Nazareth - part 1

The strict Shabbat travel rules made it hard to sightsee when we had time off. The loophole to this rule is the Haifa to Nazareth bus route, something my suite mate, Mary, shared with me.

Haifa and Nazareth are both Arab cities. They have a wonderful, clean, express bus that runs between the two cities, even on Friday nights and Saturdays. The bus has WiFi and only costs 18 shekels, a little over 5 dollars, for the one hour ride. Take that NJ Transit!

Nazareth is a work in progress. A decade ago it was not a safe place to travel, to the extent they only had one hotel because they did not have any tourists to justify more. The place was run by the "black market," which I interpreted as the Mafia. 

Today there are dozens of places to stay from an Abraham Hostel to American looking hotels to boutique bed and breakfasts to probably other options. I never once felt unsafe walking around the city, even at night. 

My first thought at the bus dropped me off at, what I thought was the Central Bus station, was what have I gotten myself into. Instead of a bus station, I was dropped off in front of the main McDonald's. I thought I will never find this place again. Turns out I did find it again, but the bus I wanted for the next leg of my adventures was a 20-minute walk away at a giant mall (which I did not go into). 

My next thought, after wandering around the city, was this is exactly what I needed. I needed to be alone. I needed to be someplace new. I needed the freedom to not be on a schedule. I needed to be someplace with Christian roots (even though now it is an Arab city). 

In short, this trip was good for my soul. 

In the plush bus I read my Lonely Planet tour book. It said instead of street names, the streets are numbered. Best to just wander around the city and not worry about getting lost. Oh boy. THIS should make finding the bed and breakfast a challenge to find!

When I finally found the place (after asking anyone who spoke English for directions, which I call bread crumbs) I found Abraham Hostel, the place I thought I had booked a room in. They guided me to where I was staying. When I arrived there was no one there to check me in, only a woman speaking French on her phone (another guest, it turned out) who said I had to call the hotel. Not going to do since I did not have a calling plan in Israel. I went back to the Abraham Hostel. Turns out the guy at the front desk is good friends with the guy at the Nazareth Bed and Breakfast. They chatted. I walked back (less than half a mile away) and was settled in my room within minutes with a loaner converter for my cell phone.

In the end, I was glad I stayed at the Nazareth Guest House. It was much quieter. It was on a residential, pedestrian street next to a church. I heard more roosters crowing than people. The Abraham Hostel (called Fauzi Azar here) would have had a lot more people in it and more opportunities for conversation. As is, I kept bumping into the French woman and her Italian husband and had conversations in Franglais (a combination of French and English). We exchanged conversations, but not names.

I walked through the quiet marketplace envisioning a bustling place in the morning, and enjoying the solitude.
 

The French woman woman recommended a restaurant that was highly rated. The same recommendation came up several other times, perhaps because there really aren't many places to eat in Nazareth, but perhaps because it really is that good. Alreda does not accept credit cards, but it does accept Shekels, Euros, and US Dollars. The exchange rate was excellent (better than I would get at a bank) so I chose that option. I even returned for dinner the next night.

The first night I met an older Jewish man from Haifa. I'd call him a secular Jew. He said he enjoys coming to Nazareth a couple of weekends a month to escape the Shabbat rules. Hearing I was from New Jersey he gave me his already read International New York Times. It was a sweet gesture. I didn't realize the international version includes dated Calvin and Hobbes and Dilbert cartoons. In his opinion Akko and Haifa are too polluted. The country is small, not enough room for tourists and factories. He kindly left me alone while I ate so I could savor my al fresco meal in a tiny, dark patio next to the large room. As the restaurant had a sign saying smokers were welcome, I was glad no one took them up on that while I was eating dinner. Someone did the following night as I was finishing my meal.

As one could order either a meat or a dairy meal, the first day I opted for a dairy meal (goat cheese, tomatoes, and lots of spices) and the second day I a sausage dinner. Both were excellent and I still remember the spices.

As I ate dinner I heard the call to worship. Muslims pray five times a day. I think I only heard chants at four different times of day. Definitely heard them around 7:30PM, at sunset, and at 9:15 pm. This was followed by church bells at 10 PM. While I loved the neighborhood sounds, it made me realize just how quiet the Kibbutz is.