That first night in Israel....

I wanted to tell you about that first night driving to the place we stayed - a guesthouse of the Franciscan Sisters who oversee the Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter near Tabgha.  They never did send us directions, so we headed to things we knew were nearby.  However, we got lost.   This became a familiar refrain, but one I loved because it meant we saw things off the beaten path, more of the ordinary life of Israel.
So, it was dark by the time we got close (see previous decision to go see Caesarea Maritima).  We drove the stretch of road back and forth several times but never saw this place.  Finally we stopped at a Benedictine Monastery that was as near as we could figure to what we were looking for.  It was closed up, with no intercom for visitors.  Charlie rolled under the fence and eventually found a brother who was upset that we had come in.  He told Charlie the place we were looking for was 5 kilometers up the road.
We went to the Church of the Beatitudes up the hill, where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, thinking that might be the guest house we wanted, but no.  However, they knew about the little place run by the Italian nuns and were able to direct us so that we finally found the gate.  It was  100 yards from the Benedictine gate.

Loved these bushes that grew near the gate and all over Israel.

Sister Louisa put up with a lot very peacefully.  And I'm not talking about Shannon.

Stairway to our rooms

This was our first of many times realizing that people giving directions in Israel were usually off in how far away it was and how long it would take to get there.  "Five minutes, three kilometers" became our refrain as we heard it so often.