Day 21 & 22 (sort of) - heading home

So not going to go into much detail about our tour today. Suffice to say we had a great trip back from the southern most point in Israel (Eilat) through a 200 million year old desert

Miles and miles of...

miles and miles!

To the tomb of Israel’s first Prime Minister, and the man really responsible for creating an Israeli state

To the museum of Flight depicting how Israel control the skies over it’s country

6 1/2 kills (there was a little disagreement on who shot down the 7th plane, so they split that difference)

To our final dinner with the group on what we called the “Red Bus” (the bus was actually blue but who am I to argue with the group)

I believe the kids have made life long friendships with others that will last the years.

Samantha with her new BFF, Abby

And friends Arielle, Andie and heather

Best friends forever!

And the adults met new friends we will certainly not forget.

The Red Bus Group

And our tour guide, Allan and driver Akiva, who really made this the best trip ever!

That's Akiva on the left and Allan on the right

The new day (well morning actually, as people started flying off around 12:30AM) had us saying goodbye and reflecting on the great trip we had. My family was a bit more fortunate in that we got 5 hours sleep before we had to leave, but had to leave we did.

Samantha got a little more sleep on the plane

Sheryl, a little less sleep

And who needs sleep when there are action movies to watch

Israel is a place everyone should visit. Whether you are Jewish, Christian, of another faith, or do not believe in any faith. There is history here, miracles here, and a lot to learn here. A bucket list tour for sure.

Thanks for following

A map our our route

Day 19 & 20 - On the road to Eilat

Yesterday was basically a travel day from Jerusalem to Eilat. We did stop at the Ein Geti falls for a quick dip in the 8 inches of water below the 15 foot waterfall.

And then stopped at King Solomon’s Pillars

These pillars were not man made but created by wind and rain (apparently it does rain here in the winter)

Samantha holding up one of the pillars

Before arriving at our hotel.

Today however we were treated to an excellent breakfast and then off to see a few other countries in the neighbourhood. So today’s quiz is how many countries can you see from Eilat (including Israel)? To make it easy I’ve made it multiple choice.

1. One Country
2. Two Counties
3. Three Countries
4. Four Countries

The correct answer is Four Countries.

Israel

Jordan

Egypt

Saudi Arabia (I bet that one surprised you - unless you've been here before)

So as the crow flies, it is 7 miles from the Egypt border to the Jordan border, with Israel in between. Saudi Arabia is slightly south from the Jordan border

That is Jordan in the background from our hotel (Saudi Arabia is hard to see in this photo but it's there as well)

And that is Egypt in the background from the same hotel room

Jordan border crossing

And a Jordan guard tower for extra measure

And the Egypt border crossing

After driving from the Jordan border to the Egypt border (which took about 10 minutes) we stopped at a stone factory where they make jewelry

Here is the fellow cutting the stone

Here he is sanding it

And finally polishing it

And the finished product

And here is the picture of me buying it (why is it they can always see me coming from a mile away)

Back on the bus and to our last stop for the day, the Red Sea.

So now I can say, I've done the Med, the Dead and the Red (Sea that is)

And so has Samantha

Photo of Sheryl to follow (can't find a card reader anywhere)

The remainder of the day was us sitting around the pool and then a great BBQ dinner

Now that's a BBQ setup

Tomorrow is our last day of the tour. Wonder what will be in store... Say tuned.

Day 18 - The Dead Sea Scrolls

Today’s tour took us to the Israel Museum. You could literally spend days here and still not see everything. We had two hours and managed two exhibits. One was a scale model of what Old Jerusalem most likely look like 2,000 years ago. The model is continually being updated as new information from digs etc. is gathered.

A Panarama of the scale model (now not to scale as I used the Panarama setting on my phone)

The second Jewish Temple in the foreground

And this is King Herod's Palace

After this we went to a special exhibit housing the Dead Sea Scrolls. There are seven scrolls in total and they are over 2,300 years old. They do not allow photography in this exhibit so Google to the rescue

This photo, of course does not do the exhibit justice. The room where the scrolls are mimic the cave they were found, and several of the scrolls are on display there.

The rest of the day was free from the tour, so I took advantage and went to the Christian Quarter of the Old City and saw the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This church was build on the site where Jesus was believed to have been crucified. Unfortunately I was wearing shorts and was not allowed in the Church, but here is what the outside looks like

And this is as close as I got to the inside

The rest of the day was just relaxing and then a great dinner in a area called "the station". After dinner we walked home

Day 17 - Visiting the grave sites of the great grandparents

Today was a free day as far as the tour was concerned. With Simon and Raisie with us we took the opportunity to visit Samantha’s great grandparents, Samuel and Rebecca Jacobson. They were buried here in 1984 and 1989 just outside of Jerusalem.

At the grave site, Simon recited a prayer and then spoke about his mother and father. Rebecca was a respected woman in the community, and although she was not 5 foot tall, stood head and shoulders about others with her dedication to her husband, family and the Jewish religion. Samuel was a member of World Zionist Organization, a group founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897 (footnote – Simon’s middle name is Herzl, in honour of Theodor). Samuel was dedicated to creating a Jewish state for the people. He was a capitalist believing  you succeed through hard work and dedication. He also believed in sharing in his success by contributing both to his community, through donations and to his employees, through profit sharing (long before other organizations adopted this model)

Reflecting on the past

Samuel and Rebecca side by side

Rest in Peace

Day 16 - Samantha's Bat Mitzvah

So an extra early wake up call today but with a different result. Our daughter Samantha was up and getting ready for her special day 15 minutes before the alarm went off (and it did go off at 5:00am). The reason for the early wake up call was because we had to be on the bus by 6:30 to get to Masada, which is and hour and a half away.

Masada is a mountain retreat built by King Herod. It was the equivalent of today’s Camp David for the President of the United States. However, it is also where the Jewish people had their last stand against the Romans back in 73AD (after Herod passed away). This mountain plateau is similar to Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver, British Columbia, in that there are two ways to get to the top. One way is by a 3 minute tram ride and the other by an hour plus “Grouse Grind” type of hike. As we were all dressed for Samantha’s Bat Mitzvah today, we chose the tram.

 On our way up

And the view from the Tram

At the top, we were first treated to a tour of this walled fortress a few hundred feet above the soil below.

 Overlooking some of the ruins

And this was Herod's private barony overlooking the Dead Sea

An aerial view of Masada courtesy of Google search

And then to the reason we all came here for. The Bar and Bat Mitzvah’s of those special kids on our tour that were about to become men and women. Samantha read aloud her portion of the reading in the Jewish Torah and totally aced it.  It is important to note that Samantha just started to learn Hebrew only a half dozen months ago. Reading a passage from the Jewish Torah is no easy task. The Hebrew writing in the Torah has no vowels and there is very little spacing between words. Most children just memorize the passage they are supposed to read, but Samantha followed the writing in the Torah and read it word for word. Her family and those who attended the service were very impressed.

Getting ready

"This spot reserved for Samantha's reading video but have to wait for photographer to send us CD"

In the interim, here is an audio of Samantha's Torah reading

Our little girl

Now an official young woman

And the proud parents

Along with the equally proud grandparents (who traveled here to be with their granddaughter on this special day)

After the ceremony we left and headed to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest dry (as in land) point on the earth. Prior to visiting the Dead Sea I had been to Death Valley in California, were the elevation is -86 meters (282 feet below sea level). The elevation at the Dead Sea is -429 meters (1,407 feet below sea level).  Today it was 40 degrees celsius so, of course we had to take a refreshing dip in the 32.4% salt water. After walking into the Sea (you never run or jump) you quickly find out that the temperature is a dry 40 degrees on land and a wet 40 degrees in the water. Also because of all the salt, you couldn’t sink in this water even if the Mafia fitted you with a pair of cement shoes.. Buoyancy is not a problem here, getting back on your feet however is.

Back on the bus and back to Jerusalem for the gala party tonight in honour of Samantha and her new “adult” friends.

At the hotel we were treated to a cocktail hour (well cocktail 1/2 hour - I guess they saw me coming and closed up the bar early). Had a great dinner and then dancing for the families. Samantha, along with her friends, were hoisted above the ground on chairs lifted by older siblings and fathers. The live music lasted until the wee hours of 10:30PM. Then back to the room and to sleep.

Our daughter on Gala Night