Sandy and Tom: ASHDOD, ISRAEL

ASHDOD, ISRAEL

We docked in the port of Ashdod and took a bus to Jerusalem that was 90 minutes inland. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. There are 9 million people living in Israel now and in 1971 there were only 2 million. Two thirds of the country is desert. The people are using the desert to expand the living space. In 1882 was the first influx into Israel by Jewish people from other countries that were experiencing racial hatred. They moved together into a Kibbutz (means coming together). They farmed together, ate together, and did everything for the community. Many had never been farmers before and they had a hard life but they succeeded in their homeland even if they came from many different countries. In the last seven years the greatest influx has been from France. The Kibbutz of late has been turning to tourism to augment their income. They have erected a hotel and dining room to hold 1,000 and they feed the tour buses at lunch. Our tour bus stopped at one for lunch which was out of the world. They had wonderful fresh vegetables straight out of their gardens, chicken, meat, or fish, and wonderful desserts. Also, they served red and white wine they had made at the Kibbutz.

On our tour we walked through the Garden of Gethsemane. At Mt. Zion we visited the Room of the Last Supper. We walked through the Jewish Quarter and visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. We also saw the West Wall that used to be called the Wailing Wall.

Now on to the port of Haifa to go see Nazareth.