My favorite part of the whole day was finding this artist in a back alley. Back alleys are always a good idea! Anyway, I had to go to the bathroom SUPER bad, so we knocked on a random door. Turns out he is a Jewish artist who, let's just say, "lived like an artist" (his house was a PIT) and was very generous in letting us use his paint-splattered toilet. It was so fun to give him positive feedback on his work- he lives in total isolation, and really loved going over his pieces together!
Our escapades in En Karem were pretty amazing. It felt like an escape to a tiny European town. We took a taxi about 40 minutes away, to the birthplace of John the Baptist, and the place where Mary told Martha that she was carrying Jesus. This is an old lady selling water and snacks (in case you couldn't tell!). The town was just so quaint and fun! It seemed EVERYWHERE we went was uphill... hmmm...
There were many, many churches in this little town. We kept crossing property lines we didn't know about. A bunch of monks and nuns kept either yelling at us, or shoo-ing (sp?) us off of their land. We climbed one fence (shoot, i should find that picture) that saved us from walking like 3 miles around the property... But that one was a monk's idea! 
It wasn't in either of these churches, but in a different one, this monk ushered us toward the front of the church, splashed us with water, and kept repeating the word "Baptism" in English. Maybe I am greek Orthodox now? I don't know! :)
Our escapades in En Karem were pretty amazing. It felt like an escape to a tiny European town. We took a taxi about 40 minutes away, to the birthplace of John the Baptist, and the place where Mary told Martha that she was carrying Jesus. This is an old lady selling water and snacks (in case you couldn't tell!). The town was just so quaint and fun! It seemed EVERYWHERE we went was uphill... hmmm...
There were many, many churches in this little town. We kept crossing property lines we didn't know about. A bunch of monks and nuns kept either yelling at us, or shoo-ing (sp?) us off of their land. We climbed one fence (shoot, i should find that picture) that saved us from walking like 3 miles around the property... But that one was a monk's idea! 
It wasn't in either of these churches, but in a different one, this monk ushered us toward the front of the church, splashed us with water, and kept repeating the word "Baptism" in English. Maybe I am greek Orthodox now? I don't know! :) (Oh, and at the very start of the day we went to a hospital which is now home to the famous "Chigall windows." These windows deserve a post of their own! They were so colorful and detailed, each representing one of the 12 tribes. I hope to take up stained glass making when I return to the states!)
3 comments:
Yeah the big NESTLE sign behind the old woman kind of gives her away. The stained glass that is patterned after each of the twelve tribes sounds very intriguing. I'm glad you still blogged about this even though it is over 2 months late :)
I always said I wanted to take up stained glass making but never did. The materials and tools are sooooooooo doggone expensive!!!
Back allies are were memories are made; usually bad ones -- but in your case, it sounds like it was very much worth it. :)
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