Michelle's Journey to USA, Middle East & Europe

July 6: Slept in, ran some quick errands, went for quick walk through the Carmel markets with another supporter (Elliott), and then spent most of the day on a tour down south passed very arid parts of the country to the southern part of the Dead Sea. Had a brief swim (and float) in the saltiest sea in the world before heading to Masada (a fortress from the BCE/CE days).
Went up by cable car and climbed down by foot, while seeing the sun set - very pretty. At the top, saw ruins of the synagogue, sauna, fortress walls and more.
Very hot in Israel- I know it's summer here, but the sun is hot and the air is dry.
Had dinner at a Bedouin village/tent. Typical Israeli food (pita, cucumber and tomato salad, humous etc), camel rides, jewellery stalls, drumming, folk band, belly dancers, sat on pillows. Enjoyable night.
Got to catch up with some of my friends and the athletes today including my Melbourne cousin here for Junior Cricket.
There's over 530 people here in the Australian team - including athletes, managers, coaches, physios, doctors etc. There's a few supporters around at the moment but more are arriving on the weekend.
Staying with Sally, a mother of one of the soccer girls - great company and it's nice having some else around doing the same stuff as me.