Monday, January 3, 2011

Marmelade, the Dead Sea, and Masada

The day started with Doug making marmalade with kumquats and lemons from his yard. He asked me about his "ornamental orange" which turns out to be kumquats and with the number he has, marmalade was in order.

We then headed off toward the Dead Sea to have a look at Masada. We stopped at one viewing spot where the smell of sulfur was very strong. Saw a yellow trail going into the sea, just like some hot springs in California. In fact the whole area reminded me of the Salton Sea area, only with really high hills on both sides of the sea. The sky wasn't completely clear, so seeing the hills on the Jordan side was problematic.

Lunch at the cafeteria in Masada, then up the cable car to the top. It's hard to believe that Herod built a palace here. What amazing views! I will add to this a bit later.

Unlike many of the tourists, especially youth groups, we took the cable car back down. Stopped at En Gedi to see people swimming in the Dead Sea, then back to Jerusalem for a Gin and Tonic and cheese.

11 comments:

Rick+ said...

     This is absolutely fascinating, Amelia, and the marmalade sounds delicious!

motheramelia said...

Will have some for breakfast tomorrow.

Leonard said...

Heaven!

Wade said...

Very glad your trip is going well, and we all look forward to your return to the Promised Land!

June Butler said...

Amelia, I love reading your accounts of your journey.

Off topic, we have tons of oranges coming in. We should make marmalade.

motheramelia said...

Marmelade making is hardly off topic. More will be forthcoming, but I need a nap. Yesterday's trip to Herodion left my leg muscles aching.

Lona said...

I will enjoy reading about a city I fell in love with, Jerusalem,
Lona

Brian R said...

Hope all is well with you and you are just very busy having a wonderful time.

Doorman-Priest said...

Been there, done that. Fab eh?

"Sir" said...

I did that trip but without the gin and tonic. Reading your reports have brought back happy and sometimes perplexed memories.

motheramelia said...

Sir's comment got put in the waiting to be viewed bin. Made me realize that I haven't even looked at my blog in over a month. The trip was quite an experience with it's good and not so good parts. I have two partially finished posts that I need to make time to finish. I just returned from an icon painting workshop where I wrote an icon of Moses and the burning bush. I'll write about Izzie's experiences on her blog