Nazareth Gardens Hotel

... Meteen toen we binnenkwamen, werden we aan Linda voorgesteld.. Linda was een Amerikaanse en had thuis in landscaping gewerkt, maar was nu guide in Nazareth. De Jesus trail was namelijk door de eigenaar van het hostel en een hiker-vriend samengesteld, en nu was Linda de volunteer tour guide.. Ene amerikaanse Jeff wilde de tour ook lopen, maar toch maar niet, omdat hij graag de volle vijf dagen wilde gaan camperen. Linda kon helaas niet mee, dus ze zou ons een routebeschrijving ...

... really cool person - Addat but he is constantly busy so I didnt see him too much.


idit, Aviv and Addat are part of an Urban Kibbutz. They are socialists and  have a wonderful comunity of people around them, the group rent houses as groups and have cars in which they all share, it is really a big family. A lot of them were taking part in a protest about the privatisation of Israeli land which they do not agree with at all.

Idit, Aviv and I talked for many many hours about ...

... with traditional instruments, 2 pub nights a week, and one store with lots of organic products. Some of them live in these bedouin-style tents, because you're not allowed to build on all the land. The first night we went to this friend's tent, sat outside on the hammocks and broken down chairs, had some arak (the anise style drink you also get in turkey and greece etc), and played the guitar. Awesome experience.
Yesterday Maria and I borrowed her friend's car ...

... kriegt. Erst die letzten beiden Tage ueber waren sie auf einer Orientierung in Tel Aviv, bei der man ihnen erklaert hat, wie es in Nazaret so laeuft. Als ob man dafuer eine Orientierung braucht!! Alles Abzocke, aber die Jungs und Maedels machen den Eindruck, als ob das eh Mammi und Pappi bezahlen und Geld keine Rolle spielt... Wem's gefaellt.

Der Plan fuer die Schlussetappe lautet also wie folgt ...

... auf mein** Reise beginnt, lag noch ein Ziel auf mein** Nordisrael-Route: Haifa. Und das ist in d** Tat ein v**dammt cool** Ort! Haifa ist mit circa 250.000 Einwohn**n die drittgroesste Stadt Israels, hat den groessten Hafen des Landes und ist deshalb Zentrum d** Industrie und sonstig** "schw**** Arbeit". D** Grossteil des Ballungsraumes ist auf dem Carmel gebaut, einem ueb** 500 Met** hohen B**g direkt an d** Kueste. Dazu liegt die Stadt direkt an all**hand Gruen und Natur, und ...

... on the top of a hill with astounding views over the countryside. This castle was one of many dotting the landscape and used pigeon carriers to send messages. Once again no guide eventuated but we were happy to explore on our own. Our final place for the day was the beautifully preserved Roman City of Jerash which covers a huge area and even has an operating hippodrome for chariot races! The huge forum is quite distinctive as it is an oval shape ...

... been shaped over centuries by the sea creating numerous caves many of which are linked by a natural pathway. The always blue-green Mediterranean combined with the bottom color and the filtered light within the caves create the most fabulously colored water rushing in and out of the caves. Lastly we were driven to the interesting seaside town of Haifa. Haifa is one of San Francisco's sister cities having a few things in common with our hometown. First and foremost ...

... we learned about the people how copied them out, by looking at the ruins of their community buildings. There were store houses, copy rooms for the copying of sacred texts, cisterns, and ritual baths, called micvahs. They believed the end of the world was near, and that the last great confrontation would be between forces of light and forces of darkness. They had a rather communal way of life, which frequent ritual bathing to maintain spiritual cleanliness. Because of ...

... based on our itinerary! It is a little embarrassing, but really enjoy saving a few shekels here and there. There are enough remains of the town and the synagogue that it is easy to imagine the place when it was active and lived in. We enjoy about ten minutes alone at the site, when a tour group arrives and joins us where we are exploring. We listen and saunter along with them to the next spot; Harvey asks the guide if it's okay to listen. The ...