Sefat
Tel Hazor
Lebanon-Israel border (as I said, make a wrong turn end up in the wrong country)
Tel Dan
Banias Streams
Banias Falls
Nimrod's Fortress
Golan Heights (we could see Syria)
Crossed the Jordan River
Capernum
Magdala
In the Sea of Galilee
Migdal
Cristen, Allison, Kait, and I woke up for breakfast (nom nom nom) and then hit the road! We realized that we were driving right past Tel Hazor so we HAD to stop (Biblical Tel). We spent a loooong time there walking around. They have this AMAZING water system that was dug down in a tunnel. We went down it. It was soooo cool down there (literally, it was 40 degrees cooler. I didn't want to leave). We then had to climb back UP (this was not so fun). And we walked around the ancient temple and palace. It was LITERALLY amazing. See the pictures and captions on Facebook. There is NO way I can do them justice here.
We moved on to Tel Dan but missed a CRUCIAL turn and ended up at the Lebanese border. I took pictures (don't know if I was supposed to ... but I did). We turned around and went back and took the right turn. We got to Tel Dan but I wasn't feeling so hot and we didn't have a lot of time there so I hung out at the gift shop while the other girls literally RAN up the trail to see what they wanted to see (I am going to live here, why kill myself today?). Allison got some REALLY cool pictures of the Winnie the Pooh tree (the author of Winnie the Poo came to Tel Dan, saw this tree and was inspired.
After Tel Dan we went to my favorite place so far: Banias. It was AMAZING. From the surface you just think that there are some green bushes, but then you climb down the cliff (ok, there are stairs, but you have to climb those and they're made of rock so it's like rock climbing, sorta) and you realize that you are in a forrest! It's cool and breezy and BEAUTIFUL! The water is FRIGID (I put a toe in but you're not allowed to swim). There are 50 ft falls and it's just GORGEOUS. When I get in better shape I want to go back and hike the 90 minute trail that takes you to the next stop: Banias Springs (you can ACTUALLY hike all the up to Nimrod ... but that's 2 1/2 hours+ and up a mountain. And NOT in the shade). Banias Springs is the same place as Ceaserea Phillipa, which some of you might recognize from Matthew 16:18 as the place where Jesus told Peter "this is the rock on which I will build my Church." I've always found the interpretation that Jesus meant Peter is rock interesting because it doesn't actually say that. It sounds like Jesus is talking about an actual rock. If so, then I think it's a funny place to build your Church's foundation ... as it's the site of a temple to the god Pan! There are alcoves where statues of gods used to be and a giant indentation in the cliff face with lots of vegetation called Pan's Grotto. Below is where the water from Banias falls pours out into these beautiful springs which the Greeks and Romans built up to form multiple layers with a whole system to allow water to spread out in the winter when there is more of it! Again, the photos don't do it justice and the place was AMAZING. I could HAPPILY go back for hours and walk around and sit and think. It really is a very spiritual place.
After Banias it was up, up, UP to Nimrod's fortress (again, SO not hiking that). The road was an adventure in an of itself. We got there at 4:10 and found out that it closed at 4 (our guide book said 5) so we were really bummed and had to settle for taking pictures from below. Oh well ... it gives me an excuse to go back again (which means more Banias!)
We decided that since we had plenty of time to before pizza was delivered to the kibbutz that we would take the loooong way back and drive down the Jordan river (Banias is th e source) to the Sea of Galilee. We stopped at a Greek Orthodox church at the ruins of Cappernum which was BEAUTIFUL. Cristen, Kait and I really wanted to put our feet in the water and I REALLY wanted to see Magdala (wife of Jesus or not, I think Mary Magdalene is really cool). Right next to the ruins of Magdala was this freeish beachish type thing. We get stopped at the gate and realize there is some HUGE Muslim camping thing. I told the security guard (who looked like Guido Gotti) that we just wanted to put our feet in and would only be 20 minutes. He asked me for ID or my passport which I thought was SUPER sketchy. I was NOT about to give him my passport so I forked over my VA license (yes, I realize that this was not the smartest thing I've ever done ... but it seemed ok at the time) and drove on in and parked. Allison didn't really want to go to the water and the place was pretty sketchy looking so she stayed with the car (locked) and Kait, Cristen and I walked on down. We walked in to our calves and I have to say, the whole campground thingy behind us really took away from the atmosphere. Cristen (with a little encouragement from moi) actually went all the way in and swam ... with her clothes on. Actually, so were most people in the water (perhaps because they were all observant Muslims?) but when she got out she realized that water and her shirt didn't QUITE get along and had to walk all the way back through the camp site hugging herself. Needless to say, I was amused. We jumped in the car and drove back through the hills to the Mediterranean and back to Lohame HaGettaot and had PIZZA for dinner. I must say, Israeli's kick US's BUTT at Veggie pizza! We had plain cheese, tomato and onion, olive and onion, olive and mushroom, mushroom and olive ... it was seriously the best pizza I've ever had (it was also the only thing I'd eaten all day ... seriously, WHERE has the appetite gone?)
On Sunday we got to sleep in an extra 10 minutes because the days are getting shorter and the sun isn't up when we get to the dig (which does make it rather hard to do archaeology if you can't SEE THE GROUND). I'm still not feeling so hot and pushing myself like I did at Hazor (seriously people, those stairs were KILLER) didn't help me any ... but I made it through the day, returned the rental car, and learned at lunch that the US kick Israel's butt when it comes to cooking hot dogs. Kosher hot dogs TASTE better ... but only when you cook them the right way ... otherwise it just doesn't taste that great.
Well, all the pictures are up on Facebook with captions for the most part and I'm thinking strongly about taking a nap ...
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