Megan left at 4:30 this morning to catch a 7AM flight back to the real world. My flight doesn't leave until 11 this evening, so while I've got some time to kill and a decent internet connection, I figured I may as well do a blog posting. As usual, it's annoying to try and get pictures and text lined up, but here goes.We rented a car when I arrived in Tel Aviv and spent the first night in Jaffa. The next morning we hit the road, heading south. We got about as close as you can get to Gaza at this border crossing. This used to be a busy crossing with people going to Israel to work and truckloads of fruit and vegetables crossing every day. But since the Israelis closed the border, it's pretty dead. While there, we talked to a group of Israeli veterans who were demonstrating for the release of an Israeli soldier who's been held by militants inside the strip for over three years now. We heard gunshots while we were talking to the demonstrators. They were unconcerned, saying that the border guards were firing warning shots to keep Arab sheep and shepherds away from the wall.
This is the view from our window at our overnight stop at the "hostel" at Masada. I put hostel in quotation marks because this has got to be the creme de la creme of the hostel world. It's an absolutely gorgeous hostel in a gorgeous setting overlooking the Dead Sea and underlooking (?) the ancient fortress of Masada, and comes complete with a half-size Olympic pool! You may recall that Masada is where something like 900 Jewish Zealots committed suicide in 73AD rather than surrendering to Roman forces in the aftermath of the Second Jewish Revolt.
This is the Israeli flag at dawn over Masada.
During the climb down the Snake Path, we were treated to the sight of this Nubian Ibex and his harem.
After we left Masada, we drove through a sandstorm that reminded me of a snowstorm on the prairies, complete with crappy visibility and drifting sand across the road. It was neat to see a storm like this, but the lousy weather prevented us from stopping for a swim (float?) in the Dead Sea.
And we got so see some camels!
The separation of Israel into Israeli areas wasn't really all that apparent after we left the Gaza border. It was evident on our road map, and was physically evident on this main road to Jericho, a Palestinian controlled area. The road was bulldozed shut. No need for a checkpoint, I guess.
There were lots of Israeli war memorials, both large and small on the roads we travelled. This is one of the bigger ones on the road north into Galilee.
In Galilee we passed signs pointing out the site of the Sermon on the Mount. (Remember the Beatitudes and all that from Sunday School?) Well, apparently it happened here.
We didn't venture too far from the car, just in case the signs weren't kidding.
Believe it or not, there is a ski resort in Israel at Mt. Hermon on the Syrian border!
After we left Masada, we drove through a sandstorm that reminded me of a snowstorm on the prairies, complete with crappy visibility and drifting sand across the road. It was neat to see a storm like this, but the lousy weather prevented us from stopping for a swim (float?) in the Dead Sea.
And we got so see some camels!
The separation of Israel into Israeli areas wasn't really all that apparent after we left the Gaza border. It was evident on our road map, and was physically evident on this main road to Jericho, a Palestinian controlled area. The road was bulldozed shut. No need for a checkpoint, I guess.
There were lots of Israeli war memorials, both large and small on the roads we travelled. This is one of the bigger ones on the road north into Galilee.
In Galilee we passed signs pointing out the site of the Sermon on the Mount. (Remember the Beatitudes and all that from Sunday School?) Well, apparently it happened here.
After spending the night in a pretty grubby hostel in Tiberius, we continued north to the Golan Heights. The scenery and the roads were good, except for the occasional abrupt zig-zags surrounded by minefields.
We didn't venture too far from the car, just in case the signs weren't kidding.
Believe it or not, there is a ski resort in Israel at Mt. Hermon on the Syrian border!It has five lifts, and actually looks pretty interesting. By the look of it, I've skiied in worse areas.
I wish I would have
had my camera at the breakfast we had at at the Beit Shalom hotel restaraunt in Metula, on the northern border with Lebanon. We had loads of freshly made bread, homemade cheeses, olives, dips and jams. This was the best meal we had in Israel!
As for views from our hotel room windows, what could possibly top this view from the St. Gabriel Hotel in Nazareth? This is a converted convent, and either the nuns lived in the lap of luxury, or someone did one hell of a job on the renovations.
This is the interior of the Bascilica of the Annunciation. It was commissioned in 1969, and has got to be one of the best examples of modern religious architecture in the world. It has an austere interior of bare concrete walls and pillars, but for whatever reason, it works.
This isn't really the view from our window, but it is the view from the kitchen of the hostel we stayed at in Jaffa. It is right in the middle of the Jaffa flea market, which goes on for blocks and blocks. If my flea-market friend Hal ever goes there, it will takes weeks to drag him out. We turned in the rental car, spent the night in Jaffa, and then took a sherut taxi to Jerusalem.
We arrived in Jerusalem on the Sabbath, in time to wander over to the Wailing Wall at the foot of the remains of the Jewish temple that was destroyed in 69AD. It was quite a sight to see mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews praying at the wall.
All sorts of strange headgear were evident everywhere in Jerusalem.
One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. It was beautifully and movingly done, covering the rise of Hitler, the Final Solution in Europe, and the emigration to Israel.
The next day, we got another view of the State of Israel with and "alternative" tour to Hebron. We got our first look at the walls that Israel is building to separate the Israeli areas from the Palestian controlled areas. It was an eye-opening day.
Here's Megan and some of the other women in the garb they had to wear to get into the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the Palestinian controlled area of Hebron.
The mosque itself is quite modest in comparison to the Christian controlled cathedrals and churches.
The mosque is divided in two - with Jewish access on one side and Moslem access on the other. We came in on the Moslem side. This is the view of the Tomb of Abraham looking at the Jewish side.
There is a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn living in Old Hebron. They moved in illegally in 1967,a nd have been there ever since. There are about four Israeli soldiers for every settler, and are stationed on rooftops and intersections everywhere.
There are checkpoints everywhere restricting the movement of Palestinians to the Old Town which supposedly is under joint Palestinian-Israeli control.
Humiliation of the Palestinians is a daily occurance. Here the Palestinian shopkeepers have installed a wire mesh to protect shoppers from the pelting of garbage they get from the Jewish settlers living above them.
Then, it's back to Tel Aviv, which seems devoid of the divisions elsewhere in the country. Tel Aviv is a modern European-style city, with highrises along its gorgeous beaches. You'll rarely see an ultra-Orthodox Jew or hear the Islamic call to prayer here.
There is lots of interesting Bauhaus-style architecture here, but unfortunately most of it isn't in very good shape.
The water and beaches, even at this time of the year are fabulous.
I wish I would have
had my camera at the breakfast we had at at the Beit Shalom hotel restaraunt in Metula, on the northern border with Lebanon. We had loads of freshly made bread, homemade cheeses, olives, dips and jams. This was the best meal we had in Israel!
As for views from our hotel room windows, what could possibly top this view from the St. Gabriel Hotel in Nazareth? This is a converted convent, and either the nuns lived in the lap of luxury, or someone did one hell of a job on the renovations.
This is the interior of the Bascilica of the Annunciation. It was commissioned in 1969, and has got to be one of the best examples of modern religious architecture in the world. It has an austere interior of bare concrete walls and pillars, but for whatever reason, it works.
This isn't really the view from our window, but it is the view from the kitchen of the hostel we stayed at in Jaffa. It is right in the middle of the Jaffa flea market, which goes on for blocks and blocks. If my flea-market friend Hal ever goes there, it will takes weeks to drag him out. We turned in the rental car, spent the night in Jaffa, and then took a sherut taxi to Jerusalem.
We arrived in Jerusalem on the Sabbath, in time to wander over to the Wailing Wall at the foot of the remains of the Jewish temple that was destroyed in 69AD. It was quite a sight to see mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews praying at the wall.
All sorts of strange headgear were evident everywhere in Jerusalem.
One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. It was beautifully and movingly done, covering the rise of Hitler, the Final Solution in Europe, and the emigration to Israel.
The next day, we got another view of the State of Israel with and "alternative" tour to Hebron. We got our first look at the walls that Israel is building to separate the Israeli areas from the Palestian controlled areas. It was an eye-opening day.
Here's Megan and some of the other women in the garb they had to wear to get into the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the Palestinian controlled area of Hebron.
The mosque itself is quite modest in comparison to the Christian controlled cathedrals and churches.
The mosque is divided in two - with Jewish access on one side and Moslem access on the other. We came in on the Moslem side. This is the view of the Tomb of Abraham looking at the Jewish side.
There is a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn living in Old Hebron. They moved in illegally in 1967,a nd have been there ever since. There are about four Israeli soldiers for every settler, and are stationed on rooftops and intersections everywhere.
There are checkpoints everywhere restricting the movement of Palestinians to the Old Town which supposedly is under joint Palestinian-Israeli control.
Humiliation of the Palestinians is a daily occurance. Here the Palestinian shopkeepers have installed a wire mesh to protect shoppers from the pelting of garbage they get from the Jewish settlers living above them.
Then, it's back to Tel Aviv, which seems devoid of the divisions elsewhere in the country. Tel Aviv is a modern European-style city, with highrises along its gorgeous beaches. You'll rarely see an ultra-Orthodox Jew or hear the Islamic call to prayer here.
There is lots of interesting Bauhaus-style architecture here, but unfortunately most of it isn't in very good shape.
The water and beaches, even at this time of the year are fabulous.We had a great trip!
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