The Ruins of Paradise

It is, perhaps, slightly off the beaten track, this ancient ruin at Olympos.  With no four or five star hotels in sight, the atmosphere could perhaps be best described as summer-camp-for-grownups.  Hammocks and cushion-lined booths dominate the scene,

and a dirt road (periodically crossed by a dry riverbed) leads sun-burnt travelers through Cair Paravel-like ruins to the pebbled beach.  

At some point during Greco-Roman times, this was a fairly important city, with a bath, a theatre, a port, and a couple necropolises.  Perhaps because of pirates, or perhaps because of earthquakes, or perhaps because of some other combination of reasons, the city went into decline.  Now the mostly unexcavated remains are overgrown and mainly visited by Europeans and Turks seeking a holiday but not wanting to pay resort prices.  

It's a great place to explore and to imagined among the ruins, without the aid of archaeological constructions (or misconstructions), what life might have been like.  

And one can understand why pirates seemed to prefer the place.  

Now the most ruthless inhabitants are the chickens which parade around regularly, crowing and cackling and searching for bugs and stray crumbs.   

This one seems like he could be a reincarnated pirate :)

It was a beach day.  

I have to say that one thing I really love about Israel is the variety of landscapes here.  You can start in Jerusalem (hill country) and within a couple hours be at the ocean, or the Dead Sea, or Galilee, or the Golan heights.  It would be like starting on the California coast, passing through Death Valley, driving through mid-west farm land, pausing at the Great Lakes, and ending in the Rockies.  All in one tiny, hotly contested piece of land.  I think that there must be something here (land-wise) that would remind anyone of the land of their nativity.  

So today six of us took the day and went to the beach by Tel Aviv.  Most of us took a car that one of the students here has rented for a while.  Some of us were thinking about visiting a museum, but that (unfortunately) didn't happen.  Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable, and mostly relaxing, day.  I was glad I wasn't driving - the traffic and twisting, convoluted mass of one-way or taxi-only roads would have surely frazzled my nerves.  Eventually, though, we always managed to get where we wanted to go.

We spent most of our time on the beach, sitting, laying, reading, talking, sleeping, walking, taking pictures, getting sand blown in our eyes, watching wind-surfers, laughing, dancing in the waves, trying to leave footprints in the sand.  I was even inspired to write a poem of sorts (it's rough, I know, but I'm too tired to put effort into editting it):

Footprints in the sand, some shells, a rock,

All quickly washed away.

The roving waves come wandering in each hour

To seize their rightful pay.

And in their wake the beach is renewed,

Purified each day.

Perhaps we need some days like these

To clarify our minds.

To sweep from them the cares and thoughts

With which our lives are lined.

To grow closer to one another and build

Some friendships that will bind.

And as we grow to better know the One who made this shore,

We'll continually come to know the plans for us He has in store.  

Anyway, it was an enjoyable day.  Given the  choice between Dahab and Tel Aviv...yeah, I'd definitley pick Dahab.  But for a short trip, Tel Aviv was fun.  

...and now I'm going to live in the library for the next two weeks before the end of the semester.  See you then. ;)