A Fork And A Suitcase

On this Memorial Day, I would like share some photos of a past trip to this very moving place. The American Cemetery is located in Colleville - Sur - Mer, Normandy, France.  The Cemetery sits on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and it is 172 acres large.  It contains the remains of 9,387 American military, most of whom lost their lives during the invasion of Normandy and the military operations in World War II. The names of 1,557 Americans who died in the Normandy campaign but could not be identified are inscribed on the walls of this semicircular garden. At the center stands a twenty two foot bronze statue, "The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves".   Closing for the day flag ceremony.

This beautiful place was our last stop before returning to Tel Aviv and flying back home. The Ramon Crater in the Negev desert is the world's largest erosion crater.  It was created 220 million years ago when the ocean that covered the desert began to move north.  Slowly, the water and other climatic forces began to carve out the crater and flatten the curve on top. The crater measures 25 miles long and 5 miles at its widest. We drove into the crater and hiked for a few hours.  It was really beautiful, peaceful and eerily quiet.   This is The Prism (The Carpentry) A really unique hill.  After being "baked" in the high heat, the sandstone cooled down and crystallized into prism-like shapes.  Close to sundown the colors were so much more vibrant, I felt as if I were visiting a completely different place.  We enjoyed a fun jeep ride followed by a great dinner at the Isrotel Ramon in Mitzpe Ramon. This was...

Technically speaking, Masada is a mountaintop, accessible by foot or cable cars, and it lays about 1300 feet above the Dead Sea. But it is so much more than that.  Masada is such a powerful symbol of human strength.  King Harod built this fortress in the middle of the Judean desert between 37 and 31 BCE.   It was to be his refuge. Masada included huge storehouses, rain water cisterns,  armory, bathhouses and palaces. This is Part of Harod's palace. When the jews revolted against the romans in 66 CE, a group of Jewish rebels overcame the roman garrison which guarded Masada following Harod's death.  The rebels were known as Sicari, because of their dagger (sica). Following the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the holy temple (70CE), hundreds of Jews joined the sicari at masada.  The mountaintop became their refuge. In 73 CE, the romans decided to end the resistance at masada by trying to starve the zealots and used ...

A relatively short drive from Jerusalem, let's face it, everything in Israel is a relatively short drive away,  we came to our next destination, Ein Avdat National Park.  I was told that it would be a beautiful hike with plenty of great photo opportunities.  Not a single person from our group mentioned that we would be climbing a completely vertical wall of a huge mountain.  To a person with a fear of heights, this was a pretty big deal and probably worth mentioning.    Ein Avdat is a canyon in the negev desert with numerous springs at the southern opening.  Monks lived in these caves during the Byzantine period. Ein Avdat is part of Nahal Zin - the largest Wadi (dry riverbed created by erosion) in the Negev.    This area is prone to flash floods during the rainy season. Our hike started out easy and Yes, everyone in the group was stunned by the beauty of this area.  This is when I sta...