Weekend in Nazareth: Convents, Kanafeh, Mosaics and Toe-Nibbling Fishes

Enjoying his goaty coffee and a sunny plaza with the Basilica behind him

Jerusalem is a good weather post. Hubby and I have decided that Good Weather and Good Coffee are 2 requirements we have for choosing our next posting. We are now adding Affordable Travel Options to the list.

Israel is EXPENSIVE! It might feel and look like the Middle East, but it’s priced like Western Europe. Which is why we were all set to go camping last weekend in the desert. It’s free! But when we woke up to snow on the balcony Saturday morning and snain (a freezing mix of rain and snow) falling from the sky we decided to change our plans.

So, where to go? Well it’s Saturday so we can’t just show up at a hotel because it will be closed on shabbat. And we can’t call anyone to see if they have an open room because they won’t answer their phone on shabbat. Oh wait, the Christians are open on shabbat! Ok, let’s go to Nazareth! God Bless the Sisters at the Sisters of Nazareth Guest House for answering their phone and selling us a room!

Nazareth is a 2 hour drive north of Jerusalem through the hills outside Tel Aviv. We cruised through green, agricultural areas and past a few mixed Muslim/Jewish/Christian towns. Upon arriving in Nazareth John and I both said, “ha! This looks like the outskirts of Xela!” Thanks to its traffic circles and ramshackle mix of concrete houses and colorful, dusty store fronts, it reminded us of our favorite cities in Guatemala...

Nazareth graffiti 

Google Maps did not seem to understand that the best way to approach a convent built in the middle of a 2,000+ year old city is not directly through the Old City. But after holding our breaths while squeezing through narrow streets built for donkeys and pedestrians, we made it to the convent. It was gorgeous and right across the street from the Basilica of the Annunciation, the spot where the Catholics believe Gabriel told Mary she was prego with God’s kid. The Greek Orthodox Church believes she got the word at the village well a little farther up the hill in Nazareth. Either way, it’s an important pilgrimage site and marks the start of the 40-mile Jesus Trail up to the Sea of Galilee.

A lovely colonnade at the Sisters of Nazareth Guest House

Central courtyard at the Sisters of Nazareth Guest House

We checked into the Guest House using a mixture of Hebrew, French and English and dropped our tiny overnight packs off in our sterile yet very cozy (as in 90F, those sisters aren’t cheap!) room. Off to get some lunch at Tishreen, a restaurant built around a wood oven where we shared baked eggplant with pesto and cheese, spinach salad and baked local cheese with roasted tomatoes. The walls were decorated with wine bottles and antiques, the waitresses were bickering in Arabic, and the food was super delicious.

Not quite full after lunch, we set off in search of kanafeh and baklava. Success! Al Mukhtar Sweets on Paulus VI Street was a carb-coma emporium with hot melty kanafeh delicately sweetened with syrup and dusted with pistachios. 10 shekels (about $4) got us a plate of cheese-filled shredded wheat dessert, with a gallon of complimentary chilled water to wash it down. Hubster even ordered it all in Arabic! I was so impressed... We took a kilo of baklawa to go. (in Arabic it’s baklawa, I thinks it’s just the Greeks that call it baklava)

Best kanafeh so far in Israel, light, cheesy and not too sweet or fluorescent orange

Al Mukhtar Sweets

Nazareth is about 30% Christian and the rest a mix of Muslim and Jewish which gives it an interesting character. This mix means that many Jewish and Muslim businesses are closed on Saturday, while all the Christian businesses are closed on Sunday, and all the other businesses that fall somewhere in between are closed because it’s low season for pilgrims following the Jesus Trail. So, town was pretty quiet and the Old City was complete crickets. Regardless there was still lots of local stuff to see and we had a great time exploring until after dark. We found a 125 year old spice emporium called El Babour (the local pronunciation of al-vapeur in French for the steam-powered mill they used in the 1800s). It smelled amazing and high-ceilinged arched space was  filled with sacks, bins and baskets of spices, teas, coffees and other dried goods like beans, rice and grains.

El Babour spice emporium

Our European style breakfast at the convent was exactly what we were hoping it would be complete with fresh baguettes, cheese, cold cuts, hard boiled eggs, fruit and coffee. Then we set out to explore town a little more. The Basilica was crowded with worshipers, a beautiful mix of people who looked Christian but worshiped in Arabic (which of course makes sense but completely captivated me at first). The church was built in the 40’s so it looks newer. It’s constructed on top of the holy shrine/grotto/cave where Mary got her big news with a tall dome shaped like an inverted lily for Mary that allows natural light to reach all the way through the main floor down to the sunken grotto. The stained glass and giant pipe organ are lovely and we spent some time looking at their collection of mosaics donated by Mary-loving churches from around the world, each piece of art depicting Mary and Baby Jesus in their own local style.

Mary and Jesus in the eyes of the Koreans

Mary and Jesus in Scotland

Walking the mosaic wall

Basilica of the Annunciation

Mary with her loving hands in front of the Basilica

Outside the Basilica, Sunday in Nazareth was very quiet. We enjoyed wandering through the sunny plazas and we sipped paper cups of some curiously goaty-smelling coffee from a guy brewing it on a street corner, but we could see it was time to move on.

On to the National Parks! The first stop was Beit Alpha Synagogue where we saw the ruins of a 500 BCE synagogue and its beautiful mosaic floor. The highlight of this park was finally purchasing our Annual Parks Pass and the extremely well-produced and entertaining audio-visual movie the park staff queued up for us in English to explain the history of the site.

Beit Alpha Synagogue mosaic floor

As the sun was approaching high-noon we arrived at Gan Hashlosha National Park where we had to pay an extra 20 sheks (about $5) each to get in. We weren’t too thrilled considering we had just shelled out 275 sheks (about $75) for the annual pass. This one was extra because of the swimming. “Swimming?” we asked, “yes, water 28 degrees.” Well ok, that’s 82 F, we thought we could handle that just fine! Hubby swam in his knickers, luckily I had packed my swimsuit as a last minute what-the-heck. The natural rock-lined pool was at the source of a hot spring and its crystal-clear turquoise water was filled with happy little tropical fish ready to nibble and clean our toes as soon as we got in. It was obviously the low season there so it was just us and 5 gray-haired, swim-cap-clad breast strokers quietly swimming laps. It was one of the most beautiful pools I’ve ever been lucky enough to jump in, truly magical!

Swimming hole at Gan Hashlosha

Fish are tickling our toes!

After a good recommendation for lunch from the lifeguard, we drove over to Beit She’an to the most popular place for miles around, Shipudei Hakikar. Grilled meats on skewers, about 25 toppings, all wrapped up in a fresh-baked flatbread totally hit the spot after our swim. While waiting for our food we diplomatically disagreed with the grill master’s enthusiasm for Trump. I’m more than a little tired of Israel’s love for this jerk of a man and I can feel my blood boil whenever they say, “You from USA? You like Trump?! Trump is very good for Israel!” Time will tell my friends...

Amazing lunch in Beit She'an

Hubster chowing down

After our weekend adventure we felt like we had finally gotten out of the city to explore this amazing land. If this is just a taste of what is yet to come, we are going to love our time here.

Hiking Nahal Katlav in the Judean Hills

Cool and shady in the creek bed

Hubby and I had a free day on Saturday last weekend and we needed some fresh air, some dirt and some hills to climb. It was time to drive our little car out of town for a hike (queue the angels singing)!

Nahal Katlav is listed as a Top 10 Hike near Jerusalem and it sounded perfect. I found a brief description of the Nahal Katlav hike online and was able to decode the Hebrew on Google Maps to feel relatively confident that I could locate the trailhead. Described as a 3.5 hour hike that would go down to a creek bed, then up past an abandoned Arab village, and loop us back around to the parking area, it looked like a good 1/2 day out. Cut to the happy ending, we were right!

Hiker tip: take a photo of the map at the trail head

Nahal Katlav is a beautiful dry stream bed in the hills just outside of Jerusalem. In Hebrew, Nahal means creek (in Arabic they would say wadi). Katlav is the name of a small Mediterranean species of tree called the Strawberry Tree, known for it's striking red bark and little red berries that ripen in November. It belongs to the Arbutus genus which includes Madrone trees and it looks exactly like one, with the tough green leaves and red bark that peels off. Strawberry Tree Creek, has a nice western ring to it...

Hubster on the trail, Jerusalem off in the distance

Following Google map directions to the restaurant named Bar Behar at the trailhead we turned off the main road and into what looked like a crowded festival parking lot with bandanna-wearing motorcyclists, spandex-sporting road cyclists, big families pushing strollers, young bearded hipsters and Columbia-clad hikers. Luckily most people were there for the brunch and the booze at Bar Behar. The internet said it was closed on Saturday for Shabbat, as are most businesses in the Holy Land, but the internet can’t always be right. The view from their patio was amazing so we vowed to return with a plan to brunch there in the future. We found a cute little parking spot in the weeds between some other cars and were glad we decided on buying a cute little French car instead of holding out for a bigger more traditional American style SUV.

Little car! We haven't decided on a name yet...

Google Map showing where Bar Behar is

On to the hike: it was gorgeous! It was very perfectly a 3.5 hour walk including our hour-long lunch break along the trail. The trail consisted of a steep descent on an open hillside, into a dry creek bed, past the railroad tracks and an abandoned train station, back up the hill past an abandoned Mosque and along a dirt road back to the trail head. It was well-marked with painted rocks the whole way. The views over the canyon were really nice, the dry creek bed was cool and shady and had some fun rock scrambles, and the ruins of the Arab village were fun to explore but also a sad reminder of the history of this region. Katlav Creek leads to Sorek Creek, a full-on rushing stream with green bushy vegetation along the shores. Unfortunately the water smells like sewage and has signs posted along it warning people not to swim in it, no problem, I wasn’t really tempted. But the ducks didn’t seem to mind. Poor desert ducks! I guess they don’t have many options for swimming spots.

Exploring inside the old mosque

Along this hike I learned two new and interesting things. The first is that, according to the sign at the trail head, hyenas live in Israel! Holy crap! I’m not scared of wolves or coyotes, but aren’t hyenas huge and vicious? I think they fight with lions, and everything in Africa has evolved to eat people. I hope I get to see one! The second thing is there seems to be a different hiking etiquette here than we have back in The States as demonstrated by the hikers that pee and leave toilet paper right in the middle of the trail, awesome. Also, if you come up behind a group hiking slower than you they will ignore your footsteps and heavy breathing and look shocked when you ask nicely if you can pass. They also don’t initiate a greeting. If I said, “shalom”, they would usually respond but that wasn’t as surprising because people don’t like to say “shalom” in Jerusalem either. Of course as an overly friendly American that picks up trash along the trail, I bet I was really annoying.

The review? I highly recommend Nahal Katlav and I would hike it again in a second. If you aren’t a hiker, just go for the views at Bar Behar.

Hand holds on the rock scrambles

Walking on the roof of the abandoned mosque

Shalom from Jerusalem

Hi Friends,

Shalom from Jerusalem!!!

The perfect window seat near Lion Gate in the Old City

It’s been a while and I apologize for the long gap in blog posts. Hubby and I spent the last year in Baghdad working in the US Embassy. Yes, we both went, I was the CLO (Community Liaison Officer, aka Events Planner) and he worked as the OMS in ESC (Office Management Specialist in the Engineering Security Center, aka cameras and codes). It was a great year but it was also busy and we barely had enough time to go to work, work out at the free gym (that was Hubby’s favorite perk), eat at the free cafeteria (Hubby’s second favorite perk) and sleep. I also decided that due to the big emphasis on security I wanted to take a break from public blogging so I didn’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing or posting a photo of something that could put us in danger. The infuriatingly slow internet was the final nail in the coffin.

Hubs and I all suited up for our last helo ride out of Baghdad

Baghdad is usually an Unaccompanied Tour meaning no one can bring their family along, but they do have some jobs for spouses there so I got to go along with him since I got the CLO job. My favorite thing about Baghdad was working with my amazing Co-CLO, we’ll call her RoRo. RoRo is now in Tokyo. Hi RoRo, I miss ya! We were charged with keeping morale high on the Embassy Compound. It was one of the most challenging jobs I’ve ever had, but also one of the most rewarding. It was really fun getting to know everyone and coming up with ideas for ways to engage everyone’s diverse tastes. From a Golf Cart Christmas Parade to a Black and White New Year’s Eve Ball to Bingo Night, to 5k Fun Runs, to Tennis, Dodgeball and CrossFit Tournaments, we just about covered it all. RoRo and I were busy 7 days a week running these events, but that was ok by us since we weren’t able to leave the compound there was no where else to go on the weekends!

Would I do the CLO job again? Oh yes, in a heartbeat. Now that we’re here in in Jerusalem and settled in I’m looking forward to getting a job, any job, in the Consulate. But in the meantime, my days, nights and weekends are free because I’m back on the EFM Gravy Train, baby!

Hubster landed a 3-year assignment in Jerusalem for our third tour and we are super excited to be back in the Middle East in a place we can get out and enjoy the local culture, food, nature, people, history, museums, tours, beaches, mountains, wineries, cheese farms, forts, ruins and affordable flights to Europe...I could go on... So, needless to say, I’m gonna have some nice photos and stories to share with you all again, which means I am back on board the Blog Train!

10k Night Run in Tel Aviv

Some wines at Yaffo Winery on our first wine tasting excursion

Left to right: pita bread, fresh pressed pomegranate juice, hummus, pickles, falafel at a hummus joint in the Old City

Hiking at sunset in the Negev desert at Makhtesh Hakatan (Little Crater)

View of the Western Wall, Dome of the Rock, the Old City Wall and Mount of Olives