"Strip away the layers and reveal your soul
Give yourself up and then you become whole" - Matisyahu lyrics

Today was an absolutely beautiful experience!! We said our goodbyes to Jerusalem and drove up along the Coastal Road to the ancient city of Ceasarea Maritima. No surprise here, it was also built by Herod the Great, but the most important aspect is that it was literally an invention of genius at the time of its creation! It was the first ever-artificial harbor!! This may not sound too impressive, but imagine literally singing limestone into the ocean and then building an entire harbor and port on top. Thanks to my obsession with the HBO show "Rome," I knew some of the history surrounding Herod's association with Marc Anthony and, as a result, his wish to build a city in honor of Octavius (later known as Augustus) to gain the Cesar's graces...it was nothing short of awe-inspiring to be walking on such a piece of history! Fun fact: Herod brought the Olympics to Ceasarea and created 2nd and 3rd places for the first time!

After a morning in the hot Israeli sun at Caesarea, we made our way to Nazareth and had a finger-licking-good lunch of falafel and hummus (no surprise there!).

A nice vendor also gave us some baklava for free! For being the place where Jesus spent his childhood, it is shocking to see that Nazareth population currently consists almost exclusively of Arabs... it is somewhat alarming in light of the billboards we saw there (one of them is pictured in my photos for this post).

This particular sign was placed directly in front of the Basilica of the Annunciation, the largest church in the Middle East. Ridiculous, absolutely inexcusable. There is a really interesting story associated with the sign (and the mosque on which it is posted), so if you're interested, ask me!

In the evening, we settled into our hostel and had a long advocacy-themed discussion with Dr. David Brog, sitting out under the stars. Afterwards, as would be our custom for the remaining nights we spent in Israel, we took our some hookahs, bought some Israeli beers, brought out some blankets from our rooms, and spent the evening under nightfall's cooler breeze.

"I told you to be patient
I told you to be fine
I told you to be balanced
I told you to be kind" - Bon Iver lyrics

The first half of the day was spent "walking in the footsteps of Jesus' Ministry" in Galilee, visiting the site that symbolizes the Sermon on the Mount, the place that symbolizes the miracle of feeding the 5,000, etc. We dipped our feet in the Sea of Galilee as well - so refreshing!

 

After this, we traveled to the Golan Heights and immersed ourselves in the political debate over the area. In part, we visited the ancient town of Gamla, where one of the epic battle-sites of the Roman suppression of the Great Revolt. The Golan is a place of incredible hiking and I was pretty sad to be rushed through it all; however, when I return in several months, I have arranged with Avi and Ohad to go on a solid hike with them...the weather will be much cooler then, so it will at least be bearable to be outside!

Having learned about the Great Revolt, we traveled to the Israeli-Syrian border to learn about the strategic importance of this area to the state of Israel. Lastly, we headed to the Golan winery for a wine tasting!!

The Israeli really have made the dessert bloom, growing twenty-two different kinds of grapes in an area with incredibly different topography, weather, and elevation! The wine tasting provided a much-needed break from the heat and sun of the day and it solidified (at least for me) the economic successes that the Israelis have reached in this region. The drive back to the hostel took a while, so Hunter and I sat on the bus and listened to Bon Iver's calming music and felt incredibly content. I felt simultaneously at peace and inspired...after a summer of hectic travel, I had a moment of calm in which I reminded that whatever mistakes we make and whatever wrongs are done to us, there is always more good than bad in life.

At night, we met with some Israeli soldiers. The gathering was actually somewhat frustrating for me because we were not allowed to ask them "political" questions since they were in uniform...as a result, the quality of the questions being asked deteriorated to "what are your hobbies?" and "what do you think about women being in the army?" On a tangent on that last note, Israel recently created a new infantry brigade of women that fights alongside men on the ground, instead of being in Intelligence, etc. Pretty damn cool!! In any case, despite the frustrating caliber of the questions, after the Q&A was over, we all spent some time underneath the stars on our usual blankets with hookah and wine (from the Golan!!). This opportunity was one of my favorite moments of the entire trip, as we got to freely interact with locals!