We began our travels by heading to the Sea of Galilee, we were at the opposite side to where we visited before, near the Jordan river entrance and we visited the Baptismal sight of Jesus on the river, wow how amazing to think this is where his baptism took place. The sight is beautiful and we spent a little time here taking photos and the Little Princes and My Beloved filling their faces with ice cream. Then its back in the car for the long drive down the Jordan Valley the scenery is beautiful but today it was a little dusty from the sand coming in from Jordan, so although the roads were clear for driving but the mountains looked a little hazy.
We drove past Jericho, we are not allowed in there, religion is a terrible thing, it makes enemies of people all in the name of god or allah or however happens to be your chosen one. Momi said that Jericho is a beautiful place and used to be full of lovely restaurants, all of which are now out of bounds.
We arrived at Masada and this fortress on top of the mountain is really quite impressive. Here is a little history:-
According to Josephus Flavius, Herod the Great built the fortress of Masada between 37 and 31 BCE. Herod, an Idumean, had been made King of Judea by his Roman overlords and was hated by his Jewish subjects. Herod, the master builder, “furnished this fortress as a refuge for himself.” It included a casemate wall around the plateau, storehouses, large cisterns ingeniously filled with rainwater, barracks, palaces and an armory.
Some 75 years after Herod’s death, at the beginning of the Revolt of the Jews against the Romans in 66 CE, a group of Jewish rebels overcame the Roman garrison of Masada. After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple (70 CE) they were joined by zealots and their families who had fled from Jerusalem With Masada as their base, they raided and harassed the Romans for two years. Then, in 73 CE, the Roman governor Flavius Silva marched against Masada with the Tenth Legion, auxiliary units and thousands of Jewish prisoners-of-war. The Romans established camps at the base of Masada, laid siege to it and built a circumvallation wall. They then constructed a rampart of thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth against the western approaches of the fortress and, in the spring of the year 74 CE, moved a battering ram up the ramp and breached the wall of the fortress.
The heat was amazingly intense at the top, and the Little Princes sought shelter under the canopies, history is ok as long as it's in the shade. Kitty decided to walk around the sight with us, but Yabba stayed put under her canopy, I think we may have to get her a parasol!!!
We walked around all the different sights, from Herods palace to the bathing rooms and the store rooms, then we headed back to see if Yabba had passed out in the heat, it was 35 degrees on the top of that mountain, no wonder she was pecking. We headed back down in the cable car, there is a snake path that winds up or down the mountain but having two children in direct heat for that length of time would make my ears bleed. So cable car it is, I probably would have had to carry My Beloved anyway, that hip is not getting any better.
We ate lunch in the restaurant at Masada, then we headed for the Dead sea, we were dropped at the beach and headed straight for the changing rooms, not the best I've seen but not the worst, we walked down the steep incline towards the water, the girls were straight in, floating around like little corks, My Beloved was next in, once he mastered getting over the rocks, we spotted each other and then I was in, such a weird feeling just laying on the water, there was lots of black people there and I'm not talking about ethnicity, these people were clarted in black mud, the Little Princes walked around but couldn't find were it was coming from. I have one other thing to say about the Dead sea it is nippy on your tooche, so funny little girls were crying as their mums were pouring fresh water down their swim suits, I felt their pain.
I decided to help Kitty find the black stuff, we asked a lady and she directed to the end of the shoreline and a young man, stuck his hand into a muddy hole and came out with a puddle of mud which he passed to the Little Princes, they covered themselves in the mud and we walked back to My Beloved and the camera, why is it kids are never happy unless they are playing in mud?
The Little Princes both found some salt that had caked onto the shore line and each took a piece to bring home. Then it was time to leave, the journey home was long and tiring, we eventually arrived home around 8.30.
We showered and headed out to Giraffe for some supper, the trouble was we couldn't get out of the door this time, man this is some amazing lock, I know its the best in burglary technology as Itzhak has told us, but should it really lock you in, and lock you out when you have a key. Giraffe special soup, Shrimp fried rice, and beef with glass noodles, lush the Little Princes then took profiteroles filled with ice cream and covered in chocolate sauce, the lady thought the dishes would be too much for them, but let me tell you they managed with just a little help from My Beloved. We were all very tired after our lovely road trip and headed home and to bed for some well earned sleep.
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