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.