January 18-19

I have skipped a couple of days writing the blog because we have been extremely busy. Upon our arrival in Jerusalem, we checked into the Kind David Hotel.  This is where all the Presidents  and Movie Stars stay and us, of course.  It is a lovely hotel right in the middle of Jerusalem. 

For dinner that evening we went to the new Waldorf Astoria which is about 3 blocks away.  We ate in the meat room.  Everything there was Kosher and and the dining areas are separated by food types.  After having a lovely meal we were going to walk back the King David (KD), but it was touch chilly so Mary Ralph and myself decided to take a taxi.  Our driver, Shlomo Itach, was very nice and in a blink of an eye MR said she needed a suitcase and we u-turned, waved at Charlie and Jack and said out the window we were going shopping. This is like 9 pm at night.  We are nuts!!!!  Shalom takes us to the shopping mall which is about a 20 minute ride away and extremely busy and lo and behold after he accompanies us into the mall MR gets her suitcase, which says Beverly Hills Polo Club.  Very appropriate for her. Shalom is now our new best friend.

The next morning  which is Friday we are off bright and early to the Dead Sea and Masada.  This is about an hour and half ride to Masada.  Masada is a natural fortress in the Judaea Desert overlooking the Dead Sea.  King Herod built his castle on the top of the this majestic hill and it is also the sight of where the  Jewish rebels and the Romans fought till the end and the rebels killed everyone in their  and them themselves so they would not be captured!! Live Free or Die!!
Beautiful ruins overlooking the Dead Sea!

From rocks to the beach we go to the Herod Hotel on the Dead Sea.  Eitan has arranged for us to swim in the Dead Sea.  This is the lowest spot on earth and a natural health spa. It is a salt lake and is 1,388 ft below sea level and the deepest part is 1,237 feet deep.  It borders Jordan and Israel and is completely landlocked.

I will let the photos take care of itself.

The Mudders!!!

From the Dead Sea is is back to Jerusalem to hurry and change because it is Shabbat and we have a dinner at the home of Rena and Emanuel Quint. This is a traditional Shabbat dinner with a formal dinner table set, multiple courses, singing and prayers.
We started with salmon, then chicken soup, then beef and vegetables, salad and finally dessert.  We also had the 2 loaves of challah bread.  Thank goodness we walked back to the hotel as we were stuffed.

Rena is a holocaust survivor from Poland and her story was quite interesting.  Just to give a small hint of her survival she passed as boy until she no longer work along side her Dad before he was sent to the camps.  She ended up she thinks about 10-12 years of age in New York, by way of Sweden and was adopted by a family there and lived in Brooklyn. She married Manny who was an attorney and they stayed in the States until the late 80's and then moved Tel Aviv when Manny retired from his law practice. Rena is a very high spirited lady who also gives tours for National Geographic groups and the society of the Shabbat.