Pages

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Heading to the Great Indoors

Let me guess. When you blog about this place, the post will begin: ‘Admittedly, it wasn’t a national park, but we had a very nice time anyway.’ Yes?” YCT (who’s always been like a brother to me) asked rhetorically.

And, as you can see, he was right…

Open-mouthed

But I’m getting ahead of myself…

After a beautiful Shabbat Chanukah in Avnei Eitan, the original plan was to spend this past Sunday at Gamla (seeing as how it’s a national park and all…).

But the weekend’s wonderfully wet and windy winter weather (try saying that five times fast…) meant that we had to scramble to find an indoor attraction instead. (Actually, this was the third year in a row that we tried – unsuccessfully – to get to Gamla. Indeed, as far as the extended Shiputzim family is concerned, Gamla has become the Holy Grail of Chanukah trips… :-))

Ice skating in Maalot was one option, but we had all been there two years ago (in lieu of Gamla…), and the family members who were doing the driving were reluctant to brave the dense fogs.

And so, in keeping with the whole Chanukah theme, a visit to a boutique olive oil plant in Katzrin was the answer:

IMG_6500The sign reads: “Beit HaBad Shel HaGolan – Katzrin” (“The Golan Olive Press – Katzrin”)

ACSC (=a certain Shiputzim child) – who, just before Chanukah, went on a school trip to Neot Kedumim and got to see how olive oil was produced during the time of the Second Beit HaMikdash – especially enjoyed learning how the process works today:

IMG_6508 The large tanks where the olive oil is stored

After watching the requisite movie (I believe that by law, all tourist attractions must include some sort of audio/visual presentation…) and seeing the machinery, visitors get to taste the different types of olive oil and also sample the various cosmetic products produced from the olives.

IMG_6487 Tasting the different types of olive oil

IMG_6461 Supposedly, the factory’s basalt structure was modeled after an ancient synagogue.

What are some of your favorite indoor attractions in the North?

10 comments:

  1. I'd love to see this place. I'm sure I'd find it interesting.
    And please don't forget to send a link to JPix!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ilana-Davita - Yes, I think you would enjoy it.
    RE: JPiX - I tried to submit this post (and the previous one), but BlogCarnival doesn't seem to be working...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks like fun!
    "factory’s basalt structure was modeled after an ancient synagogue" - hm, would be interesting to learn more, like with details.

    "What are some of your favorite indoor attractions in the North?" I ***love*** Tsfat. But my eldest thought it was smelly. My daughter and I had fun shopping in "downtown" Kiryat Shmona. And then there's the Naot factory. I suppose a winery in the Golan would be fun, too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Leora - That interested me too, but unfortunately, they didn't offer too many details on the tour.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It sounds like you had lots of fun, even if you didn't go to a national park.

    Shabbat Shalom!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Laura - It sounds like you had lots of fun
    We certainly did! Shabbat Shalom!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I had off on the last day of Chanukah and seeing as I had to teach in Afula in the morning, decided to take one of the kids (N.)with me afterwards to Agamon Hahula. We had never been there in the winter, when it's really "bird season" and had a fantastic time. Admittedly, the weather on Wednesday was a bit more conducive to outside entertainment than Sunday...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Malke - That's great that you and N. had such a nice time! One year, we also tried to get to the Hula on Chanukah. But B"H, it was raining, and so we ended up doing something else instead.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Safranit (Safra-knit)January 3, 2012 at 12:00 PM

    Sorry we missed you! We were also there on Sunday...although we didn't do the tour. (We'd previously done it.)

    The best place to eat up there is Suzanna in Aniam (about 10 minutes away.)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Safranit (Safra-knit) - It's too bad that we missed each other! We were there in the morning, and then (with the staff's permission), we ate a picnic lunch right there on the premises.

    Thanks for the recommendation!

    ReplyDelete

Feel free to leave a comment.