Last Night in Eilat On to Nazareth

As many of you know, I am staying in hostels and "guesthouses" (I believe these guesthouses are just glorified hostels so they can charge a bit more). If you are a solo traveler that is the only way to go in my opinion.  You meet some interesting people and sometimes you travel together.  But like anything it is hit and miss with hostels.  My hostel in Jerusalem was overcrowded, not so clean, the WiFi was only in the lobby and breakfast consist of toast, jam, tea and coffee so I changed hostel. After the Jesus hike I will go to a much better hostel in Jerusalem for my last two days.  My hostel in Eilat was very good and now I am in Nazareth it is good and bad.  I decided to take the 1 am bus from Eilat to Tel Aviv and the the first bus to Nazareth.  I was a bit tired and because of the location of this hostel (hidden), I ended up taking a taxi to the hostel after the bus dropped me off.  This is an old building and first of all they charge extra for everything (if you want breakfast, it's extra, if you want a towel it's extra). When I got into my room (by the way I have it all to myself because this is the low season yea), I went to take a shower and no water.  Now it is up 4 flight of stairs and a block from the main hostel.  So I had to go and tell them no water.  Well, they resolved that problem, so I went in the shower stall and the door doesn't lock, tried the next one, that one didn't lock either.  So I just took a shower with an open door, but wait no hot water (it was barely warm), it was warm enough that I was just too tired to complain and then the drain did not work.  I am glad it is just for the night.  So tomorrow I start my trek. It is warm but not nearly as hot as it was in Petra.  My goal is to hike about 8 miles in the morning (should take about 3-4 hours depending on hills), so I should be done before the sun is really hot.  So today, I walked the city and came upon the Roman Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation, the largest church in the Middle East and one of the Christian world's most holy shrines.  The church is believe to be on the site where Mary lived. And where the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced that she would be pregnant with God's son. The theme outside the church are mosaic from all over the world depicting mother and child. It was quite interesting to see how some countries depicted mother and child (e.g. Singapore mother and child were Asian!),  The church is breathtaking and I was allowed inside to take pictures. Every hour I hear the church belles it is wonderful after three years only hearing call to prayers (side note, there are mosques here as well and right after the church belles finish, you hear call to prayer!!). There is also a Synagogue and a Greek Orthodox church. So here you are pictures of my last night in Eilat, Nazareth and my hostel:

Sunset and it was still 100 degrees

Sorry, ate most of it before taking a pic, grill chicken, salad & wine!!!

Another sunset picture in Eilat

Nazareth trying to find my hostel but found a church!!

Basilica of the Annunciation 

This mosaic was given by the Vatican 

From different countries truly beautiful

Here is one from Spain

The interior of the church

Pope from 1964 Every Pope has been to this church

Explanation of the meeting of the Pope and Greek Orthodox Patriarch

Inside the church

Outside many statues of the Virgin Mary

St. Joseph Church up the road

Living room in my hostel

My bed (it has a mattress and we have indoor bathrooms)!!!

Life Challenge:  I am grateful to be a women. I must have done something great in another life!!  Maya Angelou