Day 2 in Israel

As we ride the bus North to visit Tzfat, I thought I'd recount yesterday. We started the day at the Western Wall, but instead of doing much at the Wall, we did a tour of the tunnels underneath the Old City. Apparently Jerusalem was rebuilt on top of itself many times and at one point the Muslim rulers decided to raise the city so that it was closer to the Temple Mount. After Israel captured East Jerusalem they increased the amount of digging and uncovered a big chunk of the western retaining wall of the second temple underground. We spent about an hour wondering around the tunnels with a great guide from Washington DC who moved to Israel in the 80's.

After the tunnels we had two lectures: the first with a former MIT physicist who has written extensively about reconciling biblical and scientific differences; and the second was another American now living in Israel who talked about what Judaism has to say about judging others. Both were engaging speakers which made up for the fact that the topics were a little too preechy for me.

We spent the first part of the afternoon ATV-ing in the Judean Desert. The ATVs were really just golf carts that were supped up with stronger engines, big tires and a good suspension system. Even though we didn't go as fast as I would have liked, it was still a fun experience. The desert is beautiful and there were enough big rocks and hills and valleys to get the off road experience.

After another short lecture we headed back to Jerusalem for dinner and a night out. We all went to Ben Yehuda Street (which is kinda like the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica) and had schwarma at from a street vendor. The food was good but not great but it was a fun place to sit and eat together.

After dinner we all went to a bar to celebrate my birthday and the birthday of another girl on the trip. A few shots and a couple of beers later we moved locations to a dance club and danced the night away.

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