Ancient Akko

Last week me and my family went to Akko, the ancient city next to Haifa. Akko was important to the Romans, Crusaders, and the Ottoman Empire. The first thing we saw was the dungeon. You would think the dungeon would have individual cells with iron bars. It's actually one room and all the prisoners are together. And if the Romans or Crusaders were under attack, they could hide in the dungeon as a last resort. The Knight's Hall was the next thing we saw. The Knight's Hall today is one big room with a high ceiling. But when the Knight's Hall was in use, there were three stories. The first floor was for the knights, the second floor was for the knight's servants, and the third floor was for the servants of the servants. The last thing we saw was the bath house. The bath house is where you go to get massages and special treatment. I'm glad I went to Akko. It was really fun.

Seeing Caesarea

A while back, our family went to Masada (as Noah wrote about), the tall mountain where King Herod built his palace and fortress. This week we went to Caeserea, another place built by Herod except instead of a fortress, this was a port. A port city where people could live and where they brought in cargoes from Rome for the king. We went there to see all the ruins of the city. We saw tunnels, a horse racing track called a Hippodrome, an arena where men fought lions, parts of the city that had been destroyed, a palace, and all of this was right next to the Mediterranean sea. The whole time I wanted to go and swim. It was very fun there and I thought it was so cool that you could just walk around on all the ancient things. Noah and I had a lot of fun exploring. Caeserea was an awesome place and it was one of the highlights of the week.

King Herod's Palace

Ella, my parents, my grandparents, and I went to Masada on Thursday. Masada is the remains of Roman King Herod’s palace, fortress, and warehouse. Masada was and still is on a high mountain. When you go into the rooms of the palace, you see black lines on the walls. When archeologists found the palace, there was only half of the walls and no ceiling. The black lines indicate that everything below them is original and everything above the black line is not.

There are two ways to get up the mountain. One of them is taking the gondola. The gondola is like a ski lift but you’re not outside. The ride from top to bottom is only two minutes. The other way is to hike up the Snake Path. The Snake Path is a really hard hiking trail up the mountain. We all took the gondola up, but Ella, my Dad, my Grandma, and I went down the mountain on the Snake Path. It took about 45 minutes. It was not very hard because we were going down, not up.

            If you like hot weather, very old buildings, and high places, then go to Masada because you will love it!!!!!!!

Day at the Dead Sea

On Thursday, our family went to the Dead Sea. Our grandparents are visiting and we've been saving this experience for when they were here and now we finally did it! It was an experience of a lifetime. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth. Also, when you you look across the water, you can see Jordan on the other side. The border is right in the middle of the sea. It is also called the Salt Sea because it is so salty that you can float in it. Fish cannot survive in it because of the salt and if you taste it, it's bad luck for you because it tastes really bad. You can't splash or swim in the Dead Sea because if it gets in someone's eyes or in their mouth it will sting. All you do is float. Another subject the Dead Sea is famous for is its mud. The mud at the Dead Sea is so soft and so nice and it has minerals in it so people put it on their skin and faces. To me, it's a little gross. I tried a little, but only on my arms. It feels hot and soft and I didn't like it. We had a great time there and it was so fun for everyone that my parents said we could definitely go back.

Yom Hashoah

This week was Yom Hashoah. This is the day where we remember the Holocaust. Six million Jews were murdered, and in all twelve million people were killed by Hitler and the Nazis. It was a horrible time period and it happened the same time as World War II. In Israel, Yom Hashoah is an important day, and everyone is very sad. On the radio, there is no happy music. On TV, there are no shows that aren't related to the Holocaust. Also, at ten o'clock in the morning, there is a siren. During this siren, the people of Israel stand silently and remember the horrors of the Holocaust. The siren lasts for two minutes and usually there is a ceremony after. It was amazing to finally hear the siren and even though it was a sad day, it was pretty neat to be in Israel for this.

Cars stop on the road during the siren