Communing with nature

We're in Tel Aviv (Holon, actually) right now, but tomorrow we leave for the Dead Sea and then the Negev Desert. We'll be travelling around for a week, so I may not get to post much.

Our second day in the Galilee I had an experience I never thought I'd have: spending the day in a convoy of 4X4 jeeps and trucks doing a little recreational off-roading through densely-populated Israel. It's Avi's favourite hobby. This particular excursion, the details of which I may save for another time, was a tour of kibbutzes and moshavs where we learned about the production of olive oil, mushrooms, passion-fruit liqueur, and glass beads. (Or at least, those of us who could understand Hebrew learned.) Except instead of driving to these places on the perfectly-good paved roads, we drove through the bush and over the mountains. The day ended with dinner at a Bedouin restaurant, not a night in a Bedouin tent as previously suggested. But it was delicious and interesting.