Day 8--Jerusalem to Jaffa and beyond

It's difficult to leave a place when the sun is shining through a bold, blue sky.  Our wake-up call wasn't until 7:30, but by now my body clock was set to 5:30 am, so that's when I awoke.  Packing and setting the luggage outside the door by 8:00 were something I could do casually.  What a joy not to rush!  The Dead Sea mud packets I'd bought added weight to my luggage and it weighed in at 23 kilos on the hotel scale--a bit over 50 pounds, yet I eventually had no issues with weight.

We spent two hours in the old city--the bazaars a rainbow of color and eventually a frenzy of  activity.  Entering through Jaffa gate, we were early enough to see the vendors opening their steel doors, carrying out their wares and others hosing off the street/walkway in front of their stores.

Darcy gave us a course in Haggling 101: be respectful, but don't accept the first price of anything; walk away if you need to, but if the vendor is really interested in a sale, he will follow you into the street and bargain until you both can agree.  Some purchased scarves from $3-5 and I found a fun wrap-around skirt for $10.  Would love to go back and hone my bargaining technique again someday, but the time was running short and our next stop was the Shrine of the Book.

This museum had two things that interested us--a large scale of the old city (as accurately laid out as possible according to the ancient texts) and the treasure of the Dead Sea scrolls themselves. These are the scrolls we'd heard about earlier in the week when we visited Qumran.

Leaving the city behind us, we lunched at a kibbutz and then drove south to the Bet Guvrin caves before moving on to Jaffa.  The caves, 2300 years old, are amazingly situated so that one can view the horizon 360 degrees and the dust of approaching threats can be easily identified.

The deep caves housed the Sidonian people and one cave featured an olive oil press.  These caves were ingeniously lit from a small opening from above.  One cave was the coop for doves (the dovecot) and another featured frescos painted in honor of the leader of the group.

As we neared Jaffa, the terrain evened out and industry, six-lane highways, and towns appeared. Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv, was alive with color and art.

Fun to see the Mediterranean again.

Fantastic farewell dinner.

Eleven appetizers, four main dishes, four side dishes, two desserts, as much wine as I could drink, and coffee/tea.  Laughs, tender moments recalling the trip's little adventures. Delightful.

We walked out into a clear starlit sky to the bus. During the entire trip, we never felt unsafe, never doubted we were well looked after. Ze've won our hearts. He's a walking encyclopedia. A glorious trip!