The key to a successful Saturday in the Dan Gardens Hotel? An early breakfast. Again today, a members of the staff were in the lobby eagerly awaiting the 6:30 am opening of the dining room doors. Hotel breakfast, as we like to call it, is far and away the best meal offered at the Dan Gardens Hotel. It has everything that you could want and more. There is a cereal bar, a cheese bar, a fish bar, a salad bar, a pastry bar, and egg and other yummy hot foods bar -- you name it they have it. Two cups of tea and a few hours later its time to wander upstairs to get back to work.
Now for some pictures from the week. 
Staff members work to uncover a mosaic floor first excavated in 1998. Measuring approximately 8 x 8, the mosaic is multi-colored and includes both geometric desgins and images of metal vases.
Earlier in the week, Laura, a square supervisor in Grid 51, surveyed her team of volunteers as they worked to get the grid clean and ready for excavation.
Greatest dig shorts ever?
Adjusting to dig life can be, well, a big adjustment. You wake up at 4:30 am, throw your clothes on, shove a little food in your mouth and head out to work while it is still dark. And the work? It can involve everything from swinging a big pick and carrying rocks to scrapping with trowels and sweeping with brushes. All of it is done outside with all the heat and humidity that one could ever hope for and then some. The first day when volunteers go out suffering from jet lag is especially difficult.
Our annual workshop day helps to break up the first week of work offering volunteers a day of learning and the staff an opportunity to work on ongoing projects.
Co-Director Daniel Master leads of discusses the Canaanite Gate during his tour of Early Ashkelon on Workshop Day.
Volunteers listen to Alethia's presentation on zooarchaeology during Workshop Day.
Whole bowl found in a Hellenistic street in Grid 51 -- not during Workshop Day.