Nazareth

5-6 March

North out of the Judean desert, two hours by bus, changing at Afula, not far from where I lived in 1968. Then we weren't allowed to go to Nazareth, an Arab city 60% Christian and 40% Muslim. It is a lovely highland place, rich from tourism, overlooking the Jazreel Valley south and near the Sea of Galilee.

There is now a seven day Jesus Trail hike, with an association of hostels and B&Bs arranging luggage transfer from place to place. I walked Day 1, Nazareth to Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine, 11 miles. Some of my pics are from the walk. 

The pic below shows an underground stream in a church next to Mary's Well in Nazareth, where Mary first got the word she was pregnant. Below that: Old Gold

On the bus back to Jerusalem I chat with a 17 year old and his older cousin, who is studying economics and statistics at Hebrew University. They are Israeli Muslim Arab citizens from Nazareth. He is a geek hoping to get into the Technion. She tells me Israeli schools are based on merit and non-discriminatory.