Blogs from Nazareth, North District, Israel, Middle East

After the bus ride from Acre, we had to rush to Nazareth. When we got to Nazareth, the Church of the Annunciation, where Mary and Joseph had lived, had actually been closed for the day already. Fortunately for us, Shimon, our tourguide, knew the guard and he let us in through the exit. Personally, I have no words for the Church of the Annunciation, all I could do when I was there was sit on one the church benches and bow my head and pray. It's hard to describe everything. They say a picture paints a thousand words, I'll have a few pictures up, that should satisfy for a few thousand words ;)). Till next time! Conor :))... read more

Wednesday March 2, 2011 We are making this final blog entry. We got busy at the front of the trip and were not able to blog the first day. Roy Wolf picked us up promptly at 6:00 AM and gave us a ride to the airport. We made our plane with plenty of time to spare. We only six people on our flight to Newark. We arrived in Newark around noon and had lunch at our gate. Around 2:00 PM we met our group from Ft. Worth. We made our introductions and prepared for out 10-1/2 flight to Israel. We boarded right on time and left with a full plane. The flight was a bit bumpy but got a chance to sleep a little and watched Social Network for my movie selection and Sherry watched Secretariat. ... read more

Another great breakfast and goodbye to our hotel on the Sea of Galilee. We started early today because it is the Sabbath (sundown on Friday through sundown on Saturday) for the Jewish culture and various places will close early. We will be spending the rest of our tour at the Olive Tree Hotel in Jerusalem. Our first stop today was the ancient ruins of Beit She’an which is one of the most ancient places in Israel. Philistines and Canaanites ruled it and the Hellenists called it Skitopolis. In the Roman period it was the largest city in the regional alliance known as the Decapolis. The book of Sameul reports that after Saul and his sons were killed on Mount Gilboa their bodies were fastened to the walls of Beit She’an. An earthquake destroyed the city and ... read more

Nazareth!! I'm in Nazareth and for some reason that brings a smile to my lips. What a great town! The Fauzi Azar Inn that I am staying at is partly the reason I am sure . It is a 200+year old mansion that had been empty for 20 some years until a business man from Tel Aviv and the granddaughter of Fauzi Azar , an Arab Christian , joined forces in 2005 to create a guest house .They refurbished , added plumbing and additional electrical work and opened then with 3 -5 bed rooms and a kitchen . They are now up to 11 rooms including a 10 bed dorm . The cliental is international and the 2 Arab cab drivers I have used could not understand WHY I or anyone would want to stay in ... read more

...and Voila I am in Israel . I must say that I am very pleased that I was able to use a bus to travel here . The Trust company has a service that worked well for me . Two 1/2 hours to the border crossing at the Jordan River /Sheik Hussein crossing , exit Jordan ( luggage xray and passport control ) and another bus drove me and my luggage the 2 km to the Israelie border . Again through luggage xray ,passport control and out the other side where a taxi was waiting to drive me to Nazareth . All this in @ 4 hours for 30JD $65-70Can. Not bad . Again I am struck by the contrasts . On the ride into Nazareth (45 minutes) looking around at the lush fields , orchards ... read more

What a day!!! An early start but we travelled up North today. We travelled up to the Sea of Galilee today and then over to Nazareth. We spent a bit of time at the Church of Announiation. Apparently its the biggest Church in the Middle East. Was a really nice Church. Long day, really good photos to come!!!... read more

Nazareth is located 20 kilometers from Tivon (where i live). Nazareth is an arab-christian city with a beautiful Basillica it is known as the city Jesus grew up in. Me and Roee went there for a couple of hours. The traffic was absoloutey horrible in the center. After having finally parked our car we went to the town square which was next to a little roundabout. Nazareth wasn't really 'all that' in my eyes. After visiting the The Church of the Annunciation (which is the most famous sight) we took a walk through the market, which was very similair to the arab market in Jerusalem. After having seen the The Church of the Annunciation, The Church of St. Joseph's Carpentry and the market we went for a drink. And that is about it of what there ... read more