Day 16 Tuesday

Trip to Galilee day means a 5 am wake up, 6:15 bus trip and a whole day of playing catch up sleep on the bus ... usually with my mouth open or snoring ... or so I was told. Luckily others were too tired to take photos.

 Here is the sun rising over the Mount of Olives again . This time from the bus.

It was hard not to wake up fully when we arrived at the border of West Bank and Israel as two soldiers holding automatic weapons walked through the bus to check there were no undeclared Palestinians on the bus. And then again a little later at our coffee stop where a squad of armed soldiers were outside the shop with some of them dressed with prayer shawls on and saying their morning prayer. At least they put their guns down on the table for this activity.

 Sr Bernadette reminded us of the fact that in Israel, every male, when he turns 18 must commence 3 years of military service, every female - 2 years - after that they can be called up to serve at any time. Until recently, the devotedly religious were able to be excused from this requirement but now this unusual scene for us has become common for them. We have been coming across armed soldiers in the streets of Jerusalem every day but it seemed here, perhaps for the first time, I really noticed and was confronted by the reality of the situation here.

 Instead of a photo of the coffee stop, here is as hot taken just out of Jerusalem in the desert. It is a shepherd's house and small pens for his sheep right on the slopes of the desert hills by the main highway.

The second awakening if you like was when we passed a prison on the road to Nazareth. It looked very high security and I was reminded of what the young man at the university in Bethlehem said about a lot of his friends being in jail for joining the wrong political party or getting into trouble one way or another. Bernadette explained that most are detained for long periods of time, without trial or access to legal advice - basic rights that we take for granted. Bernadette says she prays for these people whenever she passes a prison. I couldn't help wonder if there was anything else we could do.

 Another desert shot. Not far from Jerusalem again.

Nazareth was a very interesting place as it had two thirds Muslims and the rest Christians in the lower older city of 80000 and mostly Jewish living a little distance away on the top of the mountain in an area called, rather arrogantly i think, Nazereth Illite - population here is about 65000. A really  lovely Palestinian guide Ghada and her younger sister, a newly trained guide, whose name I can't remember were passionate and humorous. They showed us two possible place where the holy family lived 

Inside the nunnery of the Dames of Nazareth - cool name and impressive site that has yet to be truly taken over by tourists ... I mean pilgrims.

 That lit up area in the back is supposed to be where Mary grew up . It is in the Basilica of the Annunciation  - and although bait of a tourist trap, it contained some interesting architecture and impressive art work donated from places all over the world.

Here is the Australian contribution

We were then taken to some ancient ruins at a place called Zippori.

 A mosaic known as the "Mona Lisa of the Galilee"

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It was go, go , go all day so I was glad to arrive at our luxurious accommodation for the next few days, Pilgerhaus - on the banks of the Sea of Galilee. 

 a photo taken on Wednesday morning of Pilgerhaus.

A swim and a lovely tea finished with a busy day off perfectly. A shame my camera ran out of puff early but it is charged now ready for the second day now. 

7058 - not impressed, considering how tired I am.