We spent yesterday touring sites in the Golan Heights, among them the strategic locations of major tank battles in the Yom Kippur War.  At times we were on high ground overlooking the Syrian border only a few miles away.  As if to underscore the military importance of the Golan to Israel we awoke today to the news that earlier this morning Israel (they neither confirm or deny) launched missiles from the Golan into Damascus to take out people they deemed to be undesirable.  The oddest aspect of this to us is that it seemed to be a "ho hum nothing to see here" kind of event.  (Even to the Syrians apparently, as we never heard of any retaliation.)

We took our leave of Pina Barosh, after yet another hearty breakfast and with Phyllis finally remembering to take a picture of the small box we had seen on every entry's right doorpost and most bedroom doorposts in Israel so far, some much more decorative than others.  We also kept forgetting to ask our hosts... a shame because Zehava's was especially beautiful, very in sync with her other decorations.  Internet research told us it's a mezuzah case, which contains required verses from the Torah to remind Jews of God's commandments.  There is a complicated procedure associated with the writing of the verses on parchment as well as the affixing of the case to the doorpost.  We were impressed by how ubiquitous this is.

Because of the short distances in Israel, travel days usually include another activity.  Today's was golf.  We headed over to Caesarea, a fairly small city on the Mediterranean coast, for two nights.  This was a geographically good choice because it is only an hour south from Akko (Acre), the Crusader port where we want to spend a day, and an hour north of Tel Aviv where we need to be to catch our next flight in a couple of days.  It is also the home of the best (well only) golf course in Israel.  Golf was the afternoon plan.

The course is well designed (it is a Pete Dye course) and was not too hot or cold as we began our round.  The first surprise was that at the last minute the starter asked if we would be willing to play with a couple of members who had just finished the back nine, having skipped the front.  We of course said yes as it would be rude not to and, in our experience golfing in other countries, it is great to spend so much time with locals walking, talking, and commiserating about our bad shots.  As it turns out we were exceptionally lucky as both the man and woman were a delight to play with, and the man, Yehuda, even has a niece who leads tourist trips from Israel to Alaska.  The round went well, though by the last five or so holes the wind came up surprisingly strong and cold.  We retreated from the course to our odd little accommodation, the Czarina Cabin, conveniently located only about a mile from the course.  After our excessive meal at Tibis the night before, we felt very righteous with a lunch of apricots, dates and water, and a dinner of meat, cheese and crackers (well, and a beer) we had wrangled from a nearby store.