Pyramids! (etc.)

Hello, everyone! Let's rewind to Sunday, our first day on the tour.

After breakfast (a crazy buffet a lot like the ones in Israel) we met our group and tour guide and had a quick orientation. Everyone in the group seems pretty cool. There are 18 of us including two families of four (grown up kids), a few middle aged couples and a mother and son. We struck up a conversation with a couple from South Africa right away. Others are from California, New York City, Ohio, Montreal and Australia. So far, so good!

Our tour guide's name is Wahleed. He has a masters in archaeology, speaks perfect English and is all around great. He has dubbed our tour group "Isis" (one of the Egyptian goddesses), so we walk around with him yelling, "Ok, Isis, over here!".

It was a day of going on and off the bus. This was good for two reasons. First, we could leave anything we wanted on the bus. Second, the bus was always gloriously air conditioned. Did I mention it's really hot here?

We stopped first at Memphis which was the first capital of Egypt. There isn't much left of the city. What is there is a sort of open air museum, with some sculptures that have survived. There is a smaller Sphinx called the Alabaster Sphinx that has a more intact face than the famous one. The most amazing thing was a statue of Ramases II that was recovered on the site. It's displayed lying flat, instead of standing up, in a building where you can go up to a balcony and look down on it as well as walk around it at ground level. The detail and how well preserved it is is amazing and with it lying down you could get a lot closer to the facial details which would have been way up high normally. These Egyptians had some sculpting skills!




Our next stop brought me right back to one of my first classes at architecture school - "The Building and Thinking of Architecture" - which was basically early architectural history taught by a fiery French woman named Nicole. She was also a studio professor and when she wasn't slamming our " 'orrible" work she lectured us on the glories of Ancient Egyptian architecture (along with other ancient civilizations). As we pulled up to Zoser's pyramid, I was channeling Nicole, nearly hearing her voice describing the place as we sat in a hot lecture hall in the dark, watching slides at 8am twice a week. I never thought I'd get to see the place in person!

Back to the present day, Zoser's pyramid is the first pyramid created. Some call it "the beginning of architecture" because it must have been on of the first built structures to take aesthetics into account. It's a stepped pyramid and as you get up close you can see every individual piece of stone stacked carefully to create it. The stones here are small - not the huge blocks at the Great Pyramids. Around the pyramid are the remains of the rest of the funerary complex. Now, if you thought the things we saw in Israel were old, this stuff is on a totally different scale! We're talking 2700BC for Zoser's pyramid. BC!! 4710 years old!!! It's impossible to even wrap your mind around how long ago that was.



I should describe the areas we drove through to get to Zoser's pyramids and the Great Pyramids later. It's basically a slum area with farm land. Awhile back, the government dug an irrigation canal which is now filled with garbage and creepy looking mutant fish. We actually saw people fishing in it though and a couple people swimming. Yick. All the buildings and shacks look pretty run down and most people are getting around on donkeys. There's no clean water for the people, our tour guide informed us. Very sad and a stark reminder that we are in a third world country.

Next it was off to the main event - the Pyramids at Giza! - with a quick stop for lunch. We had gotten little glimpses of them from the road, and even from outside the cafe but nothing really prepared you for pulling up to the site. We were a little afraid of being disappointed after building this visit up in our minds so much, but don't worry - that didn't happen! Stunning and huge, impossible to fathom how they could've been built and just plain cool - that about sums it up. We were dropped off close to the largest pyramid of King Cheops and had some time to walk around. While back in the day all the pyramids were smooth and covered in polished white limestone, today you see the layer underneath as all of the limestone was long ago stolen away for other purposed. The blocks are enormous - each course is at least 4 feet tall - and they are sort of jagged, with blocks popping out and in. You can climb up a little bit (they've built stairs in) to wear you can pay extra enter the pyramid (we didn't because you have to basically crawl up a narrow passage to get into a chamber with nothing there.)



I really can't do it justice, but we took tons of pictures which you'll all have to see later. One interesting thing is that the land surrounding the pyramids is hard stone, not sand as I'd always imagined. The three pyramids are relatively far apart. We only really walked around the Great Pyramid then took solace from the heat on the bus and drove by the others. There is a "panorama point" where the buses can stop and you can get pictures of all three pyramids together along with some of the smaller ones near by (for the wives of the pharaohs). Everywhere you went there were people trying to sell you things, give you a ride on their camel or have you take a picture with them. It's a little nutty - very persistent people! Part of the experience I guess!





After seeing the panorama point we drove to the lower area in front of the pyramids to see the Sphinx. You can get pretty close to it after going through a funerary temple area. In early modern times, people tried to repair the Sphinx with cement which ended up eroding the limestone, so lately they have been trying to remove the cement and add limestone back. So far they've reconstructed the front paws and some of the sides a bit. Seeing all these iconic monuments is so crazy. I keep telling Nate that it feels a little like Disney World or some other recreation of the real thing. But no, there it is - the Sphinx!! - right in front of you, guarding the pyramids all these thousands of years. Incredible.



That was the end of our sight-seeing for the day and we hopped back on the bus. We made a stop at a nice store selling Egyptian cotton items then made our way to the Giza train station. Tonight's accommodations are an overnight train to the very south of Egypt, Aswan. As if that wasn't adventure enough, we were two hours early for the train, exhausted from our day, with nothing to do but sit in the heat and wait. Suffice to say, it was not the highlight of our trip. What made it worse was knowing that there would be no shower on the train! Finally, two hours and fifteen minutes later we boarded and made our way to our tiny compartment. Some seats against one wall folded down into a bed and another bed folded down from the wall above. There was a small sink and, blessedly, air conditioning. Whew. We were served dinner in our cabin and then our "butler" came back and "turned down" (ha!) our beds. We got some sleep, and it really wasn't that bad. Not that I'd want to do it again or anything...



We made it through the night and were served a breakfast entirely of carbs (a piece of pound cake, a croissant, a roll and a cinnamon roll) and got off the train in Aswan around 8:30am. Day two!

lazy day

Saturday consisted of us:




...here:



Pretty low key. Tomorrow, the adventures begin again!

BRB

Tomorrow our tour starts: a bus ride out to the pyramids (and sphinx!) at Giza and Saqqara, some temples, then the overnight train to Aswan. We have 3 nights on a boat on the Nile from Aswan to Luxor, so before Luxor around June 10th, we might not be posting again.

We'll take lots of pics and talk to you all soon.

And if you're wondering, the forecast for Aswan is "HOT" - http://www.accuweather.com/en-us/AFR/EG/EG016/Aswan/quick-look.aspx

Cheers!

restless

Feeling a little bit restless on day 2 at our lovely airport hotel. Actually, it is quite lovely, thankfully, but I am ready for some action again! We are interested (excited?) to meet the others in our tour group and are hoping for some other cool, young people to hang out with and not all retirees. Not that retirees aren't cool and all...

We are taking advantage of this downtime to do a lot of people-watching, especially to see how the women are dressing and behaving. As far as Muslim countries go, Egypt seems pretty tame, but definitely still very limiting for women. From what I've read it's unusual, if not unheard of, for an Egyptian woman to sit in a cafe, travel alone, drink alcohol and of course bare her upper arms or legs. After being hidden away for the entire beginning of Israel, my shoulders and knees were very happy to get some sunshine in Eilat. Looks like they are going into hiding again though. At least the temperature here in Cairo is not nearly as oppressive as it was in most of Israel. Yet. (Typical temperature in Southern Egypt should be around 110 this time of year.) Another cultural phenomenon we are trying to get used to is not holding hands or showing affection in public which apparently is taboo.

That's all I've got for now! I hope everyone has a great weekend. Tomorrow we see the pyramids - lots of excitement to come!

04JUN10

00:01 - Sitting at the gate in Tel Aviv airport waiting for our flight to Cairo. We've been sitting here 3 hours; we are tired. We got to the airport with so much time before the flight because many of the sites worth seeing close by 5pm and our flight is at 1am. We had dinner and took our time getting here, but there is only so much you can do...

00:30 - Frustrated by the inability to log onto the free Wi-Fi at Ben-Gurion; annoyed by the mob of American teenagers nearby boarding the flight to Newark. Relieved to no longer have to worry about driving us around. We drove up from Eilat this morning, stopping at a few places, primarily the Mahktesh Ramon (a crater formed by running water) in the Negev desert. Also had to be back at the airport in time to return the rental car and not incur an extra day's charges.

00:45 - Board flight for Cairo; immediately pass out. Possibly offered a snack by the attendant, based on neighbors' garbage, did not wake for it though.

02:00 - Land in Cairo, taxied for a moment, then disembarked onto the tarmac.

02:05 - Snazzy bus to the terminal building.

02:10 - Walk by the banks, exchange guys and visa booth. Stand in line for passport control.

02:20 - Realize we need to get the visa first. Head back to one of the banks (doesn't matter which one) which are also the places to get visas. Contrary to reports (I think by the State Department) the visa is not 5 Egyptian Pounds (abbreviated LE 5), they are $15 each - cash. If you're visiting, have that on you (Nolan). NB: LE 5 is about $1 - the visas are 15 times more expensive than expected. Not a big deal, but annoying at 02:20.

02:30 - Moved through the passport control fairly easily. Visa here is a sticker (with $15 printed on it - the guy at the bank wasn't pulling one over on me). Guy in the booth stuck the handsome sticker in my passport and stamped it and then sent it down a little chute to a woman (completely covered up) who checked my passport against the identification form completed on the plane, took the form and gave the passport back to the guy who handed it to me. Maybe not 100% efficient, but a smooth operation nonetheless.

02:45 - Collect our bags and meet our friendly Egyptian the tour sent to bring us to our hotel (which, happily, is within sight of the airport). He explained our itinerary for the tour (reiterating many times that we must be ready - packed, checked out and breakfasted - by 8am Sunday) on the way to the hotel.

03:00 - Helpful tour guy brought us in to the hotel, had us plop down on comfy couches and talked to reception for us. Since we weren't booked in until tonight (Friday PM; it is currently Friday 3am), we asked if he could check on the possibility of getting in to our room early - we even would be willing to pay the full day's rate.

03:10 - Tour guy says that they are able to take us in no problem (for free) and asks me what time it is; after I tell him, he says "go up to the guy in glasses in 1 hour and ask if you can have your room". I'm not sure if this is a test of our resolve, 'payment' for the convenience or they just have to get the room ready, but I don't care as it means we are only 50 minutes away from a bed.

03:11 - Not sure if I should tip the tour guy, we stand there awkwardly for a moment. After not getting a tip, the tour guide points out the store across the street where I can buy bottled water and goes on his way.

03:13 - I understand that this is an airport hotel at an airport that runs 24/7, but the hotel lobby is PACKED. A couple families are lounging on the couches, including many young kids (like 5-6 year olds, wide awake, playing like it's the middle of the day). There are almost 10 people at the bar. At least 6 tables of 4-10 people outside at the restaurant, many with delicious smelling hookas. A good number of hotel employees and more than a few police wander the lobby. Outside, cars drop people off and reception is busy. Is it like this at the airport Hilton at Logan at 3am?

03:15 - I walk across the gated drive of the hotel, something of a highway on-ramp and a parking lot below an overpass to the store. I get two big bottles of water and a dark Kit Kat. LE 7. That's like $1.25. I head back to the hotel (the other way around the store, to avoid the loading dock wall I had to jump down from), passing a group of 16 kids playing soccer (note - it is still 3:15am!).

03:30 - Diana wakes up when I get back; claims that sleeping on the couch is her way of expressing her distress about me wandering around at 3:15, alone, in this strange land.

04:00 - After we both doze a bit more, I am woken by the guy cleaning the floors. In Egypt, one cleans the hotel lobby floor by tossing water around from a bucket and then squeegeeing the water from one end of the floor to the other (indeed the water is much worse looking when he has finished). Didn't catch where the dirty water went. We woke when he was moving furniture around the lobby. No matter - it is time to check in.

04:05 - With Diana vigilantly guarding our luggage through her eyelids, I approach the man in the glasses at reception, timing my visit to when there are a couple of high-maintenance English people with lots of baggage. They succeed in attracting most of the attention of the hovering manager. We pass under the radar and indeed get in for free.

04:10 - Check in is a breeze (thankfully), I write my name and passport info (but no credit card numbers) on a sheet, he gives me a key, we collect our baggage and we're off. 3rd floor, nice room, I believe we brushed our teeth and we pass out.

12:00 - Wake up to pee.

16:30 - Wake up for real, finally. Haven't slept 12 hours in a go since college. Wonder why not.

17:00 - Catch the last half hour of The Simpsons Movie (hey - we're on vacation).

18:30 - Showered and dressed, we head downstairs for dinner. This place, especially for an airport hotel, is very nice. There are 6 "restaurants" - places of differing decor where one could get a bite and a drink: an outdoor traditional Egyptian cuisine restaurant, the big place for breakfast and dinner buffets, an Italian place, the bistro, the bar and another place out by the pool. Another note: while Egypt is a Muslim country and they do not drink, Egypt also derives the majority of its national income from tourism (in second place are Suez tolls), so they cater well to alcohol loving tourists (except during Ramadan and on the Prophet's birthday). In any event we sit at the bar for a beer / wine and bar snacks. Across the way, BBC World is on a TV - apparently another aid ship is headed for Gaza, oil is still spewing into the Gulf, and the President knows how to wave when boarding Air Force One (no subtitles, didn't know where he was going).

19:45 - A couple young girls come by and buy bottled water from the bar. I didn't look too close, but I'm pretty sure they paid LE 9 each for a small bottle of water. Remember, I paid LE 7 for 2 big bottles (and a Kit Kat) at the market. Big mark up at the hotel, even for Egyptian customers.

20:00 - Apparently we arrived at our hotel along with a wedding party. A couple of camera men, a bag-piper, a guy with a reed-instrument of some sort (oboe-esque), a gang of drummers and a bevy of wedding guests are congregating in the lobby, 10m from us. Suddenly with fanfare aplenty and quite the to-do, the band in playing, ladies are singing, and the happy couple walks through. It's a good 15 minutes of music and dancing around the couple in the lobby. They get all the way to the door to the garden when another song and merryment springs up around them. Finally they get out to the garden where the party may have already been going without them. We see lights and hear music for the rest of the night...

20:30 - Sit at the Italian restaurant (lowest profile, 2 other tables occupied, 'safe' menu choices). Food is very good, bordering on exceptional; probably because we love the spices from this area.

21:45 - Proud of last night's explorations, I guide Diana to the distant land of the supermarket. This is as far as we dare travel without a guide or any idea of the language. (The airport, and our hotel, is a good distance from the city center and I am not yet of the mood to figure out taxis) Another two big bottles of water and a Twix (still LE 7, apparently that wasn't just the middle-of-the-night price).

22:00 - Back to the room, a little tired.

22:01 - Diana turns on the computer (ugh) and points out that the daily rate for internet is pretty cheap.

23:59 - Although I (weakly) insist that we should get back on a normal sleeping schedule, we both catch up on news and email, facebook etc. until almost 2 in the morning.

Ahhh....Eilat

Today we relaxed in Eilat (pronounced almost like "a lot") a resort town on the Red Sea. It's sort of like Vegas meets the Jersey Shore. We've been pretty go go go for awhile now so it was a nice to take it easy. We are feeling well rested and ready for the drive back to Tel Aviv tomorrow (about 5 hours) for a late night flight to Egypt.

As an aside, we have not noticed any backlash or any change at all given the current events and the Israelis storming the aid ship incident. I think our timing getting out of Jerusalem was perfect. In any event, we are safe and there doesn't seem to be any additional danger. Missing everyone back home - shalom!

Masada and the Dead Sea

The evening after Bethlehem we headed for Arad. It's a town in the mountains west of the Dead Sea, south-east of Jerusalem (with the West Bank in the way), about 2 hours' drive. Arad is supposedly known for having the cleanest air anywhere, but it is also known for not having much to do. We grabbed dinner at a place called Muza (recommend it highly) which had great food and an awesome selection of Belgians. We stayed at the 1 hotel in town, along with many large tour groups - groups we feared (correctly) would be joining us tomorrow on our adventure.

We check in to our hotel here and ask the reception lady how far away Masada is and what time the sunrise is (everyone who has been said we HAVE to hike up to see the sunrise). It was only a half hour drive, but she said sunrise was at 4:30! So we asked for a wake-up call at 6 ...

We got up yesterday, had breakfast, checked out and hit the road. It was indeed only a half hour, but it was the most fun half hour of driving ever. You wind down the hills (LOTS of switchbacks) with amazing vistas and altitude markers (+500m, Sea Level, -100m, -200m! etc) until the Dead Sea appears. It is, incredibly, just like it looks on Google Earth - mountains coming down to the sea, the salt ponds where they harvest ... salt, and Jordan across the way. More on that later. We turned left (north) and headed up to Masada.





Masada is a mountaintop fortress built by King Herod the Great around 20 BC. You can understand his selection of the site as a good defensive location (cliffs drop straight down outside the double row of casement walls protecting it), but you cannot fathom how the heck they built it. Over two thousand years ago they built this shockingly complex city on top of a mountain. There are palaces, cisterns, aqueducts, more palaces, watch towers and houses; most of the ruins are still intact enough to know what you're looking at - 2000 years later! I recommend looking it up (Wikipedia still exists back in the real world, right?)

So, they climbed up this hill to build a fortress. How did we get up there to see it? We climbed too! A 40 minute hike up 300m on a very steep grade usually is not an everyday thing. Add in that it is almost a hundred degrees out and it was something else. We went through many liters of water, all of which sweated out immediately, and I'm sure more than a few calories. Aside: since Paris (cheese), we have been doing enough hiking around that, even though it's vacation and we're eating well, we are keeping the weight off.





They call the route up that we took Snake Path. It was ... difficult. But worth it. There is also an easier way, the Ramp Path (without going in to all the history, the Romans built a ramp and a seige tower to conquer the Israelite Zealots here in their last stand following the war in 70 AD). And about 12 years ago they built a cable car that can take you up the really easy way (if you go, hike up - it is worth it! But wear sturdy shoes; the path is mostly loose rocks and large, uneven stairs). We took the cable car down, although it probably isn't too bad of a hike on the return.

Consistent with our MO, we timed this adventure with middle-of-the-day heat. Fortunately we had a date with the Ein Gedi Spa on the Dead Sea. Definitely treat yourself to this too if you get to Masada. Although parts of the place had a stench of sulphur (people PAY to sit in that stinky water!), the facilities are great with locker rooms, a freshwater pool and a beach on the Dead Sea. This may be my favorite park of vacation so far (Note: I have not been able to ride a camel yet as of this posting). Just like everyone says, you walk out (with water shoes / sandals), lean back and, voila, you just float! It isn't like "it's easy to float" - literally, you just float. No effort, no nothing. Put your hands behind your head and lay there. Every bit of you floats - no sinking feet or butt or anything. It is hard to describe the feeling, but you know when you try to push a beach ball or noodle underwater? Your whole body feels that buoyant. Diana rested her head on my belly and neither of us sank or anything. You just ... float. You can float on your stomach too, but don't try swimming much. If you get any water in your eye, it really hurts as much as anyone says. Believe me. If you are intrepid though, I suggest licking a drop of water off your finger; it is so salty that it almost hurts. It is waaaay saltier tasting than licking solid table salt (because you don't have to wait for it to dissolve). The water is 32% salt (7 times saltier than ocean water). One day, if I ever have a yard, I am going to make a swimming pool that has the same concentration of salts as the Dead Sea, so we all can float. You are all invited!





We went in the Dead Sea 3 times, the swimming pool a couple times and smeared Dead Sea mud all over ourselves (but stayed away from the sulphur baths and showers). Oh, FYI - the Sea is refreshing in that it is water and fun and all, but the water is not cold - for 1-2 feet of water at the surface, it was hot, like hotter than hot tub hot. We also "played" on the beach - instead of sand and rocks, there are salt crytals and salt rocks. Don't tell the salt miners here, but I took a couple small salt rocks to bring home! We spent the afternoon playing there, then got back in the car (we should have hired a driver) to head for Eilat.





There was a checkpoint just before Eilat that surprised me (no troubles getting through: she wrote down all my information from my driver's license - not passport - and let me go in about 5 minutes). Eilat is the southern most city in Israel, on the Red Sea. Funny story: in the 17th century, some dude was copying a Bible over from Latin to English and dropped an E from the printing press. The Red Sea was, for thousands of years, the Reed Sea. Although, since the setting sun lights the water up in some sweet red colors and the surrounding hills glow red too, the name isn't that bad. Eilat is a pretty new city, even newer than Tel Aviv. Diana described the city as a little Atlantic City-esque. I haven't been (to AC, duh), but I am inclined to agree. About the city that is; the water is where it's at here. There are huge yachts, water-facing restaurants, all kinds of water sports and some awesome coral reefs to explore. We didn't get snorkeling in the reefs, but we did explore them a little today at this place that had a big glass bubble underwater near the reef that you can go down to and see the corals and fishes. There are also some places that make great food here - we recommend the Last Refuge if you like fish and seafood at all. The fresh fish, and service, was outstanding. The one drawback to dinner was that we love to sit outside and, eventhough the sun had just set, it was still 104 degrees in the shade. There was a stiff breeze, but it was the same feeling as when you open the oven - I don't think it was helping. When our food came out (piping hot) I said we shouldn't bother waiting for it to cool - it probably was just going to get hotter.

I can't believe it, but 'already' we drive back to Tel Aviv tomorrow for our flight to Egypt. That unfortunately means that our adventure is more than half over ...

If you're following along at home, leave a comment on a post (how are the Celtics doing?) We miss everyone, and we wish you could be here to enjoy these travels with us. It would be nice to hear from you.

A Walk in the Souk

Jerusalem reminds me a bit of a Tuscan hill town - narrow streets, lots of ups and downs and half arches across the streets in places. Only ratchet the temperature up about 50 degrees, imagine a light honey-colored "Jerusalem stone" on all the buildings and imagine a whole new set of sounds and smells and you start to get an idea of what it's like to walk through the Old City of Jerusalem. The walls have changed in location and construction several times, but I imagine the general character and make-up of the city really hasn't. In some places, there are huge well-worn stones underfoot. We learned that these stones are from around the time of Jesus and though the street level of Jesus is about 6m below current street level, some of the stones from that level have been excavated and brought up.

Jerusalem is roughly divided into 4 quarters: Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Armenian. The Christians here are Arabs as are, of course, the Muslims. The Holy Sepulcher sits in the Christian Quarter and the Temple Mount has the Muslim quarter on one side and the Jewish Quarter on the other. Despite the way it sounds, these "quarters" are really more just loose boundaries and one easily moves throughout the city. The only distinct borders are at the Jewish Quarter which was totally destroyed around 1948 when the Israelis lost control of Jerusalem to Jordan. The buildings are much newer there and from the destruction later came some good - excavations took place that uncovered many interesting sites including the main Roman street of Jesus' time called the Cardo.

In Arabic, the word for bazaar or market is souk and Jerusalem is full of them. Picture a narrow street that is open to above, but fully covered by canopies from shops on either side. It's shaded and cool compared to other streets in the open sun and everything you can imagine is being sold. There are cheesy souvenirs next to exotic spices next to gold icons next to women's underwear - I mean everything! Each step you take literally brings a new smell to your nose. Most shop keepers sit outside their stores on plastic chairs trying to guess the native language of the people walking by so they can invite them in. It is complete sensory overload, but I think very "Jerusalem-y"; there were clearly locals shopping as well as tourists. Most evident of this was the stores selling the long, simple, button-down coats that the Muslim women were wearing. (I am sure there is a name for it, but alas I don't know it!)

This was our first experience walking through Jerusalem and it culminated in buying falafel from a vendor between the Christian and Muslim Quarters which Nate has already described in great detail. Together, these experiences are how I'll remember Jerusalem.

A Tour of Jerusalem

Ok, we are getting behind here! This is Sunday in Jerusalem...

Through Nate's family friends we were able to connect with a recommended guide in Jerusalem on Sunday. We meet Krina outside the Jaffa gate at 10am. She had sent us a picture so we knew who to look for. We had an action packed 4 hour hustle through Jerusalem ahead of us! We started at the Temple Mount, the raised platform built by King Herod in the first century BC to create a huge plaza for his palace and the Jewish Temple. Nothing remains of his complex except this platform. The famous Western Wall, or Wailing Wall, is one of the great retaining walls for the platform.

It turns out, King Herod was pretty much a building genius. (See Nate's post on Caesarea.) To make this platform, he built a bunch of arches, then filled up the space under them with all sorts of old Jerusalem junk he found laying around. Then he built the stone walls all around and voila! Impressive platform.

There are several ways up to the Temple Mount, but only one for non-Muslims with metal detectors and security checking every bag. On the way up, you have a nice view over the Wailing Wall.

Anyway, these days the platform is home to two major Muslim sites - the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque. You can't go inside either of them unless you are Muslim, but you can walk around the platform which is huge. The Dome of the Rock is the gold-domed building you may have seen in pictures of Jerusalem. Except for the dome, the entire outside is covered in tile mosaic work. The building is a shrine to, what else, a rock said to have the footprint of Mohammed on it. Mohammed had a vision that he ascended to heaven from "al-aqsa" which translates as "the farthest place". In reality, Mohommed was never in Jerusalem and the Mosque called "al-Aqsa" came way later as well.

Up on the Temple Mount, as we walked around, there were several groups of kids out playing soccer. (Well, I should say groups of boys - not kids.) The ball bounced our way once and Nate trapped it very cleanly and passed it back to many oohs and ahhs. (As in, "ooohh, the American has soccer skills!")

From there, we left through one of the other exits (I guess anyone can go out, only Muslims can come in) and started along the Via Dolorosa - literally the "Way of Suffering" - otherwise known as the Stations of the Cross. Some of the stations are chapels along the road, others are just simple markers with a roman numeral on the side of the wall. There were lots of groups, some even carrying a cross with them, making their way along the Via Dolorosa, singing and praying together. We weaved in and out of the groups, being a small group of three, trying to imagine what it might have been like in Jesus' time. In our time, it was really really hot.

The last five Stations are within the craziest conglomeration of architecture I have ever seen, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It is believed that the grounds enclosed by the church contain the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and then rose from the dead. It all started when St. Helena, the mother of Roman Emperor Constantine (who is the one who converted to and made Christianity the official religion of Rome), traveled to the Holy Land. She asked around about where the important events of Jesus' life had occurred and built the first church around 326AD. After that, the Crusaders added on in the 12th century and pretty much everyone that could added on or renovated up until the mid-1850s. I really can't even begin to describe the results. It's both fascinating and disorientating, the spaces overlapping each other side to side and up and down (sometimes down as much as three levels!), so that from one space you might be looking down and across two others that don't seem to relate. To make it even more crazy, the church is co-owned by three Christian denominations: Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian and their styles are infused into the spaces they've claimed as their own making an already confusing building lack any unifying style. Don't get me wrong - it's one of the most fascinating spaces I've ever been in. But, perhaps I am analyzing too much the architecture of a place that is really all about faith!

Krina took us through the major spaces of the Church and explained their significance. At first, I was feeling not in the right mind set. The place was mobbed and loud, with people waiting in long lines to get to some of the areas. Camera flashes were going off left and right as tour groups whizzed through. It didn't feel like a holy place. I kept trying to focus and block out the crowds, but being a Lauring with minor ADD that was, of course, impossible. It was frustrating for awhile. In the end though, I decided that the magic of the place wasn't its serenity but its ability to draw people from all over the world, from so many different Christian denominations and from so many walks of life and to bring out such enthusiasm and devotion in these people. It was an awe-inspiring, if not rowdy, display of faith.

We left the church and headed for our last stop, the Western Wall. As I said before, the wall is a retaining wall for the Temple Mount. The Jewish people considers it their most holy place because it is the only remnant left of their great Temple. We went through security again and into the large plaza in front of the wall. The wall itself is divided into an area for men and an area for women. Naturally, the men's area is 3 times the size of the women's but we won't go there. Men needed yarmulkes (spelling?) or other head coverings to approach the wall - spares were provided for visitors - and women needed shoulders and knees covered and heads covered if you are married. As you probably know, the tradition is to write a prayer on a little slip of paper and slide it in between the stones. (Although, this may be a tourist tradition and not a Jewish one.) In any event, Krina talked to us about the wall a little. We learned that though they have to clean out the little slips of paper a few times a year, they aren't thrown away since they have God's name on them. Instead they bag them up and bury them in a Jewish cemetery. Krina left us here after a great morning and Nate and I split up to approach the wall.

By this point, it was the middle of the sweltering hot afternoon and we were ready for a snack and a break. We walked through the Jewish Quarter and found a falafel place (over-priced compared to our favorite guy by the Damascus gate) and sat for a bit. We decided to head towards a place called the Garden Tomb which is on the walk from our hotel to the Old City. The place is an alternate location that some suggest may be the burial place of Christ. But, it's closed on Sundays! (Two strikes on visiting that place now - yesterday we tried during the middle of the day, but they are closed 12-2.) We'll try again tomorrow.

It was about 4:30pm so headed back to the hotel to chill a little. Back out again in time to walk back towards the Old City for mass at the Notre Dame Center (thanks for another tip, Nick!) in English! What a neat place - it looks like a castle from the outside and is a Roman Catholic center for pilgrims, including guest rooms. It was booked or we would have stayed there for its great location right outside one of the gates into the Old City. We were a bit surprised when for the Eucharistic Prayer and the Lord's Prayer the priest switched to Latin. I was a little annoyed and then I felt like my dad, who hates when we sing even the little bit of Latin at mass and I chuckled a little to myself.

Finally, we headed to a new pedestrian shopping/eating area just outside the walls for dinner. We sat in comfy cushy chairs outside with a view of the walls all lit up. Lovely end to a lovely day.

Transit to Bethlehem

So maybe you heard - the Israeli's had a dust-up with an aid convoy going to Gaza. Needless to say, this is the kind of to-do that we were warned about listening for before going to the West Bank. Unfortunately, we didn't hear about the convoy attack until we were already in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem ... in the West Bank.

Our plan for getting to Bethlehem was to take a taxi to the border, walk across, then taxi to Manger Square. We asked our Hotel Man for a taxi to the border and he said he'd call. A bit later, Smooth-Talking Man walks in, most likely a secret friend of Hotel Man. Smooth-Talking Man tells us of his good friend, the Taxi Driver. Smooth-Talking Man says his friend Taxi Driver will take us to Bethlehem, link us up with Tour Guide Man (for free, no less!), and bring us back to our hotel or anywhere else, for the price of a tour bus (a generous discount from the private taxi fare for sure). We hem, haw, dither and finally give in. Smooth-Talking Man ushers us into Taxi Driver's car (a Mercedes; what a deal!) and we head for the West Bank. It's about a half hour, with no stop in this direction at the check point. We get to Bethlehem, outside of a shop where we meet Pleasant Shopkeeper. Pleasant Shopkeeper welcomes us, gets us water, shows us around and says Tour Guide Man will be with us shortly, he's just "showing another group of beautiful tourists around". We admire the shop (indeed there are many beautiful olive wood and mother-of-pearl things) until Tour Guide Man comes in.

Tour Guide Man takes us to his car (a sparkling new VW), asks if we don't mind picking up his daughter at school before the tour, and starts regaling us with details of the area. We swing down the road, pick up his 8-year old daughter, and come back to the shop to drop off the young one and re-park the car. Why couldn't we just stay at the shop for that? Don't know - he may have showed us the Shephards' Fields; I'm not sure I heard right (though his English was quite good).

Back at Pleasant Shopkeeper's place we meet up with another couple pilgrims looking for Tour Guide Man. Obviously Americans, we ask them where they're from. Sudbury, no lie - that's like 20 minutes from Boston! So the two couples from MA huffed it after Tour Guide Man on the way to the Church of the Nativity. It wasn't far, and along the way we got some details of the area and church. Diana will surely tell more of the church (and maybe contradict my account of the events - don't listen to her!), but there is a grotto beneath the church that Tour Guide Man snuck us in through the exit (instead of waiting behind 300 tourists going in the entrance). Apparently there is an organized effort between security and unofficial Tour Guide Men to use this short cut. God knows where all the kick backs come from. The guide was indeed free, though I gave him a token tip.

Exiting the Church of the Nativity, we are in the middle (literally shoulder to shoulder) of a rally, complete with guys in dark suits with signs in Arabic, guys dressed in judge robes, TV cameras and a bit of tension. Tour Guide Man now takes the time to inform us of the trouble at Gaza and says these people are from the courthouse, protesting Israel's actions. Perhaps this isn't the best time to be here...

Back at Pleasant Shopkeeper's place after our tour, we enjoyed some refreshments and shopped a little. Taxi Driver was waiting there the whole time, enjoying some tea and a newspaper - no doubt earning his fee. We hop in for the ride back and relax a little. Part way from Bethlehem we reach the checkpoint where Taxi Driver says some things to the Israeli Border Guard and we show our passports (just the covers, to show we aren't Israeli). Slightly atypically (I believe), we are ushered into a new line for what I'd call secondary screening. Other Soldier looks a little more carefully at our passports (picture, expiration date and visa it appeared), before waving us through. Really not too difficult, but the agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians is that Israelis stay out of the West Bank. They just wanted to check that we indeed were humble pilgrims.

Finally at the hotel we paid Taxi Driver in American dollars (he preferred them over shekkels) and completed our adventure. It was a little more tense than driving on the Mass Pike, but not nearly as bad as I was fearing. It was definitely better having Taxi Driver and Tour Guide Man to lead us around the trouble spots. Worth the expense!

Off for our last jaunt around the Old City before heading south to the Dead / Red Seas. Cheers!

Church of the Annunciation

Dark church + light streaming through colorful stained glass = beautiful

Jewish Boys

Ok, just nearly cried laughing over Nate's last post. How can I possibly top that...

So, we're hopping onto the elevator this afternoon at the hotel, and these 4 Jewish tween boys ask us where we're from. I say the United States and they're like "duh, where?". I respond, Boston and they get really loud (sort of like a group of excited girls) "Ohhhh, we LOVE Boston!" and all want to high-five me. Now, I happen to be a person who loves high-fives, so I went for it. Apparently they love Boston. One of them said he loves Chicago and I'm thinking, that's not too close to Boston, but thanks for contributing. They are talking amongst themselves for a second in Hebrew and it must've gone something like this: "Hey, what's the coolest thing we can ask they to say in their cool American accents?" They think for awhile, then one of them says to us in his thick accent, "Can you say, 'Charlie bit me'?" Really?? This is the best of American culture? That Charlie kid and his brother were British, weren't they? None-the-less, we obliged and they thought it was the funniest thing they every heard. Ever. Next it's "what's your name?" and I'm thinking, do I want to tell them? So I say "Guess" but they think that's my name for a second, so they say "Ok Guess, and what about you?" turning to Nate. Them one of them gets it and they start that loud laughing group thing again and say "Ohhh, we get it! haha!" Anyway, they like us so much that they hop back on the elevator with us. They try to convince us their names are funny sounding things that are probably Hebrew swear words or something. There is much more laughing until we get off the elevator at our floor and they, thankfully, don't follow us.

St. Rita

Ok, this is out of sequence because I keep forgetting to post it!

In France, one of our favorite places was Sacre Coeur, the Church of the Sacred Heart. Here, we lit a candle for my grandmother, Rita, in the chapel of St. Rita. We love you Mom-Mom!

One more thing...

I forgot two cool things from the Mount of Olives. We saw an unfinished church (a la San Galgano) with pine trees for pews (not like pine pews - there were trees growing where the pews would be) because it had no roof! It was Pater Noster, the site where Jesus taught his disciples how to pray the Our Father. It has the prayer written in about 100 different languages throughout the site. It was a very neat place, mostly for the fact that it was a church without a roof (again!).





The other thing, the most amazing, exciting thing to happen at the top of a ridiculously steep hike: we saw a camel! That is all.

Falafel

I have known since I was a small person that I loved falafel. I never had any back then, but I could tell in my soul (which is next to my stomach if you're looking) that falafel was for me. I've had falafel in the states many time: it is great, a wonderful treat. NO! It is crap. Finally, FINALLY, today I got what I came here for: falafel. 3 actually.

Before going to bed last night (and some amount of beer into a nice evening), we reminded ourselves that this isn't just tourism / sightseeing / religious stuff, but indeed, this is vacation. Our first real vacation in some time (if you don't count being surrounded by 34 Laurings, this is the first real vacation Diana and I have had since our honeymoon). So we slept in and almost missed breakfast (again - what's with closing the buffet at 10am?) But we grabbed some cold stuff (still Sabbath, still no cooking), and walked towards the Old City. Specifically, we were headed for the Damascus gate. We missed. There are lots of gates into the Old City and they all get you where you want to be eventually. There are not a lot of (legible) street signs on the way from here to there. So we missed and ended up at the New Gate. A nice gate, but one off from our target. The boring idea of going to Damascus gate on the outside of the walls didn't appeal - I thought we should wander. Diana was less convinced and wanted a map, but I sort of just starting walking. We knew, more or less, what to look for (a gate?), so nothing could go wrong. We wandered lots of little tiny alleys, back streets, main streets covered with markets selling all sorts of things (including ladies' undergarments again - really?). We ultimately found the Damascus gate, but not before siting my falafel friend. Well, smelled it first (the falafel, not the man)... I love falafel, I could write a whole post on the topic (oh, wait...). He asked if we wanted everything on it so I just said yes. Then as he was putting stuff on, I'd say no to things I didn't want - kind of the same as 'everything', right? So it had humus, falafel (4-6 balls - take that, cheap American falafellers who only give 3), 'salad' (cucumber and tomatoes, usually with some olive oil / lemon juice / maybe parsley), tahine, and of course, chips (that's French Fries). We split the first one, loved it, and couldn't wait for more.

We went out the Damascus gate and found what we were looking for in the first place on the way to the city, the Garden Tomb. While many believe the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is on the site of the tomb where they buried Jesus, another option is at the Garden Tomb. Not sure who is right; figure we'll check them all out, just to be safe. Well, by the time we get there of course it is noon - remember everything is closed from noon to 2pm. Everything. Everyone here knows that - that's when it's really hot - why would you want to wander around a courtyard in the full sun? I don't know, but Diana and I just cannot remember that. So we headed back inside the gate (oops - continuity - this is when we actually ate that falafel). We wound down the market to El Wad street (that's Arabic for The Wad), and then turned left on Via Dolorossa. We're taking a full tour of the sites tomorrow, so we'll get into that then. We headed east out the Lion's gate (I'm assuming it's a crusader's gate, by the name).

From there you can head up the Mount of Olives. Mount is short for Mountain - it was a serious hike! At least along the way are some nice sites: we spent some good time among the ancient (2,000+ years) olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane, looked in the Church of All Nations, checked out Dominus Flevit (walked past the Church of Mary Magdalene, only open Tuesday and Thursday; Diana renamed it the Golden Onion Dome church), and eventually summited the Mount of Olives. The view is amazing. Jerusalem spreads out in front of you and is much bigger than it felt (indeed, the Old City is geographically tiny next to the city as a whole). I don't know how much outside the Old City we'll see; not out of a lack of interest, but simply a scarcity of time to cover it all. From up there you can see the blockaded "golden gate", the double arched gate that Jesus entered the city and that the Jews' savior will enter through some day; the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque; the city walls and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. You can't see the Wailing Wall (the Western Wall; it was on the other side of the Temple Mount), but we'll get to that Sunday. You aren't supposed to take pictures there on the Sabbath anyway. We tried to get a good panorama shot with the camera; I hope it can begin to do the view justice.

Finally we headed back down the hill, stopped in at a church built on top of a shrine for the site recognized as Mary's Assumption, went in the city the way we came out and headed for Damascus gate. I told Diana it was because that was the way we knew, but it was really because that was the falafel I knew. We grabbed two more from our friend (this time mine had pickles!) - oh and they're only 6 NIS each, that's less than $2! - and found a shaded spot to eat. It was after 5pm, but the sun was still quite hot. Finally having my fill of falafel (for the day), we went to our hotel for a rest.

pics:

Love

For Amanda and Mervyn, from The Alchemist. Our hero, Santiago, has just seen the love of his life for the first time.

At that moment, it seemed to him that time stood still, and the Soul of the World surged within him. When he looked into her dark eyes, and saw her lips that were poised between a laugh and silence, he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke - the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love. Something older that humanity, more ancient than the desert. Something that exerted the same force whenever two pairs of eyes met, as had theirs here at the well. She smiled, and that was certainly an omen - the omen he had been waiting for, without even knowing he was, for all his life.

Some observations to help you get a feel for Israel...

Everywhere you go, there are clean public toilets available (every once in awhile they charge you a few shekkels - less than fifty cents). The bathroom facilities put those in Europe to shame! And to all those guys out there who can use any old hole in the wall or floor and think this isn't a big deal, let me tell you - this matters to the ladies! And to top it off, every toilet is dual flush. I mean - come America! Catch up!

In contrast to the cleanliness of their bathrooms though, there seems to be a pretty serious littering problem. Even in areas designated National Parks. Time to crack down on that, Israel! Don't trash the Promised Land!

Number one without a doubt best idea Nate and I had coming here - bringing two cameras. It means we both have our own all day and can shoot whatever we like. What can I say? We're both oldest children - we like to be in charge. A normal trip with only one camera either involves me "suggesting" to Nate how much to zoom or how to frame a shot, or Nate "suggesting" that I give him the camera immediately.

The food has been pretty great here, but the pita bread stands alone as the most amazing single food known to man. I can't even explain how good it is. Always served warm, nice and thick, fresh and soft. We really messed something up when we brought that one to America.

We arrived in Jerusalem on Friday evening, the beginning of the Sabbath or Shabbat. Our hotel has a Shabbat elevator which means an elevator that automatically stops and opens its doors at every floor. Up and down, every floor all day from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. This is to accommodate orthodox Jews who don't use any kind of electrical machinery or anything during Shabbat (this is my limited understanding at least.) I guess in a hotel where the stairs are for emergency use only just riding in the elevator is ok. Just no button-pushing.

Much to our excitement, the aversion to breaking any bill larger than a 5 that is running rampant in Europe does not seem to exist here! We've had no problem, even at smaller places when we had nothing but larger bills. They also take dollars and euros widely here. Nice!

Finally, on a more serious note, a thought on feeling safe. We've now driven around a lot and been in several towns. We walked through the Old City of Jerusalem today. In Nazareth we visited our first predominantly Muslim town. There really hasn't been anything at all to make one feel anything but at ease. However, there have been times when Nate and I have talked about having the feeling that we "should" be scared or anxious. It's strange. Somewhere in your subconscious your brain is taking things we've heard before we even came to a place and associating it with a danger that isn't real in the actual place! Food for thought.

Galilee to Nazareth and Jerusalem

It seems like we're always hustling around here, and once again, we got up, packed the car and headed out. As we were leaving Tiberius, we thought it would be nice to at least walk in the water there a bit, if not swim. We found a place to pull over, hopped out and walked down to the rocky beach. There were a couple other people around (families mostly, like the dad with his two nekked boys) but it wasn't really a swimming beach. We hung out with our feet in the water and relaxed for a while. It was a very peaceful place. The water was clean, but the beach was a bit littered, like many other places we've been here.

Finally saying goodbye to Galilee, we dried off and drove up the hills, heading out of the area and for Mt Tabor. Now a national park, it was the site of some famous Israelite battles way back in the day and is recognized most often as the place of the Transfiguration. There are Byzantine and Crusader ruins and a couple churches. We mostly just enjoyed the views of the hills and farms around the mountain and relaxed for a little bit. It was another very peaceful place - except for the ride up and down: very narrow road with many switchbacks (with poor sightlines) and lots of cars zooming by.





With little real debate, we decided to head to Nazareth. This is the first place we wanted to see where anyone had said anything about watching for dangerous stuff. Close to, but not in, the West Bank, Nazareth is two-thirds Muslim with the remainder Christian. We had been warned a little about going there, but our guide book said go for it. Like I said, we didn't really second guess it - we both were excited to go. The guide book also said traffic and parking are typically a pain - 2-for-2! We crawled up the hill at a snail's pace, turned at the top, and inched our way down, looking for parking the whole way. We finally found a lot (second one we tried; first one was closing early - Friday prayers are the more holy time for Islam) that charged 20 NIS (about $6) for a day. Prices seem okay; it's more a matter of access to a parking spot. The lot was also near churches and a pastry shop recommended in our guide book. We were hungry and the pastries were on the way, so we stopped in there first. We had a couple of the best sweet little cheese and dough and I don't know what pastries ever. Really - not sure what they were called or what exactly was in there, but the guide book was right again, amazing. The place is called Mahmoud's and is by the traffic circle for Paulus VI and Casa Nova streets. (If anyone is going to Israel, please borrow our book - it has been great) We considered decamping at the pastry shop for the remained of our time in Israel but figured there were a few other things we wanted to do still. We walked up the hill a block or so to the church built on the site of the Annunciation. Traditionally, the caves underneath the church and St Joseph's next door were Mary's house (where Gabriel came to her) and Joseph's carpentry shop. The Basilica of the Annunciation was very beautiful, had many levels to it, and was crawling with tour groups. We ducked around them and 'snuck' up some stairs that appeared off limits ... until we ran smack into another tour group. We walked around the town a fair bit and poked into some markets. We couldn't find the guidebook-recommended Diana restaurant (with its obvious appeal), but now we have something to come back for - that, and did I mention the pastries?





We meandered our way back down the hill and away from Nazareth (everything goes too quickly, and we aren't even rushing ourselves!) It was a little over an hour and a half to Jerusalem, mostly on very nice highways, with a stop on the way for espresso (can't get enough) and Pringles and a Bounty bar. No kidding, the Pringles were the first thing on vacation to make my stomach uneasy - the swordfish ceviche in Paris, awesome; God-knows-what at the Israeli breakfast shmorgasboard, no problem; Pringles? Bletch!

We got into Jerusalem and our hotel just before sundown, when the Shabat would begin for our Jewish friends. Checked in to our room and rested for a bit and then hunted down dinner. Of course, everything Jewish was closed, and we hadn't really oriented ourselves yet with the city, so we just had salads at the hotel bar - tell you what, they weren't half bad. Also the Sabbath does not forbid the bartender from pulling a couple tall beers from the tap for me too...

The Alchemist

FINALLY got the book from Diana. Read it in an evening after dinner at Guy in Tiberius (veggies stuffed with meat - incredible tastes). I've read the book 3 times (in high school, about a year ago right before I gave it to Diana for the fateful trip impetus, and now) and it keeps getting better. Literally can't put it down. And I literally read it after dinner one day. It takes about 3 hours; I recommend the book to everyone - it is a very fun read!

Also, just remembered, the whole reason I mentioned lunch in Caesarea was because we were trying to eat while being bombarded by 40 mph sustained winds with many small cats underfoot, looking for table scraps. I am surprised Diana didn't up and walk out on me (us).

Jerusalem

Good morning all! We are on a public computer in the business center of our hotel in Jerusalem. I have a post and some pics on a memory stick, but alas, this computer won't read it. So, we are off to check out this city. More to come.

The Sea of Galilee

Shalom and welcome to Israel! Hopefully you all enjoyed Nate's post on Tel Aviv - the only thing I saw there was our hotel room (which was very nice.) On the plus side, it also meant that we spent practically nothing - there was even a free "light dinner" buffet at the hotel. Apparently I am the spender in our duo.

We both had a sense as we left France that the "real" adventure was about to begin. We know so little of the language and can't even read the Hebrew letters. Luckily, most signs are in Hebrew, Arabic and English and nearly everyone speaks English. We're on a very loose itinerary here, defined only by the hotel reservations we have. We are travelling more or less clockwise around the country, making lots of stops on the our way between cities where we're staying. We have a trusty little Chevy sedan we've named Sarah and a GPS named Rebecca that we would be lost (pun intended) without. So far, so good!


(a goofy photo of the map in our guide book for some context.)

Last night we arrived in Tiberias which is a city on the Sea of Galilee. Turns out the "Sea" of Galilee is actually the "Lake" of Galilee and it sits 700 feet below sea level, while some of the surrounding land is up to 70 feet above sea level. The landscape is hard to describe - hilly, with what looks like flowing wheat low to the ground, but lots of tree greens (olive, cypress), and beautiful flowering trees and vines everywhere. The colors are gorgeous - deep pinks of all shades, with yellow and orange mixed in. The weather today was a bit odd. It was around 100 degrees out, humid (so much for the dry heat!), and very, very hazy. At points in the day, you couldn't even see across the lake, and it's not that big.




So, after an Israeli breakfast (which means a little of everything you can think of!) we hopped in the car and set off for Ginosar which today is a kibbutz but could be the ancient city of Gennesaret which is a place the Bible mentions Jesus being in once. Today, it's well-known for a first century fishing boat that was found buried in its shores in 1986. Very incredible.



Next it was on to Tabgha, site of two churches. One commemorates the Primacy of St. Peter. It's said that in the area of the church was where Jesus appeared after he rose from the dead and asked Peter three times "Do you love me?" Peter answered "Lord, you know I do" three times, some say as atonement for denying Jesus three times before his death. The site had a pretty little pebble beach on the lake and a small church. We have from Nick a very handy little print out with Bible passages organized by site in Israel (thanks, Nick!) so that was coming in handy already.



Next we walked to the church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. This was a slightly bigger church with a pretty open courtyard/cloister in front with a pond. The church was rebuilt several times, the last time in the 1900s on the foundations of the original church and unearthed some original mosaics on the floor. Again, it was nice to sit quietly and read the accompanying Bible passage



On to Caperaum, which was the center of Jesus's ministry. The site was a large excavation of the ancient town, mostly foundations including what is traditionally believed to be St. Peter's house where Jesus stayed. There are also ruins of the town synogogue but dating from a few centuries after Jesus. (Still, it was probably built over the synogogue of Jesus' time.) This place was the most moving for me. The entire sight was a bit raised over the Sea and it was a little less foggy, so the views were very nice. Maybe it was that you could sense what the little town might have been like and imagine people having a real life there. There is a modern (in time and in architectural style) church cantilevering over the site of Peter's house (sort of strange, but we'll go with it) where we sat for awhile and did our reading. Did I mention it was 100 degrees and humid?



Our last stop of the day was at the Mount of the Beatitudes. It's pretty high up and I'm sure the views are usually amazing, but unfortunately it looked like we were in a cloud with all the haze. Big time bummer. Anyway, the little church was beautiful with an intense Italian nun on guard ("Cover your shoulders!" "No shorts!" "No video!") You can definitely see the Byzantine/Eastern influences in the Christian architecture here - this dome was completely covered in a mosaic of gold tiles with a little bit of blue. Nate and I recently saw the show "Godspell" so it was fun reading Matthew's gospel (which the show is based on) for the Sermon on the Mount.



What we saw:



What we should have seen:



So that's the latest and greatest! We're off to dinner now. Bye for now!

The Northern Mediterranean Coast

On our second morning in Tel Aviv, Diana finally looked like she was ready to start actually doing stuff in Israel - good thing, because we had places to go! We enjoyed a quick (free) breakfast at the hotel, packed up and got on the road headed north.

About a half hour north of Tel Aviv is the really old city of Caesarea. If you're following along with a GPS, it may also be spelled Kasarya or Quesarea or Quisaria or ... you get the point. I think there are so many spellings because so many people lived here over the years, Jews and Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders and Sultans. It got knocked down a few times and rebuilt a few times, but after a few earthquakes, people finally gave it up and it was buried. They did some major archaeological work digging it up and restored a lot of the ruins. Any way, 2,000 years ago King Herod decided he needed a good port in the region. They built a breakwater that went out almost a half-mile with dock space, warehouses and rooms for sailors on it. The building techniques were pretty cool too: sunk caissons, filled them with volcanic ash (which hardened like concrete), and built footings and piers on top. Not bad for back then. Herod put up a Roman temple (he got to be King by kissing a lot of Roman butt; Caesarea was also named after the emperor - Augustus, not Julius, of course) which later was built over with a Byzantine church, a Crusader church and then a mosque. It was a pretty big town for a while and they needed more water, so the Romans built some huge aqueducts running from way out in the country. They don't connect to the city any more, but we drove over and saw them (like a half mile away). You can climb on them and see how they were made and stuff (very, very straight and level - good construction). And there's a beach there - no need to let good sand go to waste for a 2,000 year old aqueduct.



In Caesarea we took a break for lunch at a cafe. We hadn't gotten to go to any real restaurants in Tel Aviv (on account of you-know-who), so this was our first more authentic humus and pita, mid-eastern fare. I love this kind of food and stuffed myself. I needed the energy for all that walking around, right? Oh - BTW - Paris was not diet friendly, did I mention?

We played around Caesarea for a while and then hopped back in the car for Haifa. We got in a little late, so we went straight to the top of the mountain that looks over everything (Mt Carmel or one next to Mt Carmel, don't remember, but Carmel is where the Carmelite nuns are from). From there you can look down on the Baha'i gardens and shrine. They are really, really beautiful, but you'll have to go online to search for a pic - mine are worthless because they have the shrine covered for renovations. Trust me, it's nice. We also looked over Haifa a bit (huge port; nuclear power plant; Burj-esque building) and headed out.

Since we were a little behind schedule, we pushed Nazareth off for a couple days and went straight to Tiberius and the Sea of Galilee. We got in just after sunset, checked in and had a glass of wine. The late lunch in Caesarea held us over, so we went to bed early to get up and see the sights around Galilee in the morning.

"The Nicest Lady in all of Israel" or "The Day I Nearly Passed out in the Tel Aviv Airport"

I have a confession to make. I can sometimes be a bit dramatic about being sick. I am certain to complain to Nate at the first sign of any tickle in my throat, funny feeling in my stomach or ache in my head. So, you can understand why Nate was only cautiously sympathetic when, as we left Paris on Monday, I said I didn't feel well.

I felt worse and worse as the afternoon went on - feverish, headache, achey, all that good stuff. Our brilliant travel agent had gotten us business class flights for this leg (at the same price, none the less!) which turned out to be a real gift. It meant I could nap in the business lounge at the airport waiting for our delayed flight instead of on the normal uncomfortable airport chairs. It also meant that on the plane I had a leg rest that went up and a seat that went nearly flat. Brilliant.

Anyway, I shivered under two blankets all the way to Tel Aviv where we arrived around 8:30pm. We got into line at passport control and inched our way to the front. When we were about 3 people from the front, I started to feel reeeeally funny and all of the sudden started blacking out a bit like I was going to pass out. Uh oh. I knelt down and put my head between my knees. Not good. I tried to get up a couple times - same blacking out thing. (I've always been a fainter. Just ask my Mom. In recent memory, after getting my wisdom teeth out, Mom saved me from smacking my head on the tile floor. But I digress.) We were 1 person away from the front and the line had gotten huge behind us. I had visions of falling over in front of the tough looking Israeli passport dude and never being allowed into the country. Plus, I was pretty sure I was about to get sick. So, out of line we went and rushed back to the bathroom.

Enter the nicest woman in all of ISrael. (Possibly the world.) I must have looked so bad, that one of the passport control people left her booth (!!) and followed us. She asked Nate my name and came into the bathroom to check on me. She said she had decided to come after us because I had looked so white! She also said to eat something sweet when I came out and that when we made it back in the now enormous line, we could cut to the front of her line, number 20.

We did make it back to the line finally, where she saw us and waved us right to the front. She only asked us one question (did we have any family in Israel) then stamped us and sent us on our way looking very sympathetic.

So, it's 3 days later and I am finally back in action! I have some catching up to do on the blog front - stay tuned!

ps - This post could also be called "My husband is a Saint". He's taken very good care of me - don't worry Mom!

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv 25-May-2010

We got in to Tel Aviv's airport (another good looking airport) around 7:30 last night. Diana picked up a bug somewhere between our Paris hotel and the airplane, so by the time we got off the plane, she wasn't feeling too hot (see her post). So today she slept in most of the day and started feeling better later on...

I slept in until noon too (man, Paris was go-go-go!). When I finally headed out in the afternoon, I went to one of Tel Aviv's markets to what it was all about. There were all kinds of stands selling fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses, and cheap clothes (mostly Levi's and ladies' undergarments). It was at least a half mile long strip of stalls - my favorite ones were selling spices; everything good you ever smelled in food was sitting together and smelled amazing. Then I turned the corner and headed down a special (Tuesday/Friday only) market with people selling jewelry, drawings and wood carved stuff with cafes lining the route. Pretty cool and fun, but I was on my own and didn't feel like buying much. (Oh, an aside - I did have my bag checked by security on the way in. He only was armed with a radio though, not like the big guns carried by the guys at CDG).

After a little while browsing I headed back to the hotel with a stop at a quickie mart for cookies, crisps and 9 liters of water - we each are drinking about three-quarters of a gallon a day; judging by the usual indicator, I'm still not getting enough fluids and we aren't even in the desert yet. We've stuck to bottled water here out of an abundance of caution (it is supposed to be fine); ironic though that Diana probably got her stomach bug from water in Western Europe.

I got back to the hotel and tried to perk up my travel companion, but she wasn't having it. So I went out exploring more on my own. I headed north up the coast a few minutes to the beaches where there were at least 30 kite-surfers but no one swimming. It's still early in the year and probably cool for locals, but if I had my suit on, I would definitely have jumped in.

Then I headed about 15 minutes south of the hotel to Jaffa. While Tel Aviv only sprung up out of the desert 100 years ago, Jaffa is one of the oldest (or THE oldest) port cities in the world: the cedars for the Temple in Jerusalem were imported through here, Jonah set off from here on his way to the whale's belly, and Perseus rescued Andromeda from a rock the Jaffa people had tied her to as a sacrifice to Poseidon (I guess). Anyway, it is a neat place with tiny alleys, lots of steps, a tall, handsome clock tower, AMAZING views and about 4,000 stray cats.

After wandering a bit, I went back, convinced Diana to get dinner and then caught the end of regulation for the Celtics / Magic Game 4 on tape delay (the only TV so far; hopefully we don't accidentally watch any more). At the end of the 4th, with the score tied, they put up a commercial for Wednesday's Game 5 - no need to watch the OT now!

So I'm doing some laundry in the bath tub as I scribble these notes, then it's to bed. Tomorrow we get up early (early for vacation that is) and head up the coast to Caesarea and Haifa, then inland to our hotel on the west side of the Sea of Galilee.

Cheers!

Au Revoir a Paris

(Second time writing this - netbook has keys made for 3-year olds)

We're hanging out in CDG - waiting for our flight to Tel Aviv. Diana is napping (because Diana naps) - I was going to snag a pic to post, but the El Al guys have big guns and take security VERY seriously. We were grilled for quite a while on our business in Israel before given the green light. But now we're on our way.

Yesterday in Paris we headed out early (10am - not bad for the morning after a wedding!) and went up to Montemarte. We wound our way through the mad crowds of souvenir peddlers and tourists dropping too much money for junk and got up to the top of the hill to see Sacre Coeur. It is definitely one of the 5 most beautiful churches I've been in. It is extremely unique on the outside (look for pics online, mine are in the checked baggage). The inside looks like a regular church, but it is done up very nicely. We happened to arrive during Pentecost mass, so we hung out, understood a couple words and had Communion. The church is on top of the hill that is Montemarte, so you can see forever. Paris is very large and they pack in quite a lot over a lot of space. One of the best views of all this...

Then we headed to the Louvre to see a few things. Don't tell them, but we got in for free! (Some other Americans were on their way out and gave us their tickets - the tickets are good for a full day) We saw some highlights and wandered around for a few hours. There's no way you can see everything in there in a month, so we didn't try. Enjoyed it though, thoroughly.

Our night ended with a picnic with our friends in a park in view of the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. As the sun set (at 9:45pm) the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre pyramids lit up. Beautiful. Then on the hour (and every hour) the Eiffel Tower sparkles - pretty neat (if not a little cheesy). We had a good 3 hour / 3 bottle of wine picnic, headed towards our hotel (with a stop for another bottle of wine) and got to bed at a reasonable time (1:30). Please, please, let Israel be more tame...

We got up, headed to the train and got here in no time. The trains here run amazingly well (but there isn't any A/C and it's supposed to be 28C today). We managed to figure out Metro and RER in time to leave, but we'll know for next time.

We miss everyone at home and are thinking about you. Shout out to my mom, it's her Birthday! (You're what, 40?)

Au revoir!

Here comes the bride

We really need to get to bed before 3am a night in Paris. But hey, why start now? It's 9:30am and we've just dragged ourselves out of bed - big plans to see more of Paris today! Last night was Mandy and Mervyn's wedding...

The whole thing was just perfect. We rode the Metro out to Neuilly, a Paris suburb just west of the city. A small crowd of about 40 gathered in the front of the beautiful church and waited excitedly. Mandy looked stunning. She had altered her mother's wedding dress and it suited her perfectly. The ceremony graciously wove together parts in French and English. I was honored to have been asked to read something and went back and forth with the best man reading the prayers of the faithful. All the while, Mandy and Mervyn held hands and looked about to burst with happiness.

Next there was a surprise! We all boarded a tour bus and drove around Paris while one of the guests spoke about the monuments of the city. To cap it all off, we hopped out near the Eiffel Tower for some pictures. Wedding pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower?! How lucky is that?!

During photo time, one of the other guests asked if I was related to Mandy. Mandy and I both got a good kick out of that since people asked if we were sisters in college all the time. Once when we went on spring break together (apparently at the height of our "look-alikeness") we got asked no less than 3 times in 5 days if we were twins. They say everyone has a twin out there, but I don't think most people are lucky enough to have that twin as one of their best friends!

The evening ended in the upstairs room of a little French cafe, complete with the requisite ambience, fantastic food, two servings of desert and dancing. I'm proud to say that the Americans outlasted everyone on the dance floor - take that jet lag! It was so so amazing to be here for this. Congratulations Mandy and Mervyn!