Beit Shean, Gan Sachne, Gangaroo, Tzefat, Kefar Blum

August 2, 2010

Whew....what a busy day as we began our trek up north for our "vacation" :)

We left our apartment at 7:40 AM (only 40 minutes late, so not so bad). Our first stop was Beit Shean, which was very "cool", but VERY VERY hot. While Benjamin and I almost melted away, the rest of the kids and Yehuda enjoyed running through the ruins and taking lots of cool pictures.

After being so hot, we needed to cool off so we proceeded to go swimming at Gan Sachne, aka Gan Hashlosha. It was so nice and neither Yehuda and I had ever beed there. The kids loved swimming and found it a much needed, refreshing reprieve from the extreme heat. According to every Israeli, it is NEVER this hot. Next we continued to Gangaroo, where the kids loved petting and feeding the kangaroos. We all learned really interesting facts about kangaroos and enjoyed a delicious ice cream treat.

Next we continued north through Tiberias, along the Kinneret. It was GORGEOUS. The water looked stunning, although I know there is not so much of it these days. After a quick stop for a pizza snack (at 25 shekel for a whole pie) we were off to Tzefat.

In Tzefat we walked through the artists colony, went into the Ari shul, weaved around and ate a delicious dinner at a restaurant called "Mimul HaHar" where the views overlooking the valley were breathtaking. We watched the spectacular sunset over the mountains and then were off to our hotel.

We arrived at Kefar Blum just on time for the 8PM magic show, just our luck. The kids were mesmerized even though it was all in Hebrew. Benjamin even volunteered for a trick and all was good....until the magician realized that Benjamin could do a good job "faking it" but didn't actually understand a word he was saying.

After putting the kids in front of a movie (for the first time in almost 3 weeks), Yehuda went to the pool for a night swim. What fun!

What a full day...we are all completely exhausted!