Goin' to the Golan

Today was a day of adventure. A few interns and I hired a car and driver then explored Golan and Golan Heights. The Golan Heights is where the Syrian, Lebanese, and Israeli borders all meet. It was part of Syria until the 1970's when Israel took control of the area. If you feel like "Golan" faintly ring a bell, it might be because the US State Department issued a warning against travelling to the region... Oopsies. I mean, I only saw like 10 or so tanks, and there was only one warning against accidentally entering a "firing/landmine" zone on our hike. But hey--all part of the adventure!

We left Tel Aviv at 7 AM in a Mercedes van with our driver Joy.

View from the backseat, wahoo

The van stalled about five minutes into our drive, which didn't seem like a great sign...

The expression on our face as the car stopped in the middle of an intersection

After that, though, the trip up north was uneventful. As we drove up along the Mediterranean, the views reminded me a lot of San Clemente. Sandy brush, green scrub, and beautiful beaches. THen, as we got closer to Golan, the scenery was a ton like home--yay Anaheim Hills! One of my friends actually told me that when the American military is training, the soldiers go to California because of the similarity in climate and environment. So it was almost like being back--kinda. Israel almost feels more familiar and comfortable than Boston sometimes...

Anyways--pictures!

Our first stop was Nimrod fortress, a medieval stronghold from the 13th century.

There's the front part!

Me bein' my adventurous self

Crazy-intricate Arabic engravings that honor the Baybar Sultans (builders of the fortress). At the top-middle of the picture is a lion engraving, as the lion was the symbol of the Sultans.

Beautiful, right?

Wandering through the fortress

Cool winding staircase

Octagonal Tower, or as my pamphlet says, the "particularly attractive" tower

So, we knew that from our vantage point we could see Lebanon and Syria... But we couldn't quite tell where exactly they were! So, if you look at the next few pictures, you'll see Lebanon and Syria in at least one!

From Nimrod we drove to the Gamla Nature Reserve and hiked for an hour. Now this reminds me a TON of Anaheim Hills! Dry--but beautiful. I seriously felt right at home (:

The trail

Beautiful in a different way--but still beautiful!

A waterfall, oooo! 

Yay, me

Lovin' it

After hours of hiking and sweating, we were more than ready to relax in an air-conditioned winery. First stop: Golan Heights Winery!

Fancy schmancy

Some sample grapes to try!

The wine store

We took a tour around the facilities to see how they fermented and bottled the wine.

Oak barrels that give the wine a "heavy" taste

Red on the left, white on the right

They even let us keep the glasses, so generous

Fun fact: white wine is fermented at cooler temperatures than red wine is

A wine fountain, instead of a soda fountain!

Touring Golan Heights Winery was fantastic. It was established in the 1970's and has won numerous worldwide awards. It felt very professional and established. Very unlike the next winery we went to... Assaf Winery. Assaf was started only three years ago and is still run by a single family. It was quaint, rustic, and gorgeous. We were the only six people there and got special attention!

Assaf Winery

My favorite part of the winery of course

Mmmm.

Our tapas and dips!

The sampled wine and our lovely taste leader!

We finished up at Assaf around 4:30 and drove on back to Tel Aviv. We all PASSED OUT on our way back, I caught my bus back to Raanana right on time to eat with my host family for dinner. It was Ronnie's birthday (my host "dad") so we had a nice little celebration. Tomorrow, I visit Jerusalem again--and I can't wait! If it's half as incredible as today was, it will be an awesome day.

Signing off,

AubStod