From Tsfat we drove to Nazareth, where we spent that night. I just have to say something about our hostel in Nazareth because it was without a doubt the most beautiful hostel I’ve stayed in. It was a 200 year old Arab mansion that has been restored for use as a guest house.
You can see from the pictures how nice it is, but most of the charm of the place was the volunteers and staff who worked there. They had freshly baked cake 24/7, an unbelievably helpful staff, and a free tour of the Old City every morning, led by a volunteer who is just really passionate about Nazareth. Which brings me to the next morning. We took the tour, led by Linda, who is completely impossible to describe, but let’s just leave it at bizarre as they come. Her tour, however, was wonderful. She took us a little off the beaten path. We went into the White Mosque (going into a mosque was a first for me), all throughout the marketplace (where she pointed out the best food and her favorite vendors), into a Spice Mill where we had a 5 shekel taste test (for 5 sheks, less than $1.50 we could try anything in the store: nuts, dried fruit, delicious mixes, etc), several architectural gems, old houses, and the coolest: the residence of the bishop of the Greek Orthodox church, under which they recently found 1st century caves into which we were able to go. It was a really cool fun tour and I got to see a ton that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. She also talked a lot about grassroots programs that are going on to bring Jews, Muslims, and Christians together in Nazareth. As the hometown of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, Nazareth has its fair share of religious sites, the most impressive of which is the Basilica of the Annunciation. My pictures and descriptions don’t do it justice so look it up because this building was just sensational. And also huge.
(This is another old Arab mansion in the Old City that has been dated from the Roman period!)
(The church above is the Greek Orthodox church of the Annunciation, inside of which we witnessed a baptism of an adorable little baby, and it's also the source of Mary's Well which I didn't talk about in this blog because it was a stone building that had graffiti all over it and therefore not cool at all.)
I really liked Nazareth a lot. Every single person we met, talked to, bought things from, etc was just incredibly friendly! People were excited to talk to us, asked us questions, wished blessings on us, and were altogether so welcoming. The town itself was a really interesting mix of people. It wasn’t too big or too small, and despite being touristy still felt really authentic and lived in. I also had the best baklava I’ve ever had in my entire life. And really delicious kanafeh. I highly recommend a visit there if you go to Israel.
After our Nazareth tour Saturday morning we headed off to meet our doom. And by meet our doom I mean go to Megiddo, which is where the battle between Good and Evil at the end of the world is going to happen, according to the Revelation of John (The name in Hebrew is Har Megiddo, which is where the name “Armageddon” comes from). Aside from being where Armageddon is supposed to happen, Megiddo is not that cool. It’s basically ruins from a bunch of different time periods on top of a big hill, which would have been cool except that I’ve seen lots of ruins and the novelty is beginning to wear off. (Read about the history because it actually is very interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Megiddo) Very untypical of the three of us, Dana Cody and I decided to completely disregard the educational aspect of Megiddo while we were there and instead create a narrative of the end times whil wandering through the park. Each place we went we added a new piece into the saga so by the end of our tour of Megiddo we had invented a version of Armageddon that is rivaled by none. To give you a little glimpse of our creation I’ll just tell you that all Harry Potter characters, the Pevensies and Aslan, Jesus, Anderson Cooper, and Atticus Finch all play important roles. I’ll be happy to give you the details if you ask. We REALLY loved Megiddo, mostly for this reason. There was also a really cool water system that included a tunnel underneath the tel. That was fun.
(Dana and I are scared of the apocalypse)
(as one of the four horsemen, I'm slaying Dana. Of course)
Sunday morning we (sadly) left Nazareth for Akko, a city on the Mediterranean north of Haifa. Akko has a great old city right on the shore, so there’s the really cool feeling of the ancient walls, old synagogues, churches, and mosques, a bustling marketplace with really narrow stone streets, and structures like a lighthouse and citadel, but it’s on the sea so it’s even cooler. We were lucky enough to witness an Arab-Christian Palm Sunday procession which mostly involved teenagers looking anything but enthused. We also ate at Chumus Said, which was praised by Cody’s travel book as the best Chumus in Northern Israel….but I think our expectations were too high because it was not that great. Oh well.
Driving down the coast we next stopped in Haifa, where we just did a few highlights rather than a comprehensive tour of the city. By far my favorite were the beautiful Bahai Gardens. The Bahai Faith is a monotheistic religion that basically believes in the correctness of the major figures of all religions: Moses, Jesus, Mohammad, Buddha, etc. Each came into the world and preached what the people of the world needed to hear at that time. The Bab was one of the leading figures in the Bahai Faith and though he died in Akko, his tomb is in Haifa so this shrine is a popular destination for Bahai pilgrims. Regardless of the history, the place is just gorgeous. We could only go into part of the gardens (and the guards were really intimidating with all their rules) but it was enough to be really really impressed with the beauty. The whole complex is really cool.
After visitng a few other sites in Haifa including a Carmelite convent and church, and a cave where the prophet Elijah supposedly lived (the one who went to heaven in a cart, Michal Roni and Youval), we drove to our last stop of the trip: Caesarea! I had already visited with family but Cody and Dana had not. If you want to see pictures and/or read my description, go here: http://syadlin.blogspot.com/2011/02/fabulous-weekend.html
We pulled into Jerusalem late on Sunday night, exhausted but so sad to come to the end of the trip. Luckily the fun wasn’t over yet because we left early the very next morning for a visit to Kibbutz Hatzerim, where my dad grew up and grandfather currently lives, and then to my aunt and uncle’s house for our Passover seder! Good times were had by all, as is always the case with my family, and though Dana and Cody went back to Jerusalem Monday night I stayed with family for another day. This week I’ll be catching up on work and being uber Eastery and then I leave for Istanbul on Monday!! Chag Sameach and Happy Easter to everyone!!
No comments:
Post a Comment