As you can see from the photo Israel is not all desert! We took a trip to the Northern part of the country with our capable and charming friend Oded. We set out in the morning and drove through the port town of Haifa stopping at the incredible Bahai gardens which cover the entire hillside in a series of perfectly landscaped terraces. We slogged through traffic coming out of Haifa and rushed up to the mountains for sunset at a national park bordering Lebanon. Above us were military guard posts which were under fire during the war with Lebanon in 2006. We stayed in a "Zimmer" which is a type of guesthouse very popular in Israel and awoke to the sound and smell of thousands of chickens from a nearby farm. We drove north to a gorgeous National Park where the Hermon River courses through the hills cascading over the rocks in big waterfalls. Mt. Hermon is further North still and is lightly covered in snow at the moment although last week there were several feet on the ground. There was plenty of traffic heading toward the mountain as Israeli families flocked to see the unusual phenomenon of snow in the Golan. We stopped in the morning at a kibbutz and bought the ingredients for a picnic which we ate streamside and it was very interesting to see the buildings in the community and learn a little about kibbutz life.
For lunch we stopped in a Druze town at the foot of Mt Hermon and had a hummus feast followed by a delicious and unusual dessert called Knaffeh which is an Arabic specialty much beloved by Oded. It is made in a large round pan packed with white cheese and topped with fine, hair like strands of sweet dough and then placed on the fire to melt the cheese. If your timing is good you get a slice with the cheese gooey and warm and the pastry on top crispy and sweet. Yum.
On the way back to Tel Aviv we stopped by the Sea of Galilee where Jesus (allegedly) walked on water and saw a glorious full moon rising over the mountains and reflected on the Sea.