Travels with Family (part one)

Over the past few weeks we have traveled to many parts of Israel –North, South, East and West. We have peered into five countries and traveled into one. We visited Israel of the Bible, Israel of the Crusaders, and Israel the modern state.

Tsfat Israel

In the North we spent a couple of nights in Tsfat, an ancient mountain city with connections to the Kabbalah movement. Tsfat feels like a medieval city with twisting narrow stone streets lined with stone buildings. The city is also an odd mix of artists, Heredi, new age Kabbalah followers, with a healthy share of Ethiopian and Russian immigrants. This is in a city of less than 30,000 people. While part of a day wandering around Tsfat was enough for me, the city was a gateway to the Northern part of Israel – the upper Galilee and the Gloan.

I was surprised to learn that the Galilee is home to a number of Crusader castles. While I associate castles with Europe, the Crusaders of the 11th century built a number of large fortresses on a natural travel route near the Jordan River.From the road we saw Nimrod’s castle, near Israel’s ski area and highest peak Mt. Hermon, Walking around Belvoir castle, south of Tiberias we were able to see the how these massive structures were constructed and defended.

Belvior Castle in Northern Israel

Noah at Belvior Castle

Nimrod's Castle in Northern Israel

March in Northern Israel is when all the wild flowers bloom. I have limited ability to remember names of flowers, but I can appreciate the natural beauty –bright yellow, red, blue, green.Complementing the wild flowers were acres and acres of agriculture. I have seen the products in the market –dates, peppers, garlic, olives, melons, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, pomelos, strawberries and many other fruits and vegetables. Clearly one of the successes of the state of Israel is the development of a productive agricultural industry. These aren’t the farms of the Midwest United States but rather greenhouses and orchards.

Wild flowers near Mt. Gilboa

Farms in Northern Israel

Cyclaman flowers in the Sorek Valley