This medical blog is temporarily hijacked to become a vacation blog. I probably will still do some medical blogging while on vacation, but primarily I want to keep a record of an exciting vacation.

We landed in Tel Aviv Monday afternoon around 4 pm local time. After meeting our guide, we drove to Rosh Pinna in the north. We overslept the next morning.

Observations:
1. We love Israeli breakfast buffets. We ate fresh fruits, goat cheeses, homemade breads, fresh squeezed orange juice and could have had much more. Of course, we had to finish our breakfast with Halvah.
2. Tuesday’s trip was in the Golan Heights. Driving through the Golan helped us understand viscerally the importance of this relatively small area to Israeli safety in the North of the country.
3. The highlights of Tuesday included the Golan Archaeological Museum. There we saw wonderful examples of the housing from 1500 years ago, and the remains of an old synagogue.
4. A visit to the Golan Heights Winery – where we were very pleasantly taught about the burgeoning Israeli wine industry. We had a great tasting, and bought some wines that will greatly enhance Passover dinners (actually we could drink these wines anytime, but we will save them especially for Passover.
5. The jeep ride through the Golan – stunning beauty, and a clear view of the strategic nature of the geography of the region. We walked through a bunker and looked over Syria.
6. The people are wonderful. We can feel the pride of the Israeli people. They know their country, and understand its importance.

Today we will visit the Northern coast of Israel.