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If you have not yet noticed from my previous blog posts, I love traveling! During Winter Break I was given the amazing opportunity to visit Israel through the University of Florida Hillel's Birthright trip! This trip allows anyone with a Jewish heritage to visit Israel for free. This 10 day trip gives you the opportunity to visit all of the amazing parts of Israel, as well as meet many incredible people. Each day was jam-packed with exciting and informative tours and sight-seeing! This post is about the first part of our trip, during which we toured the northern part of Israel: the Golan Heights.
Our tour began at the Tel Dan Nature Reserve where we learned about the Ancient city and tribe of Dan. Dan was the Northernmost city of the Ancient Kingdom of Israel! In the picture above you can see the ancient walls of the town which have been preserved. During this walking tour we also had the opportunity to follow along the streams of the largest source of the Jordan River.
After our walking tour of Tel Dan, we all jumped into the jeeps in the picture above and took an off-road jeep ride through the dirt roads of the Golan! We even took a stop at the Jordan River and learned about this area's strategic significance to Israel.
One of my favorite places we visited in the Golan Heights was Mount Bental. This mountain gives you a gorgeous panoramic view of Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. This mountain top also contains an old army bunker that was used during the fight for the Golan. We were able to watch the sunset over the Golan, Syria, and Lebanon from the top of this mountain and it was breathtaking! I felt much stronger emotions about the reality of this conflict than I had realized at home, while standing in this significant location.
One of the best parts of our trip was the opportunity to have Israeli soldiers with us! I was able to learn so much about their life in Israel and the culture here.
The next day we visited the mystical town of Tzfat! This ancient artist colony is at the highest point in the Galilee, and it is known for art, mysticism, and kabbalah studies. The cobblestone paths and buildings are gorgeous and every corner you turn you can find an adorable shop with beautiful jewelry or artwork! The food here is absolutely amazing. The Mediterranean diet is definitely my favorite! We couldn't get enough of these falafel pita's during our time in Israel. Stay tuned for my next post about our time in Jerusalem!