Trip Day 23 - Jesus Trail beginning

Saturday September 23

Ha-ha, we woke up seeing this guy. Weird. 

We had some leisure time. Nice breakfast. Sorted out our luggage. We leave the big suitcases in the hotel and take only a duffle bag each with us and the day backpack of course. 

Yael had told us several days ago that her husband was coming anyway to pick her up and since they live really close to Nazareth they would take us with them. That was really great for us because it was Shabbat and no trains or busses are running anywhere in the whole country. 

I can't remember when we left (I think about 11 am) but we arrived about 12:30 pm. 

Yael and her husband brought us all the way to Nazareth and dropped us off where we could walk the rest. OMG being in a car in these narrow streets going around the corner and then either steep down or steep up is an adventure. 

But then we followed the sign to Fauzi Azar Inn. 

The Inn is lovely with a lot of character. It is a restored 19th century Ottoman mansion. 

After some refreshing we decided to visit the Nazareth Village. It is a recreation of first century Nazareth. Even our tour guide Yael had told us that it was pretty authentic. 

We were told at the Inn just to follow the purple dot. 

We got a bit lost but then found it. The sign was in the other direction from where we came so we just walked past

   

We even had trouble finding the entrance and had to go a story higher. 

We were told that you need to wait for the next available guide if you don't have reservations. Everybody was so nice though and there was also a gift shop. And they had ice cream. 

It didn't really take that long and our interpreter Roda was very nice. First we saw several things in rooms inside. One of them was the cross. It is not how we normally think it was ... very high for example. No, it wasn't much above the ground because the public was supposed to be able to see the crucified really well and especially the eyes. There was more but I can't really write all down. 

There was also an example opposite of how people were executed by throwing them over an edge like they tried to do to Jesus in Nazareth and that was when he moved to Capernaum. 

Outside was what really used to be a field of farmers. Fields used to be terraced and several farmers had ground in the same area. 

First she talked about the olives. Olive trees live a very long time but if they finally die there is usually an offspring right away like in this photo. She also quoted a bible reference to this. 

This tree is 417 years old. Half as old as the one in the Garden Gethsemane. 

Very similar cave with sheep and Shepherd as we were explained in Bethlehem. 

When you see this photo you have to think away the modern houses in the back. 

How some burial places would have been. 

And a watchtower. Farmers would take turns to keep their crops and animals safe. 

This winepress is actually original. Very interesting how it was done. 

The olive press is a recreation. 

Very funny. These village girls are actually volunteers and have only arrived a week ago from Germany. 

The builder. Very interesting. When I can upload a video, brother-in-law David will enjoy the 2000 year old drill. 

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Living quarters in a typical house. 

Hanna the weaver. She too was a delight, spoke English and was so sweet and friendly. 

She demonstrated spinning but with friends like Joyce and Natalie I know all about it. 

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But she was most knowledgeable about dying the wool.  

I would like to try somethings out when I am back home. But what I wouldn't be able to do is the purple. That is made with thousands of those mussels from the sea. The creatures are pulled out, mashed, cooked etc etc. because it is so costly it was the royal purple. 

This is a very authentic first century synagogue. Most likely this would have been the place Jesus would have gone too. It would not have been a place to worship. There was only one place to worship and that was the temple in Jerusalem. A synagogue was a community place were you also (probably on Shabbat) read the scriptures, where you teach or be taught.  It was very interesting to see since we had seen so many ruins. A synagogue has always 7 pillars. 

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From the outside. It was difficult to find a place from where you could not see the modern houses behind. 

Back to our Inn. Shabbat. Lots of shops were closed now. 

 

After a little rest we set off to find dinner. We had two recommendations. 

On the way we saw a door like Roda had talked about. The little door for people, the large door if animals like horses and camels have to go through. 

The restaurant we found was Tishreen, a bit expensive but excellent with a lot of ambience. 

Being on your own again after being "herded" for three weeks need some getting used to. 

But it's great. Even more of an adventure.

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I like to read my blogs once in a while. Oh, all those memories. Now, reading this about a year later, I decided to add something to this blog. I feel I had not been totally honest. There had been an incident when we had been lost wanting to visit the Nazareth Village Museum. I had mentioned it to Yael (our Israel tour guide) when we were corresponding by email afterwards. I think I should mention it and here is the excerpt from that email:

... What I didn't write in the blog and debated whether I should tell you was our experience in Nazareth. We got lost following the purple dots from Fauzi Azar Inn to the Village. We went just a little too far down hill because the sign was at our back. And James was walking a bit in front of me. Two school boys threw first an empty can at James' head but he had his hat on so no damage. Then they threw half a brick at me which hit my ankle. It hurt for a while but luckily no damage either. Before I knew what was happening they threw glass which luckily I saw from the corner of my eye and instinctively jumped over it. Of course we were still looking for the place, went up a street a bit and down again when we knew where to go and there was the major instigator on the other side of the street picking up a paper cup which still had some coffee in it and threw that towards us. It was too far though.
We told at the village place (I was a bit shaken) but they said "just school children, not to worry".
When we got lost the next day and a man told us to be careful, shivers came back.
Otherwise ... besides you we met many wonderful people and had wonderful chats. Or even just smiles and gestures  if we didn't have a common language. 

Yael answered: Your story about the kids who harassed you is very troubling. I never encountered such behavior myself, but when it is toward tourists it is even more concerning.