Finally saying goodbye to Galilee, we dried off and drove up the hills, heading out of the area and for Mt Tabor. Now a national park, it was the site of some famous Israelite battles way back in the day and is recognized most often as the place of the Transfiguration. There are Byzantine and Crusader ruins and a couple churches. We mostly just enjoyed the views of the hills and farms around the mountain and relaxed for a little bit. It was another very peaceful place - except for the ride up and down: very narrow road with many switchbacks (with poor sightlines) and lots of cars zooming by.
With little real debate, we decided to head to Nazareth. This is the first place we wanted to see where anyone had said anything about watching for dangerous stuff. Close to, but not in, the West Bank, Nazareth is two-thirds Muslim with the remainder Christian. We had been warned a little about going there, but our guide book said go for it. Like I said, we didn't really second guess it - we both were excited to go. The guide book also said traffic and parking are typically a pain - 2-for-2! We crawled up the hill at a snail's pace, turned at the top, and inched our way down, looking for parking the whole way. We finally found a lot (second one we tried; first one was closing early - Friday prayers are the more holy time for Islam) that charged 20 NIS (about $6) for a day. Prices seem okay; it's more a matter of access to a parking spot. The lot was also near churches and a pastry shop recommended in our guide book. We were hungry and the pastries were on the way, so we stopped in there first. We had a couple of the best sweet little cheese and dough and I don't know what pastries ever. Really - not sure what they were called or what exactly was in there, but the guide book was right again, amazing. The place is called Mahmoud's and is by the traffic circle for Paulus VI and Casa Nova streets. (If anyone is going to Israel, please borrow our book - it has been great) We considered decamping at the pastry shop for the remained of our time in Israel but figured there were a few other things we wanted to do still. We walked up the hill a block or so to the church built on the site of the Annunciation. Traditionally, the caves underneath the church and St Joseph's next door were Mary's house (where Gabriel came to her) and Joseph's carpentry shop. The Basilica of the Annunciation was very beautiful, had many levels to it, and was crawling with tour groups. We ducked around them and 'snuck' up some stairs that appeared off limits ... until we ran smack into another tour group. We walked around the town a fair bit and poked into some markets. We couldn't find the guidebook-recommended Diana restaurant (with its obvious appeal), but now we have something to come back for - that, and did I mention the pastries?
We meandered our way back down the hill and away from Nazareth (everything goes too quickly, and we aren't even rushing ourselves!) It was a little over an hour and a half to Jerusalem, mostly on very nice highways, with a stop on the way for espresso (can't get enough) and Pringles and a Bounty bar. No kidding, the Pringles were the first thing on vacation to make my stomach uneasy - the swordfish ceviche in Paris, awesome; God-knows-what at the Israeli breakfast shmorgasboard, no problem; Pringles? Bletch!
We got into Jerusalem and our hotel just before sundown, when the Shabat would begin for our Jewish friends. Checked in to our room and rested for a bit and then hunted down dinner. Of course, everything Jewish was closed, and we hadn't really oriented ourselves yet with the city, so we just had salads at the hotel bar - tell you what, they weren't half bad. Also the Sabbath does not forbid the bartender from pulling a couple tall beers from the tap for me too...
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