Nazareth and Cesarea

Every morning of this trip my body insisted on waking up around 5 AM, but this morning that was rewarded with a view of sunrise over the Sea of Galilee through the window. We were determined to make an early start for Nazareth, and as we drove there the homes and scenery reminded me of the older parts of Newport Beach. Arriving in Nazareth, we found a place to park our car in the city center and found a restaurant for breakfast before hitting the sights. First stop: Basilica of the Annunciation (1). The roof was designed to resemble a lily turned upside down, and the massive church was filled with depictions of Mary from countries around the world. It was cool to see the different cultures represented, but the American submission was too modern for my taste--it made Mary look like a robot that could shoot lasers. As we entered with the crowds, a Polynesian group was having their worship service and it was beautiful to hear their singing. Down below, pilgrims filed past what was believe to be Mary’s home when the angel Gabriel appeared to her. It was so small and plain compared to what had been built around it. Next door, we visited the church built to honor Joseph’s home. It was tiny and ignored compared to what we had just visited, but it was nice to see his role was at least acknowledged.

Church of the Annunciation (1)

 

 Polynesian pilgrims singing in the Church of the Annunciation (1)

Examples of the depictions of Mary from around the world

Church of St. Joseph

Getting to the next church involved wandering through the narrow, winding bazaar, which was a sight in itself. While there were a few shops selling souvenirs, it was obvious from the selection and the people that this catered to locals doing their regular shopping. I still wasn’t feeling the need to start my souvenir shopping, but when I spotted apricots I couldn’t resist—plus it gave me a chance to show off one of the few Arabic words I know. Munching on my mish mish, we arrived at the Synagogue Church. This clearly received very few visitors despite the importance of its location: it was built by the Crusaders on the site believed to be the synagogue where Jesus worshiped as a youth, and first taught. Given all the Christian tourists we’d seen at the Church of the Annunciation, how did we manage to have this place to ourselves? I can only chalk it up to the inability for tour buses to get too close. 

Wandering through the bazaar in Nazareth

Church of the Synagogue

There’s actually two Annunciation churches in Nazareth, because the Orthodox Christians believe Gabriel appeared to Mary at a well near her house, and that’s where they built their church. It was as ornate and incensed-filled as you’d expect from our Orthodox friends, and climbing down the stairs you could hear the running water below. Pilgrims consider the water to be sacred, and I enjoyed my sip. The fresh juice guy was even harder to resist than the apricots and we all enjoyed some grapefruit and orange juice before continuing our walk.

Church of the Annunciation (2)

I didn’t expect Nazareth to be so steep and hilly, so we only wandered up and down a bit more before going back to the car to drive to some of the other churches. Looking at the guide book, we decided the “Church of the Fright” was worth visiting. Apparently this commemorated the event when those upset with Jesus’ teaching wanted to throw him off a cliff. Mary was below, and frightened. Finding it was easier said than done, though, as we drove in circles trying to find it. Stopping to ask for directions didn’t help either, as there was a language barrier and clearly not everyone shares an interest in visiting it. We later learned it was the church on top of a hill that we’d seen several times, though it didn’t look like it was accessible by road. The last church we visited in Nazareth commemorated Jesus’s youth. It was a beautiful church attached to a school on top of a hill overlooking the city and was worth seeking out.

the elusive "Church of the Fright"

Once again, we’d travelled faster than expected and with the extra time, decided to drive west to the coast. Our first stop was the Roman ruins of Caesarea. It was surreal to see the remains of an aqueduct sticking up out of the sand and running parallel to the ocean, but the geography nerd in me was most excited by the ability to stick my feet in the Mediterranean Sea. Four seas in one trip! (even if one of them is really a lake). My favorite parts were the hippodrome where the chariot races were held and the amphitheater. As we sat in the hippodrome stands imagining what it was like to be a spectator anciently and channeling “Ben Hur,” we overheard a nearby group’s devotional about Paul’s epistles that mention the race of life (2 Timothy 4: 7-8). He was imprisoned here, after all. And in the amphitheater, a Korean group got up on the stage and started singing “How Great Thou Art”. The acoustics were great and their singing was sincere.

Cesearea's aqueduct, running parallel to the sea and just yards from the water

Dipping my feet in the Mediterranean

Where Paul was tried before Felix

The amphitheater is still used for performances.

The Hippodrome, scene of chariot races

Deciding the fate of imaginary competitors at the Hippodrome from our stadium seats--Danny was far more merciful.

We had just enough time to drive up to Haifa before sunset. High on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean was a church commemorating the cave where they believed Elijah hid. Reflecting on the episodes from his life, particularly when he challenged the priests of Baal, confirmed that he’s one of my favorite prophets of the Old Testament. Bold and not afraid to mock some false priests, he clearly had some sass (1 Kings 18:27).

Elijah in his chariot of fire at the church believed to contain his cave.

By this time it was too late to visit the other site in Haifa, the Baha’i gardens, but given all that we’d squeezed in I couldn’t complain. That was one of the sights that fell into the category of “things we’d never heard about before planning this trip”, but as we drove by it I can understand why it’s a popular sight. The Baha’i have built a beautiful terraced garden that while narrow, goes all the way up a large hillside.

Driving back to Nazareth, we began the challenge to find our guest house. We’d picked a convenient location to the city center, and while we had a GPS app on our phone to help with the navigation, it was no match for the increasingly narrow alleys. Finally, we gave up and tried finding it on foot, only to discover some overhead signs we’d walked by earlier in the day that clearly pointed the way. Upon our arrival, the son went with Danny to properly park the car and we settled in. The owner and his wife were incredibly hospitable, and when we mentioned wanting a light dinner, she provided a home-cooked meal that could easily have fed a group twice our size. We were almost the only guests there, and in a small-world coincidence the only other guest was a guy from Japan who’s also LDS. What are the odds? 

Before calling it a night, we ventured out to find a place mentioned in Kara's guidebook, arriving shortly before it closed. Abu Ashraf specializes in katayef, a sweet traditionally made during the holy month of Ramadan. It's like a sweet crepe stuffed with either nuts and cheese and was fantastic! The decor was a collection of eclectic antiques, so distracting it was hard to focus on the owner making these sweet delights to order. Another great end to a great day.