Day 28: From Art to Arid

Sunday, November 1

(In Israel, Sunday is the first day of the week, when everyone goes back to work. 

Paid parking on the street where our car was parked started at 8:00 AM. I found a machine where I could purchase parking. 15 shekels (about $4) bought me the right to leave the car in its spot until 4:00 PM. 

Sunday morning in Israel is like Monday morning anywhere else. It is the first day of the week and everybody opens for business (albeit surprisingly late). In fact, the Hebrew name for Sunday means "First Day." (Nevertheless, given that the Sabbatical trip started in the United States and that I counted the weeks of the Sabbatical starting from a Monday, I've continued that pattern, counting this "First Day" as the last day of Week 4.) We were out on the street in search of breakfast about 8:30. The cafe Sandra had selected the night before wasn't even open yet and many were just taking their chairs off of the tables. People greeted each other on the street with "Shavuah Tov" (Good Week), the customary greeting used when Shabbat has ended. We decided to go back to the Bagdad Cafe for breakfast, then returned to the room to load up the car as we had to check out of the Airbnb. With that done, we headed to the artist colony, for which Sefat is famous. David wanted a shofar and spent a lot of time in one store talking to the store owner, who gave him extensive lessons on how to blow it. Sandra got a bracelet and some glass Shabbat candlesticks. There was a luthier whose sign advertised custom made instruments, but they were closed. We got shwarma for lunch and then headed out of town.

Breakfast at Bagdad (Photo: Natalie)

Shofar lessons (Photo: Natalie)

Because everyone needs a gun and a puppy 

I guess there's no elevator in this building

The artists' colony in Sefat (Photo: Natalie)

Cat #98 (Photo: Natalie)

That Noah's Ark is a candle! (Photo: Natalie)

Goliath loses his head to David at the candle factory 

Chassid crossing in Sefat

Oh, yeah! Shwarma, baby! (Photo: Natalie)

By now it was about 2:00 and our plan was to drive all the way to Masada. Given the current spate of Arab attacks on Jews around the country, we wanted to avoid the northern part of the West Bank, steering around it by heading westward, to Highway 6, then south on Highway 1, through Jerusalem, into the West Bank and then down Highway 90 to Masada. Sandra assured us this would be a safe route. As we skirted the northern end of Jerusalem and into the West Bank, it had grown dark by now and I was wondering if we were doing the right thing. But then I saw a guy with a kippah hitchhiking on the dark road and decided we were probably okay. It was a very long drive. The Dead Sea is the lowest elevation on earth at 1400 feet below sea level. As the road began to descend into the valley, there was a sign along the road indicating sea level, way up high on the mountain side with the valley still very far below in the distance. All of our drive along the Dead Sea was in the dark, so we couldn't see the sea. At one point we found ourselves behind a pair of very slow moving trucks, each carrying a tank. We finally made it safely to Masada.

Our accommodations for the next two nights was at the Masada Guest House, which is a hostel. We had reserved two private rooms, each with private baths. The rooms were very Spartan, more like camp than a hotel with bunk beds and no amenities. Indeed, the place was mostly occupied by school groups that roll in during the evening, run around yelling all night and then check out in the morning to tour Masada. Not very elegant, but not too expensive either and the cost included a big Israeli breakfast. They also served dinner for an additional cost, but this was good, because the only other food in the area was expensive luxury hotel buffets or mediocre diners about 20 minutes away in Ein Bokek. Dinner was cafeteria food, but not terrible and there was a lot to choose from.