The Mosaic Summer Star Tour - July 28th, 2011

We met at the Be'erot campground on Thursday night. After everyone got there and got organized we took a short walk (about 10 minutes) to where our guide for the evening, Ira Machefsky, was waiting for us.

We settled down and were treated to about three hours of star stories, astronomy, a little astrology, and a little mythology.

We saw meteors that were part of the Delta-Aquarid meteor shower, and a few that were not.

We took a look through binoculars and a telescope a various point in the sky.

The gathering started breaking up around 12:30, while the more resilient stayed till 1:30.

After a short nap, we got up and had a pot luck breakfast, and then made our way back home.

Some people were kept awake by barking. This is the source:


Thanks to Phyllis who organized a great event and to Ira for making the sky come alive.





Pictures:
Steve's Pictures

Nachal Kziv - June 23rs to 25th, 2011

We met at the Achziv Field School on Thursday night.

Some of us had supper at Arnold's in Netiv HaShayara, which was a lovely experience.

On Friday morning we drove towards Mitzpe Hila and parked at the trail head where we met our guide, Israel, and some people who did not spend Thursday night at the field school.

We started our decent towards the Montfort Fortress. At the lookout overlooking the fortress, we got a general explanation about the fortress. We the descended and walked through the first moat, and climbed up to the Donjon or Stronghold. A few short words, and we climbed back down and visited other parts of the fortress.

After visiting the rest of the fortress, we continued our decent towards Nachal Kziv. At the bottom of the hill we had to cross the stream, which surprisingly for this time of year, was pretty deep, wide, and actually flowing. Those who could changed into various types of water shoes, while other tried to keep from getting their shoes wet.

We continued walking along Nachal Kziv, along the way we had to cross the stream several times. We saw the remains of storage facilities and flour mills.

Because we were delayed, the guide decided to skip Ein Tamir. We started our ascent back towards the beginning of the trail. The ascent was steep and long, about an hour and a half.

When we got back to the parking lot, we met a herd of goats.

We returned to the field school tired, hot, but with a sense of accomplishment.

On Friday evening around 6 pm, we all gathered to wish Craig and Simcha Leah a big Mazal Tov on their engagement.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this a great vacation:

Rachel and Ephraim for the organization, Israel for being am excellent guide, and Craig and Simcha Leah for sharing their engagement with us.

Pictures:

Gadi's Pictures
Alan's Pictures

Tel-Aviv Bike Ride - May 19th, 2011

The roar of the matkot, the smell of the mangal…

Second Annual Mosaic Tel Aviv Sunset Bikeride

About twice the number of participants as last year gathered on Ben Yehuda and Arlosoroff at the cycle shop to rent bikes for our seaside ride along the Tayelet. Several intrepid mosaic members bringing their own bike.

Coordinator Sarah "Gingit" Garfinkel employed incredible logistics to lead us to Old Jaffa and back along the seaside, through underpasses and bridges, by the port, the sea and the Yarkon river, for a nocturnal view of "the Big Orange."

And a good time was had by all. Witness the smiles.

All of the calories that went out were put back on with homemade cakes by Sarah, who has a gleam in her eye because of the citybikes introduced in Tel Aviv.

Thanks to the coordinator Sarah, to the drivers, photographers, and welcome to the new members.

Nachal Amud - April 7th - April 9th, 2011

We met at the Seuda BeGan Eden (Meal in paradise) restaurant in Tzfat for supper on Thursday. After supper, some went to a concert in Tzfat, while others went to the Har Meron Field School. We checked in, and settled in for the night.

After breakfast on Friday morning, we drove to Chenyon Hapitul (The Curve campground), which is where we started our hike last year. The drivers took the cars to the end of our route.

When the drivers returned, we crossed the road, and descended into Nachal Meron. The stream was flowing, and the trail was muddy. within the first few minutes we had to cross another stream. We walked along Nachal Meron, following the Israel trail and the black trail. We had to cross the stream many times, trying to stay as dry as possible. We saw many lovely flowers, and stopped for explanations about them. It drizzled a few times, but nothing that could stop us.

We arrived at the point were Nachal Meron flows into Nachal Amud and continued along Nachal Amud, again following the Israel trail and the black trail. We saw the remains of many mills, both flour mills and fulling mills. The mills date back to the 16th century.

Our next stop was near the Sechvi Pools, where we stopped for lunch. After lunch we continued along Nachal Amud, crossing over it several times. Once we got to the sign towards Ein Koves, we rested a bit before the steep climb out of Nachal Amud.

At the top of the climb we were greeted by two beautifull horses. We continued towards Ein Koves and the cars.

Since the ranger had taken our guide's details, we piled into the cars, drove to the starting point and then drove to the ranger station in order to pay. The ranger was so impressed with our honesty, that he forgave the fee.

We went back to the field school for showers and rest before Shabbat. On Shabbat people divided into smaller groups for walks and hikes near the field school.

Many thanks to Simcha Layah and Craig for organizing the weekend, and to Israel, our guide.

Pictures:
Gadi's Pictures

Nachal Shilo - February 18th, 2011

As Joel promised, Friday morning was a beautiful, sunny day after several dusty, gloomy days, and Mosaic set out in the Mateh Binyamin bus. Many new faces were welcomed on the bus, friends of friends of friends joining the hikers and welcoming our ideologically committed young guide, Frannie, filled with enthusiasm to show us the historical, biblical Shomron. We drove up to Shiloh but have to save Tel Shiloh for another trip, and heard about the controversy where Rachel is buried – near Shiloh or near Bethlehem?

We began walking near the vineyard named in memory of Harel Bin-Nun and then continued on to the walk through Nachal Shilo towards Eli. Along the way, Frannie read to us the dramatic biblical passages describing the loss of the Covenant of the Ark and the deaths of the sons of the High Priest Ely, in a battle with the Philistines - passages which also told of a messenger having run along the exact route we were walking. The hike ended just after we lunched at Ein Oz.

Pictures:
Penina's Pictures
Craig's Pictures

Eilat - January 20th - January 22nd, 2011

After makeing our way south towards Eilat, we met at the Halleluya restuarant in Eilat's old commercial center for supper. It was a bit noisy, but the food was good, and everyone had a good time.

On Friday morning we met our guide, Colin, at the field school. got on SUV's and drove through the back trails to the starting point of our hike. We used SUV's since the road was closed for the Israman competition.

We started our hike with a short walk towards Har Sholomo. We had to let the bikers go by when crossing the road. We 'found' an old bridge built by the Mamelukes on the Darb el Hajj (the pilgrims road to Mecca).

We retuned to our starting point (which was our ending point last year), and started climbing up into the mountains.

At the end of the climb we turned south on Nachal Yehoshafat. We left the wadi, and climbed along the northern rim of Ke'ar Rechav'am. It seemed like the mountain had been tipped on its side, since the layers were vertical instead of horizantal. At some points it looked like we were walking along the back of a giant dragon buried in the mountain.

After a few more ups and downs, some more challenging than others, we got to the top of Har Tzfachot, and a beautiful view of Eilat, Aqaba and the Gulf of Eilat.

The decent towards the field school (From an altitude of 278m to sea level) was long and steep but we all made it in once piece.

We had a lovely Friday Night Dinner at the Orchid Hotel, and then returned to the field school for some rest and relaxation that continued until Motzaei Shabat.

Thanks to Judith for coordinating the wonderful weekend, to Colin, our guide, and to the drivers for getting us all the way to Eilat and back, and to everyone who helped and contributed to the fun weekend.

Pictures:
Gadi's Pictures
Haya Shalom's Pictures
Heidi's Pictures
Adam's Pictures
Craig's Pictures
Leah's pictures from Petra
Heidi's Pictures

Herodion - December 10th 2010

We met at the entrance to Har Homa, met our guide Shmuel Browns, and drove the short drive to Herodion.

We started out at lower Herodion, where we say the remains of the Roman bath house, the articial pond which was surrounded by gardens, and various other structures.

After lower Herodion, we drove up to the palace-fortress, we walked around the various sites, visited the bathhouse that was built inside the fortress which includes one of the oldest complete domes found in Israel, the triclinium (formal dining room) that later served as a synagogue, and a Mikve from a later period.

Next we went underground and visited the water cisterns dug out to supply water to the palace.
These cisterns were later connected by tunnels and served as hiding places during the Second Jewish Revolt.

When we exited the tunnels we had a view of the theater that was recently discovered.

We ended our day with a picnic at the entrance to the site.

Thanks to Michelle for organizning a wonderfull day, Shmuel for bringing the site to life, and to all the participants.

Pictures:
Gadi's Pictures