Day 2 in Israel
So, I awoke early today and posted about yesterday. After posting I headed back to the room and noticed an amazing sunrise that I was able to capture in a picture.
We started our day at the Nor Gisonar hotel and had a very nice breakfast. They had a really cool fresh OJ machine that Drew really enjoyed. I was up so early we got to breakfast before 7 AM. Once everyone woke and finished breakfast we headed out on the bus for a day of touring. Our first stop was just outside of Galilee at a plot of land overlooking the Sea of Galilee (the only fresh water lake in Israel) where Jesus used to spend time and where he accomplished many of his supposed miracles. The area is on a beautiful hill overlooking the lake and is owned by the Vatican.
We left the grounds where Jesus spoke to head to the Lebanon boarder. Our tour guide has some good friends in Israel and one of them is the security person at a kibbutz near the boarder and he was able to take us to meet some of the troops stationed at the boarder protecting Israel. We were able to take a bunch of pictures and we got to talk with many of the soldiers. One area was with a handful of reserves that were on call for about 30 days and another area was for enlisted men, many who have been in the army for less than a year. We did meet one young man who was 58 days from his release from the army and he was very interested in moving on with his life.
The experience was pretty cool as the kids were able to go inside a real tank and get to talk with some of the young soldiers. We brought them some real food and they were very thankful for it. The spent time with us talking about their experience in the army and how the war is now being fought in the press rather than in real combat. It was a very interesting conversation. We took some great pictures with the military men.
Once we left the boarder we headed to Tzfat, an old city on top of a mountain with some really nice shops. Noah was able to purchase a tallit for his Bar Mitzvah. He chose a really nice one that was hand made and very classy. Drew was also able to purchase some jewelry that she really liked. The experience was really nice. I will post all of the pictures from the trip when we get some better wifi.
We then returned to Galilee and took a one hour boat ride on the lake. It was really nice and the owners of the boat we so friendly and played some really fun music. Everyone was dancing, including my dad with his grand daughter. Overall, it was a really nice day. Looking forward to another great day tomorrow!
Larry Kesslin 