Northern Israel

July 11th was taken up with touring northern Israel. We left Tel Aviv and went by bus around the countryside. We saw a lot of Biblical sites. We ate lunch in Haifa but hadn't quite mastered Israeli food. The guide pointed out Lebanon from a mountaintop. It looked very beautiful and peaceful. In later years, it lost its beauty and peace. We were told not to take pictures of Israeli Army camps, but I did anyway. One nice thing about our bus tour was that we were allowed to get out of the bus and walk around at the sites. One place we went to was Nazareth. The boyhood home of Jesus. The hotel had given us a fruit basket as a going away present. Outside of Nazareth, we came upon a group of children. Everywhere we went, we were hounded by children wanting money. We were told not to give money to the kids, but we decided to give the fruit basket instead. It caused a riot. The kids fought over the fruit, and we watched from inside the bus as the dust rose around the kids. One boy was so proud that he came up with the peel from a grapefruit, as the insides had been obliterated in the fight. We saw how little these kids had, and how grateful we should be as Americans. It was only fruit to us, but it meant the world to them. We continued on and ended up at a kibbutz called Nof Ginosar. That's where we spent the night. It was a beautiful oasis. They had candy with a liquid center of brandy. Brandy candy was a big hit that night with the younger set. We tried to get Mr. Vivian to eat some, but either he knew what they were or else he didn't want candy. Too bad. It would have been fun to see him with a buzz. He had an infectious laugh. Tomorrow would be the beginning of a new chapter of the tour that was dangerous.