En Kerem

Yesterday the service couples decided to break away from the Jerusalem Center and drive to En Kerem, a small town about 15 miles from Jerusalem. It is the same place where we visited Mary's Well when we first arrived in Israel.

It has been stormy here the last few days so I think everyone had "cabin fever" and were anxious to get out. It was fun to get away but the traffic was terrible and it was a good thing we didn't wait until rush hour. Tourists are already arriving and we see bus loads everywhere. The trees are all starting to bloom and this particular tree's name is CLEO. It was easy to remember because of Garth's mother's name, Clea.

Right now the hills and trees are green and lush.

The town is a quaint little place and since we had already been to this restaurant, our mouths were watering.

Jeff and Joyce ordered this appetizer for everyone with fresh mozzarella cheese. (The people in Israel love their flat breads, pocket breads, and sesame seed pretzel bread which are not good for the waistline but yummy to eat.)

We ordered sweet potato soup and salads and everything was delicious!

We left the restaurant and took a little walk because Garth and Jeff wanted ice cream.

There was a beautiful gold-domed church on the hill.

We walked down the street toward's Mary's Well.

We walked along and saw something unusual. Hmmm . . . I wonder if the stuffed animals were hung out to dry?

There was a nice little restaurant on the left and on the right Jeff saw something he wanted to inspect. He said, "What is holding this up?" and then decided very quickly he should walk away because when he touched it, it moved like it was going to fall down!

"Boo, the ice cream shop is closed," complained Garth as he lingered and looked at the shop with the red awning. He and Jeff were very disappointed but at least we had a nice, brisk walk after our dinner. It would soon be dark and we needed to get back.

As we approached the outskirts of Jerusalem, we saw lots of new construction.

This hotel is directly across from the walls of the Old City and in another 15 minutes we would be back at the Jerusalem Center. This was another wonderful day in Israel!