Talking about this destination with people before hand, received two comments...why are you going there, and isn't it dangerous? I can understand the dangerous concern as 'trouble in the Middle East' has been a headline as long as I can remember. But why? It has always been a dream of mine to see where so much history of man went down and is such a pivotal point in the future of that history. My reply is, who could possibly not want to go there?
Through friends, we got hooked up with a tour company called Made In Israel. Sent them our wish list and they came back with itinerary with everything we wanted and more. They hooked us up with personal guides at times, on a tour at others, and a driver for the trip to the north. They also arranged for our hotels and airport transfer and at every turn, everything went totally perfectly and hope I can recommend them to friends down the line.
So much happened in the area that is Israel that it would take weeks to recount all of the names and history we heard and learned. Will go into a couple of the cooler ones below, but in my notes, here are many of the people/places/things that we encountered. King Herod, King David, Abraham, King Soloman, Rachel, the Disciples, the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, Joseph (both dad and prophet), Bethlehem, Nativity Church, Mt. of Olives, Mt. Zion, the Wailing Wall and Temple Mount, the Last Supper, Via Dolarosa, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Mohammed, Crusaders, Bedouins, Masada, the Dead Sea, Judean dessert, Ali Baba, the Good Samaritan, Samuel, Cesearea, Bosnian refugees, Jericho, the Palestinians, Haifa, the Bahai, Acco/Acre, the Templars, Saladin, the Ottomans, Armenians, the Hospitaliers, Pontius Pilate, Mt. of Beatitudes, Alicia, The Assassins, Golan Heights, the Druze, the Valley of Tears, Nigerian pilgrims, the borders of Jordan/Lebanon/Syria, the "mighty Jordan River, the Sea of Galilee, a bunch of miracles, Nazareth, Virgin Mary's House, Megido (aka Armegeddon), Jaffa, Tel Aviv, and of course...JC himself. We were with a really excellent guide most of the way, and while I knew about most of these things, she provided depth and made these events come alive.
Some personal highlights...
- On the Via Dolarosa, which is the route JC took to the crucifixion and the 9 stations of the cross, there is a spot where Jesus fell and put his hand on a wall to steady himself.
- Visiting Masada was a dream in so many ways. If you don't know the story, the 1981 TV mini-series starring recently departed Peter O'Toole is where I knew the story from and does a pretty decent job telling it. Even knowing the story well, visiting the site and seeing it's isolated location in the heart of the driest of desserts was stunning and spectacular. I've seen a lot of pictures and heard so many stories about it, but none of those remotely captured the essence of it. A must must see.
- While you're there, Masada is near the shores of the Dead Sea and we had the chance to float in it. At 427 meters below sea level, it is the lowest elevation on Earth. It was a Sea that became isolated from the oceans millions of years ago when two plates separated (and still are) and a line can be drawn from here all the way through east Africa where the Earth is splitting apart. Due to it's isolation and evaporation, it is now so salty (33%) and is so buoyant that it is near impossible to go under the water. You sorta bob on the top of it like a bouy in the water. We were warned not to get any in our eyes/mouth, but I slurped up a small amount by accident and it was like drinking pure salt mixed with battery acid. Truly bizzare. On the shore, they had put buckets of the local mud that is said to have regenitive powers and you could lather up from head to toe. The girls and I did so...even my flabby skin felt tight as a drum that evening. The water is so corrosive that we were told not to take our cameras to the water, so have no photos of that moment, but this is the site of the beach we visited, and you can see what it's all about. We went there near sunset time, and on the other side of the Dead Sea are the hills of Jordan, and as the sun was going down, there was this explosion of orange colors that would change in the fading light that was mesmerizing.
- To visit Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity where Jesus was born, we had to cross over into the Palestinian governed territories. What was stunning about the border, and really about our entire stay in Israel, was the near absence of visible military/police/security. We barely saw any anywhere, although our hotel in the Golan Heights area advertised their facility had a "complimentary bomb shelter". You would see these groups of new soldiers all over the place, but it seemed they were all at camp rather than in the army. Military service is required for everyone (3 years for men/18 months for women), and as part of their boot camp, they travel to the historic sites to get an appreciateion of their heritage and land. We had our passports, but when we hit the checkpoint into Palestine, the guards looked in the window and waved us through and the same thing happened on the way back into Israel. After the Palestinian intifadas, all of their setttlements have been surrounded by 30 foot walls.
OK, so I had planned ahead and was ready to share that gag at the appropriate moment...our guides (non-practicing Jews/Muslims all) seemed to like it.
- Another favorite spot of mine was the city of Acco (also called Acre). Continuously inhabited for over 4000 years, it had been a key trading city for most of its history. The old city as it is now dates mostly from the period during the crusades and was a key city in the staging area for the siege of Jerusalem. The walls and escape tunnels erected by the Templars were chilling to say the least. It is now mainly inhabited by Arabs and lies a dozen kilometers from Lebanon. Acco at sunset was gorgeous
- We spent the better part of two days touring the Sea of Galilee and Golan Heights areas. In the Galilee, we were led to places where Jesus performed many miracles, and at the Mount of Beatitudes, our guide broke out her bible and had Paul read this passage. A fun moment.
- Need to talk about the food for a few. Israel has immigrants from everywhere. For instance, since the end of the Soviet Union, over a million Russians have emigrated to Israel (which in a country of only 8 million is a pretty significant slice of the pie). Being the newbies in town, they are now the race that does all the dirty jobs, like maid/sanitation/etc. Before them, it was Europeans escaping WWII, and Jewish Arabs from all over the MIddle East, so there is not a lack of diining options around. However, the go-to street food for quick meals almost exclusively consists of hummus, falafel, schwarma and kebabs. That was just fine with us as we love love love all of the above. We had pizza one night, and went to a non-kosher restaurant on Shabbat, but other than that, every lunch and dinner contained one of those four food groups. We ate a lot of kebabs, and everyone had their favorites, but for me, the best were in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem at this Arab place called Shab. Our Isreali friends that live in Taiwan told us these were the best and to try them. This link describes the place pretty well, but what it doesn't say is that there is no sign above the door saying it's there and you'd probably walk by it if you weren't looking for it. Our guide, who we had given the address (and was a vegetarian) had to ask a dozen people before we found it, and it was so worth the journey. Like it says in the description, their only menu item is kebabs (the best) served with grilled onions and tomatoes and jammed into a pita pocket. Take them and get out of the way. We walked a few feet and ate them on the steps of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the site where JC was crucified/buried). Talk about a religious experience.
Probably the best overall meal we had in Israel was in the Golan Heights area in a Druze village. Had heard about the Druze before, mainly associated with the Lebanon Civil War in the 80's and the presence of the Druze Militia, but learned there is so much more to them. A unique religion leaning towards Islam, but very distinct and insular. Their traditional homeland for their 1000 year plus existence skirts the areas in the Syrian/Lebanese/Israeli borders, which is certainly some turbulent land, but their peaceful nature allows them to roll with the ever changing tides without being slaughtered. Very interesting. Anyhoo, at this Druze restaurant, they served up the standard falafel/kebab/hummus fare, but each dish had a unique spin to it and was superbly prepared. We had a memorable feast.
It wouldn't be a proper posting in this diary if I didn't share my thoughts on the local chicks. Will go into the Arab ones a bit more next week, but as for the "Israelis", as they are Jews from all over the world, they didn't have one type. The Western looking ones were cute assuming you like your breasts a bit floppy and your thighs a bit meaty. Not fat, just floppy and meaty. In the neighborhood we were in, there seemed to be a lot of American girls, and it reminded both Betty and I of a large swath of the girls that we went to American University with and called JAP's (Jewish American Princesses). You have to know one to love one.
Finally for Israel, it is hard to go there and not be curious about how the Jews interact with their neighbors. The total lack of any signs of strife was surprising. Watching the news, there was a recent bomb that was planted on a bus in Tel Aviv, and the Israelis had reported 127 incidents of Palestinian "attacks" on Israelis the previous month, but we got no feel for that as we toured around. We would be driving along and it looked like the valley in So Cal with strip malls, Ikea's and Office Depot's along the road, then would turn down another street, and all the signs would be in Arabic and we would be immersed in one of their neighborhoods (minus the business signs from Western conglomerates). Of the 8 million inhabitants in Israel, nearly 2 million of them are Arab/Muslim. Talking to the Israelis we met, they all said that this was a time of peace and it would take some prodding before they would go into their time in the military or during the intifadas/wars. Our guide remembered a time during one of them when she was 8 years old and often going into bomb shelters and how at that age, she thought of it as an adventure. One of our drivers was an older guy that liked to point out sites along the way, and when we would be going through Arab neighborhoods, he would say that "these are good Arabs" or point to areas surrounded by walls and say they caused a lot of trouble. John Kerry happened to be in the area at the time, and the one day I pressed him about the current negotiations going on between Palestinians/Israelis was the one time he raised his voice declaring that they will never ever be able to recognize and make peace with Arabs as they only "want to destroy". Asking him what they wanted to destroy, his reply was "everything". While it is far more complicated, the feeling I got during the week was a layer of total calm in every aspect of society, but that it is not a very thick one.
I have rambled on too long, but have so many more notes and things I would love to share. This was a place that offers so much, be it religiously, historically, culturally, even gastronomically, that I feel that I will be reflecting on it for the rest of my life. I know that every time I hear a story about current events in the Middle East, or watch a movie about the history of the area, that my perspective has been forever changed.
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