The middle of June was relatively low key as was our Father's Day, celebrated with paper crowns. It's gotten a bit hot through the day, so we spend most of the day indoors or at our friends' pool across the street. Unfortunately the sea has been full of jellyfish as of late so we haven't gone to the beach very much. Alfonso and Alejandro have both gotten stung. We were told the jellyfish will be gone in another two weeks -- I just hope someone tells the jellyfish! It cools down in the evenings, so we will still head to the sand dunes. Dante was apparently unimpressed by Alejandro's leap with our friends.
At the end of June, Carl and Emily arrived for a visit so we spent 10 days trying to see and do everything we'd done in the past four months. Jerusalem, Masada, the Dead Sea, Bet Guvrin, the Sea of Galilee, Caesarea with a few extra stops as well. Part of the time, Alfonso and I took turns playing tour guide and baby sitter. It was nice to go and see things without worrying about diaper bags and nap times. I actually got to eat an entire meal without once having to say "Sit down," "No throwing food," "That's not how we use our forks," or "Please don't lick the salt shaker." Alfonso can be so embarrassing to eat with sometimes. Seriously, I spilt something on my shirt and had no one else to blame it on.
Then we took a two day trip with the whole gang. First, we went to the Sea of Galilee and checked out a fishing boat that dates from the time of Christ. There's no evidence that Jesus was ever on this particular boat but it's also a little sketchy to think that someone accurately remembered which particular rock that Jesus laid the loaves and fishes on 350 years later when the first Church of the Multiplication was built. Either way, they were both fascinating to see and help preserve the history.
We stopped again at Caupernaum, as you can see Alejandro strolling through the ancient synagogue while Dante napped in the car. Another nearby stop that we had missed on our last trip was the Mount of Beatitudes. The Church and its gardens were lovely but the view was simply exquisite. I kept thinking how incredible it would have been there during the time of Christ -- if only they had air conditioning! For those still planning a trip, I would recommend a time when it's about 15 degrees cooler!
We stayed in the town of Sefet/Safad/Tsafed/Zafat/Safet/Zefad/Tsefet depending on which map/GPS/sign/internet site you happen to look at. It is a very picturesque, particularly religious city. About 90 percent of the men we saw were wearing hats or kippahs (skullcaps.) We stayed at a zimmer (similar to a B&B) which was to put it kindly -- a dump. However, it was clean with working air conditioning. The boys were thrilled because their beds had dalmatians puppies on the sheets. If only we were all so easy to please...
The next day we headed to the Golan Heights. Months ago, I had read about Banyas, a city with ancient ruins of a temple to the god of Pan, and was so excited to visit. Banyas was also known as Caesarea Philippi after 20BC and Jesus had been in the area. (Matthew 16:13) Of course if He actually went to the ruins (the bible doesn't mention if He went sight seeing during his stay), Jesus would have been lucky enough to see the statues of the Greek gods. Much to my dismay, they were destroyed during the anti-paganist movement at the end of the Byzantine era. I hadn't realized until the morning of our trip with my last minute web search that we were going to be 550 years too late to see the statues. Anyhow, we left Sefad with the help of our ever-so-trusty-GPS and took a narrow, winding road through the hills that made Alejandro car-sick. After seeing signs for the border, I consulted a paper map and found we were a mere three millimeters from Lebanon (about 300 yards.) The GPS got demoted and I became lead navigator with the help from our Hertz map for the rest of the trip.
Despite the lack of statues, Banyas exceeded my expectations. There's lush forest at the bottom of Mount Hermon running along a tributary of the Jordan River with a gorgeous waterfall -- nature once again trumps anything man-made. We took a lovely hike that was shaded for the most part (thanks goodness!) and saw spectacular ruins from the Greeks and Romans. There was a section from the Crusaders that we'll have to catch on our next visit.
I must say Banyas is the most beautiful place I've seen in Israel so far. However, if they do give that land back to Syria, then Caesarea would take top spot. We stopped there since it was on the way home. Of course, coming from the Golan Heights, about 3/4 of Israel is on the way to Ashdod. Alfonso would have made more stops but he was out voted by my migraine. (Alejandro and I are at the rail looking out to sea if you look closely below.)
For the 4th of July, we had a simple barbecue at the house and some sparklers. As of late, we've been fighting pink eye and nasty colds. I'll be so happy to have everyone healthy again. There are a zillion other stories about the kids and our daily life here but I'm tired and short on time. Another day...
Miss you all,Love always,
debi
