in the middle east

The small hill town of Nazareth, Jesus' home town, still occupies the same steep ravines and hilltops that it did 2,000 years ago. It was a small agricultural village - today it has a population of almost 100,000 and has a thriving culture and economy. The oldest part of town, "lower Nazareth" is predominantly Palestinian, Arab citizens of Israel, while the newest part of town "upper Nazareth" is predominantly Israeli, and the line between the two parts is pretty clear (for a quick history of the city, Click Here). A day after Christmas we stayed in Nazareth a few days and used it as a base for our other adventures up north in Galilee and the Golan heights. We stayed in lower Nazareth and had a great time. Very friendly people, great falafel, and way to much traffic for those narrow streets! The most well-known tourist site is the church of the annunciation, commemorating the spot where Mary was told she was pregnant with Jesus. It is a gigantic and awe inspiring church. After Nazareth we went down South in the broad Jezreel valley where the ancient city of Megiddo lies. Here are some pictures, just Click Here. [Note: I just realized that I spelled "Nazareth" wrong in the captions of the pictures! But I don't feel like correcting all of them, so just read "Nazareth" when you see "Nazereth", oops).