, the place was closed that day as there was a graduation ceremony for priests, so this itinerary was shifted to our last day in Jerusalem.

It was also on this site that Jesus often went to visit with his maternal grandparents. The Church of St Anne was built on the site. We had the priviledge of going in to sing, and the church has the most beautiful natural acoustics in there! Anyone can just sing and the voices and hymns will sound so beautiful! Imagine going there to sing Christmas carols, how beautiful that will sound!

In any case, the birth place of the Virgin Mary was in the basement, in an erected room which was supposedly the exact site. Pool of Bethesda is in the outdoor compound, but the pools are mostly dried up now.

The church has a very beautiful garden in its grounds.

 Entrance to the church

 The altar. Look at the way the church is structured, the acoustics just flow!

 The roof of the church

 See this picture with a baby? This was supposedly the site where Mary was born.

 These stairs lead down to the room where Mary was supposedly born.

 These other stairs also lead down to the same place.

 The compound of the Pool of Bethesda

Being a Catholic, I am more interested in the so-called "Catholic" sites that involve the Virgin Mary. Unfortunately, we did not manage to cover a lot in this trip. Hence I was pleased that Church of St Anne was included in the itinerary, and the tour guide kindly brought us back even when it was closed. Hopefully if I ever go back there I can cover more Catholic sites!