Israel Part 2: Kibbutz Kafr Masaryk and Rosh HaNikra with the Jolliffs!

The next stop was a surprise visit with the Jolliffs! The boys were pretty excited to see their cousins and of course aunt and uncle again. We stayed at Kibbutz Kafr Masaryk, which was a really interesting experience. A kibbutz is a communal community based on agriculture, and it's a form of socialism. Fun fact, in 2010, there were 270 kibbutzim in Israel, representing 40% of Israel's agricultural output. This kibbutz was home to about 500 people. The founders of the kibbutz settled in the area in 1932, from Czech and Lithuania. The Kibbutz moved to it's current location in 1940 and was named after the first president of the Czech republic. 

It was cool and raining on and off, but that didn't stop the kids from running around and having fun. We had two cabins each with a loft. The big boys had a slumber party in our cabin and they had so much fun together. 

The next morning we had the opportunity to eat in the communal dining hall. This was the walk attempting to find it. 

Abigail and her pink and purses...love this girl!

Different structures along the way.

We found the dining hall! Breakfast was interesting. We got there late apparently, so we had toast, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, and some salads. Sam said the chocolate milk did not taste like milk...let's just say we left kind of hungry.

Say cousins!!

It was an interesting place to stay and we had a fun time. Next stop was about 1/2 hour north to the Lebanese border, to visit the grottos at Rosh HaNikra. They are caves that have been formed in the rock as a result of the intense pressure and waves that hit the rocks. The caves go about 200 meters deep and are pretty extensive. Where the water color changes, is about at the Lebanese border - we were close!

In the 1960's the British built a tunnel for the Haifa-Beirut railroad, and then build a second tunnel. For many years, the only access to the caves was from the sea, and swimmers and divers were the only ones able to visit. Shortly after the second tunnel was dug, a cable car was build to take visitors down the cliffs to the tunnels. The cable was was not working that day, but we got directions to drive down to the caves. Once we parked, the boys spotted a bunch of honey badgers feasting on some colorful vegetables!

Entering the tunnel to get to the grotto....

Don't mind the sign, we were told it was ok to enter!

Rosh HaNikra was a passage point for traders and armies between Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Africa. The British began building the railway in the 1920s and in the mid 1940's began extending it into Israel and Lebanon. The bridge at Rosh HaNikra was destroyed in in 1948 by the Palmach, to keep Lebanese arms shipments from reaching Arab forces that opposed the UN Partition Plan. It is also the location where the Israeli and Lebanese negotiated the armistice agreement in 1949.

Entrance to the grottos

The water was pretty rough!

Everyone enjoyed walking through the caves.

Sweet girl :)

Afterwards, we stopped a few minutes down the coast to this beautiful beach and stayed for several hours talking and letting the kids play. It was such a gorgeous day and the first day in many that we felt sunshine and even a little hot!

The kids played down by the water, climbed rocks, collected shells, maybe fell in puddles water a few times.

Spring time is in effect and things were really green.

Sweet Abram. He was recovering from some sickness, but was really perky that day, and just loves his sister and being with the big boys. He is full of energy and fun to be around!

Abigail enjoyed being with us on this visit, and we loved getting to hang with her a lot!

I think Benjamin collected sea shells almost the entire time we were there, and he came home with a really nice collection!

Sam and Benjamin have a special bond, and it has been fun to watch it develop over the years.

Family pictures :)

The boys were very interested in this Israeli Navy ship that kept watch of the coast and border, and was a bit closer to shore by the time we left.

Hap, Nathan, and the big boys threw around the football for a while.

We had a really fun visit with everyone, and are so thankful to be 'close by' for the the next couple of years! Until next time :)

Next stop, Haifa and Caesarea!

Israel part 1: Zippori and Akko

Our family just got back from a week vacation in northern Israel. We saw many beautiful places and experienced Jewish, Christian, and Muslim living, sometimes all combined and others times separate. We had our car, and it was such a great way to see the country,  and nice to be on our own schedule. It was an amazing trip, and over the next few weeks I'll blog about the different places we visited. First blog is about Zippori and Akko. 

 Zippori is a very small village a few miles from Nazareth, that houses 200 families.  It contains history from all the way back to the Hellenistic era and is believed to be the birthplace of Mary. We stayed in a small apartment in a woman's home. She was from Canada and came to Israel in 1967 to volunteer during the war,  moved here in 1980 and raised her family here. We arrived mid-afternoon Friday, so many things were already closed for the Shabbat, and it was raining. So, we drove around the village, found an open restaurant in Nazareth, and called it an early evening. The next morning brought the sunshine, so the we enjoyed talking to the lady and the boys had fun playing in the yard with the woman's two dogs, then we were off to see the sea-side town of Akko.

Akko is a coastal city north of Haifa, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited since the Middle Bronze Ages (~4000 years ago). It is a mixed city of Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze, and Baha'is, and one of the holiest cities of the Baha'i faith. In the Bible, Akko is the territory of the tribe of Asher and was one of the places the Israelites did not drive out the Canaanites. The town is filled with ruins from many periods of time. This was remains from a Crusader castle.

After walking along the coast, we entered the Old City, and it was fascinating. Lots of narrow, windy alleys, and the amazing thing is people were living here. Behind many of the doors, you could peek into people's homes.

Lots of colorful doors and beautiful art work painted on the buildings. I loved all the bright blues contrasting against the old stone.

We fond the souq and enjoyed walking through the market. Lots of different colors and smells of sweets, spices, meats, and fish.

I thought this cow head was interesting outside of one of the butchers!

Attempting to make our way back to the car, we found this pretty garden to walk through first.

And ended up having to walk through the old city again to get back. It was a maze of alleys and we finally found our way out of there!

We made it out as the sun was setting, and saw a cloudy sunset over the sea, ate dinner, and then was off to our next stop....Kibbutz Kafr Masaryk.