Bouncing Around (Part I)

We finally got out of town last week for 2 lovely days at the Dead Sea. The weather was wonderful - high 80's and sunny the first day, just a bit cooler the second day. I could live there. The desert is beautiful, especially at this time of year. The hills on the road down from Jerusalem are covered with a peach fuzz of greenery, which will disappear soon as the rainy season comes to an end. I'm always amazed at how many archaeological sites we pass on the road; there was a lot (no pun intended) going on in the Negev back in the day. It was part of the great trade routes from the east, and communities evolved along the route about a day's ride or oasis apart from each other. Several years ago Sid and I stumbled on the opening of a UNESCO World Heritage site in this region - a Nabatean settlement, quite large and extensive as they tended to be. The Nabateans are best known for the fabulous city of Petra, which we toured last year.

It's an oft-repeated phrase that the Israelis have made the desert bloom. This gets truer every year, as new agricultural techniques and water management improve yields. It takes one's breath away to think that this tiny country, with an arid climate to begin with and 60% desert, produces food and flowers for export. There's another way in which the Israelis have made the desert bloom. 25 years ago this was pretty much all you saw when you traveled along the shore of the Dead Sea:

Rocky desertscape

Salt formations along the shore


That was then ... this is now ...

There are about a dozen hotels in Ein Bokek along the Dead Sea shore

And this is where we stayed

Sunrise over the Moab Mountains in Jordan

This is an exercise area along the shore. From far away we thought it was a playground, which we felt was a pretty dumb idea. When we got closer and realized what it actually was, we thought it was pretty cool.

The Dead Sea hotels are known for their food. Breakfast and dinner are buffets about a mile long. And the choices change daily. Here's a sample:

When we got up on the third morning the skies were overcast and a wind came up. Even at the Dead Sea the weather gets bad, including flash floods. We decided to go on our way right after breakfast. Our next destination was to pick Dori up from her base ... it was her last official day of military service. She was stationed at a strategic base that coordinates and oversees the Northern and Southern Commands. The base is located about 5 kilometers from the Gaza border. The fun never stops.

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I haven't mentioned much in the way of cultural goings-on so far this trip. Although culture here is vibrant, we didn't find as much that interested us this year as we have previously. We did see a delightful play (First Date) a few weeks ago. But now we are making up for lost time. Tonight we just returned from seeing a performance of Swan Lake by the St Petersburg Ballet. Last week we saw an amazing performance by a group called Los Vivancos. It was advertised as flamenco, but was something else entirely. It was a group of 7 men who danced in a way that was unlike anything else I've ever seen - very athletic with elements of flamenco, Irish dancing, rock, gymnastics and lots of other things I couldn't identify.. Since I'm not a dance maven I can't describe it, but it was a fabulous show. 90 minutes without intermission.

We also attended 2 sessions of a 4-lecture series on S.Y. Agnon, who received the Nobel for literature several years ago. He is considered one of Israel's premier writers, but neither one of us has ever read anything he wrote. The professor (Jeffrey Sacks) was excellent.

A new exhibit at the Israel Museum, my old stomping ground, opened last Friday. Pharoah in Caanan. Just in time for Pessach, and just when you thought you knew everything there was to know about Pharoahs. We'll see it next week and report.

Shavuah tov from Jerusalem,

Peggy and Sid