Last Night in Israel

We had an extraordinary time in Galilee and Golan Heights but also had sort of a communications "Black-Out". We had great Wi-Fi for telephones and I-pad-like devices but the Wi-Fi had fits with my stupid laptop so everything has hinged on Tel Aviv once more.

1) There are heaps of eucalyptus in northern Israel - it felt very much like home

2) Deganya at the bottom of Sea of Galilee is the oldest kibbutz and they sure have a lot of agricultural activities. The first kibbutz-niks were very interested in self-sufficiency and much less interested in contemporary European intellectualisms - they've got big cattle/diary herds, acres of citrus, apple and bananas!

Then we went farther north to another kibbutz that specializes in apples (for cider), grapes and....they are the leading group in Israel supplying dubbing and sub-titles for movies and TV - all of this about 4 km. from the Syrian border. They are literally inches away from the noise. They also created a documentary film regarding the famous tank battle that took place in 1973 during the Yom Kippur war that turned the tide - at enormous cost. We are VERY close to the border.

And at the memorial to the casualties from the conflict, that's Syria in the background. The Israeli Army is omnipresent - we saw probably 10 tanks moving on their highway "Low Boys" carriers during our 10 days in the country - plenty of Army bases up in the Golan - and soldiers everywhere except in Nazareth. The 18 year olds walking around Jerusalem with their unloaded M4's (but magazines carried on their belts) waiting for buses or just going for coffee - everyday scenes. And the serious security guys had their gear fully loaded whether guarding entry into religious areas or at checkpoints on the roads.

3) What grows best in Israeli soil? Rocks, man - this is the #1 rockiest land in the world with a few flat spots on the coast and Galilee/Golan. These rest has a very thin layer of top soil and as much rock substance as you could wish.

Up in the Golan there are a lot of very good grapes being grown but in order to get some soil they have to clear the fields. Here's what it looks like when the field is finally cleared so you can plant apple orchards.

During our stay in Jerusalem we got a tour of King David's City including some super tight water passages - and then at the bottom of the City we got into the old storm drains. This was a 1/2 mile climb back to the surface and in places this tunnel was shoulder width wide. Totally cool!

And here's a panoramic view of Nazareth, just outside of the Church of Renunciation (why do I keep referring to it as "Denunciation"? Says more about me than it)

And that's all I've got to say about Israel - except they sure do drive a lot of automatic transmissions here. Whenever we rent in Europe auto trans are regarded as belonging to those filthy rich bloated Americans who can't use God's proper driving instruments (clutch, don't you know). Israel and Jordan clearly didn't get that memo - they're just fine with never shifting again. And Israel, since they have no domestic auto industry - imports EVERY car in the world - we even saw Chinese-made cars, big honking Ford/GMC/Dodge pick-ups - you name them and we saw them in Israel. Disclaimer: only SOME of us paid attention to cars.