So, whilst we have all be sheltering at home and keeping a low profile, I celebrated a big birthday. This week I turned 50! Believe me, this was not the 50th birthday I had planned. For the last few years I had been telling Mister Handmade in Israel that I wanted to visit Prague as a birthday treat. Everyone tells me that I will love it there. I would have liked to celebrate with friends and perhaps danced the night away (I love dancing!). But it wasn't to be. My 50th birthday fell right in the middle of a worldwide pandemic but Mister Handmade in Israel made it as special as it could be and I had a lovely day!
I was treated to this amazing cake made by the very talented
Ella Bakes and received a beautiful balloon decoration made by
Designed by Ruti. Breakfast was brought in from a local cafe that is still closed but does deliveries. Dinner was the same. I received a wonderful book filled with greetings from family and friends the world over, a voucher to treat myself to something from Etsy and another for Israeli breakfast when things open up again.
I'm a lucky girl!
As a family we have very much stuck to the rules and have stayed at home except for the necessary food shopping. But things are beginning to slowly open up again here in Israel as the numbers improve. Last week I heard that the national parks were opening again and that a limited number of people would be allowed in each day, as long as you pre-book. I knew that I wasn't going to Prague or dancing on my birthday, but thought that a day trip to
Ein Gedi, an oasis and a nature reserve located west of the Dead Sea, might be nice. Then a heatwave hit and there was no way we could go there either! In the end Mister Handmade in Israel indulged me and we went out in the horrible heat to Castel National Park to see flowers and explore.
The Castel fortress is located at the entrance to Jerusalem, overlooking the main road into the city. We were last there back in
2012. The Castel hill is the highest point in the surrounding area and is an interesting place to explore and admire the beautiful landscapes.
The Romans first established their
Castellum or fort and following them the Crusaders settled here. Later when the Arab village Al-Qastal was established here, the mukhtar's home took pride of place on the hilltop fortress ruins.
Castel's most significant historical events occurred in April 1948 during Israel's
War of Independence. Jerusalem was under siege and running out of food and water supplies, so armed trucks made the treacherous drive along Highway 1 where they were prime targets for the enemy in Al-Qastal. To solve this problem
Operation Nachshon was launched by the
Palmach who entered the Arab village. Fierce battles that claimed many lives took place there as Arabs and Jews fought for control of the site, but ultimately the Palmach took the hill for the final time and soon a convoy of vehicles packed with supplies ascended safely to Jerusalem. Castel National Park is now a memorial site to the lives lost in this pivotal battle.
Mister Handmade in Israel and I explored the underground bunkers and communication trenches at the site. These were prepared in the early sixties by the Israeli army as a preventive measure, for until the
Six-Day War in 1967 the Jordanian border was only a few kilometres away. We climbed up to the ruins of the Crusader fortress. Several walls, arched windows and doorways of the mukhtar's home remain. The ruins are now a spectacular lookout point and memorial site where the names of the fallen in the battles over the Castel are carved on a rock.
From the mukhtar's house, a scenic trail descends through lush, uncultivated vegetation back to the car park. A nice variety of shrubs and bushes such as
Spiny Broom,
Shrubby Jerusalem Sage and
Sage-leaved Rock Rose can be seen in the area. I spotted
Syrian Cornflower-thistle and
Red Everlasting. In winter and spring, anemones and cyclamen flower here, though they were long gone by the time of our visit.
Then it was back home for a quick shower (did I mention how hot it was?) before a Zoom call with family and a delicious sushi supper. Mister Handmade in Israel was quite exhausted by this point! He had worked hard to make my 50th birthday special and I truly had had a wonderful day!
