Out and About in Nazareth

We awoke to blue skies this morning……..

Wait!  Let's be honest here…….we awoke to Muslim Chants that are broadcast through an extremely loud megaphone system.   What time was that?

4:30 a.m.    

Yep, that seems to be the trend here.   I'd say that I'm getting used to it, but, in reality, I find the broadcast chanting to be extremely noisy and annoying.  But, obviously, there isn't much that I can do about that, is there?

Today, there seemed to be some sort of war between the faiths.  The bells of the Basilica rang for extended times, just about the same time as the chanting was being broadcast.  I've never heard that in all my time here in Israel.  I just can't imagine what precipitated that reaction.  But it sure did make for a LOT of noise!    

But I managed to stay distracted by venturing out to Nazareth Village, which is located on the edge of the city.

The village is the recreation of Nazareth  as it would have been in Jesus’ time.  Archeologists discovered that this area of ground was original to the time of Jesus and it has been preserved in such a way to bring the visitor into the that time period. 

Luckily, before I left the hotel, I had the foresight to ask the hotel receptionist for directions, because I would never have found it if it were not for his landmarks. 

(Remember, street signs are few and far between, and it is extremely easy to get lost in this city. )

Here were his directions:

Walk down Paulus VI street for many blocks.

Past Notre Dame Hotel.

Take the 2^nd exit at the rotary.

Walk until you come to 2 gas stations, one on each side of the road.

That was easy.  Gas stations are very easy to recognize.

You will see a Super Pharmacy on your left.

Actually, the Pharmacy sign was written in Arabic, and under any other circumstances I would never have guessed that it was a pharmacy.

But I recognized it within seconds.  And why would that be?

Because I had been so sick at the beginning of this trip , the pharmacy in Haifa had nearly been my second home.  The word SuperPharm in Arabic had obviously been  etched into my mind.

Who would have guessed that my misery would end up being so useful?

Look for the YMCA sign, and follow it to Nazareth Village.  There will be two hospitals, one on either side of the road, and the YMCA as well.  You can’t miss it.

Really?  What in the world does the YMCA have in common with the Nazareth village?

The man was right, though, I had no problem finding a sign directing me to the YMCA.   There was not, however, any information that would have led me to the village.  Thank goodness I had asked for the directions.

Just a short walk from this intersection and I could see the sign in the distance.

 He wasn’t kidding about the YMCA, was he?

In fact, when I went to enter the village, I found myself nearly walking through the doors of the YMCA.  After some searching around, and walking up a flight of stairs, I found myself at the entrance to the program.

This wasn't exactly the location that I had envisioned, but who was I to question?  When I walked through the door, I had just missed a tour, and the man at the desk encouraged me to join the one that had just begun, or else I would be waiting for some time until another tour began.  Each tour lasted approximately an hour, and since the group was small, this would be my better option.

I agreed,  knowing that I had already missed some of the information, but I was assured that with a small group I would catch up quickly.

The  group included 2 women from Germany and 2 men who were obviously asian.  The guide was giving the tour in German and in English.  In fact, I was impressed with his ability to change back and forth between the two languages during his explanations.

As I went to join the group, the young man asked what language I preferred, and I said “English”.

The older gentleman smiled, looked at me enthusiastically, and said, “Wee Ingliss Too!”   He was obviously quite excited that I had joined the group.  He was with another man, dressed in a business suit, whom I gathered to be his son, but I can't say for certain.  They both had similar accents and they both fit the role of obnoxious tourist to a tee.   

The tour began in a room that I really can’t describe since I missed the first 10 minutes.  However, the guide was showing a huge Steel door with a smaller door cut out in the middle.

He was finishing an explanation about the purpose of this inset door.  In order to pass through it, one would have to lower his head in order to fit.  At that point, someone on the other side of the door was armed with sword in hand, and he would swiftly cut off the head of the intruder as he lowered it to fit through.

I had just joined the group, but couldn't resist asking if this door was referred to as the "Eye of the Needle"that we hear about in Scripture.

The young man answered in the affirmative, and he went on to state the biblical reference where Jesus states that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven.

At this point,  both  of the men in our group became quite excited as they whipped out their respective camera and tablet to photograph the door.  Just to be certain, they asked again  “ This is Eye of Needle?”

The guide nodded and attempted to get us moving into the second room, where I was able to discreetly photograph the door for my memories.  It was impossible to get a photo of it straight on once these men had realized the significance.  

In the next room, the guide lit up a map while explaining that Nazareth had been formed by the migration of Jews from Bethlehem during the Maccabean Period as they forced the Greeks out of this area and built the city on these hills.

Donkeys were used to help build the roads, because a donkey may not know the quickest path between two points, but he will always take the easiest path, which explains the winding roads to the top of the mountain.  (Great piece of trivia, don't you think?)

At this point, we walked into a dark room that had a Roman Soldier illuminated in one corner, and two other shadowed areas that were not lit.

The guide pulled out a sword from the Roman era, and removed it from its sheath to show a double edged sword.  He wanted us to see what the people of Jesus' time would have had to deal with in respect to Roman rule. 

One of the men became quite excited and wanted to photograph the sword, but the room was too dark for him to capture the image.  He asked the guide if he could possibly switch on a light so that he could get a good picture. 

The guide shook his head and said, “ No, this is the Roman period,  a dark period in Jewish history, and we cannot turn on the lights.”  

I found myself chuckling at this young guides stoic answer to the question.  It did not, however, keep the man from getting his photo.

After a few more explanations, we were taken outside to walk along the path to the area that has been restored according to the time of Jesus.

We passed two children tossing a ball

I managed to capture a quick photo before the man in the business suit  ran next to the smaller child, grabbed the ball, and smiled for a photo.

I was a bit surprised by this behavior, but it soon became quite obvious that this would be the trend for the remainder of the tour. 

I took some of my own photos for proof.  Here you can see the man in the business suit shaking hands with Abram, the shepherd.

Doesn't he fit right into the scene?

Walking around the grounds could certainly put you in the time of Jesus.  Donkeys were grazing.

and goats and sheep were romping around.

There was an example of a rich man's tomb,  to give an idea of what the burial place of Jesus would have looked like.

We were told that in those days, a body was buried for one year.  After that, the bones were then collected and put in a box the size of the largest bone, which would be the upper leg.  The box was sealed, and put back into the tomb.  This way many generations of a family were buried within the same tomb.  Once again, something of which I had not been aware.

We saw an original wine press that had been unearthed in this location. 

The guide is standing on the place where the grapes would be crushed, by the feet of men, women and children.  It would then drain through a small crevice in the rocks, which prevented the seeds from falling through.  The wine fell into the cistern-like cavity, and was collected and stored from this point.

Walking along, we came to a recreated synagogue.  The guide picked up the scrolls, and spoke about the passage in the gospel where Jesus reads from Isaiah and then proclaims that the prophecy has been fulfilled.

I learned that a synagogue was similar to a community center and a temple was where the Jews would go to pray.  I had not realized that there was a difference.

We moved onto the house of Joseph the Carpenter.

Of course,  both men had to get a photo with Joseph.  Here you see the older gentleman shaking hands with Joseph while the younger takes the photo.

Our tour was designated to be an hour, and the guide was giving us choices as to what we could see, because time was coming to an end and we would not be able to see everything as planned. 

Both men complained, " We want see everything!"  

Although I certainly would agree with them, the fact is, that if they had not been taking so many crazy photos, we probably could have covered more ground.  But, who am I to deny them their fun?

They sure did seem to be having a blast today, that's for sure.

As a memento to the tour, we all received a small clay oil pot to represent that Jesus is the Light of the World.

That was certainly a nice touch, don't you think?

I had never expected the tour to be so short,  so, here it was, not even noon time, and I still had the rest of the day to wander around Nazareth.

It wasn't easy, but I did manage to find the Synagogue Church located near the Marketplace in the Old City.

I had my map in hand, but the markings on the paper did not match the actual streets that I was walking.  I turned the corner, and saw three people in an alcove.  One was obviously a tour guide, and as I moved closer, I spotted the Synagogue Church.

Now that was exciting!  Thank goodness for the tour guide.  Not only did he help me in my search, he also saved me a couple shekels that would most certainly have been demanded by the Arab who was hanging around the inside. 

I photographed the interior from the door way in order to avoid the fellow.

and zoomed in to get a better shot.

The painting in the background shows Jesus sitting in a synagogue, preaching to a crowd.  The synagogue church is built upon the place where Jesus was known to attend services and to preach during his ministry.  I was lucky to have been able to find it among the maze of streets in the Old City.

I ended up, once again, near the Basilica of the Annunciation, but this time from a different vantage point.

When I took the photo, bells were peeling "Hail Holy Queen." It was an unexpected, but welcome sound as I walked along Annunciation Road.

 As Marty and I were walking home from dinner tonight,  I was surprised to hear what sounded like bagpipes playing.  After all, we are in Israel, not Scotland.

As we got closer to the hotel, the sound became louder, and, sure enough, we passed by a building where someone was attempting to play Auld Lang Syne on the bagpipes, but he kept getting hung up on the same note, over and over again.

Now, who in the world would have expected to hear that, here in Nazareth?

Not me…..that's for sure.  But it sure did add to the hilarity of this day!

Shalom!

Exploring the Streets of Nazareth

Greetings from Nazareth!  Today was a work day for Marty, which meant that I'd be exploring the city  on my own.

With map in hand,  I headed out the door, onto what I thought was Annunciation Avenue, only to find myself lost in one of the many alleyways of the city.

Does that surprise you?  Of course it doesn't.  You'd probably be surprised if I said that I managed to get around without any issues.

I would begin to worry about my orienteering skills, except that one of the tour books distinctly states that street signs are few and far between in Nazareth, and that it is quite easy to get lost amidst the maze of narrow streets and alleys.

So, why should I be someone special?

I could take the advice from the book, and use the Basilica steeple as a ground point, but it isn't always easy to see with the high walls on some of the narrow streets.

I was no worse for the wear, although I could have saved myself some step climbing had I stayed on track.  It really amazes me that people have little shops set up on random corners of narrow little streets. I can't imagine they get much business, except, perhaps, from the random lost tourist.  Not to worry,  I wasn't the least bit interested in dealing with shop owners like these.  Bargaining is not my forte.

I had planned my day to begin at the Mary of Nazareth International Center, once I found it.

This is an ecumenical project designed to raise awareness of Christianity while teaching about the Virgin Mary and her role in Salvation History.  When I arrived at the doors, I could hear the voices of exuberant children from somewhere within.  There were apparently over 200 children attending the program today, much to the excitement of the religious order who runs the place.

You would think with that many kids running around, I would have bumped into them at some point, but I only spotted two boys, near the bathrooms.  They were trying to figure out which symbol stood for the women's room and which for the males.  I will admit, the symbols were not all that clear.  But the English words on the doors were certainly helpful!

This Mary of Nazareth center is certainly unique and fascinating.  Upon entering the doors, I was viewing the preserved ruins from the year 1 A.D.

Jesus would have been walking these streets as he grew up in the city of Nazareth.  The guide informed me that the area of the city would have covered about 300 square meters, this spot included.  

Among the findings below the floor of this building was a wall which archeologists have dated back to the Iron Age.

I don't know why, but I would never have expected that type of rock wall from the Iron Age time period.  

How fascinating was all of this?

And it would only get better as I decided to follow in the footsteps of Mary as part of a unique audio-visual program that the center offered. 

I was asked to wait outside the doors as there was a group right before me, and the show had not yet completed.  

I certainly did not mind, as the day was clearing up and I could admire the Basilica easily in the distance. 

Plus, there was always Queen Saba

and her husband, King Solomon, to entertain me while I waited.

These statues are duplicates of originals that are held in a church somewhere in France.

Soon, it was time for the show to begin.  

Suddenly, the two doors between Saba and Solomen slowly opened and a shiny blue light beckoned me to enter. 

I liken the affect to the stories that you hear of people who have crossed over and have seen the light, only to come back to tell of it.

I felt drawn into the room,  mesmerized by the melodic sound of a female voice singing some sort of Arabic chant in the background. 

I found myself in a room that looked like the duplicate of a roman amphitheater. I was alone, and settled   onto a front row stone to view the program. 

The lights dimmed into darkness, and the 3D screen began to come to life.  The story began with a little girl (Mary) standing next to her mother's lap, as her mother told her the story of Creation.

I was taken back in time, to Creation through the birth of Mary.  The sight and sound effects were amazing.

Within 15 minutes, this part of the demonstration was complete, and I found myself, once again, following the beam of light that led through 2 doors to yet another room.

This time, I was sitting on a stone rock, in what appeared to be an ancient city.  The story line began with Mary's engagement to Joseph, with flashbacks to the angel's appearance and the events that transpired soon after.  I was taken through the birth of Jesus and the flight into Egypt.

Here you can see the opening of the film with the city of Nazareth in the background.

A hologram of the angel appearing to Mary with an Old Testament quote 

and the story of Jesus' birth as foretold

Along with the impending Nativity.

Once again, a set of doors opened, and I found myself walking into yet another hall, similar to the first two, but slightly different as this time I was in the village where Jesus would have grown up, and there was the house of a carpenter on one side of the room.

I was immersed in the beauty of the music in the background as I watched Mary affectionately hugging her child as an infant, playing with him as a toddler, and laughing with her husband Joseph.

I watched as Jesus grew up under the direction of his mother, and the helping hand of Joseph, teaching the young boy his trade. 

There was the frantic search of two parents who had seemingly lost their child, only to learn that he was preaching in the temple in Jerusalem.

Then, Joseph died and Jesus' ministry began, with his mother at his side at the wedding in Cana.

The scene ended with Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem.

I was denied the opportunity to view the final segment as the room was being used by the 200 children as part of their program.

But, I wasn't disappointed.  I knew the outcome.  And, to be perfectly honest, I am not sure that I would have wanted to walk in Mary's shoes any further.

Watching her relationship with her son from birth to adulthood only intensified my thoughts on what agony it must have been to watch her son tortured until his death on the cross. The program had been quite an emotional experience for me, and I was perfectly happy not to view the final part of the story. 

Besides, I was short on tissues.

I assured the apologetic young man that I had seen sufficient and complimented him on the outstanding nature of the project.  He was thrilled.

Moving on, I was able to tour the chapel, 

with the lovely flowers in bloom

 and the beautiful icons inside.

 All of the mysteries of the rosary adorn the interior of the chapel, in iconic form.

and I enjoyed the rooftop panoramas.

Amazing, for sure.  This had definitely been a terrific way to begin my tour of Nazareth.

Heading across the street, I entered the grounds for the Basilica of the Annunciation of Mary.

The building is huge, and the cupola can be seen from nearly anywhere in the city.

This is a Roman Catholic Basilica that contains the "house"where the Angel appeared to Mary. 

You can see the "house"in the background of the photo, and there is actually an altar in that spot, where a priest was saying Mass, today, at noon.

Now, I cannot say that this is the official "Spot" where the angel appeared.  Particularly since there is a Greek Orthodox Church that has a similar shrine down the street, as well as a Coptic Church.  And, there is also Mary's well, where folklore makes claim that the angel appeared to Mary in that spot.

Within one block, there are four buildings that make claim to housing the spot of this announcement.  I haven't checked out the other two churches yet, but I did pass the well.

Personally, the "exact" spot isn't that important in my eyes.  But it certainly is heartwarming to realize that so many different faiths find this event important enough to commemorate personally.

The Basilica itself is more ornate than most of the churches that I've seen here in Israel.  The interior, as well as the grounds, feature mosaics devoted to the Virgin Mary, from many different countries.

Each one was unique and different and offered an insight to the country that donated their particular icon.

Ireland

Italy

Japan

Queen of Guides and Scouts

Scotland

Slovakia

Thailand

the United States

and the Vatican.  Each one beautiful in its own right.

 Just adjacent to the Basilica is the Church of St. Joseph.  Walking through the doors offered this view:

Here's a closeup of the Sanctuary

and a beautiful side altar.

A painting on the walls along the way to the basement shows a lovely depiction of the Holy Family.

The church is supposedly built over the spot where Joseph's carpentry shop would have stood back in the time of Jesus.  There are some stone stairs and flooring that dates back to the time period.

In addition, there are some beautiful windows, like this one depicting the death of Joseph.

Outside, in the wall, there is a lovely statue of the Holy Family

And in a grotto connecting both of the churches, a statue of Joseph the Carpenter stands in the middle of a circular garden.

If I hadn't walked around the back of the statue, I would never have seen the angel crouching behind him.

As you can see, the grounds are stunning, adding to the peaceful aura that this place has to offer. 

There were plenty of tours, but they didn't seem to be in the way today.

No Arabs attempting to draw me into their store.

And, no hookah smokers to invade my space.

All in all, I'd say that it was pretty much a perfect day.

What do you think?

St. Patrick's Day in Israel

Blog Diversion!  I had intended to give you a detailed description of the magnificent shrines that Marty and I had visited yesterday.

But then……..we went out to dinner.  We were kind of beat, and just looking for something small.  We had even looked to see if the hotel had a lounge of some sort where we could pick up a bite to eat.

When it was apparent that they did not,  we decided to walk to some of the restaurants that we had passed earlier in the day.

Before we had left our room, I had spotted this green glowing light, emanating from one of the shrines, and we found it interesting that this city would be recognizing St. Patrick's Day.

Last year, when we just so happened to be in Scotland on St. Patrick's Day, we found it hard pressed to find any signs of celebrating the day.  But, here, there were several restaurants featuring Guinness, balloons, and obvious festivities designed to celebrate the day.

We decided on a place that offered a lovely view of the Greek Catholic Church of the Annunciation in the square, and as soon as we got near the door, a young lady, wearing a leprechaun hat and a green floral lei around her neck, was jumping around asking if we were interested in coming in.

I asked to see a menu and was brought one written entirely in Arabic.

So, I asked if there was an American Menu:    Just one minute.  

Well, that minute came and went, and we decided to just give it a shot, because it was obvious that these people were eager for business.

We were just relaxing in our seats when an enthusiastic waiter popped a fluorescent green tie on Marty and a green lei around my neck.

Do we look Irish?   Actually…Marty does have Irish roots.  I do not.  But, everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day….right?

Well, that is apparently the case here in Nazareth, because this Arabic restaurant was quite enthusiastic about celebrating the day.

There was one waitress who spoke English and she became the official waitress for our table.    She was VERY excited to practice her skills.  She was a dark haired, slightly plump, short, beautiful girl, who just kept smiling and fidgeting in between words.  I've never seen someone so happy at waitressing.  Her exuberance was quite catchy.

It took quite awhile for anyone to produce an English menu for us to read. It must have been buried somewhere.  In the meantime, our friendly waitress asked us what we wanted to drink.

But not before giving the specials.  

"We have a Guinness Special tonight! ……..It is St. PATRICK's Day today!!!!!…..Did you know that?……..We have a special, from between 7:00 to 8:00, if buy 2 Guinness glasses of beer, you get the third one free!!  Are you interested? "

Marty looked at the time.  It was 7:40.  He laughed and said, "So, that means that I would have to drink 2 beers in 20  minutes to get my free beer?  I don't think that I will be able to do that. "

"Oh……OK….but do not worry….when one special finishes, we have another one begin."

So, he ordered his ONE beer, and we waited to see what was in store for us. 

While waiting for our dinner to be served, the music suddenly became very Irish, and the owner was attempting to get his staff into the spirit by making them wear crazy hats, leis around their necks, and, of all things…..hula skirts……because they were green.

By this point, I was trying very hard not to break out laughing.

Dinner was fabulous and certainly one of the most entertaining meals of our trip.

Marty and I were certainly enjoying the festivities.  And then……I spotted something very unfamiliar to me.

The owner of the place, who was ordering all of the girls to dress in grass skirts, was sitting by a window…..smoking a hookah.  

I'll be honest with you…..I don't even know if that is spelled correctly.

I know absolutely NOTHING about hookahs.

Except, when I began to look around, all of the  people who had finished dinner were smoking them.

Two women, just behind Marty, were puffing away, as well as people at other tables in the restaurant.

Some new patrons came in, sat at the table next to us, and the staff brought one to the table, along with a pot of coals.

We would soon be surrounded by people smoking these things.

Perhaps many of you blog readers will not be as surprised by this as I was.

Now we're wondering if this will be the norm at every restaurant here when we go out to dinner.

Do you suppose that there is a Nazareth for Dummies book out there?   Or, perhaps, Hookahs for Dummies?

I had better get busy looking!

In the meantime, if you have any advice……I'm all up for any suggestions!

Perhaps I'll write about those shrines later…….