Part of the time that we have been here in Israel (other than traveling around) we have been “tiuling” (taking short trips) around with Aloni, the kind friend of my grandmother, who is letting us stay in his house. As well as being an Israeli citizen, his family has also been living in Israel for over 500 years. He is very informational and resourceful for everything. He has served in every war in Israel as a frogman except for the war of independence (which he was five years old for) and this past Lebanese war. He knows every single detail about Israel and it is so interesting to hear. He took us on a variety of tours around Israel, which are described below.
The Tomb of Samuel
One of our adventures with Aloni was to the tomb of the prophet Samuel, which is up in the hills of Jerusalem. It is up on top of a hill with a big Minaret, which is tower that is on mosques and used to call the other Muslims to prayer. On the bottom floor, there is the tomb of Samuel and a synagogue. The next floor has both a place of warship for Christians, and Muslims (which is why there is a Minaret). We walked up the Minaret and we were on the roof of this ancient building. We walked around the roof and Aloni showed us different parts of the area. He pointed out different trees, water cisterns, and ancient houses. It was a beautiful view of all of the villages and farms. Aloni pointed out to us where the land was green and the places where the land was fertile, and where it was not and the land was all desert. It was also interesting how this hill was the last place to get water before the border of the desert.
Ashkelon
The second place that we went was called Ashkelon. Our first stop was at the beach. We didn’t get to swim, but we waded in the water and it was beautiful and refreshing. Our next stop was a national park, which Aloni’s dad had helped landscape. As we drove along we saw beautiful sculptures and greenery and flowers. It was fun to see. In the park, there was a grassy field, with ancient columns. Aloni told us with great detail that the columns were from the time of Samson and Delilah. It was so beautiful to see and I was so amazed to be standing there. After we drove around that, we headed back to Jerusalem
Sobeq
The next adventure that we went on with Aloni was to a cave called Sobeq. One of the things that you have to know about Aloni is that everything is a surprise, so we don’t know anything about the place we are going until we arrived. He told us that this was going to be the most beautiful, and spectacular cave that we had ever seen in our lives, and he was right. After seeing a movie about it for an introduction, we found out that the cave had unbelievable stalagmites and stalactites. Stalagmites are icicle like things that grow out of the ceiling, because of water that gets trapped in the cave. The water drips down and after millions of years, it forms something that looks like an icicle made out of wax. (We didn’t get to touch it, so I don’t know what it feels like.) Stalactites are the same thing, except they grow from the floor, so they grow upwards. After a stalagmite and a stalactite have grown for a very long time, they can meet, to form a barrier like post. After that, they keep growing, and even at some point, it can look like a wall. It was an incredible sight. After the cave, we had to walk up many steps to get back to the car, and periodically, there was a sign saying how many more steps there were, and how many calories we had burned so far. For Instance: 35 more steps; 50 calories; 1 muffin. We were all highly amused by that.
Ramat Rachel
The next place that we went was to a kibbutz in Jerusalem. The kibbutz is called Ramat Rachel; the Kibbutz is very wealthy. They get their wealth mostly from renting out land, but also because of its olive orchard. The hills of their kibbutz over look Beit Lechem (or Bethlehem) and many other Arab villages. In fact, for many, many years, these surrounding villages were attacking them. At the end of the olive orchard, Aloni showed us different pieces of pottery that the people that lived there used. There were old forts and rocks, which once were army bases. It was very cool. The other unique thing about this, was that in the middle of the orchard, there was a statue. The statue had a cement base, with three layers—like stairs, but you have to have REALLY long legs to climb them. There are also three gray pillars that are about thirty feet high. On the top of those, there is a platform with three olive trees growing on it. It was an incredible sight. We went inside the kibbutz and Aloni showed us where the emblem for Israel (the Menorah) came from. It was on a carving that they found on the kibbutz. They picked it as the central symbol, according to Aloni, because you need light to study. I really liked that message.
Sh’fayim, Ein Gedi (the Dead Sea), and Masada
When friends of our family arrived in Israel, we (Aloni wasn’t there) did a little bit of traveling. We started at a kibbutz near Tel Aviv called Sh’fayim. It is a wealthy kibbutz right on the Mediterranean Sea. They have a beautiful beach and a water park. The water park reminded me of Disneyland, with water. Tons of long lines and crazy people, but the slides were tons of fun. We met up with some friends from LA while we were there. We went to the beach and swam in gorgeous, clean, water and we enjoyed splashing in the waves. After our stay at Sh’fayim, we drove down to Ein Gedi, which is another kibbutz right near the Dead Sea and Masada. When we arrived, we were all very hot, so we went for a swim in their beautiful pool overlooking the desert and the Dead Sea. The next morning, we woke up bright and early (5:30am) to go on our Masada climb. When we arrived at the base, we bought our tickets and we were on our way up. We took the snake path, which is a path with switchbacks. The hike was hard, but not impossible. We took about an hour to get up (it took a LITTLE bit longer than usual because Emma was not in the mood for hiking—you can hear more about that on my parents’ blog). When we got to the top, we had our breakfast while we waited for Aloni, my grandmother, and their friends, who were taking the cable car, which opened at 8:00am. When they arrived, Aloni gave us a tour of Masada. He showed us King Herod’s palace, the water cisterns, the mikveh, the school and, of course, the synagogue. The synagogue is said to be the world’s first synagogue, and it was an interesting experience to sit in it. We saw the other path up Masada (which was a ramp built by the Romans) and other glorious sights. After learning more information then I can remember, we went down the mountain by way of the cable car because we thought that they had closed the path due to heat. At the bottom, we got lunch and then we went back to Ein Gedi. While we were there, we floated in the Dead Sea, which was really fun, but really strange at the same time. You can actually sit there and read a newspaper. It stings a lot, but it is worth it. After that, we went to the hotel spa, which is free for guests, and we went in the sulfur pools and covered our selves in special mud, which was a cool experience. Overall, the Ein Gedi area was a very interesting place to be.
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