Cousin Efrat (the "E" in IDEA - Ilana, Dina, Efrat association - three cousins who organized everything for the next five days) arranged for a small van to transport my sister Carol, her son Spencer, our newly discovered cousins Kenny and Arleen (from Dallas and first timers to a family reunion) and Peter and me to Tiberias. No time to sightsee in Tel Aviv - the beginning of a strict schedule from IDEA! Need to get to the Ohalo Manor Resort, on Lake Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee, near Tiberias on time.
Arrived with time to spare. Got to have snacks - fresh dates, cookies, lemonade, and a chance to unpack and unwind and explore the grounds.
At our last reunion five years ago, we stayed at the fancy Sheraton Hotel, one of the hotels my father's cousin Yair built. It was quite nice and right in the middle of town where there were many diversions, especially for the 20-35 yr olds. The older generation would go out to the the bar after dinner and meet the younger generation just starting out for the evening when we were going to bed.
Accommodations were a little different this time. All rooms were exactly the same - sparse, but adequate. There were some complaints, however: toilets interesting to flush (maybe being below sea level was part of the problem), moldy bathrooms, air conditioning not working, tiny towels, not much soap from a wall dispenser, and isolated from town. But since we knew we were going to be on a small cabin cruiser after the reunion, these accommodations were just fine for us. We also found out there was no pool and no swimming in the Kinneret from the resort. And where was the wifi? How can we travel without being plugged in. Meals tended to be repetitious, but they were in the fancy hotel, too - how quickly we forget
Coffee is interesting. For a country where the people love coffee, it is a mystery in Israel. For some reason, Israelis never caught on to the really good coffee and coffee machines. If it's not cappuccino, Turkish coffee or espresso, it's instant Nescafe! Now everyone wants the fancy Italian coffee machines - but regular American coffee is not there.
Our room is at the farthest part of the building away from us.
Did poke around and found the Kinneret cemetery. Some very interesting tombstones.
Found out that this cemetery was from the first settlement in Kinneret - the town is still across the street.
Nice view of the Sea of Galilee. Across the Kinneret are the Golan Heights to the North, Israeli settlements including an old Kibbutz, Ein Gev, in the middle, and Jordan towards the bottom and the Jordan River, a few kilometers beyond the shoreline at the southern end.
Laura and Carol checking it all out.
Tonight we are offered a dairy meal because it is Shavout, a holiday celebrating agriculture. Little did I know about this holiday before, and now I'm celebrating with some of my more secular cousins in a country where everyone celebrates this holiday, among many more.
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Location:Poria Illit,Israel
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