Good Morning Nazareth

This morning I woke up in Nazareth at the Fauzi Azar guesthouse to the sound of water running in the fountain outside our dorm, and the stillness that you can only get inside these old thick limestone walled buildings. This place used to be a private mansion in the Old City, and you can tell from the arches, mosaics, and windows and balconies overlooking the rest of the city that it must have been even more impressive then than it is now. Before heading to bed last night, we stumbled upon an international prayer service at the Roman Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation just down a few narrow winding market streets from our guesthouse, which was a, unexpected opportunity to enjoy the atmosphere of a very impressive place of worship alive with the prayers of local and visiting faithful folks.

There is much more to tell, especially about the last couple days we spent back in Jerusalem where we caught up with newlyweds Aidan and Juliet Brown on their honeymoon. It was wonderful to see them again so soon after the wedding and share some memorable walks (across the rooftops of Jerusalem, to the Western Wall, through the packed Muslim Quarter market streets in the evening, etc), and hear about their earlier adventures in Europe.

And now it is time for us to try some travel by foot. We have our trail maps and camping supplies ready to go for our attempt to hike "The Jesus Trail" (see map) mini-pilgrimage, and will probably not get a chance to email or phone for a few days, so please don't worry if you don't hear from us. We'll send an update about our experiences as soon as we can.

Lots of love,

Joe & Carol