What Day Is It?????

I always find Sunday a little disconcerting when living in Israel.  I mean it's Sunday and I'm doing my laundry! Ordinarily, I would be in church and maybe planning time later with the family or friends.  But on Sunday here in Israel, Saturday was Sunday (at least my mind thinks so) and, now that I think of it, Friday was Saturday.  I suppose if I lived here long enough I'd get used to it, but in four months time I never seem to get beyond the confused stage.

An Amazing Israel Breakfast

Just to give you a taste, here is how the weekend went.  What we think of as Friday evening was really Thursday evening, so we had some friends over for dinner.  We had a great time with Marji and Rod who work here, so our Friday evening, no Thursday evening, was really fun.

Then on Saturday, no Friday, we went out to breakfast at Zman Cafe on Hertzl Street.  Israeli breakfasts are amazing, so I've included a picture.  They usually include an omelette, cheeses, a big pile of salad and beautiful brown bread to go with your juice and cappuccino.  Believe me you do not need anything else until dinner time!

Is that corn? Did we miss a turn?
Are we on our way to Philo?

This is not the
road to Philo?

A Beautiful Gate at Yarden Winery

After that we headed out to the Golan.  I had planned on doing the Mount of Beatitudes for the Galilee - Part II, but just consider this a little detour, because the Golan is on the eastern side of the Galilee as I already mentioned in a previous post. We had two goals in going to the Golan; the first was our favorite winery, Yarden, to pick up some of the wonderful wine that is produced there.  Gary went for the Cabernet and I went for a French wine (made in Israel) called a Viognier. I assure you that we will enjoy them.

The Ruins of Ancient Gamla

                                                               

An ancient Roman dart thrower
stands aimed at Gamla.

Our second goal was to see Gamla. (Now there is a Gamla winery in the Golan, but one of those in a day is enough.)  We were headed for the ruins of what was a prosperous Jewish town during the Second Temple period.  It was located in the southern part of the Golan overlooking the Sea of Galilee and was built on a steep hill shaped like a camel's hump (Gamla means camel in Aramaic.).  The town was a peaceful one until Jewish Zealots fled there in 67 A.D. during the Great Revolt.  It then became the target of the Roman Legions of Titus and Vespasian and was eventually destroyed after a lengthy siege.  Josephus Flavius, who was the Jewish Commander of Galilee during the revolt and who initially led the defense at Jotapata but finally surrendered, witnessed the destruction of Gamla, and became the Jewish historian who has given us many accurate and detailed accounts of that period in the historical books that he subsequently wrote.

The trail to Gamla has a rather menacing name.

Our Saturday (no Friday) trip concluded with dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Decks where the wood grilled salmon, sweet potatoes and mushrooms are absolutely amazing. It is in Tiberias which is on the western side of the Sea of Galilee and was built by the Romans in honor of the Emperor Tiberias. Initially the Jews hated it. But, in the second century A.D., with Jerusalem gone, the Jews began to venerate Tiberias as one of their four holy cities.  It is also known for its hot springs and today has a  thriving tourist trade.

Enjoying a Meal on Decks in Tibereas with Family
                           

         

The food at Decks is beautiful!

Now we come to Saturday (which feels like Sunday).  "Shabbat Shalom" is the familiar greeting for both Friday evening and Saturday even among Christians here in Israel.  I really love that phrase, "Peaceful Sabbath", what a wonderful thought! I have taken you to Bethesda Assembly before, but I can never fail to appreciate the wonderful atmosphere is such a diverse place of worship.  This week we had a sermon in English, translated into both Hebrew and Russian.  Following that we enjoyed a wonderful fellowship lunch and a Q and A time with our speaker, Dr. Arnold Fructenbaum (who is from Texas) regarding what the Scriptures say about the times to come.  It was such a treat to get to know, even a little better, the diverse group of
                                                                                            believers that we have so come to love
                                                                                            and appreciate.

So now today is Monday....... no Sunday!  I've come to love our weekends here but it really is confusing........ and I'm doing the laundry.

Oh yes - a little something we saw along the way in the Golan.

 The Golan really is very well protected. :)