Around the World in 180 Days with D and N: Nazareth

We drove from Haifa to Nazareth, a distance of about an hour. Driving in Israel has been "interesting". Highway driving is quite easy. Road signs in the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv area are in Hebrew and English. Signs in the north add Arabic. Street signs in Tel Aviv were very visible. In Haifa, less so. In Nazareth, almost non-existent. Countering this is the friendliness and willingness of those we stop and ask help with directions. They try to help in spite of our obvious language ignorance -- sometimes they walk along the car to show us the way. The streets in the old part of Nazareth are winding and extremely narrow. Walking to the Basilica of the Annunciation we were pressed against stone walls to avoid being bashed by the side-view mirrors of the speeding taxis. Also, we've found that Israelis really drive with their horns, especially the taxi drivers. One example: bus in Haifa is stopped allowing several elderly women to (slowly) get off. No room for taxi behind bus to pass, so he laid on his horn the entire time the women were climbing off. I'm doing all of the driving. I actually enjoy it (and Nick does not)! I do tend to mutter various oaths under my breath as they lay on their horns, but have resisted signalling with the "high sign."

Nazareth calls itself the "Most Arab City in Israel". The Arabs in the North of the country don't seem to identify with the Palestinians in the West Bank. They do have their own issues - there was a 24 hour strike called in protest to the shooting of an Arab youth a few days before our visit-but the emphasis and history differ.

Nazareth is predominately Arab, with a population of about 80,000, about two-thirds Muslim and one-third Christian. We stayed at the Al Mutran Guest House, with a wonderful owner, Emile. He insisted on spending about 45 minutes walking Nick around the area in search of distilled water and made us a very nice breakfast the next morning. He also directed us to a rather hard-to-find spot where an elderly man has been making for many years the most delicious Ramadan-style pancakes, filled with cheese and walnuts. We really enjoyed them along with cups of mint tea.

Nazareth is significant in Christian history as the village where the Angel Gabriel appeared before Mary to announce the birth of Jesus, and of Jesus' boyhood home. The contemporary Basilica of the Annunciation celebrates the announcement to Mary, and is built on the site of earlier Byzantine structures. Pope Paul VI consecrated the building in 1964, giving it Basilica status (and got one of the main drags in town-Paulus Vi Steet, named in his honor). The next door Church of St. Joseph commemorates the reputed site of Joseph's carpenter shop.