"Take Me To the Holy Land"

Photo Series 8: Last Days of Israel

2010-07-09T11:40:00.001-07:00

coming...

Massada and Ein Gedi

2010-07-09T11:39:00.002-07:00

This was always going to be a challenge – leaving the hotel by 7.30am after a late night, but we all managed to make it, if not by our by now ‘usual’ 10 minutes late. Avi explained on our drive down to Masada that it’s importance to the Jewish people is one of resistance and strength. Masada is a hilltop palace built by King Herod, right along side the Dead Sea (south of Jerusalem). It was surrounded in ancient times by the Romans against a group of rebels in the lead of Elazar Ben Yair. You can still see the many Roman army barracks, and their thick walls, completely surrounding Masada from the top of the mountain.

We went up by cable car (none of us was game enough to walk up the steep 813 steps in 36 degree heat), packed tightly in like sardines. Luckily the trip was only 2 ½ minutes long. Up the top of the mountain, we walked through all aspects of ‘Herod the Great’s’ palaces, including courtyards and entrance rooms with incredibly colourful and well-maintained stucco paintings.

NOTE: Despite it's cultural irrelevance, one French tourist must be mentioned. Dad was the first who noticed the man standing on top of Masada due to what he was wearing (or wasn't wearing to be more to the point). Black and white print board shorts, short caramel walking boots and a tiny enthic style embroided waistcoat. Thus began the debate as to whether this was an absolute fashion 'no'...or an incredibly daring fashion-forward and 'avant garde' stylish Frenchman. You can probably guess who was on each side of the argument...(sneaky photo taken on Henry's iphone to come...)

On the way back to Tel Aviv, we stopped at Ein Gedi, an oasis located west of the Dead Sea and very close to Masada. After walking up rocky stairs, climbing around boulders and not believing there could be any water around…we began to hear the rushing of waterfalls. It was beautiful to walk around one corner, where as far as you can see is dirt, sand, rock and mountains, and suddenly see lush greenery and an abundance of water. We went swimming for a while, with Henry in particular loving the water (which is spring fed all year round) as opposed to the salty water he has been used to swimming in lately, both at our hotel and in the Dead Sea (which is 33% salt!).

We sadly farewelled Avi on our return to the hotel. He proved to be the ‘rock’ of our trip, his calm demeanour and thinking ahead at each point of our journey is what has made our visit to Israel so well organised and enjoyable. He felt part of the family, and really fit in with us. Avi's website is - http://www.avi-ron.com/

We had Shabbat dinner at the hotel, which was quite the ‘scene’. We had prime seating, right at the entrance, so it ended up we could watch all the different characters walking into the dining area. Dad named one larger man humpty-dumpty (no need to elaborate), and the woman’s dress styles ranged from tight and short, to colourful and elegant. There was one boy, who couldn’t have been more than 9 years old, who wore the tightest skinny jeans any of us had ever seen (yes, even tighter then Henry’s!). At one point, two large tables of families seemed to be in competition as to who could sing the loudest…I’d call it a draw (or a ‘lose lose’, it depends how you look at it). Zac sang the Kiddush beautifully…and here ended our final Friday night Shabbat in Israel.

B & C

Photo Series 7

2010-07-09T11:39:00.001-07:00

Palmach

2010-07-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

Day eight in Israel was relatively light. We had a late start at 9am, with Henry still whinging (he’s starting to fade) and we headed directly to the Community Heritage Centre IICI where we were given a security briefing on terror related issues.
It was explained to us just how important the various secret agencies (which include the Mossad, Aman and Shin Bet) are to the Jewish people all over the world. Their work is not just done here in Israel, but aims to help Jews worldwide. We saw a very moving DVD about one mission that was carried out in Morocco over 50 years ago. We were then taken upstairs to some small rooms where some terrorist propaganda and weapons were displayed behind cabinets, including exploded handmade rockets, mobile phones smuggled in shoes and images of children as young a 2 years old strapped up in bombs. It is a constant battle in Israel, and yet the atmosphere here is very optimistic.

Next we travelled to the Palmach Museum for an incredible interactive display about the role of the Palmach (the underground army for the Jewish community during the British Mandate in Palestine) in Israel’s creation as a state. It must be one of the most creative museums in the world! You walk through about 8 different rooms, all very atmospherically designed to reflect the part of the ‘story’ being told, which could mean you’re sitting around a campsite with tents, or standing on a ship. It made the history scarily relatable, as you were being spoken to through the audio as a ‘new recruit’ within the Palmach. This experience seemed to really bring together a lot of things we have learned over the past 2 weeks, particularly in terms of how many people (and such young people at that) fought and gave their lives in what seemed a losing battle, in order to create a Jewish state accessible to all Jews throughout the world.

For lunch we went to the New Port area of Tel Aviv for hamburgers, and much needed thirst quenching.

We decided to give Avi a break from us for a few hours (he must be the most patient person alive!) and to reconvene at 6.30pm. As usual Avi was spot on time, and we were 10 minutes late. We went straight to Neve Tzedek, a beautiful suburb of TA where there are many small shops, galleries and narrow tree lined streets, much like Paddington in Sydney.

We ate with Avi in a restaurant he recommended and kept the food light, with no pulses (that includes hummous) as our stomachs are showing the signs of too much pulse, if you know what I mean!!! After dinner we walked to the old port town of Jaffa, and visited the night flea markets…bargaining galore for beads and bangles. There was dancing in the laneways, and people sitting having late suppers or dinners, it was all happening in Jaffa. Then home at the not too early hour of 11pm, considering that tomorrow was a big day – Masada.

NOTE: We had a VERY close call tonight when mum almost lost our digital camera…again after leaving it on the dinner table and walking away (last overseas trip we did as a family in 2007 has no ‘visual memories’ due to mum somehow losing the camera on our very last day in L.A.) . Luckily, someone handed it to Avi once we got up to leave. In the end, we managed to have a big laugh when Henry asked mum to take a photo of something about 5 minutes after we left the restaurant and we watched her panicked rummaging through her handbag. Mean, but lesson learned (I hope).

Israeli Airforce Base and the Negev

2010-07-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

Despite now being based back in Tel Aviv, we continued our ‘tour of Israel’ heading toward the South, which is much less vegetated and lush than the North of Israel…but where the ‘real’ baron desert is – the Negev. Today was not just us and Avi, but a driver named Nissan, who was hilarious. Rather then using sunscreen, he had two blue cut off ‘sleeves’ in his glove box that he would just pull on to stop the sun burning his arms as he was driving. It was his birthday today, so when he kept making wrong turns on our way to places, he would just say “It’s my birthday, so I’ll do what I want”.

First we visited Susya, situated in the southeastern fringes of Mt Hebron. This is an archaeologically excavated site of an old Jewish town built during the ‘Talmudic’ times, illustrating the way in which Jewish settlements would have lived 1500 years ago. It is an important site, because it holds impressive evidence that there was a complex Jewish community, that existed and thrived on the fringes of the desert, after the destruction of the Second Temple. You could see the remains of roadways, and walls of the houses that formed the wall to the city. There was an underground olive press, made out of stone, which the boys attempted to turn using a long wooden handle. They managed about one or two turns of it…reasonable considering it used to be moved by donkeys (despite how similar there dispositions may be).

In order to access this site, we needed to go through the West Bank border. Leaving the state is obviously no problem, but getting back in to Israeli territory took a while. They wanted to check all of our passports, and were sort of flicking and fiddling with the covers like they were counterfeit. Avi said it’s not always so strict, but that they were excited by getting to see passports on a slow day…

We then had clearance to enter the Air Force base situated centrally in Israel, one of the largest in the country. We can’t tell you exactly where the base is, as it is not marked on any maps, but its size is larger than the size of Tel Aviv. No photographs were allowed once we were inside, and hearing the sound of jets constantly taking off from the runways was exciting. We were escorted by 3 young members of the air force (who were actually younger than me [Bec]) to be introduced to the ‘second in command’ of the Air Force. He went through the different types of aircraft they use, as well as the educative nature of this particular base, with students training here graduating with a BA after 3 years of study. However, it was interesting to hear how high the drop out rate is. In the group that graduated last week, 600 started out, with only 100 graduating…zero of which were girls. He was also saying how the air force get’s ‘first pick’ out of all the young people of age to enter the army (it’s compulsory) once they finish school. It sounds like a seriously tough few years. We had lunch in the deck hall (the officers dining room) with heaps of other members of the air force eating around us. The kitchens need to feed around 3600 people per day, apparently using humungous pots to cook all the food in, with a cleaning rotation for all the ‘new recruits’. There was one girl sitting at a table on the ‘buffet’ just constantly cutting vegetables and refilling bowls because they went through so much food. Oh, and we should mention the type of food they had, a large buffet of fried chicken schnitzels, salads, rice, beetroot salad, fresh bread… Finally, we got to walk up the top of one of the control towers, where boys and girls , Henry and my age sitting and controlling all the aircraft, both in the air and on ground.

Finally, we drove through the town Sderot and visited a viewing platform on the Gaza Strip, looking directly at (i.e. within 3 km) Hamas controlled buildings. I asked Avi the last time a rocket was shot here, expecting him to say years ago, but he replied saying “last week…actually it was just over there” and pointed about 1km to the left. I then asked what it sounds like when a rocket goes off, and Avi said that if you hear it (a whistling sound…), apparently it is too late. A siren is meant to go off 30 seconds before they are released, and if you can’t reach a bomb shelter (there are bomb proof bus stops next to the regular ones along the road), you should lie flat on the ground.

Our last stop for the day was at Beer Sheba – the Pratt Foundation Garden – which was a really touching place to end the day. The garden and playground area is specially built for handicapped children of all nationalities, and children come to visit the park from all over Israel.

B & C

Photo Series 6: Jordan Part II

2010-07-09T09:09:00.003-07:00

Jordan: 'The Crawfords' Meet the Bedouins'

2010-07-09T09:09:00.001-07:00

Below is a summary of our three days in Jordan

After arriving at ‘Queen Alia’ airport in Amman, we went to line up for the immigration check. Mum had already been nagging us not to mention the words Israel/Jewish/Bar mitzvah (or any other Jew related words) whilst here, so when a security guard gestured for me to ‘come here’ before I had even opened my mouth, I had a mini freak out. It turns out he let us get to go in the ‘VIP’ line, and after having our eyes photographed we were free to collect our baggage and depart.

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The drive to our hotel in the Hot Springs of Ma’in was absolutely breathtaking. The hotel we stayed at is situated 285mts below sea level and had many thermal waterfalls spilling over the cliff walls in the very rugged setting of dramatic cliff mountains. Andrew likened it to the Grand Canyon in the US. The springs/ waterfalls occur in Ma’in from thermal steam that is released from the core of the earth and form water – the pool we swam in was about 40 degrees warm – boiling, and definitely not the cool relief you expect it to be when sitting in actual 40-degree heat outside.

The hotel was beautiful…but had quite an eerie vibe not only due to its isolation, but because it was their off peak season…and the hotel was only at half capacity at that. I think we were the only family on our floor, and there were only 4 floors in the hotel. It was so empty that Henry and Zac had an entire floor to themselves and could (and did) play soccer down the halls. I know this is probably getting boring, but I need to mention the breakfast here. In particular, the pancake/crepe/french toast station where a man stands and cooks you them fresh, with an array of chocolate/caramel sauces available. Yes, Zac spent most of his time there.

On our first day in Jordan we had a very early start (yes, Henry actually made it again, after some serious whinging, at close to 7.30am) as we were driving to Petra 3 ¼ hours drive away (this was our reason for coming to Jordan) and we were all very excited. Our driver dropped us at the visitors centre in Petra and we were introduced to our guide, who we have nicknamed the ‘Godfather’ as he organised for us to get ripped off by the various Bedouin tribes that inhabit the track down to Petra, and inside the city of Petra. Luckily, after our first faux pas with the horses and the Bedouins (that took Andrew, Bec, Hen and Zac 300mts down the easiest part of the track!!) we wised up and didn’t accept any more offers of ‘Happy Hours’ or donkey rides…or even camel rides. …..oh! except that one of us couldn’t make it up the hill and had the last 300mt climb on horseback….guess whom that might be (the pancakes may have had something to do with this!).

The weather was hot, about 35 to 39 degrees at the bottom of Petra, however it was not unbearable. Petra is a Nabatean stone city, and as you enter the narrow, windy creviced pathway, around every turn you keep anticipating that Petra will open up before your eyes. And sure enough, after about 1600mts it does – you come face to face with the Treasury, a building that is carved into the rock face, very Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider-esque. It is very impressive and very large – we could only peer into the rooms as there was no access to the public. We continued down further into the city, and could visualise how up to 25,000 people could live in this unique place in caves built into the mountains. The walk back to the entrance was killer in the heat, particularly as it is completely up-hill. We all powered through, with only Zac accepting a horsey ride up the last few hundred metres. (Becca, you weren’t meant to mention who succumbed!).

Next on our agenda, on day two in Jordan, was a visit to the Dead Sea, only 30 minutes drive from our hotel. We were taken to the Holiday Inn and given access to their pool and beach area. We headed straight to the sea, which was beautifully refreshing – the five of us bopped around in the water – until Henry and Zac discovered the Dead Sea mud that the hotel had in a ceramic pot under an umbrella. We all started smothering ourselves until we were totally ‘black’ in the mud; I’m not sure who looked more ridiculous (…Dad). Henry actually slapped a handful of mud onto a man – ‘accidently’ thinking the man was Dad – it could have had dire consequences, but the man started laughing and took it very well.

For dinner on the last night, we got to eat in the 'wine cellar' of the hotel, which was amazing because it was the most air conditioned room there! We also had the head sommelier with us the entire meal, running us through each wine he matched with each course, many of which were made in Jordan and had very strange combinations of grapes (I am not really qualified to elaborate on this, will need to get dad to write an additional entry!). The sommelier was so lovely and passionate about wine. He kept giving Henry tips as to how to improve his ability to smell and differentiate the various 'notes' of wines. This was definitely our best night here.

The contrast between Jordan and Israel was very interesting to see. We could see Bedouin tribes populating many parts of the countryside in Jordan. Their trucks were on the road and they herded some large herds of goats and sheep. From what I could see they had a large presence in the country, and must be a major part of the population. The Bedouin’s are in Israel also, and you can see the occasional small settlement of black tents especially in the Negev desert and on the road to Masada in the Jordanian plateau, but there don’t seem to be as many settlements as in Jordan.

B & C

Photo Series 5: Jordan Part I

2010-07-04T12:00:00.000-07:00

Photo Series 4: Tel Aviv

2010-07-04T09:08:00.001-07:00

Night Vollyball

Day Five: Lounging Around Tel Aviv

2010-07-03T01:29:00.001-07:00

Another morning…another opulent Israeli breakfast with different salads, hard boiled eggs, smoked salmon, cream cheese, avocado dip, the freshest watermelon…sigh. It will be hard going home to muesli after this. Henry woke up ‘19’ this morning…and awaiting him at breakfast was his one (and only…for now) present, a beautiful pair of round, silver cufflinks with bright blue Roman glass inserts made from glass off-cuts found from an archaeological excavation, bought at Tsfat.

After a late breakfast, our first in Israel, we headed for the Carmel markets to look at all the fresh food, spices, jewellery and range of random things for sale. It was hugely atmospheric because today is Shabbat, so everyone was out and about as Friday is part of the ‘weekend’ in Israel. They work on Sundays instead. The display of fresh produce was stunning, with piles and piles of fresh herbs, lettuces, eggs, plastic buckets filled with various olives – sellers displaying their dried spices and offering them to us to smell. Our favourite stall was one full with trays of freshly baked sweet Arabic pastries shining with honey such as baklava and the regional specialty, Kadaif. We first tasted this desert in the Arabic town of Akko. It is made from Kadaif ‘pastry’, which looks like long thin noodle threads, layered with a soft cheese (in this case, goats), with the top layer of the kadaif pastry dyed orange with a sweet syrup poured all over it. It came out in a huge tray, all in one large piece, with the man cutting squares using a paint scraper (obviously, without paint on it) and selling it by the weight. It looks really strange, but is Zac’s new favourite desert.

Wandering up Nahalat Binyamin Street, we also explored the ‘art markets’, where hand-made jewellery, paintings and woodwork were being sold. After a short time we decided to split up, as the boys wanted to go lie by the pool and me and mum decided to continue walking the streets.

For Shabbat dinner, our family here in Tel Aviv came to collect us from the hotel to take us back to their house for dinner in Rechovot, about 30 minutes out of the city. It was the most beautiful night. They were so welcoming, warm and affectionate, it felt like we see them every week. We did lots of laughing together and sat down to the long table – all 16 of us. Despite a slight language barrier with the kids (mostly boys ranging from 15 down to 2 and a half), their personalities and funny comments were translated to us via the parents. Noa, who is eleven years old, baked a cake for Henry’s birthday ‘all by herself’. When I asked her what type of cake it was (her mum ‘interpreted’) she replied in Hebrew ‘the perfect cake’. She always has something funny to say, just like Sara, her grandmother (who is second cousin to my grandmother). A perfect to end to ‘leg one’ of our Tel Aviv stint. Tomorrow, we are off to Jordan.

Photo Series 3: Up North

2010-07-03T01:07:00.001-07:00

Trying to keep control

Our jeep ride

Roman toilets...

Day Four: Western Coast arriving at Tel Aviv

2010-07-02T08:17:00.000-07:00

After the full on day yesterday, we decided to take it a little easier today. Avi collected us from MH, and it was a bit sad to leave the tranquillity of the place (and also the greenery), but off we went just ½ hour behind schedule at 9.30am (yes, Andrew that was you!).

We first drove to Rosh Hanikra, and went down into the grottos by cable car. It is a fascinating place to visit, again, because of the history and its connection to WWII. It is not only a most beautiful natural place, with white chalk cliffs, and caves, but it was also the site of a tunnel that ran between Lebanon and Israel. The tunnel was built by the ANZACS, and Sth African soldiers, as a means to support the allied effort to bring in supplies for the British in Palestine. It only managed to transport 300 survivors of the death camps before the tunnel was partially destroyed in order to stop the access.

Next on the agenda was the ancient city of Akko or Acre (depending who named the city). This picturesque city in ancient times controlled the coastal region of this area. The city has incredible significance for the Muslims (it houses the 3rd most important mosque in the world), and we toured the ancient medieval centre of the town, with its’ multitude of secret tunnels, that were built as a form of protection against the violent Crusaders. The ancient network of tunnels were only discovered last century when one of the inhabitants of Akko had a blocked cistern, and as a result they found that the water was dropping into a cavity (the tunnels). As we were walking around, the midday call to prayers began being sung over loudspeakers throughout the entire city. A very surreal experience.

We splurged for lunch, and ate a fish restaurant with table service, and looked out the window to the Mediterranean. The boys ordered an incredible entree of mixed seafood with Israeli pasta (which is really small balls of pasta) in a soy-based sauced.

We then had only one more stop to go on our way back to Tel Aviv – and that was the city of Haifa and a breathtaking view of the bay from very high up Mount Carmel. The city of Haifa is built on a steep hillside, but is much larger in population than we have seen for the last couple of days. We stood above the Bahai Gardens for the most spectacular view of the entire coastline that we had driven down that day.

We arrived in Tel Aviv around 5.30pm and said goodbye to Avi for now.

Dinner was free-wheeling it, we had no idea where we were going. Hence, we walked back and forth in front of the hotel a few times (well, about 30 minutes of indecision). We then headed in the direction of Jaffa, and actually came to where were we wanted to go. Along the beachfront to one of the multitude of restaurants. Henry met up with Elliot J, and went off in the distance after dinner. Becca also met up with Carly F, and went off in the distance, so Andrew, Zac and I returned to the hotel.

It was a special night in Israel last night, called White Night, where shops and restaurants are open until dawn (about 5am). There were people dancing in the streets, beach volley ballers playing on the beach and concerts going on all over the city. Just an incredibly vibrant feel to the place – a celebration of life!!

Tomorrow is a free day, and I am sure it will be a very late breakfast for all of us, as we are feeling a little tired. It is also Henry’s Birthday tomorrow, and I am feeling very guilty as he is very low on the present front this year. It will be presents in lieu!!

C

Day Three: Northern Israel

2010-07-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

After being woken up by the sound of roosters crowing (a good omen for the rest of the season?), we experienced the most incredible breakfast buffet. There are literally 10 different cheeses to choose from like goat’s milk, goat’s fetta, cows fetta, sheep’s milk, farm cheese, labne…etc. There was also home made halva (Mum’s favourite), and big slabs of home made butter…… And with the freshly baked bread...amazing. Bread and butter pudding is also served hot at breakfast! Whilst me, mum, Henry and Zac all dug into the mix of cheese, dips, spiced breads and interesting ‘hot’ buffet options…Dad simply sat at our table with his cornflakes and croissant (oh and yes, his two capaccinos). He is not really one for ‘middle eastern’ food experimentation…

We departed Mitzpeh Hayamim at 9am and headed to the neighbouring town of Tzfat – this town was the centre of 16th century Kabala and we strolled the narrow alley ways of the old city and visited a few very old synagogues, one called “The Ari” . The whole town is situated high on a hill and has a very clostraphobic feel, but also has a very warm feel, with people (mostly very religious) going about their daily lives with cheer, happy to say ‘shalom’ or ‘bokatov’ to us. Tzfat was bombed only recently during the 2nd Lebanese War.

Lunch was quite an experience – we sat in a tiny run down hole in the wall shop, at a busy intersection at the nearby town of Rosh Pina – all they do is pita with felafel, either served on a plate, and you put it all together (that is the humous and felafel and onion and Israeli salad) or they stuff it in the felafel for you. Just a few dishes on their menu – (no menu in fact, just order at the counter), and they were just incredibly fresh and delicious. Our guide Avi was teaching us the ‘traditional’ way to eat humous…with your hands.

Next we went for a Jeep ride across the River Jordan valley towards Golan Heights, to show us some Syrian Bunkers that overlooked the whole valley, and where Syrian soldiers used to sniper the Israel farmers, as they farmed their land. The jeep driver was called Nir, and he looked liked like an Australian Crocodile Dundee. He really admired my (mums) Akubra!!!! And he had real skill as he slashed the watermelon with his big knife. Altogether this was a very rough ride…with Henry ‘bruising his coccyx’ by the end of it.

We ended the day white water rafting in the Jordanian River…be it very limited ‘white water’. Whilst mum opted to nap in the shade, the boys and me were driven in a shuttle bus to a designated ‘point of entry’ into the river, where you lined up (after getting a life jacket and paddle) and were put into a big plastic boat with up to 6 people. I’m sorry this seems to be turning into a bit of a ‘dad’ bashing…but seeing dad standing in line before water rafting, wearing his little black Speedos, whilst surrounded by big, dark, hairy Israeli men chain smoking in their life-jackets and long pants, was hilarious. And while some may view this activity as a fun and ‘leisurely’ one, before we had even stepped into the raft, dad was already strategising as to how to best enter the water after being pushed down the steel ramp…”You see what they did wrong? You need to steer hard left…Henry? Are you listening?” It was beautiful floating down the river, as most of it was in shade and I was lying comfortably at the front of the boat while Henry and Dad manoeuvred us downstream. We managed to overtake approximately 62 rafts by the end of the run. Yes, the boys decided it was a competition. No surprises here, but at one point Zac was being dragged sideways along with the boat after being pushed into the icy water by Henry. I was totally incapacitated with laughter to be of any aid to him because coming up ahead of us was the most ‘rapid’ part of the water, with about a metre drop over rock. Dad had thrown down his oar and was urgently attempting to pull him back in the boat before we hit…but to no avail. Zac’s hysterical laughter indicated he was fine…but our ability to ‘act under pressure’ was shown to be severely inept. Not a great sign in the country of Israel…

Finally we arrived back to Mitzpeh Hayasmim for dinner. Avi joined us, and we all decided to eat at the ‘meat’ restaurant. This turned out not to be a simple restaurant – it was a 5 course meal, after which we were totally replete (this seems to be our recurring theme in Israel!).

B

Day 2 of Israel

2010-06-29T22:44:00.001-07:00

We had an amazingly early start today, checking out by 8.30am (yes, Henry actually made it!) and leaving Jerusalem and crossing the Judean Desert to the lowest place on earth, via the new Jericho Rd and then heading north via the Jordan Valley. Driving along the valley, we were 400 metres below sea level (the same level as the Dead Sea).

After about 2 hours driving, Avi pulled in to the Beit Shean archeological site. This site had the remains of a Roman city, with the large Roman bath house partially excavated, amphitheatre, building with latrines and main street – it was fascinating to see, but also incredibly hot – the temperature gauge on the van was showing 40.5 degrees when we left – and it felt it. Now we were off to lunch in the Golan Heights – to a local shopping centre – (well, it did have air conditioning), so we headed there.

We were not expecting much, a small run-down looking shopping centre in what seemed the middle of no-where. We sat down in the small café in the centre, not expecting much, and were so pleasantly surprised. The food was really delicious (milkik, kosher diary, therefore no meat products) – Henry ordered the house specialty, Shakshuka, which we were told later was the only dish the owner actually cooks himself – baked eggs in a spicy tomato sauce. In case anyone reading this blog is interested, we have the recipe. After lunch it was back in the van to visit another archeological site – one of the earliest known synagogues (now in ruins), and then on to Mt Avital in the Golan Heights, a lookout and defunct army bunker that overlooked the Syrian border, and showed us graphically how logistically important the Golan Heights is to Israel’s security. The view was absolutely breathtaking, and quite surprising to see the lush green of the agricultural crops.

By 5.30pm we were all completely exhausted, and so we headed to Mitzpeh Hayamim, a vegetarian half board hotel, set in the magical setting of the hills near Rosh Pina. Andrew keeps referring to this place as ‘The Catskills’, because of it’s setting, the half board nature of the hotel and also because of the dated (although I quite like the kitsch nature of this place, love it in fact!) décor….as well as the rotund, Jewish clientele. When we arrived the ladies and gents were wandering around in their white gowns awaiting treatments or just strolling back from the pool and spa. You could just smell the relaxation in the air. Needless to say, the vegetarian buffet dinner (made with organic ingredients grown on the property) was just incredible, and now we all feel very repleat! We just had to go back for one more piece of cheesecake, or another scoop of the organic ice-cream!! Don’t know how we are going to fit breakfast in tomorrow? Can’t wait!

C

Jerusalem

2010-06-28T07:19:00.003-07:00

Today was a quick whirlwind tour of Jerusalem as we only have one full day here. Tomorrow we leave for a tour of North Israel.

After breakfast we went for a stroll around the streets next to our hotel, off King David Street and headed for the Jaffa Gate in the Old City. There were markets set up on the cobbled streets of the Old City, along steeply stepped lanes, with small alleyways going off in many directions. The narrow lanes were lined with colourful scarves, beads, jewels, carpets, spices etc. It was nice to be told “I want to make you happy! What would you like?” by the male street owners, a very convincing argument in order to clinch a purchase from a girl. At one point, a young boy was trying to sell me and Mum a necklace with big blue stones and a silver clasp, going from asking 400 Shekels and then ultimately going down to 10 shekels, as we were walking away. Dad stood out like a very sore thumb on these streets (more so than me), wearing his Great Gatsby inspired beige linen coat over a shirt with black dress pants and closed toed shoes, as well as standing a good 3 feet higher than most. From now on he is going to up his ‘discretion’ level, which at this point has been very poor…for all of us. This came to a head when Zac set off the alarm of a motorbike in the middle of the Old City after climbing on top of it. Typical Zac, but embarrassing nonetheless.

We had an incredible tour of Yad Vashem by a man called David Metzer, he was organised to guide us by a friend of Mum and Dad’s, (he had actually taken Julia Gillard around the museum last June). The design of the museum building is very beautiful, being a long triangular prism shape made out of concrete and dug into the earth, gradually angling in deeper the further you walk through the galleries. The interior walls also angle inwards toward the end of the structure, in order to create a feeling of being trapped before opening up again to a panoramic view of Jerusalem to represent the ‘eternal hope’ of the Jewish people. One thing that David really accentuated throughout the tour was the fact that the museum is ultimately about ‘life’, not death. He explained how many of the survivors of the Holocaust do not see revenge against Hitler and the Nazi’s in terms of the death penalty and further death, but through Jewish life, in their children and grandchildren. The heart of the museum is the ‘Hall of Names’, which is a circular room lined by shelves with folders that hold the names of people who were killed during the Holocaust. There is space for 6 million names, but obviously half the shelves are empty. The idea was for this space to be a like a ‘virtual tombstone’, as most of those who died would never have had a Jewish burial. The tour was very comprehensive, but what I loved most about it was that the focus was not purely on the factual history of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, but the many complex moral and social dilemmas intertwined with this like why the allies didn’t intervene, and why Jews didn’t try to escape Europe earlier?

We ended the day with a tour of the Kotel Tunnels attended by me, Henry and Zac and dinner at the Foccacia Bar in Rabi Akiva St, which again looked like turning into a farce, as Mum and Dad, and Zac, Henry and I all got lost trying to find the restaurant. We all eventually did find it, after asking about 10 different people for directions. Getting back to the hotel was easy, and sleep was sorely wanted.

B

NOTE: There has been a request made that I add in the following anecdote. After arriving at our hotel in Jerusalem at 1am in the morning after a 12 hour flight from Hong Kong, there was a mistake (well ,various mistakes) in our booking. The man checking us in kept getting confused with what was available so it ended up taking about an hour to get our rooms. By this point I was exhausted, hungry and already 'over' Henry and Zac's 'antics', so I ended up bursting into tears when I was told I would have an inter-connecting room with them. The man obviously empathised with me, because he ended up working something out to avoid this and wanted to 'see me smile'. There it is boys, my moment of weakness.

Photo Series 2

2010-06-28T07:19:00.001-07:00

Yad Vashem

Post alarm setting off embarassment

The bike Zac set the alarm off

Jerusalem Hotel

In transit...

2010-06-28T07:18:00.001-07:00

Me and mum found it very entertaining watching dad’s demeanor become more and more nervous and tense once we entered ‘Israel security’ world at the El Al check-in counter at Hong Kong airport. It is pretty shocking at first to see fully armed guards with big machine guns controlling the Israeli airline counters. And if I recall correctly…it only get’s more ‘confronting’ from here. The ‘interview’ prior to actual check-in is pretty full on. They want quite a detailed explanation of why you are visiting Israel (we said holiday/family), the names of your family there, where they live etc etc etc. They are also very careful about whether your suitcases have been around you the entire time post-packing. i.e. because the bellboy at the hotel took the bags down for us, they needed to put an extra tag on the bags because they had been ‘out of our sight’. It is comforting that the security is so careful, but it seems to have confirmed Dad’s fear that there might be reason to be nervous. Mum and me feel so safe in Israel having been there before and are looking forward to seeing whether the boys follow suit…

B

Hong Kong #2

2010-06-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

A fleeting look at today’s highlights…

- Henry’s attempt at giving us a geography lesson, asserting that Seoul is in South America.

- Zac’s amazing banana pancakes at breakfast.

- Mum trying to run up an escalator the wrong direction because I wanted to show her something in a mall, hiking up her long black witch-like skirts but pretty quickly conceding defeat.

- ‘Uni Qlo’ at … What a shopping whirlwind. This Japanese brand is super cool and reasonably priced. I was throwing things at Zac to try on and eventually convinced/made him buy an amazing hot-pink t-shirt that looks so great. Overall, it was a very successful shopping outing…one that almost resulted in missing the flight to Tel Aviv…for which my shopping addiction would probably be blamed.

B

Photo Series 1

2010-06-26T06:53:00.001-07:00

Making noodles

Dinner at 'Peking Garden' in Alexandra House, Central, Hong Kong.

Sheltering from the pelting rain

Train station...bizarre 'alternate universe'

Zac at breakfast at the Sheraton

Bec's Room

View from Mum and Dad's room

View from drive into Hong Kong

Leg One...Hong Kong

2010-06-26T03:16:00.001-07:00

Day One. And wow has it felt like a long one. We cleared Hong Kong customs by 5.30am and went straight on the road to our hotel. Mum had organised for us to be picked up at the airport, not by a simple sedan (there is no way us AND our luggage would have fit) but by a 20-seater bus (think ‘Asian’ trinket style with toys dangling from the roof). Just for us 5. Dad joked we could have had the entire Roosters team with us on tour…

The weather has been crazily monsoonal. It has pelted rain the entire time we have been here. I tried to take some photos once we left the airport but couldn’t see a thing because the camera lens had completely fogged up. Mum and Dad have been walking around half blind because of their glasses being full of steam.

Prepared for a full day of shopping at the IFC Mall in ‘Central’ and surrounding designer stores, we promptly left the hotel armed with huge umbrellas, ready for the 11am opening of shops. Within minutes we were wet and lost (dad would deny this second part). We pretty efficiently found the train station we were after however, and in the eerie environment of the brightly, almost glowingly, lit underground world, figured out how to buy tickets. The atmosphere was really exciting running around in the hot weather and rain with sopping wet feet, with the stark visual differences between western and Asian culture adding a sense of adventure to our navigation.

I have struggled with the constant change in temperature from inside places to outside. Usually I am a huge lover of air-conditioning and don’t really feel the cold, but I am actually turning into my grandmother and needing to move seats in restaurants because “the air conditioning is blowing on me”. Not good. Mum, Hen and I all have a bit of a cold…which isn’t helped by the fact that it feels like we are travelling in the European winter indoors!

We had a really fabulous dinner tonight at a restaurant called ‘Peking Garden’ in Alexandra House, Central as advised by mum’s friend… which was beautifully decorated, with classic Chinese red and gold textured wall-papering. The deep fried chilli prawns were the absolute highlight. As was the banana/apple fritter dessert. This is where they drop deep fried apple and banana covered in hot toffee into a cold bowl of lemonade and ice to harden them. Wow. The low light however, was when Henry pulled out a worryingly worm/beetle shaped ‘piece of spinach’ from our steamed vegetable dish. I promptly gagged once I was sure I spotted pincers coming out of its head. Mum didn’t want to know if it was/was not meant to be there so it didn’t ruin the meal…but Zac had other ideas. After about 10 minutes of Henry trying to convince himself more than anyone that it was a ‘re-hydrated shrimp’ (!!!), Zac asked the waiter “uh, what is this?”. What was so funny about what happened next was the fact that I think we were all expecting him to just be like “oh THAT, it’s just part of the dish”. But his face was one of utter confusion and disgust. He quickly convened with about 4 other waiters in a group huddle to show them the ‘thing’. A very funny sight. It turns out it was probably (note the word probably, they didn’t actually know) a caterpillar. Cooked. Dad asked the waiter “Are we going to die?” to which he replied (smiling) “Yeah, yeah. Sure”. Obviously, we got the dish ‘free of charge’.

B