Tiveria and Kfar Tavor
A twelve hour tiyul with Chana L Aiken-wow. Chana is extremely professional. Her knowledge of the nooks and crannies of the land is astounding. Before we even reached our first destination, we had the gift of an intense couple of hours where she covered the history of גן התחמושת , the Turgeman house, Mt. Scopus from 1948-67, how Maale Adumim got its name, the various Herodian fortresses and Byzantine monasteries on the way, date trees, 1921 and that was just the first hour. I had never been to the Dona Gracia Museum and it was a treat. Chana prepared a brief written history for us and their guide gave an excellent introduction into the life of a very complicated family and their exiles and travels. It seems that she ended up choosing Tiveria only because of its proximity to Safed and the kabbalists of the 1500s (she also lived in the 1500s). The short film and the very funny guide there kept our rapt attention. The period rooms were fascinating, especially ‘Venice” and the costumes were great fun. Kfar Tabor seemed like a step back into Israel of the 1950s. The beekeeper told us of his family history there and the very thorough tour made us instant experts in bees as well as silk making. The marzipan museum was a bit old fashioned but fun and again -their guide and movie made us experts in-you guessed it-marzipan. Did you know that marzipan is 56% almonds (sounds healthy but the other 44% is sugar)?
