Israel Reflections 2015: Masada & the Dead Sea
For a little different start to our trip, I decided this year to fit in a visit to Masada and the Dead Sea. This was both for getting over jet lag purposes and because the history and geology of both places are a great frame for the rest of the week. From student Jillian Igl-Dickson, here is a description:
“Upon arriving in Israel and getting a few hours of sleep we were off on our first adventure to go see and explore the Dead Sea and Masada. We left our hotel in Jerusalem late in the morning to head toward Masada where we spent the first half of our day. Thankfully, Professor Schneider took pity on our exhausted group and refrained from making us hike to the top of Masada via the Snake Trail (45 min-1 hour hike), but instead let us take the cable car to the top. Given that this was our first real experience in Israel, it was an amazing way to start off our trip. The views from the cable car of Masada and the surrounding landscape were absolutely breathtaking. We were fortunate enough to have lots of time to explore Masada and learn more about the history of the site [and the story of the Roman siege.]