Israel Tour - Day 2

Trip Start Jun 16, 2008
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Trip End Jul 24, 2008

Flag of Israel  ,
Monday, June 23, 2008

We left Haifa first thing in the morning. After a short drive we went through Meron , where the Jews believe the Messiah will arrive. The National Enquirer has the date so book your tickets now. Our stop was in a small mountain village of Safed that overlooked Meron. This is a Jewish artist colony that has many people work between there and our prior stop at Jaffa. Most of the art was not only expensive but had a heavy religious angle to it which is why we didn't purchase anything. This didn't stop our fellow travelers so we ended up spending a couple of hours touring the village. We also saw a Synagogue from the 16th centur which was where one of the Cabals was written. Madonna and the rest of those trendy followers of the Cabala would have been jealous.
We then toured the Golan Heights. This is part of the disputed lands that Israel took from Syria in the Six Day War. It is 400 square km and only 35 km wide. Despite its small size, it sits strategically above Israel which is probably why Israel continues to claim this land for its own. There are a few towns within the area that Israel has developed from old army camps. We saw the border of Syria which is protected by a small UN camp just south of Mt. Herdon. I wasn't really comfortable about being that close to the border and was glad to be quickly on our way.

The Golan Heights is home to the Golan Heights Winery, makers of Yarden which is available in the US. According to the winery they control 20% of the Israeli market and 40% of the exports. They claim that they win awards all over and were happy to give us samples. Our highly sophisticated palettes agreed that free wine = good wine.

We are staying the night in a Kibbutz near Galilee, which is the social organization that many early pioneer used. Its social structure was similar to a commune. The socialist structure has since been replaced with capitalism. Most of these have been converted to hotels and restaurants for tourists.
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onemorning
onemorning on Jun 26, 2008 at 09:31AM

Funny, Zach
Loved the National Enquirer jibe. Carry on Bravely.
Aunt Mary Ann

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