Ura Kidane Mehret Church, shopping and coffee on the Zege Peninsula

A peaceful boat ride and walk through a forest of coffee trees and vendors selling crafts brings you to this 14th Century Church. It is said by some to be the most beautiful in the Lake Tana region, and for good reason. The contrasting colors set against the mud/straw walls feel symbolic of Ethiopia. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ura_Kidane_Mehret for more information. 
Below are photos from the museum next to Ura Kidane Mehret Church. One book dates back to 900 A.D. Our guide asked us if we wanted to go into it. When we said yes he summoned a monk who let us in. It was much more impressive than this afterthought would imply.

The catch is that the peaceful walk through the forest winds through a variety of shops selling local goods. There were some nice local crafts, from locally harvested incense to pictures on leather to jewelry fashioned out of old, obsolete coins. Frankincense is readily available in Ethiopia, unlike the U.S. It smells wonderful and is used in Ethiopian religious ceremonies, homes and coffee ceremonies on the street or in a restaurant. See https://fairtradefrankincense.com/tag/ethiopia/
It was easy for me to resist everything by the coffee. Jill could not resist buying a local craft from this girl, who drove a hard bargain to the amusement of even the locals who joined us while we had our coffee.
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The coffee here was delicious as most Ethiopian coffee is. These people are roasting the beans grown there on the peninsula, brewing the coffee while burning frankincense they harvested. They were not going to charge us for the coffee. They wanted to sell us some frankincense instead. I paid for the coffee.