Hod Tiberias

... up at the hotel and left around 8:30pm to watch as everyone came out to play after shabot. We found the Tiberius boardwalk and street bizarre and went to dinner at Decks. When we got our credit card bill once returning we realized that both decks and pagodas are run by the same people. The dinner was really good. I had their famous St. Peter’s Fish and we ate on the outer deck right next to the water. Very nice.

... was the name of the national bus company here in Israel. This has proved to be a poor assumption, as someone wrote me saying that they thought I was being funny in calling them Egged buses (as if I would ever yoke about that!). Honest, that's their name. And I must tell you that riding on Egged buses is an experience like no other. Actually, once you're on the bus, the trip is smooth sailing in air-conditioned comfort. However, it is the entering and exiting ...

... br>
Und um dem Ganzen noch das i-Tuepfelchen aufzusetzen, ist dank der freundlichen Unterstuetzung meiner Mutter mein MP3-Player wieder gefuellt und auf Hochbetrieb. Kann es eigentlich noch schoener sein!? Nun ja, langsam wirds tagsueber selbst hier in den etwas hoeheren Lagen richtig heiss, die Nachbarschaft stellt sich als scharf auf unsere (weiblichen) Gaeste heraus und besonders seit meinem Tag am Strand von Haifa fehlt mir das Meer wieder ungemein ...

... gotten to the point where we go through at least a liter of water each, usually tepid water left in the car or carried in a bag on a hike. It's not pleasant, but absolutely necessary in this weather.

An unexpected side effect of all of this is that I start to climb the stairs at an ancient ruin or walk up the hill on a city sidewalk and I have no energy. I just want to sit down. There have been a few too many times on this trip where I felt like I might even ...

... eine Ladung Kebab zahlt man schnell mal 22 Schekel (4 Euro). Gestern haben Eugene aus L.A. und ich uns zwei Fahrraeder gemietet und sind bei hoellischen 40 Grad (der See Genezareth liegt wie das Tote Meer unterhalb des Meeresspiegels) am Ufer entlanggeradelt und haben die Brotvermehrungskirche, das Kafarnaum und die Kirche der Seligpreisungen besucht, wo sich Jesus laut der Bibel nach seiner Zeit in Nazaret rumtrieb. Heute folgte ich einer Empfehlung Frau Bruecks und bin ...

... the guy's family would be going to bed by this time, but when we got there, we were met by uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. Apparently, they'd been going to bed around 4-5 am recently (or maybe always). Basically, they fed us like fat kids who hadn't seen food in weeks--the homemade hummus was really good. Also, in the living room, they started playing Jordanian music and dancing right there. It was pretty neat to have that type of experience on our first night in ...

... are picky eaters, huh, not easy with kids). 2 customs differing from ours, they pass around the winde cup in order of age for the men first & then the women (by us, its' the man & his wife in the order of the man's age), and they ate the soup after the meal. I mean who has room after the meal? Unless you know it's coming & save some space, then it's a good idea, because when we eat soup as the 1st course, it is quite filling. Another funny item that came up, is atht one of ...

... been built around 135 AD on the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus in order to spite Christians). It is now shared between several Christian sects that don't get along well with each other. The groups have rights over different parts of the building and guard them zealously We saw the traditional site of the hill of Golgotha, now full of rival priests making way for believers to touch the rock of the hill under their altars, shaking perfume ...

... and joined the families there. Each grave was surrounded by family members visiting. I was particularly struck that truly; each grave had someone to visit - even if the deceased was killed in the War of Independence in 1948. Children were visiting grandparents that they had never met, siblings were visiting their brothers ...

... own lunch. However, when we get there the roads are so full, that we turn the car around looking for a less crowded alternative. We find a café close to Route 90 and have a light lunch sitting outside. We check into Vered Hagalil, find our cabin, and unpack our car. After a short stroll around the grounds, we just crash. It might be mid-afternoon, but a nap seems to be what we need. So we indulge ourselves! After a relaxing dinner in ...