Israel
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| Tel Aviv |
We spent a week in Israel for the purpose of attending a
wedding near Tel Aviv and this provided the perfect opportunity to see this
historic and fascinating country. Esplanade Tours, 160 Commonwealth Avenue,
Boston (Jacky Keith) planned the trip.
Esplanade arranges private tours to the Middle East, Africa, South
America and other countries.
(We have used them for a trip to South Africa and Botswana
and to Croatia). Despite concerns of friends, Israel felt extremely safe, and
we would not hesitate to encourage anyone to travel there now. There were few soldiers and obvious security
measures although there is heightened security at airport check-in (which
requires a longer 3 hour lead time than other international flights). Jacky recommended an airport concierge
service. They met us, whipped us through immigration, baggage and to our
waiting van for the short trip to Jerusalem.
On the return, this service moved us quickly through Security (skipping
lines) and to the gate in about 1/2hour.
We had not heard of such a service in other places, and don’t know what
is cost since it was in the total price, but it was good. Tal Limousine was the van service and Travex
was the in-country agency that arranged our tour guide, all super-efficient.
We rented a car through Avis, drove ourselves north to the
Sea of Galilee and found the roads and signs excellent and gas stations
everywhere. Driving in Jerusalem is not advisable, but we had the pleasure of
being taken around by a 30-year old guide, a Jerusalem specialist by the name
of Dvir Hollander, arranged by Travex.
Dvir can also be reached directly at Hollander2000@gmail.com, for ½ day or
full day tours.
Jerusalem:
Dvir spent two days with us, allowing us to see and
experience much more than we could have by ourselves. We spent day one in the
Old City of Jerusalem, beginning with a panoramic view of the city from the
Mount of Olives. From there, you can see
the gold Dome of the Rock, one of the eight gates to the old city, and the city
walls. We went into the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus spent his last hours
before being captured with its ancient olive trees, the Church of All Nations,
housing plaques from over 100 nations with the Lord’s Prayer in many national
languages, and even a view of Bethlehem, and the desert and Dead Sea. It is not
easy to travel to Bethlehem, now a large city, because it is beyond the wall
separating Israeli and Palestinian Territories.
From Mt. of Olives, we walked down the hill past ancient cemeteries,
looked at the City of David, and into the Old City through the Lion’s Gate into
the Moslem Quarter. Wear good shoes and
take lots of water to drink. Dvir kept getting water bottles for us and
reminding us to drink. It was hot in
early June; I can’t imagine summer.
Jerusalem is a beautiful city of green parks, low buildings
built of limestone (by law), old and new.
The “Old City” is barely a square kilometer, with four quarters: Jewish,
Moslem, Armenian and Christian quarters, but one can walk freely from one to
another.
We walked for hours, up to the roof of the Austrian Hospice
(now a hotel), along the Via Dolorosa or Way of the Cross, the route Jesus took
to the crucifixion along the14 Stations of the Cross. On Fridays, pilgrims
follow this route and about the same time, Moslems go to the Dome of the Rock
and Al Aksa Mosque. Dvir said it’s very
interesting to see the two Friday groups in the city, but we were happy it was
a Tuesday. We couldn’t go into the
Mosque or Dome because visitors must be Moslem.
It is so interesting that an Israeli policeman guards the entrance to
the Dome and Mosque, and a Moslem for generations has served as the Guard at
the entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the most sacred site in
Christendom built by Constantine. The incongruities seem stark, but maybe it
shows that many groups are protecting territories that they hope to control
again, one day. In essence, the Old City
is sacred to Christians, Jews and Moslems, so it is only fitting that it is
governed as an international city, and should forever stay that way. But Dvir said that there are “invisible
borders” everywhere since groups keep their own social lives even if they get
along in the marketplace.
It is also one big marketplace with food and goods,
souvenirs, and people, kids riding little bikes down old Roman streets, going
to schools, and people selling rugs, candles, falafel, huge bagel style breads,
and spices. Dvir took us to a wonderful
little place we never would have found for lunch: lots of varieties of hummus, olives, tomato
cucumber salads, and fresh squeezed orange juice, all for about $20 for the 3
of us. There was a Light Festival going
on for a week outside the Jaffa Gate that we saw at night after a great dinner
in the old “German Colony” near our hotel. Our hotel was the Dan Boutique,
a moderate hotel outside the Old City that had a great view
of the Mt of Olives, Mt. Zion and the Old City. Breakfasts are usually included
in the hotel price and are abundant.
Our second day, Dvir walked us to some parks, the King David Hotel, drove us around the
new city, to his kibbutz for lunch, and to two museums: Herzl
Museum (with an hour-long film about Theodore Herzl, the founder of
Zionism) and Yad Vashem, the
Holocaust Memorial with extensive grounds, with a moving Children’s
Memorial. We didn’t get to see the
Israel Museum with the Dead Sea Scrolls since we decided to do the Herzl. There
are many more museums to see in Jerusalem.
The Ramat Rachel Kibbutz was
most interesting, near to the city, with lovely grounds, a hotel and large
pool, kids in daycare minded by residents, and the dining hall where we had
lunch. Dvir is not a member but his
wife’s family is, so they can live in this sought-after place. Fodor highly
recommends the hotel on this kibbutz, just on the outskirts of Jerusalem, the
Ramat Rachel Hotel, for those wanting this experience.
Tel Aviv:
A van ride took us to Tel Aviv, about 1.5 hour trip, driving
through the Palestinian Territories near Ramallah. Cars stop at a checkpoint, but it seems
perfunctory for tourist vans especially with westerners on board. The driver pointed out that Arabic homes have
flat roofs and black water tanks on top, whereas Israeli homes have peaked
roofs, usually red, and central plumbing and water, so no roof water
tanks. Of the 11 million citizens, about
75% are Jewish, and the rest are Muslims, Druze and Christian Arabs.
Tel Aviv is a modern city on the sea with gorgeous beaches,
skyscrapers, high-tech businesses, and embassies, even though the capital of
Israel is really Jerusalem. It is
completely different from Jerusalem. We
didn’t spend much time here, except we enjoyed the view of the sea and the pool
at the David Intercontinental Hotel,
because it was very hot and we were busy with family wedding events. The wedding provided a view into life there
for Americans who have moved to Israel.
Their life is generally very secular, pleasant, with the sea nearby for
excellent recreation. Life is expensive
and most couples both work full time and children are in daycare. We learned that the VAT tax on a new car is
100%, and gas is $8/gallon.
From Tel Aviv we rented a car and drove north two hours to
the Sea of Galilee to the town of Tiberius, built in the year 19 by Herod
Antipas and named in honor of the Roman Emperor, Tiberius. It is the center of
Christian sites for visitors who want to trace the teachings of Jesus in nearby
Capernaum, Mt. of Beatitudes (Sermon on the Mount), and others. Our hotel was an old monastery now owned by
the Church of Scotland, Scot’s Hotel.
It overlooked the Sea, a freshwater lake 212 meters BELOW sea level, so it was
very hot. The hotel has a great pool and
is famous for its food, which was indescribable.
The most moving experience of the trip was in a little town
of Rosh Pina, north of the Sea on Route 90, toward the Syrian and Lebanese
borders. The scenery is beautiful and we went to see the restored village built
by the first Zionist pioneers from Romania in 1882.
It’s now kind of an artist colony and is attracting
tourists. Walking up a road, we saw a
sign for “Nimrod Outlook.” To see the view, we climbed to the top where we saw
a photograph of a young man, and realized that it was a memorial site. There was a narrative and we pushed the
“English” button and heard about this young man who had been killed in 2006 in
the “Second Lebanon War.” It was
heartbreaking, as his brother told the story of Nimrod, who was on track for a
successful career with Microsoft when he was called to fight. A Lebanese rocket hit his tank. As we were listening, a man sitting on a
bench came up to open a big umbrella above us, and said only, “Please.”
As we started to leave, I said to him, “this is the saddest
place we have seen in Israel.”
He said, “I am the father. He was my son. We chose this
place because he used to climb in this tree.”
He comes here often to drink his coffee and think about his son. Tears streaming down our faces by that time,
all the years of sadness and loss that this part of the world has suffered,
seemed to come down to this one family’s tremendous loss. Lives changed forever. And it will go on. It is so sad.
But the country is not sad; it is full of hope and optimism,
and we can only hope that a solution will be reached that can bring some
generations of peace to this place that is home to three of the world’s great
religions, that ironically all have roots in the same ancient past and values
but have somehow gone awry.
Anita Poss -- June, 2012