Oren is the ultimate host. He spends hours digging up information for me to help with any travels in the area. It is all I can do to get to bed by 1AM, with Oren showing me all the roads I can take down to Masada, and then discussing the various options for a Dead Sea experience. I finally collapse in bed but I'm up shortly after 3AM as I would like to watch the sunrise over Masada and it is at least two hours drive from Tel Aviv.
Oren is still huddled over the computer when I get up, ferreting out additional info for me. After a final briefing, I take to the streets in Oren's car. The last thing he does is strongly encourage me to take a mug of coffee with me. Between the caffein and the excitement (fear?) of navigating Tel Aviv's streets by myself, I manage to get clear of the city without incident.
The sun does indeed rise over Masada. Masada, for those like me who are not well versed in Jewish history, is a fortress stronghold in the Negav desert between Jeruselam and Eliat. It is about five miles west of the Dead Sea. The fortress was built on a mesa and because of the mesa's steep walls, the settlement was naturally fortified and relatively easy to defend against attackers.
Herod took the fortress in 43 B.C. and turned it into a desert hide-away/fortress/palace. In 66 A.D., during the "First Revolt", Jewish zealots took the fort from the Romans. The Zealots held the fortress until 73 A.D. when the roman army laid siege. The Romans used slaves to build a huge earthen ramp up the side of the mesa. The Jewish zealots committed mass suicide before the walls were breached. The story is more involved, but suffice it to say that it figures strongly in Jewish lore.
The drive from the western side of Masada (I'm the only car in the parking lot - everybody goes from the Dead Sea side) takes about an hour to reach the Dead Sea. It's another hour or so to putz north and get to a low key beach (Kalia), and do my obligatory float in the Dead Sea. I can attest to the fact that you do float, the mud is black (can't speak to the medicinal properties of the mud) and the water tastes absolutely horrible.
The road signs through Jerusalem (at least the English ones) are poor and it takes me thirty minutes to get "unlost". I make my way to three wineries Oren has identified, Castle, Latron and Sorek. The first, run by monks, has a bartender who speaks no English. He rattles off a list of languages he does speak, one of which is French and our conversation is sufficient to try the four open bottles he has and get him to open one of the "good" ones. I'm not too keen on any of the wines, even the so-called good one and end up buying a Sangria, which is relatively sweet and inexpensive. I figure it will be good on a hot day.
I try to memorize my route into Tel Aviv, so I won't need to consult a map while driving back to Oren's. I do pretty well, getting to Oren's front door. I circle the block twice looking for street parking but can't find a spot easy enough for me to park. I plaintively call Oren and Inbar kindly comes down and parks the car for me.
It's the last thing Inbar does before going to a ritual cleansing. Inbar is dipped into a pool and must not touch the sides or bottom while submerging herself seven times under water. This is part of the official Jewish wedding ceremony, and although Inbar was happy to do it once, she swears it is the last time.
After Inbar heads off, Oren, Sarah (Oren's friend from Australia), and I head to the NG restaurant where I have the best lamb chops I've ever tasted. Sarah and Oren have different beef dishes which are very good but we all concur that the lamb is stellar.
Oren and Inbar stay at the Intercontinental Hotel, a few blocks away from where they live. It's interesting that when they tried to book a hotel room a few weeks ago, they were not successful. It was only after getting the help of Microsoft, where Inbar works, that they were successful. Much of the world's economy may be languishing, but things in Tel Aviv are still booming.
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