We returned from our wonderful trip to Israel yesterday, so it's time to post some pictures.
SUNDAY 11/9
The first full day was spent climbing Masada (the woman in pink is Rachel's sister Robyn)...
My Best Attempt at Yoga!
Come On, You Can Make It!
At the Summit
It's unbelievable what the people built up there.
Some Wildlife at the Bottom
I Think It's Time for Some Hydration!
After we took a break from climbing we drove to the Dead Sea. You can float with no effort as you can see...
Rachel with her arms in the air and me about 10 feet to her right
And It's a Must to Rub In the Mud
And Now a Quick Pose After Exfoliating
MONDAY 11/10
This day consisted of Rachel and me sightseeing in the Old City section of Jerusalem.
These are at the Citadel (Tower of David directly behind Rach in the first shot)
Still in the Citadel with Dome of the Rock in the Background Right
The two domes you see here are part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Here's the dome from the Al-Aqsa Mosque
After we finished touring the Citadel we went inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The slab of stone in which the kneeling man in white is touching is, according to Christian tradition, the area where Jesus' body was washed and cleaned before burial
Once we completed journey into the Church we hired a tour guide to take us through some more parts of the Old City. Here's a few shots from the Jewish Quarter
Another picture of the Dome of the Rock with the Wailing Wall just below
Some More Shots of the Wall
Later that evening Rachel, Robyn and I took the Tunnel Tour of the Wall site and learned quite a bit about the incredible work that was/is being done to discover all of this. Here's how the Wall looks at night - pretty powerful
TUESDAY 11/11
This first photo was taken near Robyn's apartment in the German Colony area of Jerusalem. I couldn't resist posting this one as they obviously named this street after me :)
After breakfast Rachel and I headed back toward the Old City. On our way we made a slight detour and had a snack at the King David hotel. The first shot is a little artistic: notice Rachel taking the photo in the reflection of my sunglasses
Here's what we ate at the King David. A very typical appetizer here: falafel, eggplant salad, Israeli salad, bread
The wall separating Jerusalem from the West Bank. I believe this was erected just a few years ago
After we visited Robyn at her school for lunch, Rachel and I headed to the Israel Museum. Much of the museum was closed to do renovation, but it was still worth it mainly because of this complete model of the old city during the Second Temple period (approx. 66 A.D.). The photos cannot do it justice, however. The Temple is the gigantic structure you see behind the red buildings
WEDNESDAY 11/12
Most of this day was used to visit Yad Vashem, Israel's museum dedicated to the Holocaust. We saw some incredible things. This first shot is a cattle car that transported people to the concentration camps
Here's some photos and a video from the Valley of the Communities. This area was designed to remember the Jewish communities in Europe that were affected by the Holocaust. We found my both of my grandparents' hometowns -- Lubeck, Germany, for grandma Ilse, and Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), for grandpa Harry
That was it for Jerusalem. In the evening all three of us headed north and first stopped in Rehovot to have dinner with Rachel's friend, Sarit, whom she's known for more than 10 years. Sarit's pregnant so Rachel got to wax a little obstetrics during the evening.
THURSDAY 11/13
We arrived in Rosh Pina late Wednesday night. For two nights we stayed at a fabulous bed & breakfast called Villa Tehilla. Thanks to Daniel Laven, PhD, for the recommendation.
Here's the two sisters playing nice in town
After breakfast we headed to Tsvat for the day. There's a long history of an artists' colony here, and we spent the day visiting many of the small galleries.
All of these were taken in Tsvat
Robyn's trying to teach me more Hebrew but I ain't havin' it
FRIDAY 11/14
Our last full day in Israel. This was a whirlwind of seeing people. We left Rosh Pina at 8am and headed to Kibbutz Ginegar. My brother's longtime friend, Gideon Alon, grew up there. His dear mother, Martha, still lives there. She's been there since 1954! She fed us a wonderful breakfast then gave us a tour of the kibbutz.
It was then off to Haifa to see Amit & Vered. My brother and his wife became good friends with Amit and Vered in Vermont while they were all studying there. Amit also went to the same HS as Rachel and Robyn. Amit and Vered recently moved to Israel, and Vered's due with their first child in a couple of weeks. More OB talk for Rachel!
Haifa has an unbelievable Bahai gardens, and Amit and Vered were kind enough to take us there
Our final stop before heading to the airport was to Lod, a town right outside of Tel Aviv. My old friend from St. Louis Park, Amir Frank, lives in Lod with his lovely wife, Ronit. Amir's been living in Israel for three years now; he and I were also roommates in California during 2001-2002. We had dinner in Tel Aviv and then went back to their place until we left for Ben Gurion airport.
SATURDAY 11/15
Time to head home. The only bad part of our trip was getting home. It wasn't too terrible, but there was a significant hiccup. We were supposed to fly out of Tel Aviv on a 5:30am flight on Alitalia. We arrived at Ben Gurion airport at 3am, returned the rental car and GPS, saw Robyn off on the bus, and headed to the terminal. As soon as we saw the monitors our faces went white: our first leg to Rome CANCELLED. Apparently earlier in the morning Alitalia's pilots and flight attendants went on strike.
We then waited in line for about an hour and a half as they tried to get us home on another airline. Luckily we were booked on British Airways through London at 7:30am. We then had a five-hour layover at Heathrow.
I had never been so tired in my life, and Rachel caught me sleeping as we were at Heathrow waiting to head to O'Hare
