Today was a perfect day. The weather was ideal for hiking - sunny and not too warm. My hike started with a steep descent into a canyon with a nice view of the opposite mountains. In the canyon there was a memorial for the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. They are also commemorated with six million trees planted in this national park. My hike lead me uphill and downhill for the whole morning. I enjoy the quiet atmosphere of this place. Then my friend Annika called to do another interview with me. (link will follow).
I had my lunch in Kibbuz Tzova - a pizza with various sauces. Spontaneously I decided to take the bus to Mezzaret Zion in order to visit Kastel Fortress - a strategic location on a hill with the remains of several ancient settlements. A Castellum was built here by the Romans and also the Crusaders used this place. However the most significant historical event occurred here in 1948 during the War of Independence. All the Israeli convoys that supplied the besieged Jerusalem had to pass by underneath the Kastel from where the Arabs heavily attacked them. David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, decided that the Kastel had to be taken. The operation succeeded on 9.4.1948. I was very keen on visiting the Kastel as I remember it from various books that I read about the War of Independence.
From the top of the hill I had a very nice view of the old transport ways to Jerusalem and the modern highway 1 and of Jerusalem to the east. I went back to the Shvil, visited a place called Sataf and finally reached my destination for today - the Hadassah Hospital where shvilists can stay for a night. What great hospitality! The Hadassah is the biggest hospital in the middle east with its own shopping mall and restaurants where I spent the evening. Tomorrow I will walk the Jerusalem Trail.
 | 
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen