A Day of Firsts!

The Horns of Hattin

For the first time we spot the Sea of Galilee!

Hiking through cow patties.

 This is Day 3 on the Jesus Trail and we hike from Kibbutz Lavi to Moshav Arbel.
The sun breaks through the clouds and the sky gets blue. The weather, this week, is perfect for hiking.
But it is the first time we hike among cows and even the odd steer. They are huge, but just curious and we don't get charged.
We do follow their little, narrow trails through fields, among boulders and up and down hills.

It was the first day we had to climb up and up and up, rounding some high, rocky outcrops called The Horns of Hattim. Hard to imagine, as we walk the green fields with wildflowers, that the is the very spot where, in 1187, the army of Saladin defeated the Crusaders!



It was the first time ever I have visited a Druze site.
The Druze are an Arabic group of people, living in Israel, who are recognized as a separate religious culture. Check out this link if you want to learn more about them: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/druze.html

The Druze have ties to the Prophet Jethro and to Moses.
We visited their temple Nebi Shu'eib.
The men wear white turbans or a fez, while the women wear white headscarves. The temple dates back to the year 300, parts were constructed in 1187. Pretty darn old.
My one blister is getting bigger so I limped into the area and was happy to sit down for a little picnic lunch of fruit, pita and eggs.

First time we've visited a Druze temple.

We decide to take a short cut to the village Moshave Arbel, rather than hike the extra 10 KM through the hills. All day we had a view of our ultimate goal: the Sea of Galilee. As we enter the village in which we are staying tonight, I notice it is clean, with wide streets, sidewalks and lots of greenery. Turns out this is a Jewish village, as opposed to the many Arab towns in which we have stayed. I didn't know this but Arab Israelis don't pay local taxes and thus their villages don't have the services of villages like this one.

The word I have perhaps heard most of, here in Israel, is "welcome"! Everyone is incredibly welcoming. The hosts at Arbel Guesthouse welcomed us with a jug of lemonade. We have the top floor of the house, with a jacuzzi, bed and small kitchen. First time ever I have seen a simple hole in the wall serve as bathroom vent.
And, first time ever, we were given the key to the house but also the key to the gate that blocks access to the entire village! When we walked past, I wondered why there was a huge gate that could close off entrance to the town. Things like war or invasion of tanks crossed my mind. Never did the real reason occur to me. Our host explained that nearby farmers will come and steal sheep. That's why we now have a key to the village! We and the sheep will be safe tonight!

First time we've had a short piece of pipe as bathroom vent. It works.

Addendum: tonight we enjoyed the best possible dinner. In such a small village nears the shores of Galilee we 'discovered' that the owner of our guesthouse, Arbel Guesthouse, is an amazing chef. Yishmael served us fresh mousse of mango, followed by delicious soup. Then the best roast chicken we've ever had (hope Karla doesn't read this!!), with salad with cranberries and nut and FIVE different vegetables, mashed potatoes topped with sweet potatoes - all beautifully served. Then we had homemade strawberry and lemon sherbet, followed by homemade limoncello. OMG - fabulous meal worthy of any 5 star restaurant. Moshev Arbel should be on the map just for this!

Best date I ever had!

Best dates I ever tasted!

No, not a date with my husband but fresh dates bought on the market in Nazareth. I have never seen or tasted such incredible dates. Oy Vey! Soft, sweet, huge.

We left the Cana Wedding Guest House, after breakfast of tomatoes, cucumbers, pita bread, hummus, yogurt and omelet.

Shoe store in Cana

Hiking out of Cana we grinned at the shoe store. Would have never known this was a shoe store... But yesterday my boots were killing me and the son of the guesthouse owner took us to this store. It was closed and no shoes in sight. A lady across the road came with a key and sold me a pair of running shoes. This is why I am now hiking the hills of the Galilee in fluorescent green shoes.... Oy vey again!

My new running shoes!

We are on day two of the four day Jesus Trail. Yesterday we hiked for 15 KM, same today. The weather was overcast but no rain. And it's perfect to do this hike without sun beating down on us. You can only do the hike in spring and fall, because the summer's heat is too much. On the outskirts of Cana we were appalled by all the garbage strewn left and right. People seem to dump everything they don't need anymore on the outskirts of town, in the hills. There are empty bottles and plastic bags but also broken office chairs, TV's, a whole playground set, and more. Kees said "there are not many places in Israel where you cannot see any garbage." And this is right, the beach being a big exception where every little bit of garbage was picked up. But if the government wants to promote tourism through hiking trails, people will have to learn how to clean up! The scents of Israel to me, right now, are heavy sweet blossoms mixed with rotting garbage. There must a millions of cats in the country, living around all of the open garbage cans we see.

Hiking in the hills of Galilee

The trail today led through rocky, green hills and along wheat fields. At one point it turned into a narrow cattle trail, leading over hills. Our view was mostly of the Golan Heights to the east.

We also walked through a lovely forest of olive, laurel and pine trees. We had a picnic lunch at the base of a sign, in Hebrew, that had two words in English: Frican Forest. There was no place to sit but we shared a chunk of wood at the base of the sign to eat our pita bread with cheese, freshly roasted pecans and amazing dates! As soon as we walked into the Frican Forest, we saw picnic tables! And not just one or two but many! The Hebrew sign had probably said that there were picnic tables coming up!

The hills are alive.. with wild flowers.

When we got close to our destination, the Kibbutz Lavi, we could see the buildings on the top of a hill but no road or path leading to it. We got lost trying to follow the trail and looking for the right path. We probably walked some 2 KMs wrong but eventually took a road straight up the hill, arriving huffing and puffing at the hotel (at least I did, Kees is in much better shape after hiking in Spain for 10 days). 

The hotel is beautiful and has a huge indoor pool. Which we used!

Dinner was kibbutz style in a huge dining room: fish, chicken, roast vegetables and much more. It is interesting to note that this is a traditional, orthodox kibbutz and all food is prepared according to strict rules under supervision of a rabbi. It was very tasty!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventure: it promises to be unusual again.

Amazing hedges of cacti!