Jerusalem - the Heart of Israel

Today we started with a self guided rafting trip down the Jordan River with just the three of us. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip thus far. It was not a thrill ride by any means. The Jordan is a gentle river and has only a couple of spots where you have any whitewater at all - and I don't know if could really call whitewater. But it was beautiful and we went swimming at one point and I think I have never felt anything more wonderful than that cool water. I didn't want to get out. Our next stop was the Golan Heights, an area that has been controlled by Israel since 1967 after the war. Prior to that period, the Syrians occupied this area and bombed all the kibbutzim in the valley on a regular basis. Itay told us that one night there were 1,000 bombs launched on the area. All of the kibbutzim in the valley lived in bomb shelters. Israel has been under pressure to relinquish this area back to Syria but you can certainly understand their reticence to do so. From the Golan Heights, you can see Mount Hermon and Syria. We went into the underground army base that is still there. We then had a much lighter stop, the Karina Chocolate Factory! This chocolate factory is run and operated by a kibbutz that has been privatized. We went on tour and tasted the most wonderful chocolate imaginable.

Now, we hit the road for Jerusalem with a stop on the way at a local mall to eat Sharma and Falafel. We traveled through the Jordan Valley and were alongside the Sea of Galilee for quite a distance. The Sea is much bigger than I thought remembering all the stories from my childhood about Jesus and the Galilee. It is a large body of water and supplies 1/3 of Israel's current water supply. The temperatures through the Jordan River Valley hit 115 degrees and it is absolute desert in much of the area. Coming in to Jerusalem was spine-tingling. There was the golden dome that you see in every picture. Bedouin shacks were alongside the freeway with their camels and goats complete with satellite dishes! Itay told us that it is pretty funny and an amazing blend of past and future to see the Bedouins on their camels talking on their cell phones. Internet is everywhere here and high-tech is part of Israeli society in a big way.

We are staying tonight in a local small hotel that is right in downtown Jerusalem. I love it. We went swimming in a Israeli public pool and ate in a local restaurant. Everything is kosher so we have become vegetarians because most everyone has cheese and you can't serve meat with cheese. I love the food here so much that I could eat it forever.

Tomorrow we tour Jerusalem!