Adventure Day in Golan

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Today was a day of adventure. We started with a fun and bumpy 2 hour jeep ride through the Golan Heights, basically a barren mountain range. It was particularly interesting to travel into the area that was held by the Syrians until the 6-day war in 1967. Overlooking the Israeli settlements in the green valley below, we could really understand the strategic importance of the Golan Heights, especially considering we could see Lebanon on the other side of the valley.

Next we traveled to the Mystical city of Safed, one of the 4 holy cities according to tradition and the birthplace of Kabbalah.. Kabbalah is a mystical branch of Judaism (recently made famous by Madonna). We strolled through the narrow, cobblestone streets, visited two ancient synagogues, and shopped at the local artisan workshops - no Madonna sightings).

We finished the day with a fun kayak/rafting trip down the Jordan River. It was very crowded with rafts but we enjoyed the cool fast flowing water. The kids were in a raft by themselves, and they enjoyed having water fights with other rafts as the adults drifted by on kayaks.

The day ended with M& J swimming in the pool on the Kibbutz and then a festive group dinner in an Italian restaurant. Time for sleep so we can get ready for our journey to Jerusalem tomorrow.

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