Pictures from Israel (Part 1)

Our visit to the Kotel
Maharat HaMachpeila
Masada's many chambers
Van Leeuwen on a Leeuw

Shos in the cable car on the way up to Masada
Daniel and Shos with their new furry friend - at sea level
Overlooking Ein Gedi
Kever Rachel
Enjoying some kosher KFC at Jerusalem Mall

A missing bus and a ride on a camel

The last three days have been quite an adventure. On Sunday we bought some tickets for two days on the tour bus around Yerushalayim, and we got off by Yad VaShem. This is a museum dedicated to the Shoah, and we got there on time for the 11 o'clock tour. The tour was pretty amazing, and it was really moving seeing some of the images and the actual pieces of the boxcar that transported so many Jews to their death.



Things hit a bit of a snag when we got out. We waited for over an hour and a half for the tour bus to show up. While we waited, the taxi drivers kept coming up and asking if we wanted a ride - they kept circling us like a bunch of vultures looking for the kill. Eventually, we took a shuttle van from Yad VaShem to Mount Herzl and took a bus from there to the Central Bus Station (the tour bus apparently was stuck because of a protest on Sunday). While we were at the bus station, we saw another tour bus, so we tried getting on that - except that bus was broken down! After calming down a bit and getting a burger to eat, we came out - and the tour bus finally pulled out (with us on it) around 6 PM, so we at least had a ride back to our hotel.



Monday didn't start out too well - we waited 20 minutes for the bus and when it finally showed up, it was full! AAARRGGG! Eventually we just took a taxi to the Israel Museum, where we were able to get a tour about the Dead Sea scrolls, scrolls that were written nearly 2,000 years ago and found in 1947 in Qumran. After the tour, we decided to try waiting for the tour bus again (what can I say, we're suckers for trying!). We waited for nearly an hour before trying the regular bus stop up the street. After 15 minutes of nothing showing up, we decided to walk back to get a taxi - and the tour bus showed up! We then took it to the kotel where we prayed some more, got some pita sandwiches nearby (the shnitzel was pretty good), and went back to the hotel.

Tuesday was a much better day. We had arranged before to get a private tour with Avraham, the taxi driver who took us to the different places on Friday. We went to a couple of kibbutzim, to see how they live, and went to Qumran itself, where we were able to see some of the caves where the scrolls were found in. We also did a lot of shopping there (Ahava is a brand of creams, and they sell a lot at Qumran). On the way down, we got down to sea level, and there was a Bedouin there who had a camel. For 20 shekel, Shosh and I each took a turn sitting on the camel (that was a bit scary, but fun!), and we got some great pictures.

Afterwards, we moved on to Ein Gedi, where we saw some beautiful views - and even some mountain goats passing by! Next, we went up to Masada. We took the cable car up and spent a lot of time looking around the different places. Shosh got some good color on her skin from all the sun! I was thinking a bit of taking the 'snake path', the natural pathway down the mountain, but decided not to do it (besides, I had already paid for the round trip with the cable car). I did go down a few meters just to get some pictures, but then went back to the cable car.

Finally, we went to Kibla beach, which is by the Dead Sea. We went in and went floating in the water, though when I tried getting out, I fell through a sinkhole and banged my knee a bit (I'm ok!). It was a lot of fun being in the water, though Shosh and I are both glad to be back, taking a shower in our own room, and getting some clean clothes on! On to tomorrow...

Getting ready to go to Israel

Yes, it's that time of year again. Time to reflect on what you've done in the past year, what you're going to do in the future... and whether or not you remembered to pack your swimming trunks.

For Shoshanna, it's been 8 years since she was in Israel. For me, it's been 11 years... but it's been 20 since I was last in Yerushalayim, so for the most part, this will be a new experience for me (and hopefully for Shosh as well). We'll be hopefully bringing you updates from the Holy Land as we have time to do so (you know, when we're not knee deep in the pool by our hotel), so please check back here to find out more of our exciting trip!