Into the Desert

Sunday morning...our final morning on Kibbutz Ramat Rachel. We packed up the car, said "L'hitraot" to the Romano family (we expect to see them again before we depart for home), and drove to M'tzudat David - the David Citadel Hotel, where we will be staying for the remainder of our time here in Israel. We exchanged our luggage (dropped it off at the hotel and checked in early - our room would be ready for us later in the day) for Dan, who would be joining us again for the day.

The four of us drove east out of Jerusalem to make the descent towards the Dead Sea, whose shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth not under water (1,420 feet BELOW sea level). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea) Our first stop at the far north end of the Dead Sea was the archeological site at Qumran, which is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the last century, and where the Essene sect lived during the Second Temple period. We spent about an hour walking through the ruins of this city before we continued our drive south to Masada, the Herodian fortress best known as the site where the Zealots held off the Roman army and chose to die by their own swords rather than be killed or forced into slavery.

We arrived at Masada in time for lunch, and then after a quick film which gave a nice history of the mountain fortress, we took the cable car ride up the mountain (rather than try to hike up the steep Snake Path with a four year old) and began our exploration. For Shara, this was the most impressive place that she has ever seen (liking it even better than Caesarea, which up until this point had been her favorite). We walked through nearly every nook and cranny of the mountain top fortress, from the lowest point of the Northern Palace, to the southern cistern and the echo lookout to the south (one of Daphne's favorite places on Masada). Daphne found a small stage opposite the area with the mikvah, and decided that she was going to perform for anyone around by singing some songs. (The video footage will be up on Facebook sometime soon....)

Following the cable car ride down the mountain, a trip through the gift shop, and a potty break, we continued our drive south to Ein Bokek, which is the major resort site along the Dead Sea Coast. We parked and walked up to the water. Since it was a bit chilly and none of us brought our suits, I encouraged Shara to take off her shoes and socks, roll up her pants, and walk a few paces into the water. Though she didn't get the full floating effect, she still had a portion of the experience. Daphne, on the other hand, wanted no part of the water. We visited one of the gift shops and purchased some "obligatory" Dead Sea products before we got back in the car and headed towards our final destination before heading home...

Beer Sheva is another city mentioned in the Bible. Abraham and Sarah actually made their home there for some time. Now it is home to a major University - Ben Gurion University of the Negev - as well as my 86 year old cousin, Shoshana (mother of Michal, and grandmother of Oren, Shaked, Rotem and Amir, among others). We met Shoshana at Beit Yona (House of the Dove), a senior residence facility for active seniors. She hosted us in the dining room and then we spent some time visiting with her up in her apartment. It was a treat to see Shoshana, as I had not seen her in nearly 10 years.

After our visit with Shoshana, we made our way into the Old City of Beer Sheva where we met up with my friend, Dani, at his home. Dani and I met while playing for the same team in the Israeli men's softball league while I was a student in Jerusalem. Dani still plays softball, but now he is also employed by Ben Gurion University as a media photographer. When we arrived, he showed us his beautiful home, which also serves as a gallery to display and sell his photographs. Then we walked several blocks to a classic style Israeli restaurant which serves meat and hummus! By the time we finished dinner, walked back to Dani's place to pick up our car, and head back to Jerusalem, it was quite late. But we had enjoyed a wonderful day - probably our fullest yet this trip.