Crossing the Pond second time around

So we are half way across the Atlantic, crossing from Europe to North America.

So far the weather has been good, and no rough seas to speak of, today it changed a bit and things are a little rocky.

Not to much else to say, just another 2.5 days at sea before we find dry land again.

Taking a dip in the Dead Sea

The second part of my tour that went to Masada went to the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea is located at the lowest point below sea level at -1,237ft.

And it is also the saltiest body of water in the world, at 33.7% salt.

People who swim in the Dead Sea can float in just a few inches of water. And many people go to the sea for the health benefits that the minerals in the water provide.

I went swimming in the sea for a while, and it was really fun. And very interesting to see what different ways you can float.

floating the dead sea

The bottom of the sea is made up of salt that precipitates out of the water and feels like sand on the bottom. Some areas have large salt formations, and at the south part of the sea there are large reclamation pools that are used to harvest the minerals for export.

The weather was great when we were there, sunny, and warm, but not to hot, and the water not cold.

I was lucky to get on this tour. The day was great, and it was a very unique and interesting experience.

To the top of Masada

Masada is a former palace and stronghold built by Herod the Great.

The site was built upon a tall mesa near the Dead Sea, its cliffs are between 100-400m high above the floor of the surrounding area. Making it a very strong defensive point.

The palace included large baths, private residences for Herod, and huge storerooms for food, and supplies, and large cisterns for water and a very smart system of canals to collect rainwater from surrounding areas.

To get to the top of the site, there are two was to go. Similar to Santorini you can take the long hike, or you can take to cable car. We took the cable car.

When we got to the top we saw remains of the palace and administrative areas, as well as the roman baths.

What makes this site important and famous was that it was the last stronghold of the Jewish people after the revolt against the Romans in Jerusalem.

Many people fled to the site after the Romans retook Jerusalem.

Soon after they took up residence in Masada the Romans began a siege of the site.

Because it was well supplied and in a very strong defensive position it was able to resist the Romans for 3 years.

The Romans built a encircling and began a siege of Masada.

Remains of the many Roman legionaries camps can be seen all around the site.

Because Masada was so well supplied the siege took longer then the Romans expected, and their eventual solution to end the siege was an interesting one.

They decided to build a ramp up to the top of the cliffs.

The ramp was built of earth, and rose about 400ft from to the walls of Masada. When it was completed the Romans were able to break down the walls using a battering ram.

When the Romans entered Masada, they found almost everyone dead, with the exception of only a few woman and children who hid in the water cisterns.

The defenders chose to kill themselves and their families then face slavery as prisoners of the Romans.

Masada was a very amazing site, with a lot of very interesting history, and awesome views of the surrounding areas.

Tour to Acre

Last week I did a tour to Acre, which is a old city near Haifa.

Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. With people living there since around 1500BC.

It was also a major Crusader port, and their capital after they were driven out of Jerusalem.

The town was divided into many parts with each country that sent crusaders having a piece of the port.

And there were large forts to house the Knights and trading houses that are still intact today.

There are also a large network of tunnels underneath the city that were used to smuggle goods into the city to avoid import taxes.

This was an interesting tour to an area with lots of history.

Tour to Jerusalem

So we have arrived in the Holy Land.

I did a tour the first day to Jerusalem.

Home to holy sites to some of the big religions of the world, Jerusalem is a city with a long history.

Our tour guide

The city has been controlled by many different peoples in its time, and is currently part of Israel.

One our tour we went to the Israel Museum, which holds the Dead Sea Scrolls. Not all of them are displayed at one time, they rotate them out every few months.

We were not allowed to take pictures inside.

The dome that holds the dead sea scrolls.

After that we visited the old town of Jerusalem. We were able to see the Dome of the Rock, a mosque who's dome is painted with real gold.

Also we visited the Western Wall, or Wailing Wall, which is the remains of the second temple of built by Herod the Great. It is a site of prayer for Jews, and there is a tradition of placing notes into the cracks of the wall.

It was a interesting day in Jerusalem. And very long. As it was a long way from where we docked to the city.