Wow! What an amazing day in Northern Israel!
We met for breakfast at 07h15 where we were treated to a feast of healthy fresh foods typical of Israeli. After breakfast we were briefed on the Golan Heights by General Kobi Marom. Our tour guide, who served under the General had some interesting stories to tell us later in the day.
After the briefing we drove up to the Golan Heights where we saw army and tank brigades. We met at a kibbutz where we boarded four wheel drive jeeps for our trip along the Golan Heights. We could easily see into Syria, gaining a strong understanding of the strategic importance of the Golan Heights from a military and a water point of view. The weather was superb, giving us a clear view across the border into Syria.
After this, we drove along the Golan Heights, down across the Jordan river and up to a kibbutz adjacent to the Lebanese border. We stopped at a winery for a delicious "light" lunch. of course we were able to taste some of the locally produced wine with our meal. We ate within view of the Lebanese army post on the hill overlooking the winery. We were given a tour of the winery and then a wine tasting session. The wines were excellent. it turns out that Joe Blog, in Houston, is the distributor of these Galil Mountain wines. They are certainly worth trying. Great quality.
After lunch and wine, we drove a very short distance to the kibbutz, where we looked across the Lebanese border. We could see the UN positions, the border fence, the Lebanese twon on the hills above and even saw a number of Israeli patrol vehicles go past.
We returned to Sefad (Zvat) where we had two hours of leisure. A few of us tried the hotel's spa. We sat in the hot tub, did some lengths in the pool and sat in the Turkish baths.
We we driven to the ancient town of Sefad for a "treasure hunt" through the streets. Once we had located our "treasure" we met at the dinner venue. What a pleasant surprise! In the lobby we were given hot drinks similar to Gluewein. We went down the stairs to the dinner hall which was decorated to look like the streets of the town. There was a Kletzmer band playing music. We ended up dancing in a crowd of at least 100 people. The food was pleantiful and very tasty. The vive was wonderful. A terrific time was had by all.
Eventually they had to "throw" us out to return to the hotel.
Now we need to pack in order to leave for tomorrow's adventure directly after our breakfast briefing.
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