Dead Sea

My last day in Israel. Deb and I headed out to the Dead Sea. The scenery was amazing, giant rolling cliffs of stone. Its kind of wild driving through the desert to get to the Sea. And then all the dry rock will be punctuated by spots of greenery. The coolest we passed were several Palm tree forests. Evidently they harvest something from the palms but we don’t know what. But it sure looked cool. Deb had a fit when I tried to take a picture of the check point to the West bank. When I had gotten back yesterday and told her my adventures, she said I had pretty much done everything they are advising American tourists not to do! And taking pictures of security sites is another one. Poor Deb, I’m sure she thought I was going to get her fired. Especially with my navigating! They have only recently gotten permission to go to the Dead Sea by the direct route and if we got off the highway at all and got caught she would immediately be fired and deported, so she was on pins and needles worrying that I was going to inadvertently navigate us into Jericho.
(photo: Palm forest)
We passed camels, goats, donkeys; we even passed a herd of Camels! We stopped at Masada but it was to hot to take the cable car to the top so we only did the bottom part and then we went to the Dead Sea. Very cool. Everyone has said you are very buoyant because of the high salt content but I didn’t take it very seriously. I mean I am pretty buoyant as it is. But it is really different. (photo: Shade & Showers at the Dead Sea) You have a real struggle to get your legs under the water. Lots of folks were covering themselves with black mud but we just floated around in the slightly slimy water. The shore and floor are stone, not mud as I had (photo: Me in the Dead Sea per Gloria's request) envisioned, and all in all it was very cool. On the way back, we stopped at the Elvis diner. There is a dinner here that has the world largest Elvis memorabilia collection. How wild I that. So I have as a souvenir, my Elvis placemat all in Hebrew!

Once we made it home, Deb went to bed for a few hours while I finished my packing and at 3 am she took me to the airport. A trip not without its own excitement. Deb didn’t want to get lost so she went to get directions. In order to get to the airport which is Southwest of us, you have to go North on 20. To get back you have to take a totality different road! Deb just kept saying over and over, who ever heard of a place you can go to but can't come back from. (Imagine being told that you could take I-95 south to the Ft. Lauderdale airport but you had to take 595 and I-75 back) After a bit of wandering (okay we were lost again), we managed to make it. Deb dropped me off and I began the arduous process of going through Israeli airport security. You stand in line with all your bags (checked and non checked). For some reason they pulled me aside. I don’t know if it was because I was suspicious as a woman traveling alone or if it was because my flight was leaving soon but they moved me to the front. First they send all your bags through and x-ray machine then they tag the ones that need further inspection. Then you wait in the next line which is the further inspection. (Nothing by the way is labeled.. Nothing!) They wanted to check my laptop so they ran some swabby wand all (photo: The Dead Sea & the Mountains) over it. I was just glad they weren’t opening my suitcases because they were stuffed so full of souvenirs I thought they might turn into projectile draydels if they were unzipped. Then you take all your bags and check in. Only there was no Alitalia counter. So I asked the security guard. He told me to wait and left. Finally he came back and pointed me along a corridor toward another security guard and me to walk toward shim (I felt I was in a border crossing prisoner exchange) I went down and it ended in a little unmarked backroom was the 4 Alitalia check in counters. So I checked my bags and then went through another security checkpoint where they check your passport etc.. Down a long escalator to another security checkpoint where they x-ray your carryon bag (again) and you go through the metal detector. They once again swabbed Baby but this time also my shoes and bags. Evidently I had no GSR or whatever so I was allowed to go the passport checkout line. From there you go through ANOTHER security checkpoint where you get to your gait and they check your passport yet again. At this point I was exhausted (and feeling very safe) I made it on the plane and feel asleep. When I woke up, I had a horrible feeling that I had gotten on the wrong plane and was not going to Milan but some other place (especially since when I woke up it was already past the time for my connecting flight out of Milan and we were flying over some mountains) I checked with the flight attendant and I had in fact boarded the right flight and were delayed on the tarmac but I had (Photo: The desert drive to the Dead Sea) the slept through the announcement. But he said they would probably hold the Miami flight. I made it through more security in Milan and despite the fact that my Miami flight was not listed on any boards, I am now on the plane for the last 8 hours of flight time. Baring some major excitement like a high jacking or plane crash, this should be the end of my Saga, Mom will pick me up at the airport (all of my luggage WILL have arrived) and I will post this last entry when I get home.

I hope you have enjoyed The Andreas Chronicles – Andrea in the Holy Land. Feel free to make a comment so I know someone was reading them!


(photos: Bathers at the Dead Sea and part of the drive from Tel Aviv to J-town - so you know it's not all desert!)