Advertisement
Published: June 16th 2017
Geo: 31.0461, 34.8516
It was a jam-packed day. After making a stop at the memorial where Yitzak Rabin was shot we left Tel Aviv and drove over to Jaffa which is one of the most ancient port cities in the world. The old city has its charm. The home of Simon the Tanner is on the stairs up to an overlook that likely had a watch tower but is now a park. Modern Jaffa is growing fast and construction is going on wverywhere.
We then drove away from the sea and up into Mt. Carmel and onto a Druze village where we had lunch in a Druze families home. Our host explained the Druze religion and it is fascinating. They believe the writings of 5 prophets who followed a friend or relation of Muhammad (that part was not clear). He adamantly pointed out that Druze is a religion not a people therefore they embrace whatever country in which they live. I.e. if they live in Israel tgey are Israeli Arabs if in Syria, Syrian etc.. Anyway, the Druze also only have one holy day a year and only pray 2 days a week which he pointed out makes it a lot easier
than being Muslim. However they are strckly forbidden from marrying outside of the religion and as a result their numbers are dwindling as more and more young people do choose to leave because of this. The meal was delicious - hummus, kababs inspicy red sauce and another in tahini sauce, fatoush, stuffed grape leaves, cabbage salad. Chicken with rice and another rice dish. It was a feast!
We headed back down the mountain to Acre (Akko) which is another ancient port city famous as the main home/castle of the Templars and Hospitalers who were also gave shelter and refuge to centuries of crusading knights from the first crusade through to Richard III (Lionheart). The Templars were executed by order of Phillip, King of France, because they were getting too rich and powerful. Their legends have suvived and the museum in Acre is wonderful. I would have liked more time there. After wandering through the souk that runs aling the old castle and the harbor we headed off to Nazareth for the night.
Stark contrast arriving at night to see Christmas lights and decorated trees everywhere. Nazareth is primarily Muslim but clearly the tourist income is welcomed. There is a huge Christmas tree
in the main square with a nativity scene and Christmas music playing and Muslim families lined up to get their photos taken in front of the display. Very fun.
Tomorrow we head into the desert.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.109s; Tpl: 0.024s; cc: 5; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0416s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
nmarx
non-member comment
Sounds like an amazing time! How funny about Nazareth - I think I expected it to be quiet and respectful and not so commercial.