This trip is filled with literal and emotional ups and downs...

Hello from Nazareth: the most underwhelming place I've been.

Maybe I'm just in a bit of "mood" because we've had a very tough day.  It's been three days since I last posted, so first let's start with our last two days in Tiberias before I get into the frustrations of today.

On Friday, our plan was to cycle up to Mount Tabor.  This is a site that is believed by many Christians to be the place where the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ took place.  The mountain is located 575m above sea level (Tiberias, where we were starting is -165 m).  The good news was since it was just a day trip, we didn't have to carry the panniers which made things easier.  Getting out of the city was quite a hassle because it is a very steep climb on very busy city streets.  We had to walk for about 40 minutes before we were even able to ride.  After 40 minutes of walking uphill, we got to a sign that said "Sea Level".  Again, I am tormented by this whole "sea level" thing.  It seems we go up, down, up, down, and after what felt like forever of climbing uphill, I realized that we had just reached "0". Disappointing.

Dad just loves taking my picture whenever we see these signs.  Only 575 m to go!

We made it onto the major highway and we were finally able to actually ride (even though it was still uphill).  We saw a a sign that said "Nazareth, 25 km" and that's when I realized that when we were leaving Tiberias two days later, we would have to do that ALL OVER AGAIN.  We were actually making good time on the highway and after a few hours of riding, Mount Tabor was in view.

Mount Tabor on the left.  My thought at the time was "How in the world am I going to cycle up THAT??"

When we reached the bottom of Mount Tabor, the real climbing began.  Switchback after switchback.  100 times over.  I suppose the views we had on the way up and at the top made it worth it, but boy, was it hard work!

Halfway up the mountain

Getting closer...

One of the views from the top

At the top, there was a Franciscan monastery and church as well as a place we could eat lunch outside.  We had QUITE a feast (not).

Thrilled to be at the top...

Franciscan Church/Monastery

Beautiful view!

Preparing lunch

This was it.  

It's sad how excited I am to eat one square of dark chocolate at the end of every meal.

We took a different route back which would allow us to spend some time riding along the Sea of Galilee (Dad's basically obsessed with it), so our ride back was relatively enjoyable.  Of course there were difficult parts, but we made it back before the sun went down and, although my body was tired, I was happy to have experienced a relatively smooth day of riding.

That moment when you're about to ride down a hill 

On Saturday, we had a rest day.  Finally!  Being that it was a REST day, I didn't ride the bike at all.  And it was glorious.  I walked around the streets of Tiberias, hoping to get a few souvenirs but of course everything was closed because it was still Shabbat.  Not even my coffee shop, Cofix was open!  I did manage to find a gelato shop that was open right along the Sea of Galilee.  It was delicious, but unfortunately, I had to eat it as quickly as possible to avoid a guy that sat down and started talking to me (and wasn't going to leave until I was finished).  He couldn't really speak English so it was a lot of me nodding my head and smiling while eating very quickly.

This picture was taken 5 seconds before the guy sat down.

Dad decided to spend the day riding around the Sea of Galilee AGAIN.  He said it was amazing.  So I was happy for him.  

Yup.  There it is.  Again.

We went out for dinner at "Big Ben's Burgers and BBQ" (talk about an alliteration, wow).  We ate fish and it was a nice change from the food we'd been eating for the past month.

This would've been a great picture for St. Patrick's Day but I was a few days late!

Our nightly treat while in Tiberias included store bought chocolate chip cookies with a carton of milk each night.  I didn't realize how much Dad loved milk until we came on this trip.  I asked him what he ate for lunch on his bike ride that day and he said, "Oh I had a litre of milk".  And it wasn't weird to me. 

Then, today came.  Nazareth day.  I was not expecting today to be so difficult, but hey, it is our second last day of riding, why WOULDN'T it make me want to throw my bike off a cliff?  I knew the first part of the ride would be tough because I had already done it the day we went to Mount Tabor.  Obviously, the climb out of the city that required us to walk with our bikes was more difficult with the panniers on, but that was not the most difficult part of the day. 

Back at my favourite sea level sign again...

I don't even think the cycling itself was really hard today, but I am just so fed up with everyone in this country that I literally can't take it anymore.  I have been to over 75 countries (including Russia) and I have never encountered such rude people in my life.  It makes it hard to stay positive when everyone around me is bringing me down.

Instances where people make me want to cry and/or punch them:

1. A guy on a dirt bike rode past me on the highway and gave me the finger.  Awesome.

2. Four guys on four wheelers rode past me on the highway and put their hands up as if to say "What are you doing?"  and I wanted to say "What am I doing?? You're riding a four wheeler on a major highway and I'm the weird one??"

3. I got off my bike to walk it across a pedestrian crossing when the walking sign was lit up.  As I'm walking across, the guy honks his horn at me.  At this point I was so fed up I yelled at him "I AM LITERALLY CROSSING THE STREET".

4. Any restaurant we walk into, the waitresses look at us like we have interrupted their private party.  They don't say anything, they just stare at us.  Yesterday, we walked in and weren't even acknowledged and then the waitress threw our menus on the table while talking on her cell phone.  Sorry that we are trying to give you business.  

5. Every time I get honked at for, well, just existing, I throw up my hands and yell "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM??? SHUT UP!"  (not to the actual person in the car, just yelling at the air in front of me while they drive past, of course) As a child I was never allowed to say "Shut up" in my house (and it is still not allowed to this day), but Dad lets me say it here,  So, that should speak volumes about how frustrating it is for both of us.

6. I was riding down a hill on a street without a shoulder and a semi truck behind me just started honking at me like crazy.  Do you know how loud that horn is when its right by your ear? He blasted it over and over again and I just had to scream "I HAVE NOWHERE TO GO! HONKING IS NOT GOING TO CHANGE THAT, YOU IDIOT!"  He didn't hear me, but I don't think he would care anyway.

These are only a few instances of the many, many times a difficult day has become more frustrating.  It is a challenge to maintain a positive attitude in such an environment.  Today, after a series of people were honking at me and I had just walked up a huge hill, Dad asked me how I was doing and I said "I JUST HATE EVERYONE".  

I'm really showing my true colours here.  Please don't judge me.  I am trying my very best to enjoy the last few days I have here in Israel, but it is proving to be a challenge.  After we arrived in Nazareth, we had a fun time trying to find the hostel we were staying at.  And by fun, I mean it was awful.  No street signs here (surprise, surprise) which makes it nearly impossible to find anything!  Nazareth is also completely disorganized.  There isn't really a city centre, streets are chopped up and just end suddenly, not to mention the insane hills.  Streets are so steep it is crazy trying to ride/drive/walk on them.  After trying to find the hostel for over an hour, we were 2.0 km away.  I thought to myself "Well, this shouldn't take long now.." but boy was I wrong!  The switchbacks we had to ride UP to eventually ride DOWN on the other side were the steepest Dad had ever seen.  Tires on cars were spinning out because it was so steep.  

If only we knew what was around the corner...

Switchback 1 of 1,000,000

Thank goodness Dad was there to help me with my bike.  The grade itself is crazy, but because we were wearing cycling shoes (which are kind of like cleats), I was constantly slipping and my arms just got so tired that I physically couldn't get up the hill.  Half the time, Dad was pulling my bike in addition to his while I cried and tried to push my bike up as best I could.  At one point, we had to take a break ever few metres or so, walking from side to side because it was simply to steep to walk up directly.  WHAT A MESS.

At the top of this crazy street, we were still lost.  Thankfully, three gentlemen actually helped us out! It was amazing and their kindness lifted my spirits.

The first smile of the day came from these wonderful men who helped us

Eventually, we made it to our hostel. The entrance was a tiny little hobbit door in the middle of a wall...no idea how we were supposed to find it without having to ask someone. 

Home Sweet Home

Our plan was to go see a number of churches that were built based on the locations of events that took place during Mary's (mother of Jesus) life.  However, most of them were closed.  A lot of Dad's time was spent examining locked doors that prevented him from entering said churches.

The best moment was when the gates were open to a church (that was supposed to be open according to our guide book), and a man just came up to Dad and closed the doors and told him we couldn't go in. 

One of the churches that was open was the Church of Annunciation.  This was a Catholic church built on top of Mary's house.  This is where Catholic tradition states Mary was given the message from the angel, Gabriel that she would bear a child, the Son of God, Jesus.  (Hence the name, "Jesus of Nazareth").  I actually liked the church a lot (still had to deal with tons of tourists taking pictures of the remains of Mary's house), but my favourite part of the complex were the mosaics that were made by Catholic communities in various countries that hung on the walls outside.  Each country's take on Mary was expressed artistically which I found really interesting.

My life in one photo

Church of the Annunciation

And now for some of the many mosaics:

Ok Germany: this isn't your best work, I'm not going to lie

Happy Palm Sunday!

We also saw "Joseph's Church" which was built where Catholic tradition states Joseph lived/where his carpentry workshop was located.  

We walked around for a bit, but by 4:30 we were so hungry we had to eat dinner.  We found a cute little cafe (where I had a great cappuccino, my favourite part of every day), but I could hardly keep my eyes open during the meal.

I tried to take some pictures as we walked through the streets of Nazareth but..there wasn't much to take pictures of.  I have not been impressed by this city and it is my least favourite place out of all the cities we've been to on this trip.  I still snapped a few shots during our walk.  

#artsy

A view from outside the gate of one of the many churches that was closed

View from our hostel

Tomorrow is our last day of riding as we head to Tel Aviv.  I am hoping our last day on the bikes is an enjoyable day of riding.  I think after this much time on a trip, it wears you down.  However, I am reminding myself that tomorrow is a NEW DAY and I'm hoping to have a positive attitude that carries me through to the end of this adventurous journey Dad and I have been on for the past few weeks.  

That's it for now!

A