Returning to Jerusalem:
We returned to the 'Jerusalem Gate Hotel', warmly greeted by Mohammed, our kind front desk manager. I find it interesting that although you have a lot of Arabs living and working in Israel territory, no Israel will even contemplate stepping over the line into Palestine territory. There are many cities that seem only occupied by Arabs and immigrants (Nazareth, Kana etc) with few, if any, Israeli Jews. Its one of many peculiarities of this unique land.
Gracie and I wanted to return to the Walled city, as its myriad of streets had yet to be truly discovered by us. Uniquely, in the walled city of Jerusalem, you have 4 religious occupants: Christians, Armenians, Jews & Muslims, all co-existing but distinctly separated by traditions and cultures. Although we one can freely walk between the 4, they wouldn’t let us two Caucasians enter the territory of the ‘Dome of the Rock’ church, which is in Muslim quarters. Sure, we could have dressed up and hid behind the local dress, but my pale face, blond hair and light eyebrows would have surely betrayed me.
After an exhausting day of trying to find our way out of the walled labyrinth, we relaxed in one of the many cafes - this one overlooking the David’s tower. Although I’m not keen on the food served in Israel, their pastries are quiet good.
Later that evening, we met up with Renee and her new husband, Moshe in the German Colony to exercise our palate - this time at a kosher sushi place. As you would imagine there were only ‘Biblically’ clean’ fish served here – so the menu was small yet pleasing.
Sea of Galilee (which is actually a Lake):
The next day, we hired a car and along with ½ the Jerusalem population, bolted from the city. This weekend was Purim, which commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people from Haman’s plot to kill them (Book of Esther) As part of the celebrations, people dress up as if Halloween and celebrations are evident, nation wide.
We made our way to the green north and circumvented the celebrated Sea of Galilee. The topography was a stark contrast to the wasteland I witnessed in the south. We wondered how much of it had changed since Christ’s time in Israel. It was hilly, green and the roads were windy, which made for a fabulous drive (and I’m certain would have thrilled the motorcyclist I know) We made our weekend home in Tiberias, the large resort on the east coast of the sea.
From there, it was an easy 20 min. drive to the hood of Nazareth ("can anything good come out of Nazareth"). Although the names are well-known, its near impossible difficult at times to notice any relics from Christ’s time. Every place that has any Christian significant to it has been replaced with a church, usually right over the place of significance. In Cana, the location of Christ’s first miracle, there was planted a catholic church. In its bowls, however, were unearthed relics from a time long ago, some say they even have the jars of wine. Here we met up with some peeps from the motherland – Poles. These guys were taking a break from their UN posts in the Goland area.
In these warm and wide-open spaces that the Galilee offers, its easier for me to imagine Christ’s ministry here. We stopped off at the Mt of Beatitudes (Sermon on the Mount) which became my favorite site. The lay of the land next to the church forms a natural amphitheatre sloping down to the lakeside, so it is more likely that Jesus stood at the bottom of the hill rather than on the hill we were on. We were treated to a melodic Christian hymn by one of the tourist groups visiting the site. Remarkable how music seems to add emotion to a place.
Of course we had to stop in at Bethsaida, though there was nothing but pastures and green spaces to behold. Its obvious that either the earth quaked here or the sea receded, as this is the site that Jesus ‘walked on water’ (as well as the feeding of the 5000). The only problem now, is that the shores of Galilee are a km away.
Haifa:
We traveled from the Golan Heights to Haifa, the largest port in Israel. I did something I’ve always wanted to do, (but have been scared by the media/people not to in the States) pick up a hitchhiker. Hitchhiking is quite common in Israel and through some convincing of my cousin, we picked up a non-english speaking Israel solider (sans the gun, bummer) and drove him about 30 km to his next post. Though it was short, I can now say I picked up a hitchhiker and lived to tell about it. (LOL) Akko was our final stop on the way to Haifa. This is the marriage of East meets West, received the Crusaders and the Ottomans a few yrs earlier. There was a sense of Kaos in the walled city, which lead way to the market bazaars and crazy streets. I happened into an earthly heaven, when I ventured into a store, which only sold Baklava – all shapes and sizes. With a whirlwind day behind us and exhaustion upon us, we found the way to our B&B through the heavy trafficked, windy streets of Haifa, built on Mt. Carmel. I was back to my element of crowds, cement structure and constant action.
