Why Hasn't This Been Updated?
So it's been about a year since i wrote anything on any trip. very sad. Suffice it to say that israel is a blessed place that I would visit again and again.
To sum up our trip:
We continued from the Kibbutz south toward Bet Shean, an ancient Roman town that was destroyed by an earthquake, among other things. (About 2 months ago I discovered that the ampitheatre there was used in the film version of Jesus Christ Superstar for the big finale of the title song... If I had only know sooner!)
We climbed around the ruins and then, on the advice of about 10 or 15 peole, we headed to the Dead Sea via the West Bank road that skirts the border between Jordan.
We drove to the little collection of hotels and touristy spots and had a late lunch of pizza and the most delicious lemonade ever. It has to be pretty good to remember it over a year later.
From there we kept driving and driving until we reached Eliat, the vacation spot on the Red Sea. Next time we probably won't make such a long trip since it was a long trip and reminded me of Florida. Except of course there was Egypt on one side and Jordan on the other!
We experienced another delightful breakfast of cheeses and too many choices of olives. We went to the Aquarium in Eliat and walked along the boardwalk before driving on to the Dead Sea to spend the next night.
We were delighted to find out that because it was Shabbat the next day we didn't have to check out until we wanted to. So we spent Shabbat climbing Masada via the Snake Path. It was hot and well worth it.
We then spent the afternoon floating the Dead Sea and feeling all smooth afterwards. It was amazing that after walking into the water only a few feet that you feel your feet start to float up!
As the evening arrived we started our drive to Jerusalem and to stay at the Mount Zion Hotel. It's an old eye hospital and as much confusion as there is in Jerusalem for finding your way around, we drove right to the hotel by sheer luck. Then, they didn't have our reservation! Luckily we had a confirmation number and we given a nice room that was bigger than most.
We walked through the Old City, which was a little overwhelming, but very much like I expected it to be. We found the Western Wall, but did not approach it that evening.
The next day we opted to take a tour of the city. It took forever to get started b/c there was a couple that had taken a taxi from Tel Aviv and were late arriving. We drove around to overlook the Old City and then to a lot of Christian sights (we were the only jewson the trip). We saw the Garden of Gethsemane and the supposed Last Supper location and the burial site of David. Then we walked through the Old City to the Church of th Holy eplucre, but not before stopping for what seemed like an eternity at a gift shop full of nativity scenes and crucifixes. (We knew the tour guide had made some sort of deal with them). After almost an hour there, we moved on to the church and after over an hour wandering around there, we decided to leave the tour and get some lunch.
To sum up our trip:
We continued from the Kibbutz south toward Bet Shean, an ancient Roman town that was destroyed by an earthquake, among other things. (About 2 months ago I discovered that the ampitheatre there was used in the film version of Jesus Christ Superstar for the big finale of the title song... If I had only know sooner!)
We climbed around the ruins and then, on the advice of about 10 or 15 peole, we headed to the Dead Sea via the West Bank road that skirts the border between Jordan.
We drove to the little collection of hotels and touristy spots and had a late lunch of pizza and the most delicious lemonade ever. It has to be pretty good to remember it over a year later.
From there we kept driving and driving until we reached Eliat, the vacation spot on the Red Sea. Next time we probably won't make such a long trip since it was a long trip and reminded me of Florida. Except of course there was Egypt on one side and Jordan on the other!
We experienced another delightful breakfast of cheeses and too many choices of olives. We went to the Aquarium in Eliat and walked along the boardwalk before driving on to the Dead Sea to spend the next night.
We were delighted to find out that because it was Shabbat the next day we didn't have to check out until we wanted to. So we spent Shabbat climbing Masada via the Snake Path. It was hot and well worth it.
We then spent the afternoon floating the Dead Sea and feeling all smooth afterwards. It was amazing that after walking into the water only a few feet that you feel your feet start to float up!
As the evening arrived we started our drive to Jerusalem and to stay at the Mount Zion Hotel. It's an old eye hospital and as much confusion as there is in Jerusalem for finding your way around, we drove right to the hotel by sheer luck. Then, they didn't have our reservation! Luckily we had a confirmation number and we given a nice room that was bigger than most.
We walked through the Old City, which was a little overwhelming, but very much like I expected it to be. We found the Western Wall, but did not approach it that evening.
The next day we opted to take a tour of the city. It took forever to get started b/c there was a couple that had taken a taxi from Tel Aviv and were late arriving. We drove around to overlook the Old City and then to a lot of Christian sights (we were the only jewson the trip). We saw the Garden of Gethsemane and the supposed Last Supper location and the burial site of David. Then we walked through the Old City to the Church of th Holy eplucre, but not before stopping for what seemed like an eternity at a gift shop full of nativity scenes and crucifixes. (We knew the tour guide had made some sort of deal with them). After almost an hour there, we moved on to the church and after over an hour wandering around there, we decided to leave the tour and get some lunch.
posted by Amy at 8:47 AM
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