We decided to stay in Jerusalem for the rest of our time here, and it has been very fun. Yesterday we went to the old city and walked all around the outside of it. It was a big walk, and very hot. We had taken water with us, and it was a life saver. We had planned to walk through Hezakia's Tunnel... but we didn't really know how to find it. Under the political circumstances, I wasn't sure how safe it would be to walk through there anyway. We have taken lots of pictures--there are lots of good photo opportunities here!
Yesterday, we saw the Church of All Nations, and it's right next to the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Mount of Olives. It was the Arab Sabbath, and there were lots of police at all the Gates to the old city. We walked back to our hotel through the Arab section and a lady warned me to watch my bag because it wasn't completely safe where we were. She said some people in that section were drug addicts, so please watch my bag. I had bought a little T-shirt for Ryker and it was just hanging on my arm.
When we came to the Damascus Gate there was some interesting "goings on". There were huge crowds of Arabs trying to enter the old city about 1 p.m. to go to church. I was told that anyone entering must show ID and no one under 45 years old is allowed to enter on Friday unless they live inside. There was a bit of confrontation across the street of Damascus gate... there were loads of police and two police riding large horses and the horses had helmets to protect their eyes and faces. Some people were shouting insults to the police and there were lots of news media people taking photos. I wanted to but just didn't feel comfortable doing so. Now I wish I would have. Dad was very curious and wanted to stay and watch up close, but I was anxious to put some distance between me and the friction.
We have been enjoying all the food here in Israel. There are lots of fancy restaurants, and we have been trying a few of them.
We have also had a really pleasant time walking everywhere here.Today we went to the Museum of Israel. It is Saturday, and it is the Jewish Sabbath. Practically everything shuts down on the Sabbath. We walked there. It was about a 40 minute walk, and although it was hot, there was a nice breeze. And you take in so much more when you walk rather than taking taxis. We have only the best to say about the museum. It is huge. There were so many things to look at, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, a huge part of the museum had Peruvian artifacts. There was too much to even remember. We forgot to visit the "Bread" Display, and we were planning to see it for sure. By the time we left the museum, we were beat and we were very happy to pay a high price for a taxi and get home!
We're really enjoying ourselves... the news today is that Tiberias was bombed. That's very unsettling. Makes me wonder if Jerusalem will be next! Hopefully everything will be okay till Sunday when we fly out at 10:40 a.m. on EL AL (Delta).
Showing posts with label israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label israel. Show all posts
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Bombs From Lebanon
Hello everyone,
We came to Jerusalem today. We took a bus to Tiberias and then another bus to Jerusalem. We had lunch at the Central Bus Station and took a taxi to our previous hotel. Luckily they had room for us.
We walked to the old city and had a leisurely good time. It's quite a little cooler here in Jerusalem than Ein Gev. I saw the weather and it said 27 today here in Jerusalem.
We walked to the old city and had a leisurely good time. It's quite a little cooler here in Jerusalem than Ein Gev. I saw the weather and it said 27 today here in Jerusalem.
We were shocked to hear that there were bombs from Lebanon in Safed or Safet :( however you spell it... I'm not sure if that was today or yesterday, but we were there yesterday afternoon about 1 or 2 p.m. and it is only 20 miles from the Lebanon border. Our Tour Guide was talking to all the soldiers and shopkeepers, but we had no idea what he was saying since we only speak English. He spoke to us about how bad the situation was since 7 soldiers had died, but I really didn't have any idea of the implications.
Love Mom
This time it's personal
We were in a real nice mountain top town called Sayfed yesterday and sometime after we left, the town got hit by Katusha rockets which killed and injured some people. This time it's personal. We were twenty miles from the Lebonon border at that time but now were back down south in Jerusalem. On the way to Jerusalem we saw tanks going north on flatbed semi's. There is lots of soldiers leaving Jerusalem and we assume that they are going up to the border as well.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Tiberius
Yesterday, July 12, we headed for Tiberius with full intention of renting a car which we had reserved by internet, to tour with overnight and while we were waiting for a bus to Tiberius a car signalled, slowed and pulled over and then drove away. We figured out after he left that he was actually offering us a ride. Then when the next car came along, Dad put up his thumb and a couple from Paris pulled over and gave us a ride to Tiberius. That was a godsend, because it was dreadfully hot waiting for the bus, and who knows when it would have actually come... we had already been waiting 10 to 15 minutes when we got the idea of hitching a ride! We had a really interesting visit. The wife only spoke French--Tracie you could have had a good visit with her!
Anyway we got dropped off at the Tourist Center which hadn't yet opened even though the hours indicated that it should have opened half an hour earlier. Just as we were discovering the Car Rental Place, a Taxi driver accosted us and insisted that we ditch the rental car and come with him, so that we could have a guide. We had a super fun day in his air conditioned taxi. We visited Mount Tabor, the Mount of Beatitudes, Tabgha (the loaves and fishes), and Safet or Zafet, depending where it is written, which is a city of artists. There was a lot of interesting stuff to see there and we really enjoyed ourselves.
There were huge tour buses travelling through the skinniest streets imaginable and it was unthinkable for them to even try, but they seemed to manage without scraping the sides of their bus... although there were many scrapes on the buildings and you could see evidence of many mishaps. Passersbys always directed when we were watching.
After lunch, the driver offered to take us to the Golan Heights Vineyard and Winery. I wasn't interested, but Dad consented. Luckily for us, the Winery wasn't taking tours so we went to the Olive Oil Factory next door. We watched an informative and entertaining video about how olive oil is produced and the by products of olives such as soap. After sampling the various scents of olive oils we bought a bottle of our favourite.
The churches and gardens at all the stops are beautifully kept and we are having a wonderful time. In some ways we wish we were here with an LDS tour group, but it is very nice to have the places all to ourselves, as was the case at all our stops today!
Shalom Elechem.
Love Mom
Anyway we got dropped off at the Tourist Center which hadn't yet opened even though the hours indicated that it should have opened half an hour earlier. Just as we were discovering the Car Rental Place, a Taxi driver accosted us and insisted that we ditch the rental car and come with him, so that we could have a guide. We had a super fun day in his air conditioned taxi. We visited Mount Tabor, the Mount of Beatitudes, Tabgha (the loaves and fishes), and Safet or Zafet, depending where it is written, which is a city of artists. There was a lot of interesting stuff to see there and we really enjoyed ourselves.
There were huge tour buses travelling through the skinniest streets imaginable and it was unthinkable for them to even try, but they seemed to manage without scraping the sides of their bus... although there were many scrapes on the buildings and you could see evidence of many mishaps. Passersbys always directed when we were watching.
After lunch, the driver offered to take us to the Golan Heights Vineyard and Winery. I wasn't interested, but Dad consented. Luckily for us, the Winery wasn't taking tours so we went to the Olive Oil Factory next door. We watched an informative and entertaining video about how olive oil is produced and the by products of olives such as soap. After sampling the various scents of olive oils we bought a bottle of our favourite.
The churches and gardens at all the stops are beautifully kept and we are having a wonderful time. In some ways we wish we were here with an LDS tour group, but it is very nice to have the places all to ourselves, as was the case at all our stops today!
Shalom Elechem.
Love Mom
Sea of Galilee
As luck would have it, we met a girl, Georgia, from New Zealand
yesterday who has been travelling in Israel for the past 5 1/2 weeks
with her mom and brother. We mentioned that we'd like to see more
around the Sea of Galilee but we didn't have a car. We had a really
interesting visit with her for nearly an hour, and this morning we met
her and her mom, Christine Bell, at breakfast and they invited us to
join them while they toured entirely around the lake stopping at a few
of the holy sites and praying.
We gladly accepted their invitation, and for three hours had a wonderful visit and tour. Christine had been living in Canada with her children in Redwater, an hour north of Edmonton, studying the bible, so she knew a lot of interesting stuff to share with us. We had a very good time, and around noon when it was getting quite hot we came back to the Holiday Resort Kibbutz and Dad and I went to the Fish Restaurant for lunch. We haven't gotten up the nerve to order the St. Peter's fish--it's a full fish, head on... but maybe tonight we'll buy one to share. We're very sceptical about whether we will like it, but we think we should definitely give it a try!
-Jane
yesterday who has been travelling in Israel for the past 5 1/2 weeks
with her mom and brother. We mentioned that we'd like to see more
around the Sea of Galilee but we didn't have a car. We had a really
interesting visit with her for nearly an hour, and this morning we met
her and her mom, Christine Bell, at breakfast and they invited us to
join them while they toured entirely around the lake stopping at a few
of the holy sites and praying.
We gladly accepted their invitation, and for three hours had a wonderful visit and tour. Christine had been living in Canada with her children in Redwater, an hour north of Edmonton, studying the bible, so she knew a lot of interesting stuff to share with us. We had a very good time, and around noon when it was getting quite hot we came back to the Holiday Resort Kibbutz and Dad and I went to the Fish Restaurant for lunch. We haven't gotten up the nerve to order the St. Peter's fish--it's a full fish, head on... but maybe tonight we'll buy one to share. We're very sceptical about whether we will like it, but we think we should definitely give it a try!
-Jane
The truth this time
We went on a private tour today around Galilee today. We saw magnificent scenery today and many revered holy sites such as the mount of beatitudes. Perhaps the most interesting place we went was to was the city of Zefat which is very ancient and now home to a colony of artists. Zefat is near the lebonese border. We saw helecopters heading towards lebenon while we were there and some fighter jets yesterday heading north directly over the sea of Galilee. While we were eating some delicious swarma's in a little cafe in Zefat two tired soldiers came in and told what was happening at the border. Jane and I couldn't understand because all the talk was in Hebrew but our driver told us that seven young israeli soldiers had been killed between yesterday and today and everyone in the cafe was very visably upset. We also saw lots of military traffic on the road heading north. We weren,t able to go to one our promised destinations today because the driver said it was too hot there,meaning that it wasn't safe to go there. I'm going to stop now and Jane and I are going to go jump in the sea of Galilee.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Kibutznicks
Hello everyone,
Today we woke early and went for breakfast at the En Gev Holiday Resort Restaurant (Bed and Breakfast) and what a yummy breakfast it was! The food here has been super! We love just about everything!!
After breakfast we went to the real Kibutz for a half hour train tour all around with explanations in various languages. That was interesting. At the end of the tour we saw the Kibutzniks docked and unloading their fish from an ancient boat with an ancient mechanical conveyor. It had a bunch of scoops on the conveyor and the fish (mostly sardines) were scooped up and carried to the top of the dock where they were dumped into crates and a layer of ice was added by someone with a scoop shovel.
There were about three young boys fishing in the dock area and there were lots of big catfish that they were chumming. It turned out that the boat had caught three big catfish in their nets, and they gave them to the boys. The boys took them home in a big garbage bag. They showed their prizes to us and I took pics. I'll have to download them later.
After that we got to squeeze in on a boatride on the Sea of Galilee. It was a youth group who had been attending boarding school (at least that's what I understood--only two of them spoke English) and they were really partying! They played loud music and danced! It was a great part of the "Israeli Experience"!
-Jane
Today we woke early and went for breakfast at the En Gev Holiday Resort Restaurant (Bed and Breakfast) and what a yummy breakfast it was! The food here has been super! We love just about everything!!
After breakfast we went to the real Kibutz for a half hour train tour all around with explanations in various languages. That was interesting. At the end of the tour we saw the Kibutzniks docked and unloading their fish from an ancient boat with an ancient mechanical conveyor. It had a bunch of scoops on the conveyor and the fish (mostly sardines) were scooped up and carried to the top of the dock where they were dumped into crates and a layer of ice was added by someone with a scoop shovel.
There were about three young boys fishing in the dock area and there were lots of big catfish that they were chumming. It turned out that the boat had caught three big catfish in their nets, and they gave them to the boys. The boys took them home in a big garbage bag. They showed their prizes to us and I took pics. I'll have to download them later.
After that we got to squeeze in on a boatride on the Sea of Galilee. It was a youth group who had been attending boarding school (at least that's what I understood--only two of them spoke English) and they were really partying! They played loud music and danced! It was a great part of the "Israeli Experience"!
-Jane
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Our trip to the dead sea and jerico
We were befriended by a guy that works at the Jerusalem Tower where we have been staying. His name is Samir and he is a Palistinian so he wanted to show us East Jerusalem and take us to Jerico. We hadn''t been planning to go there but we thought this would be a good oppurtunity. He lives on the east slope of the mount of olives with his parents.His parents are wealthy so they had a mansion of a house that looked like a million dollars . There was a knockout view from his house of the valley leading to the dead sea. Ironicaly the neighborhood around his house was quite unkempt. He was embarrassed by that. He was a very polite and cordial host and gave us mint tea to drink which seems to be a palistinian national drink. I'll tell about the dead sea and Jerico later because people are waiting to use this computer.
Camel Train to Ein Gev
Today, Sunday, we left Jerusalem and took a bus to Tiberius, and then another bus to Ein Gev. It was very nice to see the countryside. There was beautiful scenery most of the way!
The bus system is great, and it was exciting to manage on our own without a tour or tour guide. The second bus ride driver dropped us at the wrong stop in Ein Gev, but we got some help from the real kibbutz--they gave us a ride the one mile back to the Holiday Kibbutz.
The weather is unbelievably hot, but the fellow who gave us the ride back the mile to the Holiday Kibbutz said it is the normal temperature. Luckily for us, this hotel is wonderfully airconditioned, and it has cold water for the taking, and a little fridge in the room. Not like our previous three star hotel located right in the center of Jerusalem. The location was the best thing about that room, and the desk clerk who wanted to be our tour guide. He was very nice!!
We're still enjoying ourselves, but we're getting very tired. We have to have an afternoon nap every day, and we are up very early in the morning. That's okay!
-Jane
The bus system is great, and it was exciting to manage on our own without a tour or tour guide. The second bus ride driver dropped us at the wrong stop in Ein Gev, but we got some help from the real kibbutz--they gave us a ride the one mile back to the Holiday Kibbutz.
The weather is unbelievably hot, but the fellow who gave us the ride back the mile to the Holiday Kibbutz said it is the normal temperature. Luckily for us, this hotel is wonderfully airconditioned, and it has cold water for the taking, and a little fridge in the room. Not like our previous three star hotel located right in the center of Jerusalem. The location was the best thing about that room, and the desk clerk who wanted to be our tour guide. He was very nice!!
We're still enjoying ourselves, but we're getting very tired. We have to have an afternoon nap every day, and we are up very early in the morning. That's okay!
-Jane
Friday, July 07, 2006
The West Bank
Today we went to the West Bank. What an adventure!!! You can't imagine. We went to East Jerusalem with the hotel desk clerk. He was very nice and we felt quite safe until he let us out and said he would park and meet us at the entrance to the Church of the Nativity. We had culture shock to the max while we waited, being accosted by many Palestinian sales people and beggars.
I am downloading some pictures now, but it is very slow. We are going out to the Dead Sea with the desk clerk tomorrow and we are really looking forward to it. WE'll also go to Masada and Jericho etc. WE'll keep you informed.
TTYL.
Love Mom
P.S. I found some very small nativities for $3.50 US.
-Jane
I am downloading some pictures now, but it is very slow. We are going out to the Dead Sea with the desk clerk tomorrow and we are really looking forward to it. WE'll also go to Masada and Jericho etc. WE'll keep you informed.
TTYL.
Love Mom
P.S. I found some very small nativities for $3.50 US.
-Jane
Dome of the Rock
We are enjoying our trip. We are tired. We arrived in Jerusalem July 4th about 2:30 and we went exploring the old city. Came home about 5:30 and slept until 10 and went out. Things are exciting here on Ben Yehuda street.
Today we did lots of touring beginning just after breakfast at our hotel at 7. We saw everything we had on our agenda, and it was lots. Someone volunteered to be our guide and for $20 he spent a couple of hours with us. That was pretty good. We saw Schindler's grave, the St Peter's of Galapagos church/shrine etc. WE went through the Damascus gate and walked through the old city through all four quadrants. A couple of shop owners took us up onto the rooftop to view the Dome of the Rock and other sites. I took lots of pictures too... too many, and I won't know what they are of when I get home.
We are enjoying ourselves and wish we had more energy. It's cool here at night, and hot in the days. I got a sunburn on the face and shoulders, but it looks good on me.
-Jane
Today we did lots of touring beginning just after breakfast at our hotel at 7. We saw everything we had on our agenda, and it was lots. Someone volunteered to be our guide and for $20 he spent a couple of hours with us. That was pretty good. We saw Schindler's grave, the St Peter's of Galapagos church/shrine etc. WE went through the Damascus gate and walked through the old city through all four quadrants. A couple of shop owners took us up onto the rooftop to view the Dome of the Rock and other sites. I took lots of pictures too... too many, and I won't know what they are of when I get home.
We are enjoying ourselves and wish we had more energy. It's cool here at night, and hot in the days. I got a sunburn on the face and shoulders, but it looks good on me.
-Jane
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