I went to the North....

And all I got were like 70 insect bites!

[I was going to insert a picture here of my back, but decided to spare you the gory details. I counted like 40-50 bites on my torso alone.]

I have to say I am impressed with myself. One night in Tzfat and two nights in Qasrin without a traveling disaster spells success (for disaster see Sam and Justin in Jerusalem). Tzfat, a city dominated by Orthodox Judaism (the birthplace of kabbalah) and one of Israel's four holy cities (don't get caught here on Shabbat!), was my first stop. It's a bit tough for me to describe how my family in Tzfat is related to me because we are related through marriage and not blood and it involved my great grandmother, but, nevertheless, like all of my family in Israel they were awesome. I arrived in the afternoon and at a little before sunset we set off for a walk near their home. Tzfat is 837 meters above sea level, making it Israel's highest town, and is surrounded by some of the most beautiful terrain in Israel. Unfortunately, a hamsin was blowing through and the visibility was rather poor on the mountains, but on a clear day you can see Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan from points up in Tzfat.

Mila, Isaac, and me.

Everything looks awesome in Sepia tone.

During the war with Lebanon in 2006 a lot of rockets were fired at the Galilee. Tzfat has several major and active military bases that were clearly the target. Upon recommendation from my family I did not take any pictures, but there are areas with dozens of satellite dishes directed north towards the Arab neighbors intended to pick up transmissions. Much of the area is also fenced off for security reasons. There was one point during our 7 AM walk the next day that Issac brought me to a tunnel that had been built into the mountain and is currently being used by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).

Tough to see, but the trees to the left are sparse because of fires started by rocket fire. Luckily, Tzfat was mostly spared from Hezbollah rockets.

Sitting on the patio after lunch.

The following are a few landscape shots I took while walking around Tzfat's nature.

I went into "downtown" Tzfat my second day. The city is pretty small and the population is primarily elderly or religious. I had been here on birthright and sure enough saw another birthright group walking through the streets. According to Frommer's, Tzfat's "known history began in 66 AD," so you can say it's been around for a bit. Though it was a popular tourist attraction in Israel's early days, the 1960s brought the development of the tourism industry in Israel; coupled with a strengthening religious community that staunchly observes Shabbat and rules of Orthodox Judaism the town is now a touristic afterthought. Attractions are now pretty limited to the old synagogues, Artists' Quarter, and Jerusalem Street- the main thoroughfare through the town. Don't get me wrong though, it's a really cool city with winding streets and alleys built on the side of a mountain where one can feel the history oozing out of the old buildings.

This stairway, built by the British, divided the Arab and Jewish parts of town until the War of Independence in 1948 where a battle ensued, ending in Arabs fleeing the city. Fighting in this city started, literally, the day the British withdrew [Iraq, January 1, 2012 anyone?].

View from the highest point in the city (this was a hike!).

Tzfat was a great combination of city, nature, and homemade meals. Mila (who I had seen in 2001 in St. Petersburg, Russia) and Issac were great company and hosts. A lot of our conversation was political and religion-oriented and with permission from them I'm hoping to make a blog post devoted to those conversations (maybe in my "trip review" segment when I get home).

From Tzfat I set forth to Qasrin- the "capital" of the Golan Heights, captured from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967. Qasrin, from the estimates I got there is home to about 7,000 people. Alec, Lena, and their son Grigoriy are related to me through my grandmother. Alec is my maternal grandmother's cousin which makes him my first cousin twice removed. Alec and Lena have been in Israel since 1992 and in Qasrin since about 1993-94. I have to be honest, Qasrin kinda sucks. There's really no other way to put it. It is the biggest city in the Golan and you can tell it was built by the government. The whole city looks one big subdivision in the middle of nowhere. When I wasn't hanging out with my family I spent a lot of time walking around Qasrin and let me tell you I 'm pretty sure I saw everything--on my first walk. Tzfat's main attractions, which have a slight degree of cool are an archaeological site with a 1500-year-old synagogue (according to the brochure: "Jewish life on the Golan blossomed during the Byzantine period (400-700 C.E. Katzirin existed alongside twenty five Jewish villages built near springs [in it's current incarnation Qasrin is 32-years-old])." There is also an industrial zone with a winery (Hey, Frommer's--it's not that cool of a tour), and an olive oil factory.

Oh yeah, and I checked out the (probably?) only bar they have. It's called the Golan Brewery and they actually brew their own beer there. Beer was decent, but not worth 30 NIS. Almost 8 bucks for a beer is what I would pay in Boston or NYC, not in Qasrin, population 7,000.

I think the buildings look like pseudo-futuristic structures. Like what people in the 70s though buildings would look like now. Thank God they don't.

Views from the family's balcony at sunset.

Artsy picture from same spot.

This is a microcosm of the ridiculous Israeli signs everywhere.

The ruins of the ancient synagogue on top and a painted glass view of what the synagogue may have looked like (this was cool--you look thorough the stone circle through the glass at the synagogue from 20 meters away).

Lena, Alec, and me on their balcony.