Climbing the Hills of Nazareth

I'll admit, that title does sound a bit dramatic.  But if you were in Nazareth, you'd agree with my choice of words.

High atop a hill, overlooking the Old City of Nazareth, is the Basilica of Jesus the Adolescent.

Can you see the tallest building,  at the top of the hill, nearly at the center of the photo with the roof looking as if it is nearly touching the clouds?

When we arrived on Monday,  we decided that it was worth at least trying to hike up the hill to check out this basilica together.  Not being the least bit familiar with the city, this type of adventure was way out of this gallivanting gal's league.

So, we grabbed the map of Nazareth that the hotel receptionist had given us, walked down to Paulus VI Street, and attempted to figure out the best route to the top of the hill.

The map featured a blue dotted line that zig and zagged its way back and forth, starting near where we were standing, and ending near our destination.  It was marked on the map as the Pilgrim Route. 

Well, that seemed like a plan!  You could consider us Pilgrims……right?

So, we began walking up hill through the maze of narrow streets lined with high stone walls on either side, confident in our direction as we passed one landmark after another that was printed on the map.

Then we came to a spot where we just weren't certain which way to go.  We noticed that one set of steps featured a hand rail with a distinctive blue pattern along the walls.  

Since the route on the map was blue, it certainly made sense to us to follow this path and hope that it led us to our destination.

After several sets of stairs, each getting subsequently steeper, it was obvious that this hike was not going to be easy as the map implied.  Even Marty made the comment that the trail looked great on paper….that was FLAT!

I had to stop and catch my breath at several stops along the way.  Just when I was sure that we were near our destination……there would be another set of steps, leading left or leading right.

We were nearly at the top when I spotted this unusual plant on a porch along the pilgrim route. I used the excuse of taking a photo to catch my breath for a few minutes.

Isn't that unique?  I'd never seen anything quite like it, and I found it interesting that the bloom would be so large in comparison to the small pot.

We were finally at the top of the Pilgrim Route, but we still had  a bit of a climb to the entrance of the Basilica grounds. 

Passing through the gate, we found ourselves in front of a school dedicated to Don Bosco, the founder of the Salesian order who built the church.  The school was once an orphanage, built in 1902.    Several  years later, a Frenchman by the name of Caron donated a large sum of money for the construction of a church next to the orphanage, thereby establishing the Basilica.

It was even more impressive up close than from a distance!

We headed up the stairs to the entrance way only to find the doors locked!

Really?  I had just huffed and puffed my way up a ridiculous zig-zagging trail, and the doors were locked?

You can be darn certain that I was NOT happy!   Particularly since I had made certain of the visiting hours, and we were well within the time period when it should have been open.  

But what were we to do?

Might as well take some photos of the exterior

And the view over the city from the top of the stairs.

Is that amazing or what?  You are gazing upon the hills of Nazareth.  The view in itself was worth the effort.

While I was still grumbling about our luck, Marty spotted a workman on the grounds and asked him if it was possible to go into the church to pray.  He directed us around the back of the building, and said something about walking through a long hall in order to get in the back entrance.

We were finally able to figure out that the man had directed us to walk through the school, and down a hall to the side entrance of the church. School was not in session, so there was no problem with us entering the building and making our way down the very long hall to the open door leading to the church.

I walked through the door, looked up, and was immediately awed by what I saw.

You need to see it closer to really appreciate it.

Actually, I think that you had to be there to really appreciate it, but let's face it, this will have to suffice for now.

On the opposite wall, above the doors, beautiful glass windows gleamed in the sunlight.

leaving the church, I spotted this lovely window above the side door.

We headed back out of the building the way that we had entered.

We certainly could not pass on the opportunity of taking a photo together overlooking the hills of Nazareth.

And, of course, we needed one with the Basilica behind us to prove that we actually made the hike.

Walking back down the blue Pilgrim trail offered views that I missed while panting on the way up.

And I noticed that the alleyways on the way back down looked far more enchanting than on the climb up to the top!

We had managed to make the hike, no worse for the wear.

By now, it was nearly time for dinner, so we set out to find a place to eat.

That was when we discovered that even in Israel, some restaurants celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  I honestly don't think that the people have a clue regarding the story of St. Patrick.

But, really, why should we care?  It was certainly an interesting experience, and if you read my earlier blog about the festivities,  you must agree that the evening was extremely entertaining!