FEBRUARY 28 - NAZARETH AND TEL AVIV
We left The Scots Hotel at 9 a.m. and began the drive to Nazareth. We passed Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle at the wedding turning water into wine. Upon arriving in Nazareth, George left the three of us off while he went to the park the car and waited.
We walked through the city square where a huge Christmas tree stands. I think it would be wonderful to be there at Christmas time to see the tree lit and to experience all the festivities around Christmas.
Nearby is a most beautiful Church, the Basilica of the Annunciation, a Catholic Church, built in 1964 on top of the ruins of a Byzantine Church. It is the largest Church in the Middle East. A wonderful description of the Basilica and its importance in the Christian religion can be found here. It is really far too big to capture in one photo, but I was able to get one off of Bing.
Before going in, we walked around the Basilica under a colonnaded walkway where there were dozens of mosaics on the outside wall of images of Mary as depicted by numerous countries around the world. I found these fascinating.
An ultra-modern depiction of the Virgin Mary from the United States is on the walls of the interior of the Basilica. (Not sure I'd depict Her in this way.)
There are two levels in the Basilica. On the lower level is the most holy place – Mary’s cave, the cave in which, according to the Catholic-Christian tradition, Mary was visited by Archangel Gabriel and told she was destined to carry Jesus in her womb.
I'd like to distinguish between the Annunciation - the announcement by Gabriel to Mary that she would be carrying Jesus in her womb and the "Immaculate Conception" which I have heard often mistakenly used to convey how Mary conceived Jesus.
Catholic teaching says that we are all born with original sin - the sin (eating of the apple) resulting in the banishment of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden - and that Baptism wipes away that sin from our souls. The Immaculate Conception is the Church's teaching that Mary was destined to be the Mother of Jesus because SHE was the only person conceived without original sin.
There is also the upper portion of the Church ....
.... with its lily dome representing Mary's purity.
The exterior of the Basilica also displays plaques of Popes.
Nearby is also Mary's Well, where it is said it might have been the place where the Archangel Gabriel made his announcement to Mary.
Also nearby was St. Joseph's Church. Some say it was the place of St. Joseph's carpentry shop and possibly the site of his home where the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him and told him that his betrothed was pregnant but that he shouldn't worry because she's carrying the Son of God. We weren't able to enter that day because it was closed.
On to Tel Aviv (meaning "old new country") and lunch! Moody is from Tel Aviv and his sister is married to a man whose family has owned an eating establishment called "Shlomo and Doron" which has the most fantastic hummus! It opened in 1937 and has been operated by three generations since!
Walking through a nearby market, it's always great to see a familiar face!
Our last tourist stop with Moody and George and the entire trip to the Middle East was Jaffa, a town just south of Tel Aviv. Here's a beautiful expansive view of Tel Aviv, the most expensive city in the entire world, from Jaffa.
"Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical stories of Jonah, Solomon and Saint Peter as well as the mythological story of Andromeda and Perseus, and later for its oranges." We enjoyed a short walking tour with Moody, walking along the boardwalk and through lots of little winding streets here and there that housed many artists' workshops.
On to our last hotel of the trip, the Dan Tel Aviv Hotel with a magnificent view of beach on the Mediterranean from our hotel room window.
After Moody and George dropped us off at the hotel, Moody went on to stay a few days with his folks but was always available through email and text. George was scheduled to pick us up for the airport the following day at 9:00 a.m. for our flight to Newark at 11:30 a.m.
We were required to take yet another CCP virus test for our flight home. It had been arranged by A&K for the technician to come to our hotel that evening AND it was paid for by A&K because, apparently, we hadn't spent the entire budget they allotted to us - I guess we don't drink or eat enough! The technician eventually arrived at the hotel and tested us, the results of which were, of course, negative!
While waiting, we considered our choices for dinner. Moody had recommended dinner at La Otra, specializing in Mexican food at the Imperial Hotel or Prozdor, a hamburger restaurant, just up the street from the Dan Tel Aviv Hotel. Since we didn't think we could get better Mexican food in Israel than we already had at Luis's Tacos in Jerusalem, we opted for a hamburger at Prozdor - and did we choose right!
I was so happy with my choice of hamburger that I promised the staff that I would write a review as soon as I got home. They were so happy and so gracious that they gave us a free dessert!
As promised, here's what I wrote about our experience on TripAdvisor:
"My husband and I were finally able to visit Israel after our trip was cancelled twice over the last couple of years. We were in Tel Aviv a week ago and our guide recommended Prozdor for dinner one night. I have to say I love hamburgers. I ordered the Fake Shack (not spicy). I'm 70 years old and I can honestly say it was probably the best hamburger I've had in decades! Actually, I don't really remember when I had a better hamburger. Juicy and cooked to perfection! The bun was delicious and the fries were great! The service was fantastic and the people extremely nice."
As we started this blog with our first sunrise in the Middle East, we captured our last sunset from our window that evening.
It seems to me you didn't want to share that dessert...
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