Apr 22, 2018 - Shabbat in Jerusalem and Our Last Day in Israel

Yesterday was Saturday, our Sabbath. I was super excited because I was going to see my cousin, Itzak. His brother, Tibi, is undergoing treatment for cancer so I was under the impression that he wouldn't be up to joining us. I should have known better! Those two will move heaven and earth to see me when I'm in Israel. That feels so wonderful! We started the day with a beautiful Sabbath service outside at the hotel. It was incredibly moving to be celebrating the Sabbath in Jerusalem, smelling the sweet smell of the city and taking in the...

Apr 20, 2018 - Israel Independence Day and My First Crabby Moment

So ... I'll start with my crabby moment and get that over with! Yesterday was Israel's Independence Day and they sure do know how to party! The day ended (yes, I know I'm out of chronological order) with a "mega event" at a huge concert venue. There was a ginormous parking lot with a gazillion buses parked side by side and nose to nose. When we pulled into our parking space the guide on our bus said "Look around and note where our bus is so you can find it after the concert." Was that a serious statement??? No way! There was supposed to be...

Apr 17, 2018 - Honoring Israel's Fallen

This evening begins the observance of Yom HaZikaron, Israel's memorial day. Unlike Americans, who observe the day meant to remember those who died in defense of their country by hosting barbeques and playing at the beach, Israelis take their observance very seriously. Perhaps it's because the country is so tiny that no family has been left untouched by the death of a soldier. Perhaps it's because so many of Israel's wars have been fought in her own streets, battling for her very existence. I can't help but compare the silliness with which...

Apr 16, 2018 - Israel!!

Yesterday (Sunday) was transition day. We began the transition from the harrowing week in Poland to the joyful week in Israel. We began the day with a visit to the Warsaw Zoo. It you haven't yet seen the movie (or, better yet, read the book) "The Zookeepers Wife", I highly recommend that you do. I read the book a few years ago and couldn't put it down. The story is about the non-Jewish couple who used their job as caretakers of the zoo to save many Jews who were imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto. They risked their lives to do it and their...

Feb 26, 2018 - Homeward Bound

Luggage is out the door at 3:00AM for our 3:30AM departure for Tel Aviv airport. Eight of us are on the bus awaiting the two remaining passengers, first “they are missing”, then “they will be down shortly”, then “there is no one in the room” and finally after 30 minutes “they were never on the trip’! Apparently they had cancelled at the last minute and never left the United States! Grand Circle Cruise Line Boston office and the Israel office had failed to adequately communicate the cancellation! Anyway we made it to Ben Gurion airport in...

Feb 25, 2018 - The Old City

Today is the last day of our tour and we are going to be spending our time in the Old City. At the heart of the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian religions, this is a walled one-kilometer area in the center of Jerusalem and is made up of 4 quarters--Moslem, Jewish, Christian, and Armenian. The Old City is home to the Western Wall (aka Wailing Wall and in Hebrew Kotel). This is the last remaining wall of what was the Jewish Temple and is today the holiest site in the world for Jews. Above the Western Wall lies the Dome of the Rock important for...

Feb 24, 2018 - Haifa to Jerusalem

This is the day we leave Clio (our ship) and travel to Jerusalem for two nights before heading home. The staff and crew are very well organized - our luggage is shipside ready to go through the scanning machine as soon as we identify it, then we go through the x-ray machine (no pat down this time), luggage is loaded on the bus and off we go. We stop at the top of the hill in Haifa to see the Baha’i Gardens - a beautiful garden in 19 terraces going down the hillside with a golden domed temple in the middle terrace. Today we can only go as...

Feb 23, 2018 - Caesarea and Wadi Nisnas

Our itinerary was changed up today to add a visit to Caesarea, an ancient Herodian port city located on Israel’s Mediterranean Coast about halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa. The site has recently been restored to create one of Israel’s most attractive and fascinating archaeological sites. There are remains of a theater, an amphitheater, a hippodrome for chariot races, Herod's palace with a fresh water swimming pool even though it is on the sea, and a temple where the incoming ships docked. We even saw the remains of a public toilet. The...

Feb 22, 2018 - Golan Heights

We arrived in Haifa, Israel port at 6:00am this morning to reconnect with our Israeli guide, Khalil. After breakfast we gathered our passports from reception and departed for the Sea of Galilee and the many holy sites in the area. The Sea of Galilee is Israel’s largest freshwater lake and Israel’s primary source of drinking water. The Sea is about 13 miles long and 7 miles wide, but only 150 ft deep and 650 ft below sea level. Our first stop is Mount of Beatitudes and the catholic chapel overlooking the Sea of Galilee. This is where it is...

Feb 14, 2018 - Bethany Beyond the Jordan & Amman

Bethany Beyond the Jordan and Amman Following breakfast at our lovely hotel overlooking the Dead Sea we traveled a short distance to Bethany Beyond the Jordan, a recently discovered archeological site where it is believed that John the Baptist baptized Jesus of Nazareth. The site is on the Jordan River just across from Israel and as it is on a Jordanian military site we had to check in with the military and all had to be accounted for going in and coming out. Also could not wander off the paths as the area was a minefield prior to the 1994...

Feb 13, 2018 - On to Jordan and the Dead Sea

Today we are leaving Isreal and heading to the Dead Sea in Jordan. Our transfer from one country to the next takes place just outside of Jerusalem on the Allenby Bridge over the Jordan River. At the halfway point it turns into the King Hussein Bridge and Khalil, our Israeli guide has to leave us. He pays our exit tax and sends us off to passport control where a new bus driver and bus (we have to change them too) will be waiting for us. After traveling a few miles into Jordan, we stop to pick up our new Jordanian guide, Khaled Alamar, go...

Feb 12, 2018 - Jaffa and Tel Aviv

Enjoyed a delicious breakfast in the hotel - a buffet with anything and everything from yogurt, cheese, eggs (anyway you like) to cereals or you could order an omelette! We hopped on the bus to go all of approximately 2 miles for a walking tour of Jaffa, a 4000 year old city believed to be one of the world’s oldest ports. With whispers plugged in ( so we could hear our guide and wander a little ways) we explored the many shops (including watching a man weaving a carpet), alley ways with stall after stall of merchandise and even the flea...