Wanderlust: Mount Masada, Negev Desert, & Tel Aviv
"This morning we woke up well before dawn and walked the Roman Ramp up the side of Mount Masada, the palace-fortress Herod the Great built to last forever. As we reached the top we looked down at the Dead Sea and sand dunes while a red sun rose over the mountains. We wandered the ancient fortress and bathhouses while learning the sad story of the community who once called the mountain their home in 72 BD. They committed communal suicide rather than fall capture to Roman enslavement. This was by far the most beautiful and haunting place we’ve visited.
We spent the night in a Bedouin tent in the Negev desert. The locals treated us to a traditional Bedouin feast, minus cutlery of any kind, and let us attempt to play their instruments, which appeared easier than they actually were. As night fell we sat around a bonfire and star gazed next to a herd of camels.
At sunrise, all of Claire’s dreams came true when her friend Natalie O’Brien joined her on a camel ride through the nearby mountains. They promptly named their camel Prince Ali Ababwa and sang as many Aladdin songs as they could remember during their ride. Katie, who is deathly allergic to camels, had to sit this one out.
Tel Aviv is the cosmopolitan heart of Israel. After absorbing a modicum of history in the Independence Hall (where Israel declared itself a nation), we walked to a local souk displaying an assortment of organic produce, spices, and fabrics. We met up with our girlfriend Yvette from Los Angeles who spends her summers in Tel Aviv. That night we went out to a hookah bar with a big group of friends and got a bit sloppy.
We were late to bed and early to rise for our flight to Prague in the morning!"—Claire and Katie
