I left you haning in Florence and feel I should at least bring you back to the place we call home, Seattle.
We spent a week in Tuscany at an Agroturismo called Montestigliano. You can check out the website with tons of pictures at www.montestigliano.it. The place was beautiful and the views stunning. We were about 20 minutes from Siena and 5 minutes from a cute little town called San Rocco A Pilli. From the website, it appeared that Montestigliano was a lively place with tons of activities for the whole family and lots of socializing with the other farm guests. What we found was that we were in a beautiful ghost town. The woman who runs the place was all talk about helping us find all sorts of cool places and activities. In reality, it took her two days to get us the pool towels we requested. It turns out we did not need them because both of their beautiful pools were about 60 degrees. They were like ice, I couldn't even keep my feet in. Poor Zoey. We had promised her all sorts of farm activities and lots of swimming. Not happening there. We took our disappointment in stride and planned a week of relaxing, eating and visiting small towns.
We hit a great town festival in Buonconvento, we visited Siena a few times and saw the stunning Duomo. Michael and I went to Chianti one afternoon and did some wine tasting and had dinner at a fabulous restaurant called Albergaccio in Castellina. We checked out some farms and wineries, ancient palaces and mainly ate ourselves silly. There was a terrific little pastry shop in San Rocco A Pilli that we went to at least once a day. We found Tuscany to be a wonderful place, just not the best place to be with a toddler. If we had stayed in a small town, I think it would have been much easier. We love to be able to walk places when traveling and did not think about how it would be staying out in the country. If it was just adults there, it would be fine. With a toddler, finding stuff to do in a farm with no farming was tough. Oh well, we still loved Tuscany and next time we will do it a little different.
We drove back to Rome from Tuscany on Saturday September 29th and spent the night at the Rome Airport Hilton. We had planned on going back in to Rome Saturday evening, but with an early flight and a long day and night of traveling, we ended up hanging around the airport area. We did take the train to a mall nearby to let Zoey run around and do some people watching. 15 minutes of that and we were back on the train the other way! We reminded ourselves why we don't go to malls, even in Italy!
Sunday morning we got on board for our long trip home. It was about 24 hours door to door and Zoey slept for 2 of it! It was a very, very long day and I have never been more happy to be back home. I love to travel so much, but it is always so nice to come home! We were picked up by my dad and delivered to our door with a bag of groceries and a bag of yummy treats from my grandma. Thats why we always come back, the love and care of family.
So, we have been home a few weeks now and have settled back in nicely. Zoey started preschool two mornings a week and moved from her crib to her big girl bed upon her own request. Not a single challenging night! She is happy to be home with all of her toys and friends. Mom flew back to Cali about 4 days after we got back. She had been away from her home for 5 months and was ready for her own space. It was so wonderful to travel with my mom. She was very helpful with Z and was a pleasure to be with. Not many of us could travel with our parents for a month and we feel quite lucky! Michael has started his new adventures too. He is cooking away at Cafe Flora and amazing us all with his passion and creativity. You can read more about what we have been up to since we have been home on his website....herbivoracious.com.
Well, I am not sure if I will write more on here or not. I don't think people have any interest in reading about our daily life, nor do I have time to keep it up. I have enjoyed the experience of blogging though and opening my mind to different ways of sharing information with friends and family. I hope everyone is well and I am sending big hugs to all of you.
Thanks for sharing our journey.
Shalom. Ciao!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Rome and Florence
Ok, so I have not written in 5 days and am going to try not to write another novel about the last week. We have seen and done so much, not to mention all the food we have consumed!!
Hotel Julia turned out to be a warm and wonderful place. Very much a European style hotel with smallish rooms, but very clean and very caring. They were all wonderful to Z, including giving her a hand made doll when we checked out. I would highly recommend it.
In Rome, we saw the Coliseum, the Forum, the Trevi Fountain (many times as it was right near our hotel), spent lots of time at the Spanish Steps, Villa Borghessi, the Jewish Quarter, the Pantheon, the Vatican (including a several hour wait in line, a tour from a girl who grew up on Mercer Island and knew a ton of people in common), St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museum including the Sistine Chapel and the Pieta, countless works of art, beautiful fountains, palaces, parks and lots of espresso. I think we averaged four doppio espressos a day! What fun to get them every where. It amazes me that everyone including the hotel front desk person is able to pull pretty good shots with ease. I love it!
We did some shopping too. I am not into leather goods really and designer clothes are not worth it to me, especially when styles change all the time. I found a great winter coat though that I love and I will always remember Italy when I wear it.
We ate very well. Z is quite in love with parmesan cheese. We got a book a few months before our trip called Ciao Bambino that talks about a little boy who goes to Italy on a family trip and eats gelato every day. Z took this literally to mean she could eat gelato every day. I am very much looking forward to getting her back on a more balanced diet. It is just so hard to do when feeding a vegetarian child restaurant food three times a day. At least she takes her vitamins every day!
My mom and I got wonderful pedicures for our tired, aching feet. There is a great salon right at the top of the Spanish Steps called FemeSistina (on Via Sistina). The same woman has owned it for 40+ years and hires top people. She was so warm and friendly. Our feet were in pretty bad shape and felt much better afterwards.
Michael and I got a few afternoons and evenings to go out together thanks to my mom. This has worked out so well for all of us! Michael and I ate at one bad restaurant (Obika) and one outstanding one (Piperno). I am sure he will post about them on his blog. We took long walks and wandered around the city. It was great!
We left Rome yesterday (Thursday) and took a taxi back to the airport to pick up our car and head for Florence. The car proved to be a fiasco of course. You had to take a number to get to the counter. After one hour, they had progressed about 7 people and there were still about 5 ahead of us. Finally we started getting quotes from other agencies and ended up going with one who beat the price by $500! Hurray, we were on our way. Oops, they forgot to tell us the car would not be ready for 30 more minutes. Make that almost an hour and then the car turned out to be a stick shift (which I am not comfortable driving-yes, I can still be a feminist and not be able to drive a stick!). We didn't realize it was a stick until we had it all loaded, and Z in her carseat in dire need of a nap. Well, thats why the price was lower ;) We did get a GPS this time, thank goodness, and that made our navigation into Florence a breeze.
We got to Florence in the evening and M went to drive the car around the block to the parking lot in back of the building. Twenty minutes go by and he is still not back. I start to panic. Neither of us had slept very much the night before and he was missing with out the GPS or the cell phone. Finally, he comes back on foot having abandoned the car a few blocks away. With both of us in the car with the map (still forgot to grab the GPS) we made it to the parking lot literally around the block in another 20 minutes. What is it with these crazy one way streets and no left turns! It was the longest block we have ever driven! We did get to see much of the city though!
We got up this morning and walked to the synagogue which is around the corner. It is the most ornate synagogue I have ever seen built in a very Moorish style. We found out what time services were for Yom Kippur tonight and planned to attend. After that, we walked over to the Galleria Academia, where Michaelangelo's David is. We bought tickets ahead of time for this museum and the Uffizi. I highly recommend this as there were huge lines at both (hours long) if you did not have advanced tickets. David is breathtaking. I learned so much about the art on our tour at the Vatican Museum, it really has helped me understand much more about what I am seeing. After David, we had some time to wander around before our Uffizi tickets. Michael had Z, so my mom and window shopped and had more espresso. We also checked out the Duomo. Wow!
Right before our time to go in, we got some gelato to keep us going. One lick and I realized there were nuts in my coffee gelato. For those of you who don't know, I am severely allergic to all nuts. Usually it means a trip right to the ER and several hours there with endless drugs being pumped in me. I had barely tasted the gelatto though and took 2 benadryl immediately. Our hotel was only a few blocks away, so we walked back to talk to M. Z had just gone down for her nap. My mouth was a little itchy, but I was not feeling much of a reaction, so we found out where the hospital was (3 blocks away) and waited a little bit. The benadryl seemed to be enough (first time ever I think) and nothing was progressing, so I took a long nap. I felt quite drugged and by the time I woke up, it was dinner time. My mom came down with a horrible cold and none of us were in any shape to go to Yom Kippur services. We were extremely disappointed as this is said to be one of the most amazing synagogues in all of Europe and we couldn't imagine a more wonderful place to attend Kol Nidre. We just needed to sleep and recover so that is what we did.
We did have an amazing dinner though before Yom Kippur began. We stumbled into a place meaning to grab a very quick bite. We usually look at the menu first, but we just wanted to eat and not spend extra time wandering around looking for the right spot. We sat down and they told us our server would be with us shortly to discuss the menu. Turned out to be a very fancy, gourmet restaurant that rates in the top few meals I have had in my life. We were horrifically underdressed, had no reservations and had a two year old with us. They treated us like royalty. They attended to Z with so much kindness and care. Every staff person that walked by played peek a boo, blew her kisses, brought her treats (including a 2 1/2 foot long bread roll shaped like a bone), and tickled her. Its one of the nicest restaurants I have been to along with one of the most child friendly restaurants I have been to. They didn't even charge us for her meal which should have cost around $80. They did not rush us, but followed our lead of eating with a two year old and moved things along. I love high end places with the feel of home. Completely unpretentious. So great! Its called Cibreo. They have a trattoria and a cafe in the same block and we were at the restaurante, the fanciest of them. We didn't even notice the trattoria until we were leaving. The evening seemed to be off to a bad start with my mom being so sick and myself so drugged from benadryl. We were very sad to be missing services and had planned to go to a different restaurant for dinner before services. Nothing was going as planned today but we had this serendipitous experience of ending up in the perfect place at the perfect time. I love that. Hopefully with all the holy places I have visited in the last 3 weeks, I will be ok missing services this year. The trick will be continuing to fast tomorrow in this food paradise.
My mom and I may get up early and try and be first in line for the Uffizi. I am so sad to have missed it, but I love Florence and know we will come back some day. So, whatever is to be will be. We have seen so much art and so many beautiful places, it almost gets hard to appreciate the uniqueness of each piece of art or each scenic wonder. Its an amazing world we live in.
Well, tomorrow we head to our villa in Tuscany. It is about 15 minutes southwest of Siena on a working olive oil farm. Its called Montestigliano and you can check it out on the web. We will be there until next Saturday. We drive back to Rome next Saturday afternoon and fly out Sunday morning the 30th. What an amazing trip. Z is having more fun now I think. Although tonight someone at the restaurant asked where she is from and she said Seattle and then went on to ask them if they knew her little friend El. and her babysitter of the last two years. She will be so happy to see them when she gets home.
Ok, off to bed. I don't know if we will have internet on the farm or not, so I may not write. I plan on reading, relaxing, wandering ancient streets in small hillside towns, eating well and drinking lots of wine.
See you all soon.
love,
Sarina
Hotel Julia turned out to be a warm and wonderful place. Very much a European style hotel with smallish rooms, but very clean and very caring. They were all wonderful to Z, including giving her a hand made doll when we checked out. I would highly recommend it.
In Rome, we saw the Coliseum, the Forum, the Trevi Fountain (many times as it was right near our hotel), spent lots of time at the Spanish Steps, Villa Borghessi, the Jewish Quarter, the Pantheon, the Vatican (including a several hour wait in line, a tour from a girl who grew up on Mercer Island and knew a ton of people in common), St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museum including the Sistine Chapel and the Pieta, countless works of art, beautiful fountains, palaces, parks and lots of espresso. I think we averaged four doppio espressos a day! What fun to get them every where. It amazes me that everyone including the hotel front desk person is able to pull pretty good shots with ease. I love it!
We did some shopping too. I am not into leather goods really and designer clothes are not worth it to me, especially when styles change all the time. I found a great winter coat though that I love and I will always remember Italy when I wear it.
We ate very well. Z is quite in love with parmesan cheese. We got a book a few months before our trip called Ciao Bambino that talks about a little boy who goes to Italy on a family trip and eats gelato every day. Z took this literally to mean she could eat gelato every day. I am very much looking forward to getting her back on a more balanced diet. It is just so hard to do when feeding a vegetarian child restaurant food three times a day. At least she takes her vitamins every day!
My mom and I got wonderful pedicures for our tired, aching feet. There is a great salon right at the top of the Spanish Steps called FemeSistina (on Via Sistina). The same woman has owned it for 40+ years and hires top people. She was so warm and friendly. Our feet were in pretty bad shape and felt much better afterwards.
Michael and I got a few afternoons and evenings to go out together thanks to my mom. This has worked out so well for all of us! Michael and I ate at one bad restaurant (Obika) and one outstanding one (Piperno). I am sure he will post about them on his blog. We took long walks and wandered around the city. It was great!
We left Rome yesterday (Thursday) and took a taxi back to the airport to pick up our car and head for Florence. The car proved to be a fiasco of course. You had to take a number to get to the counter. After one hour, they had progressed about 7 people and there were still about 5 ahead of us. Finally we started getting quotes from other agencies and ended up going with one who beat the price by $500! Hurray, we were on our way. Oops, they forgot to tell us the car would not be ready for 30 more minutes. Make that almost an hour and then the car turned out to be a stick shift (which I am not comfortable driving-yes, I can still be a feminist and not be able to drive a stick!). We didn't realize it was a stick until we had it all loaded, and Z in her carseat in dire need of a nap. Well, thats why the price was lower ;) We did get a GPS this time, thank goodness, and that made our navigation into Florence a breeze.
We got to Florence in the evening and M went to drive the car around the block to the parking lot in back of the building. Twenty minutes go by and he is still not back. I start to panic. Neither of us had slept very much the night before and he was missing with out the GPS or the cell phone. Finally, he comes back on foot having abandoned the car a few blocks away. With both of us in the car with the map (still forgot to grab the GPS) we made it to the parking lot literally around the block in another 20 minutes. What is it with these crazy one way streets and no left turns! It was the longest block we have ever driven! We did get to see much of the city though!
We got up this morning and walked to the synagogue which is around the corner. It is the most ornate synagogue I have ever seen built in a very Moorish style. We found out what time services were for Yom Kippur tonight and planned to attend. After that, we walked over to the Galleria Academia, where Michaelangelo's David is. We bought tickets ahead of time for this museum and the Uffizi. I highly recommend this as there were huge lines at both (hours long) if you did not have advanced tickets. David is breathtaking. I learned so much about the art on our tour at the Vatican Museum, it really has helped me understand much more about what I am seeing. After David, we had some time to wander around before our Uffizi tickets. Michael had Z, so my mom and window shopped and had more espresso. We also checked out the Duomo. Wow!
Right before our time to go in, we got some gelato to keep us going. One lick and I realized there were nuts in my coffee gelato. For those of you who don't know, I am severely allergic to all nuts. Usually it means a trip right to the ER and several hours there with endless drugs being pumped in me. I had barely tasted the gelatto though and took 2 benadryl immediately. Our hotel was only a few blocks away, so we walked back to talk to M. Z had just gone down for her nap. My mouth was a little itchy, but I was not feeling much of a reaction, so we found out where the hospital was (3 blocks away) and waited a little bit. The benadryl seemed to be enough (first time ever I think) and nothing was progressing, so I took a long nap. I felt quite drugged and by the time I woke up, it was dinner time. My mom came down with a horrible cold and none of us were in any shape to go to Yom Kippur services. We were extremely disappointed as this is said to be one of the most amazing synagogues in all of Europe and we couldn't imagine a more wonderful place to attend Kol Nidre. We just needed to sleep and recover so that is what we did.
We did have an amazing dinner though before Yom Kippur began. We stumbled into a place meaning to grab a very quick bite. We usually look at the menu first, but we just wanted to eat and not spend extra time wandering around looking for the right spot. We sat down and they told us our server would be with us shortly to discuss the menu. Turned out to be a very fancy, gourmet restaurant that rates in the top few meals I have had in my life. We were horrifically underdressed, had no reservations and had a two year old with us. They treated us like royalty. They attended to Z with so much kindness and care. Every staff person that walked by played peek a boo, blew her kisses, brought her treats (including a 2 1/2 foot long bread roll shaped like a bone), and tickled her. Its one of the nicest restaurants I have been to along with one of the most child friendly restaurants I have been to. They didn't even charge us for her meal which should have cost around $80. They did not rush us, but followed our lead of eating with a two year old and moved things along. I love high end places with the feel of home. Completely unpretentious. So great! Its called Cibreo. They have a trattoria and a cafe in the same block and we were at the restaurante, the fanciest of them. We didn't even notice the trattoria until we were leaving. The evening seemed to be off to a bad start with my mom being so sick and myself so drugged from benadryl. We were very sad to be missing services and had planned to go to a different restaurant for dinner before services. Nothing was going as planned today but we had this serendipitous experience of ending up in the perfect place at the perfect time. I love that. Hopefully with all the holy places I have visited in the last 3 weeks, I will be ok missing services this year. The trick will be continuing to fast tomorrow in this food paradise.
My mom and I may get up early and try and be first in line for the Uffizi. I am so sad to have missed it, but I love Florence and know we will come back some day. So, whatever is to be will be. We have seen so much art and so many beautiful places, it almost gets hard to appreciate the uniqueness of each piece of art or each scenic wonder. Its an amazing world we live in.
Well, tomorrow we head to our villa in Tuscany. It is about 15 minutes southwest of Siena on a working olive oil farm. Its called Montestigliano and you can check it out on the web. We will be there until next Saturday. We drive back to Rome next Saturday afternoon and fly out Sunday morning the 30th. What an amazing trip. Z is having more fun now I think. Although tonight someone at the restaurant asked where she is from and she said Seattle and then went on to ask them if they knew her little friend El. and her babysitter of the last two years. She will be so happy to see them when she gets home.
Ok, off to bed. I don't know if we will have internet on the farm or not, so I may not write. I plan on reading, relaxing, wandering ancient streets in small hillside towns, eating well and drinking lots of wine.
See you all soon.
love,
Sarina
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Welcome To Roma
9/16/07- My Birthday!
Well lets see, much has happened since I wrote last. We had such a wonderful Shabbat dinner with family. Z loved my two cousins closest in age to me. I spent time with them when I lived here in Jerusalem and it was so great to spend some time with them. I was very sad to say goodbye.
We woke up Saturday morning and M and Z hit Abulafia one more time while I packed. We headed off to the airport and made it through the numerous security checkpoints in record time. I guess I answered all the questions correctly. They even gave me a little hebrew quiz! Saturday turns out to be an easy day to fly out of Israel since El Al, the main airline of Israel, does not fly on Shabbat.
So, our first experiences with Italy were not so great. We flew Alitalia and they refused to let me use our carseat on the plane. I know many people fly with out them but I have felt more comfortable with it. Its not just that they would not let me use it, they were so incredibly rude and disrespectful, I was in tears. The kicker is that they said they do not allow it because it is not safe. Argh! I was through the roof! The only reason I shut myself up was because I knew they could kick us off the flight and that would have been a nightmare.
The flight did go ok once Z stopped crying because they took her carseat away. She slept a tiny bit and we made it with no problems. We had a driver waiting for us when we arrived to Rome and he helped us get in touch with the owner of the vacation rental we were heading to. The location of the apartment was spectacular, right between the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. The apartment, however, was an absolute pit. It was big, but filled with thousands of musty old books and the stench was so bad we could barely breath. The man that was there to let us in was not the kindest and if it had been M and I alone, we would have left in a second. Because it was late and we had a toddler, my mom and a caravan of luggage in tow, we just took it. Within minutes, we regretted our decision. The place was filthier than the worst youth hostel I have every stayed in (and there have been some pretty bad ones!) and with my asthma, I could not breathe. The beds were harder than the ground and the towels were old and mildewy. Not to mention they left us with one shred of toilet paper. The place was a giant fire hazard with bare wires taped together here and there and not a smoke detector in site. We decided that even if we could not get our money back, it was not worth ruining our trip by staying there. M and I have both traveled to many places in the world and we can deal with not the nicest conditions. The odor of the place was really just unbearable and we realized we just were going to be miserable there.
We got some dinner (delicious!!) and got Z to bed and M and I headed out to find a hotel. Luckily after going in two places running $1600 a night, we found a great little hotel literally around the corner from the disgusting apartment. We arranged to check in first thing in the morning and I requested that we not even acknowledge my birthday until we were in a sanitary place the next morning. On our way back, we stopped by the Trevi Fountain. It took my breath away. M has been here before but for me, I was just amazed at the massive beauty lit up at night. It is really a spectacular work of art. After some gelato, we headed back and I quickly re-packed the little I had unpacked in the dump. I had our suitcases by the door before bed and slept in my clothes!
We woke up today (Sunday, 9/16) and I had Z's pack and play and stuff packed up in minutes. We took one load over with Z and my mom, and M and I went back to get the rest. Good riddance and happy birthday to me! Now we are ready to begin our Roman holiday!
We spent the morning settling in, showering off the filth and wandering around the Trevi Fountain area. It is about 4 blocks away. We are really in a great location. After a nice lunch, Z went down for her nap, and here I am blogging again. I wanted to let family know where we can be reached in an emergency. The Israeli cell phones don't work here and the places to get ones for Italy is closed because it is Sunday. I will send out the new numbers in the meantime. We are at Hotel Julia in Rome, I will email the number to the parents momentarily. We will send out cell info when we have it.
Well, I will keep you posted when I have time, but as I said, may not write much here. Many of you have been here, so besides making you jealous with the food, you have seen the sites for your self :)
Take care and much love,
Sarina
Well lets see, much has happened since I wrote last. We had such a wonderful Shabbat dinner with family. Z loved my two cousins closest in age to me. I spent time with them when I lived here in Jerusalem and it was so great to spend some time with them. I was very sad to say goodbye.
We woke up Saturday morning and M and Z hit Abulafia one more time while I packed. We headed off to the airport and made it through the numerous security checkpoints in record time. I guess I answered all the questions correctly. They even gave me a little hebrew quiz! Saturday turns out to be an easy day to fly out of Israel since El Al, the main airline of Israel, does not fly on Shabbat.
So, our first experiences with Italy were not so great. We flew Alitalia and they refused to let me use our carseat on the plane. I know many people fly with out them but I have felt more comfortable with it. Its not just that they would not let me use it, they were so incredibly rude and disrespectful, I was in tears. The kicker is that they said they do not allow it because it is not safe. Argh! I was through the roof! The only reason I shut myself up was because I knew they could kick us off the flight and that would have been a nightmare.
The flight did go ok once Z stopped crying because they took her carseat away. She slept a tiny bit and we made it with no problems. We had a driver waiting for us when we arrived to Rome and he helped us get in touch with the owner of the vacation rental we were heading to. The location of the apartment was spectacular, right between the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. The apartment, however, was an absolute pit. It was big, but filled with thousands of musty old books and the stench was so bad we could barely breath. The man that was there to let us in was not the kindest and if it had been M and I alone, we would have left in a second. Because it was late and we had a toddler, my mom and a caravan of luggage in tow, we just took it. Within minutes, we regretted our decision. The place was filthier than the worst youth hostel I have every stayed in (and there have been some pretty bad ones!) and with my asthma, I could not breathe. The beds were harder than the ground and the towels were old and mildewy. Not to mention they left us with one shred of toilet paper. The place was a giant fire hazard with bare wires taped together here and there and not a smoke detector in site. We decided that even if we could not get our money back, it was not worth ruining our trip by staying there. M and I have both traveled to many places in the world and we can deal with not the nicest conditions. The odor of the place was really just unbearable and we realized we just were going to be miserable there.
We got some dinner (delicious!!) and got Z to bed and M and I headed out to find a hotel. Luckily after going in two places running $1600 a night, we found a great little hotel literally around the corner from the disgusting apartment. We arranged to check in first thing in the morning and I requested that we not even acknowledge my birthday until we were in a sanitary place the next morning. On our way back, we stopped by the Trevi Fountain. It took my breath away. M has been here before but for me, I was just amazed at the massive beauty lit up at night. It is really a spectacular work of art. After some gelato, we headed back and I quickly re-packed the little I had unpacked in the dump. I had our suitcases by the door before bed and slept in my clothes!
We woke up today (Sunday, 9/16) and I had Z's pack and play and stuff packed up in minutes. We took one load over with Z and my mom, and M and I went back to get the rest. Good riddance and happy birthday to me! Now we are ready to begin our Roman holiday!
We spent the morning settling in, showering off the filth and wandering around the Trevi Fountain area. It is about 4 blocks away. We are really in a great location. After a nice lunch, Z went down for her nap, and here I am blogging again. I wanted to let family know where we can be reached in an emergency. The Israeli cell phones don't work here and the places to get ones for Italy is closed because it is Sunday. I will send out the new numbers in the meantime. We are at Hotel Julia in Rome, I will email the number to the parents momentarily. We will send out cell info when we have it.
Well, I will keep you posted when I have time, but as I said, may not write much here. Many of you have been here, so besides making you jealous with the food, you have seen the sites for your self :)
Take care and much love,
Sarina
Friday, September 14, 2007
9/12/07-9/14/07
9/12/07- Wednesday
After I last wrote, we went to dinner for the first night of Rosh Hashannah at my cousin's in a suburb of Tel Aviv. When family and friends are in town, Israelis provide the royal treatment. They would not hear of us taking a cab, so a cousin came to get us and take us to the house where 20+ members of our family would have dinner with us. It was so fun to see family resemblances, meet cousins I had never met before and enjoy the new year with family in Israel. My family here all are on my dad's father's side. My grandpa Al passed away before I was born. He had many brothers and sisters. Some at dinner said it was 17 siblings in all. Not all survived childhood, some came to Israel and some came to the US. They were all from Bulgaria, so much of the food that night was similar to the Sephardic foods my mother's side of the family makes (they are from Greece and Turkey, also Sephardic Jews). I knew 5 or so of the family members there, the rest were all new to me. They welcomed M, my mom, Z and I with open arms and we talked politics and had the same discussions about who should sit where and who is doing what with their careers, etc that happen at a lifetime of Rosh Hashanah dinners at home. Z was a hit. She had so much fun, loved the food and entertained every one. Z is such a social being. Put her in a crowd and she shines. We were there past 11pm and by the time we left, Z was exhausted and asking to go to bed. She didn't get to sleep until almost midnight. We were all sleepy after such a wonderful night with family.
9/13/07- Thursday
Z was up bright and early at 7am. We thought we for sure she would sleep in, nope, not our girl! We went to Yodvata for breakfast. You would not believe what you get for around $10. You get an omelet, a few kinds of cheeses, yogurt, tahini, fresh baked bread, coffee and a smoothy of fresh fruit of your choice. It would be impossible for anyone to eat all of it! I used to love the smoothies from Yodvata and was so happy that Z, M and my mom shared my love of them. Z drank so much of the fresh mango one, we could not believe it.
After breakfast, we took Z to the beach to play in the warm Mediterranean water and the soft sand. We had so much fun! I love the beach and used to spend the entire day there! After some fun in the sun, M and I headed back to get ready to see more family. Z and my mom stayed home since Z was quite tired from so little sleep the night before. We went to another part of the families for late lunch. This was family from another of my grandfather's siblings. They prepared a huge Bulgarian feast for us. I had forgot to tell them that M is vegetarian and they felt terrible that they had prepared so many dishes with meat. Never mind that there was still a ton he could eat, they were beside themselves and I felt so bad! They found some vegetable schnitzel in the freezer and M loved it. Everyone was happy. I had only met the grandparents of this family before. The grandfather is my dad's first cousin, so its not like any of these people are distant relatives. We had such a nice visit with them, its hard to believe I had never met them before. They were sad we only had a few days left here and I promised it would not be another 14 years before we came back. We got home from their house around 5pm and had little time before some very close family friends came to get us.
Leah and Elli came to get us to take us back to their beautiful apartment near the beach. It would only be about a 30 minute walk down the beach from our hotel but with Z, it would have taken 2 hours. They live near the old Tel Aviv port which has turned into about 2 miles of long decks along the beach filled with huge outdoor cafes and shops. Elli is an amazing artist so before we walked down the deck area, we stopped into his studio to see all of his beautiful paintings. With more time, I am sure we would have bought one for our home. He is extremely talented! We walked down to the deck in time to watch the sun set. Z loved running around there and we finally felt like we had found the cool part of Tel Aviv. We sat down to an outstanding dinner of different salads and delicious entrees. The area was filled with families enjoying the stunning sunset on the Mediterranean sea. Life does not get much better than that! We had so much fun with Leah and Elli, they are such a warm, loving couple.
They brought us back home, of course they would not allow us to take a taxi or pay for dinner! There is no sense arguing with an Israeli, you will never win :) M and I had hoped to go out after, but were quite tired and crashed early.
9/14/07
This morning we woke up and headed back to Yodvata for coffee and a smoothy and to get Z some breakfast. The beach was already filling up as most people plan to be there for the day. After breakfast, we walked up to Sheinkin street which is described as the Greenwich Village of Tel Aviv. It was really cute, but almost everything including cafes were closed. After a nice long walk, we headed down to the Old Port area again. There was a great play area for kids so we figured we would get her some swing and sand play time. After an hour or so of that, we sat at a shaded cafe for something cool to drink. It was very hot out already! We really loved this part of Tel Aviv and were sad that we had not stayed over here. Leah had said the night before that next time she will help us find a place. The area we are staying is ok, just not as lively and Israeli as we would like.
Elli had given us four possible locations for places with great hummus and middle eastern food a few blocks up from the beach. We wandered up there and on the way saw a Capoeira group performing on the deck right along the sea. The music was wonderful and the setting was spectacular. The lunch to follow was SOOO good. I can't believe I have to leave real hummus and falafel behind. Its just not right that you can't find it in Seattle! Z was ready for a nap by the time we finished lunch, so we brought her back to the hotel. Once she was in bed, M and I threw on our swimsuits and headed straight to the beach for a swim in the turquoise blue, warm sea. Ahhh, we were in heaven! After a good long swim we sat at a beach cafe (I mean a cafe in the sand, not just by the beach) for something cool to drink and some great people watching. I so wish we had more days here!
It is a little before 6pm and we are getting ready to see more family for Shabbat dinner. Its so nice to have so many wonderful people here to visit with. They really take such good care of us! Hopefully after dinner tonight, M and I will be awake enough for some moonlight drinks at the cafes that line the beach. We will do it! Its our last night here.
I love Israel and I am so sad we are leaving tomorrow. Two weeks here is just not long enough for me. I just have to make sure it is not too long before we come back! The passion, the struggles, the uniqueness of this place is like no place else in the world. I feel very at home here.
Writing this blog has helped me to create a written memory of our first family trip overseas, and M and Z's first trip to Israel. I know there will be many more to come. I love writing and sharing with you, but I am not able to just write brief updates, so I end up spending a great deal of time on the computer. My original issue with blogs like this is that you are taking time away from just enjoying the surroundings to be on the computer. For this reason, I am not sure how much I will write, if at all while in Italy. I will try to at least check occasionally and let you know where we are and what we are doing. We will see. Just don't want you to worry if you don't see anything on here for a bit. I am sure M will still write about the food, so you will at least know what we are eating!!
So, Shanah Tova, Shabbat Shalom, and Lehit Ra'ot from Israel. I hope I have the opportunity to come back many more times and that all of you are able to visit this amazing place at some point.
Lots of love,
Sarina
After I last wrote, we went to dinner for the first night of Rosh Hashannah at my cousin's in a suburb of Tel Aviv. When family and friends are in town, Israelis provide the royal treatment. They would not hear of us taking a cab, so a cousin came to get us and take us to the house where 20+ members of our family would have dinner with us. It was so fun to see family resemblances, meet cousins I had never met before and enjoy the new year with family in Israel. My family here all are on my dad's father's side. My grandpa Al passed away before I was born. He had many brothers and sisters. Some at dinner said it was 17 siblings in all. Not all survived childhood, some came to Israel and some came to the US. They were all from Bulgaria, so much of the food that night was similar to the Sephardic foods my mother's side of the family makes (they are from Greece and Turkey, also Sephardic Jews). I knew 5 or so of the family members there, the rest were all new to me. They welcomed M, my mom, Z and I with open arms and we talked politics and had the same discussions about who should sit where and who is doing what with their careers, etc that happen at a lifetime of Rosh Hashanah dinners at home. Z was a hit. She had so much fun, loved the food and entertained every one. Z is such a social being. Put her in a crowd and she shines. We were there past 11pm and by the time we left, Z was exhausted and asking to go to bed. She didn't get to sleep until almost midnight. We were all sleepy after such a wonderful night with family.
9/13/07- Thursday
Z was up bright and early at 7am. We thought we for sure she would sleep in, nope, not our girl! We went to Yodvata for breakfast. You would not believe what you get for around $10. You get an omelet, a few kinds of cheeses, yogurt, tahini, fresh baked bread, coffee and a smoothy of fresh fruit of your choice. It would be impossible for anyone to eat all of it! I used to love the smoothies from Yodvata and was so happy that Z, M and my mom shared my love of them. Z drank so much of the fresh mango one, we could not believe it.
After breakfast, we took Z to the beach to play in the warm Mediterranean water and the soft sand. We had so much fun! I love the beach and used to spend the entire day there! After some fun in the sun, M and I headed back to get ready to see more family. Z and my mom stayed home since Z was quite tired from so little sleep the night before. We went to another part of the families for late lunch. This was family from another of my grandfather's siblings. They prepared a huge Bulgarian feast for us. I had forgot to tell them that M is vegetarian and they felt terrible that they had prepared so many dishes with meat. Never mind that there was still a ton he could eat, they were beside themselves and I felt so bad! They found some vegetable schnitzel in the freezer and M loved it. Everyone was happy. I had only met the grandparents of this family before. The grandfather is my dad's first cousin, so its not like any of these people are distant relatives. We had such a nice visit with them, its hard to believe I had never met them before. They were sad we only had a few days left here and I promised it would not be another 14 years before we came back. We got home from their house around 5pm and had little time before some very close family friends came to get us.
Leah and Elli came to get us to take us back to their beautiful apartment near the beach. It would only be about a 30 minute walk down the beach from our hotel but with Z, it would have taken 2 hours. They live near the old Tel Aviv port which has turned into about 2 miles of long decks along the beach filled with huge outdoor cafes and shops. Elli is an amazing artist so before we walked down the deck area, we stopped into his studio to see all of his beautiful paintings. With more time, I am sure we would have bought one for our home. He is extremely talented! We walked down to the deck in time to watch the sun set. Z loved running around there and we finally felt like we had found the cool part of Tel Aviv. We sat down to an outstanding dinner of different salads and delicious entrees. The area was filled with families enjoying the stunning sunset on the Mediterranean sea. Life does not get much better than that! We had so much fun with Leah and Elli, they are such a warm, loving couple.
They brought us back home, of course they would not allow us to take a taxi or pay for dinner! There is no sense arguing with an Israeli, you will never win :) M and I had hoped to go out after, but were quite tired and crashed early.
9/14/07
This morning we woke up and headed back to Yodvata for coffee and a smoothy and to get Z some breakfast. The beach was already filling up as most people plan to be there for the day. After breakfast, we walked up to Sheinkin street which is described as the Greenwich Village of Tel Aviv. It was really cute, but almost everything including cafes were closed. After a nice long walk, we headed down to the Old Port area again. There was a great play area for kids so we figured we would get her some swing and sand play time. After an hour or so of that, we sat at a shaded cafe for something cool to drink. It was very hot out already! We really loved this part of Tel Aviv and were sad that we had not stayed over here. Leah had said the night before that next time she will help us find a place. The area we are staying is ok, just not as lively and Israeli as we would like.
Elli had given us four possible locations for places with great hummus and middle eastern food a few blocks up from the beach. We wandered up there and on the way saw a Capoeira group performing on the deck right along the sea. The music was wonderful and the setting was spectacular. The lunch to follow was SOOO good. I can't believe I have to leave real hummus and falafel behind. Its just not right that you can't find it in Seattle! Z was ready for a nap by the time we finished lunch, so we brought her back to the hotel. Once she was in bed, M and I threw on our swimsuits and headed straight to the beach for a swim in the turquoise blue, warm sea. Ahhh, we were in heaven! After a good long swim we sat at a beach cafe (I mean a cafe in the sand, not just by the beach) for something cool to drink and some great people watching. I so wish we had more days here!
It is a little before 6pm and we are getting ready to see more family for Shabbat dinner. Its so nice to have so many wonderful people here to visit with. They really take such good care of us! Hopefully after dinner tonight, M and I will be awake enough for some moonlight drinks at the cafes that line the beach. We will do it! Its our last night here.
I love Israel and I am so sad we are leaving tomorrow. Two weeks here is just not long enough for me. I just have to make sure it is not too long before we come back! The passion, the struggles, the uniqueness of this place is like no place else in the world. I feel very at home here.
Writing this blog has helped me to create a written memory of our first family trip overseas, and M and Z's first trip to Israel. I know there will be many more to come. I love writing and sharing with you, but I am not able to just write brief updates, so I end up spending a great deal of time on the computer. My original issue with blogs like this is that you are taking time away from just enjoying the surroundings to be on the computer. For this reason, I am not sure how much I will write, if at all while in Italy. I will try to at least check occasionally and let you know where we are and what we are doing. We will see. Just don't want you to worry if you don't see anything on here for a bit. I am sure M will still write about the food, so you will at least know what we are eating!!
So, Shanah Tova, Shabbat Shalom, and Lehit Ra'ot from Israel. I hope I have the opportunity to come back many more times and that all of you are able to visit this amazing place at some point.
Lots of love,
Sarina
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
9/11-9/12
Wow, I just read through that last post. Lots of typos! I was so tired when I wrote it but I really should have proofed before posting! My apologies to those who struggled to figure out what on earth I was saying. Ok, on to the last day and a half! I don't have a ton of time so it may be briefer than the rest. You may be very thankful for that!
9/11- Monday
Yesterday morning, we woke up, packed up our stuff and headed to the wonderful breakfast at Vered HaGalil. We checked out soon after and hit the road over to the Mediterranean Coast. We actually got right on the correct highway and did not have to turn around once! We were quite proud of ourselves. Pathetic, huh!
We drove straight across to Akko (some spell in Acre). It is an old port and fortress used by both Romans and Arabs. It has a beautiful old city with high walls and many historical sites. When I was here years ago, I remember the Souk there filled with middler eastern sweets. I am allergic to nuts, so I can't eat them. But M was quite excited. We wandered through the old city, along the walls, through tunnels, passed a huge courtyard and down to the sea wall. The old city is mainly Muslim, so there are a lot of pretty Mosques along the way. M picked up some sweets and we got some yummy pomegranate juice and headed back in the car to drive to Tel Aviv. We wanted to get to Tel Aviv in time for lunch and Z's nap. The drive down the coast is very pretty. From Akko to through Haifa, it is all traffic lights and there was quite a bit of traffic. On our drive through Haifa we could see the beautiful B'hai Temple up on the hill It is quite a spectacular site.
Past Haifa, the highway turns into more of a freeway, though still follows the coast line. I had been told by many that driving in Tel Aviv is even worse than Jerusalem, so I had drawn our route on the map the night before. Almost every street is one way and if you miss your turn, you will have to go quite out of your way. We started off by missing our freeway exit. Surprise, surprise, they were not labeled the same as they are on the map. We got off a few exits later and had to follow the map on the fly through absolutely insane drivers and poorly marked streets. My mom's main job was to try and keep Z quiet. She did an amazing job at it and although it was stressful, we only made on wrong turn and ended up at the hotel in one piece. We immediately decided we would be returning the car that day instead of keeping it until we leave Israel on Saturday. It was just too much to deal with with Z. She picks up on our stress and acts out accordingly. This of course makes us more stressed and it just is not necessary when for a small fee you can put your life in the hands of a taxi driver! Every taxi driver we have had here so far rants about the Mishugim (crazy people) driving here. One driver, after honking at the person rollerblading through traffic said, "they are all idiots. It never stops! One idiot just replaces the next." Oh how true!
Tel Aviv is a bustling busy city. There are some great things to see here, but most of the museums will be closed the rest of the week. The beach is beautiful though so we will have plenty of time to swim and play in the sand. Our main reason for spending 4 nights here is to see lots of family. We will be seeing family Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights here. They are all excited to see us, and us them. It will be great to spend Rosh Hashanah in Israel!
We are staying at the Metropolitan Suites which are part of the Metropolitan Hotel. The suites are great. We have a living room, two bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. There is a lot more space for us to relax in and it is very clean and modern. We have access to everything at the hotel next door. Right after we checked in, my phone rang and I had a hilarious conversation trying to figure out who I was talking to. After we established my English was much better than my Hebrew, we figured out that my phone had called this person and he was calling back to see who it was. Lynn and my dad had this phone when they were here, so I started by asking if they knew Howard and Lynn Behar. He said, of course, Howard is my cousin. I informed him that he was also my cousin then. He told me his grandfather was close with my dad and his grandfather's name was Moishe. Hurray! This was a cousin I had been trying to reach for the last week and had not been able to. In true wonderful Israeli style, he said we must meet, I must see the family, and how could he help us out. His name is Kfir and we plan to meet him and his family tomorrow. People here are so wonderful. You could be 10th cousins twice removed (never been sure what that means) and they would still do anything to welcome you and show you this country. It is hospitality unlike we have in the US. I can't wait to meet Kfir and put a face to the name. My phone was helping me out I guess!
We got Z down for her nap and M and I got to a few business items. Rosh Hashannah (Jewish New Year) starts tonight. Most stores and businesses will be closed Wednesday afternoon through Saturday. Rosh Hashannah ends Friday at sundown but then Shabbat starts. Many families go on holiday this time of year and get out of the cities. M and I took our laundry in right away so we could get it back before the holiday started. We found the Avis office, told them we would be returning the car early. We headed over to Nachalat Benyamin which is a pedestrian mall. On Tuesdays and Fridays, there is a craft market. There was some neat arts and crafts and a nice place to walk around. A few blocks over, is Carmel Market. It is much like Machene Yehuda in Jerusalem. M loved looking at all the produce, dairy, spices and sweets. He dreamed of being able to stop by there on the way home from work each day. Oh the meals we would eat! The market was quite busy as many people where shopping for the huge family meals in the days to come.
We headed back to the hotel for some play time with Z. My mom headed down to the beach. After some time settling in, it was time for dinner and we walked down to the beach promenade. We ate at Yodvata which is run by a Kibbutz in the southern part of Israel. They are known for their great fruit smoothies and yummy salads. We had a nice dinner with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea. I was quite exhausted last night, so we all crashed early.
9/12- Wednesday
We all slept until after 8am this morning and felt rested and calm. The breakfast at the hotel here is not nearly as good as our past two hotels, so we were a little disappointed. Z finally ate something besides pancakes though, so it was fine. M took off after breakfast to return the car. We could not be happier to get rid of it. My cousin Kfir could not believe we were driving around here with out a GPS. Hmmm...this seems to be a reoccurring message. Maybe we should have paid the $100 for it. Of course, that would take away the fun of getting lost every where we go!
We played in the room for a bit, picked up our laundry and then took a taxi to Old Jaffa. This was the original port of Israel and the holy land from ancient times. People would sail into this point, then head down Jaffa road (a path at the time) straight to the Jaffa Gate and in to Jerusalem. It is a beautiful old city. It is kept very clean and there are wonderful art galleries all around. Many of Israel's famous artists with installations around the world have galleries here. I bought a really beautiful necklace with a piece of ancient Roman glass in it. It is a beautiful blue color. If you are looking for high quality art and jewelry, Old Jaffa is the place to shop. After wandering around the narrow paths, we headed to our main destination, Aboulafia. Aboulafia is a bakery which has been around since the 1800's and makes these beautiful calzone like filled savory pastries. They have been baking them in the wood fired ovens right there for years. I heard about this place before I came here 14 years ago and it is still just as wonderful. We picked up several different types of pastries and headed somewhere shady to sit and eat. We ate well, including Z.
After lunch, we took a cab back to the hotel. It is about a 2 mile walk straight down the beach promenade from our hotel to Old Jaffa. With Z, we have to save our walking/carrying for the actual destination. It is quite hot out, so Z never would have made it if we walked. Many stores were closing as we headed back to the hotel. The roads were starting to calm as well since people were heading home for the holiday. We put Z down a little after 2pm and I slept for the 2 hours she napped. It was a nice rest for all.
I am about to post this and head up to get ready to go to our cousin's house for Rosh Hashanah. The last few days, everyone in Israel says "l'shanah tova" the english equivalent for a happy new year. There is nothing like being in a place where your religion is the one that is the majority. In the US, especially if you are not orthodox, your Jewish world is separate from your every day life. This is true even with a ton of family and many Jewish friends. Here, they are one in the same. My Jewish identity is part of my everyday life here. It feels so wonderful. I love it.
Tonight we are going to Dudi and Irit's house. Dudi's mother was my dad's father's sister. Does that make sense? I have not met Dudi and Irit, but Irit's sister in Shenka. I spent time with Shenka when I was here years ago. Shenka's daughter is Dina. Dina and her family took me in for many weekends when I was here for a year. I would come to Tel Aviv for the weekend and have a nice apartment to stay in. Dina would cook wonderful food and I could do laundry, watch TV, and go to the beach. It was like my home away from home while at the University in Jerusalem. Dina and her cousin Sabi (Irit's son) came to M and my wedding and we can't wait to see them and every one else tonight. Ok, M is probably wondering what happened to me and its time to get ready for tonight.
Shannah Tova and I will write again soon!
love,
Sarina
9/11- Monday
Yesterday morning, we woke up, packed up our stuff and headed to the wonderful breakfast at Vered HaGalil. We checked out soon after and hit the road over to the Mediterranean Coast. We actually got right on the correct highway and did not have to turn around once! We were quite proud of ourselves. Pathetic, huh!
We drove straight across to Akko (some spell in Acre). It is an old port and fortress used by both Romans and Arabs. It has a beautiful old city with high walls and many historical sites. When I was here years ago, I remember the Souk there filled with middler eastern sweets. I am allergic to nuts, so I can't eat them. But M was quite excited. We wandered through the old city, along the walls, through tunnels, passed a huge courtyard and down to the sea wall. The old city is mainly Muslim, so there are a lot of pretty Mosques along the way. M picked up some sweets and we got some yummy pomegranate juice and headed back in the car to drive to Tel Aviv. We wanted to get to Tel Aviv in time for lunch and Z's nap. The drive down the coast is very pretty. From Akko to through Haifa, it is all traffic lights and there was quite a bit of traffic. On our drive through Haifa we could see the beautiful B'hai Temple up on the hill It is quite a spectacular site.
Past Haifa, the highway turns into more of a freeway, though still follows the coast line. I had been told by many that driving in Tel Aviv is even worse than Jerusalem, so I had drawn our route on the map the night before. Almost every street is one way and if you miss your turn, you will have to go quite out of your way. We started off by missing our freeway exit. Surprise, surprise, they were not labeled the same as they are on the map. We got off a few exits later and had to follow the map on the fly through absolutely insane drivers and poorly marked streets. My mom's main job was to try and keep Z quiet. She did an amazing job at it and although it was stressful, we only made on wrong turn and ended up at the hotel in one piece. We immediately decided we would be returning the car that day instead of keeping it until we leave Israel on Saturday. It was just too much to deal with with Z. She picks up on our stress and acts out accordingly. This of course makes us more stressed and it just is not necessary when for a small fee you can put your life in the hands of a taxi driver! Every taxi driver we have had here so far rants about the Mishugim (crazy people) driving here. One driver, after honking at the person rollerblading through traffic said, "they are all idiots. It never stops! One idiot just replaces the next." Oh how true!
Tel Aviv is a bustling busy city. There are some great things to see here, but most of the museums will be closed the rest of the week. The beach is beautiful though so we will have plenty of time to swim and play in the sand. Our main reason for spending 4 nights here is to see lots of family. We will be seeing family Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights here. They are all excited to see us, and us them. It will be great to spend Rosh Hashanah in Israel!
We are staying at the Metropolitan Suites which are part of the Metropolitan Hotel. The suites are great. We have a living room, two bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. There is a lot more space for us to relax in and it is very clean and modern. We have access to everything at the hotel next door. Right after we checked in, my phone rang and I had a hilarious conversation trying to figure out who I was talking to. After we established my English was much better than my Hebrew, we figured out that my phone had called this person and he was calling back to see who it was. Lynn and my dad had this phone when they were here, so I started by asking if they knew Howard and Lynn Behar. He said, of course, Howard is my cousin. I informed him that he was also my cousin then. He told me his grandfather was close with my dad and his grandfather's name was Moishe. Hurray! This was a cousin I had been trying to reach for the last week and had not been able to. In true wonderful Israeli style, he said we must meet, I must see the family, and how could he help us out. His name is Kfir and we plan to meet him and his family tomorrow. People here are so wonderful. You could be 10th cousins twice removed (never been sure what that means) and they would still do anything to welcome you and show you this country. It is hospitality unlike we have in the US. I can't wait to meet Kfir and put a face to the name. My phone was helping me out I guess!
We got Z down for her nap and M and I got to a few business items. Rosh Hashannah (Jewish New Year) starts tonight. Most stores and businesses will be closed Wednesday afternoon through Saturday. Rosh Hashannah ends Friday at sundown but then Shabbat starts. Many families go on holiday this time of year and get out of the cities. M and I took our laundry in right away so we could get it back before the holiday started. We found the Avis office, told them we would be returning the car early. We headed over to Nachalat Benyamin which is a pedestrian mall. On Tuesdays and Fridays, there is a craft market. There was some neat arts and crafts and a nice place to walk around. A few blocks over, is Carmel Market. It is much like Machene Yehuda in Jerusalem. M loved looking at all the produce, dairy, spices and sweets. He dreamed of being able to stop by there on the way home from work each day. Oh the meals we would eat! The market was quite busy as many people where shopping for the huge family meals in the days to come.
We headed back to the hotel for some play time with Z. My mom headed down to the beach. After some time settling in, it was time for dinner and we walked down to the beach promenade. We ate at Yodvata which is run by a Kibbutz in the southern part of Israel. They are known for their great fruit smoothies and yummy salads. We had a nice dinner with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea. I was quite exhausted last night, so we all crashed early.
9/12- Wednesday
We all slept until after 8am this morning and felt rested and calm. The breakfast at the hotel here is not nearly as good as our past two hotels, so we were a little disappointed. Z finally ate something besides pancakes though, so it was fine. M took off after breakfast to return the car. We could not be happier to get rid of it. My cousin Kfir could not believe we were driving around here with out a GPS. Hmmm...this seems to be a reoccurring message. Maybe we should have paid the $100 for it. Of course, that would take away the fun of getting lost every where we go!
We played in the room for a bit, picked up our laundry and then took a taxi to Old Jaffa. This was the original port of Israel and the holy land from ancient times. People would sail into this point, then head down Jaffa road (a path at the time) straight to the Jaffa Gate and in to Jerusalem. It is a beautiful old city. It is kept very clean and there are wonderful art galleries all around. Many of Israel's famous artists with installations around the world have galleries here. I bought a really beautiful necklace with a piece of ancient Roman glass in it. It is a beautiful blue color. If you are looking for high quality art and jewelry, Old Jaffa is the place to shop. After wandering around the narrow paths, we headed to our main destination, Aboulafia. Aboulafia is a bakery which has been around since the 1800's and makes these beautiful calzone like filled savory pastries. They have been baking them in the wood fired ovens right there for years. I heard about this place before I came here 14 years ago and it is still just as wonderful. We picked up several different types of pastries and headed somewhere shady to sit and eat. We ate well, including Z.
After lunch, we took a cab back to the hotel. It is about a 2 mile walk straight down the beach promenade from our hotel to Old Jaffa. With Z, we have to save our walking/carrying for the actual destination. It is quite hot out, so Z never would have made it if we walked. Many stores were closing as we headed back to the hotel. The roads were starting to calm as well since people were heading home for the holiday. We put Z down a little after 2pm and I slept for the 2 hours she napped. It was a nice rest for all.
I am about to post this and head up to get ready to go to our cousin's house for Rosh Hashanah. The last few days, everyone in Israel says "l'shanah tova" the english equivalent for a happy new year. There is nothing like being in a place where your religion is the one that is the majority. In the US, especially if you are not orthodox, your Jewish world is separate from your every day life. This is true even with a ton of family and many Jewish friends. Here, they are one in the same. My Jewish identity is part of my everyday life here. It feels so wonderful. I love it.
Tonight we are going to Dudi and Irit's house. Dudi's mother was my dad's father's sister. Does that make sense? I have not met Dudi and Irit, but Irit's sister in Shenka. I spent time with Shenka when I was here years ago. Shenka's daughter is Dina. Dina and her family took me in for many weekends when I was here for a year. I would come to Tel Aviv for the weekend and have a nice apartment to stay in. Dina would cook wonderful food and I could do laundry, watch TV, and go to the beach. It was like my home away from home while at the University in Jerusalem. Dina and her cousin Sabi (Irit's son) came to M and my wedding and we can't wait to see them and every one else tonight. Ok, M is probably wondering what happened to me and its time to get ready for tonight.
Shannah Tova and I will write again soon!
love,
Sarina
Monday, September 10, 2007
9/8/07-9/10/07
We are having a wonderful trip and its hard to sit down at the end of a hard day of playing and eating and write. We have been exhausted each evening! My apologies for the delay in updates. Below you will find what we have been up to the last three days.
9/8 Shabbat
We were not going to drive anywhere on Shabbat, but traveling with Z has been quite challenging and although she has been a trooper, M and I wanted to do something kid related for her. After breakfast Saturday morning, M, Z and I headed off to the zoo. My mom stayed behind to go for a walk and rest. Z is a pretty easy going kiddo. As long as she is around other people, she is generally happy. On this trip, she has not wanted to be in her stroller at all. However, she does not want to walk either. Carrying her around in 90+ degrees has been challenging. She really just wants to stay in the hotel and play. She is fine when we are doing exactly what she wants, but sight seeing is not her idea of fun. M and I are not ones to run from one tourist site to the next when traveling, but generally we leave where we are staying in the morning and return late at night. Walking, hanging out in cafes, wandering through stores, seeing cool places, and heading off the beaten path. Zo is good for about one site a day and the rest she has to be dragged along kicking and screaming...I mean that literally. We had about 4 major tantrums total in the first 2 years and 3 months leading up to this trip. There have been minor meltdowns but nothing a little distraction didn't take care of in seconds. We have had a ton on this trip. M and I, being the first time parents we are, spend time wondering if this is because she is two or if it is because we are terrible parents who have dragged their little girl around the world so we can do what we want. We are trying to have a more balanced approach now of only taking her on one major outing a day. Other outings are for meals or to a park. It does help having my mom around so we can have some time for M and I to do the things we want to do. It is much harder than either of us anticipated. We read in our travel book Friday night that the zoo was open Saturday and decided to take her there to be around other kids and see the animals.
The Biblical Zoo is on the West side of Jerusalem. As I said, much of Jerusalem is at rest on Saturday and there was hardly anybody on the roads. It was actually our easiest driving in the city. It still took us 30 minutes to get there, several wrong turns along the way. The maps seem to be quite worthless here!!! We walked up to the entry just as it was about to open and we felt at home. It looked just like the entrance to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and there were lines of families much like ourselves ready to enjoy Shabbat with the animals. We saw a ton of monkeys, more types than we have at the zoo at home. Being the monkey that I am, I was in heaven! The distance between the visitors and the animals is much smaller than our zoos at home. I guess a less litigious society means more opportunities for fun. I was fine with this until we came to the cheetahs. They were a little too close for comfort for me. They were about 15-20 feet (M's estimate, not mine....I know I tend to exaggerate!) from us with a small ravine and a few electric wires separating us. One of the cheetahs flinched when M took a picture of him and it scared the crap out of me. It was quite a amazing to be right there and a little frightening at the same time. The elephants were super close too. It was a really amazing zoo with a very nice outdoor play area for kids. Z got some quality swing time on the big girl swing (a first) and was thrilled. While it seemed so crazy to have driven on Shabbat in Jerusalem, it was also a very relaxing and nice family outing. Z was so happy. It was worth it.
We got back from the zoo and my mom really wanted to go back to the Kotel. We headed to the old city while M and Z napped at the hotel. It was very quite in the Jewish quarter. Lots of families out for a stroll, people playing shesh-pesh (backgammon) in the courtyards and friends just chatting with each other. Since it was not prayer time, the Kotel itself was relatively uncrowded and we had a nice few minutes of quite reflection. I was quite exhausted so we walked back to the hotel. Its about an hour walk back through the arab shouk, out the Jaffa Gate and up King David street. We took a "short cut" through Yemin Moshe, the first neighborhood outside of the old city walls. No one moved outside the city walls until the 1860's. Its a beautiful little neighborhood. It was quite warm and humid out so we were beat by the time we got back. Zo was up though so there was no nap for me.
Saturday night is the end of Shabbat. Not much opens until about 8 or 9pm. Michael and I took off from the hotel around 7pm and wandered through Independence Park and up to Ben Yehuda. We walked around downtown and the close by neighborhoods trying to decide what we wanted to eat. We ended up eating huge falafels at Melach HaFalafel (Falafal King). They were good, definitely not the best we had eaten though. They hit the spot and we headed down to a bar to watch the city come alive with people pouring out to celebrate the end of Shabbat. The people kept pouring into the streets and it brought back memories of my fun nights in Jerusalem. As we were walking back to the hotel, we passed Kikar Zion or Zion Square. M got to see something that only happens here in Israel...a bunch of Orthodox Jews dancing to zionistic religious rave type music in the middle of the square. There were 30 or so boys and men dancing crazy to blaring music. It was fun to watch. Wished I could go join them, but being that women and men don't dance together (unless they are married) in very Orthodox Judaism, I just stood back and smiled at the silliness of it all. M was quite blown away by the contrasting cultures mixed into one.
It was a great last day in Jerusalem and we went to bed quite late. It was all worth it.
9/9- Sunday
We checked out of our hotel around 11:30 on Sunday, a little later than we planned. We figured we could make it out of Jerusalem with out getting lost again, but no! We only had about 20 minutes of detour this time before ending up on the right road. We had debated about which route we should take up north to the Galill (the region around the Sea of Galilee or Kineret in Hebrew). One route takes you from the northern tip of the Dead Sea through the Jordan river valley, others take you through the mountains. We had asked several people as we were slightly concerned about the safety of driving so far through the West Bank. Many assured us it was safe, so we took the Jordan Valley route which promised to be the most scenic. We stopped near the Dead Sea for gas, something to drink and the area roadside attraction, camels. The Bedouins (desert nomadic people) often hang out with their camels waiting for tourists who want to take a ride. We just wanted a look and a few pictures of Z next to the camels, so we gave the man 10 shekels (around $2.50). Z was quite taken by them. It was cute.
We got on the highway heading North and Z talked and talked at the top of her lungs for the entire remaining 2 hours of our drive. We reached Tiberias after passing by Kibbutz Degania, the first Kibbutz in Israel. We were at about nap time and had not even given Z lunch yet. Although M did give her her first candy bar (a whole one much to my shock) when we stopped to get gas. Maybe the sugar contributed to her kooky behavior. Tiberias is a resort town along the Kineret. Lots of hotels, etc. We did not even plan to stop as really it is like any other small resort town in the world. Our destination was a ranch/farm up in the hills on the northeast side of the Kineret, called Vered HaGalil (Rose of the Galil). This place is in that book of the top 1000 places you should visit before you die. It is a popular place with Israelis and everyone we told we were going there was impressed we had stumbled upon it. Thanks D! The highway we came into Tiberias on is suppose to continue around the sea and up the hill to our destination. Well, we tried once to stay on the highway and ended up on a different one. We turned around, went back to Tiberias and tried again. Nope, back on the same wrong highway. By this time, Z was a little nutty and we were all about to lose our minds. We had three maps and I can read Hebrew just fine and could not seem to find the right road. After our third time back to Tiberias, we decide we have to stop right away and get Z some lunch. We had no idea how long it would take us to find our place and figure at least if she had eaten, maybe she would pass out in the car. In Seattle, I have to drive with the windows down and the music blaring while tickling her feet to keep her awake the 20 minutes drive home from the Little Gym. Here, we are in the car for hours and she is wide awake talking as loud as possible while M and I are losing our minds trying to find the right road. A stop was definitely in order.
We stumbled into a little cafe where no one spoke English but the owner, who happened to be there. It was called Jovani's. The hebrew said Giovani's, so I am guessing the english sign was just spelled incorrectly. The owner was a very nice man, and helped us order some wonderful food. Again, little tiny place out of the tourist area, not expecting much. We ended up with one of the best meals yet. Huge greek salad, perfect ravioli and a yummy cheese toast for Z. We were all blown away by the food! After we were a little calmer, we asked for some directions to the highway we needed to be on. The owner gave us exact directions....hurray, we will finally be able to go the right way.
WRONG! We followed his directions exactly and ended up exactly back on the same wrong highway! Argh. Well, if you can't beat them, join them. We drove on that highway about 20 kilometers, took a right on the next highway and right again on the next one. We went in quite a roundabout way, probably 30 or so extra miles, but at least we finally made it to Vered HaGalil. Z had still not fallen asleep. We love her dearly, but at that point, we were less than thrilled with her mood. The guilt of knowing it was our fault for getting lunch in her so late and arriving at our hotel 3 hours late for her nap, made it even harder to deal with.
We had heard such amazing things about this place that at first we were like, what on earth got this place in the 1000 places to see before you die book! We were all tired and crabby. Quickly set up Z's pack and play item (its the coolest thing ever. It is made by Phil and Ted's. I think they make mainly high end strollers. It uses technology like tents with poles that snap together to form the pack and play. It only weighs about 6 pounds total and rolls up in its little bag to the size of a tent bag. We debated spending the money on it since we have a pack n play, but it has been essential on this trip so far. Not very many places would guarantee a crib for her and we couldn't imagine lugging around the big pack and play.) We got her in her crib and she was out in seconds. 5pm was quite late for a nap, but if we wanted her to make it until 9pm. she needed a little nap.
M and I drove up to Rosh Pina to the store. We just needed a little break to get our heart rates back to a normal level! We got back and woke Z up after an hour nap and took her to the little playground here at the hotel. Vered HaGalil sits high up above the Kineret. The view is spectacular, south to the kineret, east to the Golan Heights and West to Tzafat and the mountains. There is a farm here where they grow produce for the restaurant. There is a huge stable with 20 or so beautiful horses. There's a playground and a pool too. Each unit is a little cabin. Its rustic, but so relaxing after being in Jerusalem for a week. Within the first few hours, my mom saw a red fox run by and we spotted several Hyrax. They are a furry critter, around the size of a cat. We were told today that they are a close relative of the elephant! Hard to imagine, we will have to check that one on the internet but they sure are cute! After some play time, we had a nice relaxing dinner on the grounds and all were asleep by 9:30pm! Michael and I had to fight the urge to take the highway back to Tiberias just to see where the hell it comes out! Next time ;)
9/10- Monday
This morning we woke up refreshed and were able to appreciate the beauty and tranquility of Vered HaGalil. The sun was shining bright, the air warm and refreshing and the greenery soothing and spacious. We headed to the restaurant for the delicious Israeli breakfast. I remember eating mangos by the dozen here, but I had not yet had any on this trip. We all stuffed ourselves on the best mangos and watermelon we had ever had. It will make it hard to ever appreciate a mango at home! This is a tropical region and they grow a bounty of produce up here. It is really so much better than I can even describe. Z had her usual breakfast here of pancakes. I think she has had pancakes every day of our trip. Ugh, I am a little concerned about her nutrition on this trip, but two year olds are known for their finicky eating I guess.
After breakfast, we drove up the hills to the holy city of Tzafat. The four holy cities in Judaism are Jerusalem, Jericho, Tiberias and Tzafat. Tzafat is the highest city in Israel and known for being the center of Jewish mysticism since ancient times. The city is built on a hill and winding streets and stair cases are filled with historic sites, very old synagogues and artist workshops. There is a pedestrian promenade with spectacular views. I know, I am using so many adjectives, but its just hard to put into words the amount of history, beauty and passion of this country!
We went into a very old Sephardic synagogue that was started by Jews who arrived here after fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. Most of my family is Sephardic, so it is particularly of interest to me. Z really enjoyed the shall they gave her to cover her arms inside and did not want to leave! We wandered around trying to find another synagogue, but never were able to. We did find a toy store and got Z a few diversions though! We stopped in a cheese maker and sampled some cheeses made there and then headed to a cafe for lunch. The waitress and cook/owner were enthralled with Z. The owner offered to take her to get ice cream while we ate our lunch. NIce offer, but I needed to get some nutrition in her...of course the topping of the pizza hardly counted as nutrition. Sometimes I think this girl intends to survive on dairy products alone. Luckily, we are in a country rich with dairy!
We got back in time get Z down by 2pm for her nap, and for M and I to meet up with a tour guide for a little tyul (trip) around the Galil and Golan. Yigal Volitzky is an independent guide that Vered HaGalil contacted for us. This area is so beautiful and the roads so poorly labeled, that I convinced M to have us take a guided tour of the region. Boy is he glad we did! We road around for 3 hours in an open land rover exploring the area. Going on guided tours here is so different than in the US. They are so incredibly knowledgeable and can take you places you would never find or in this case, be able to get to alone.
Yigal drove us down to the area along the northern shores of the Galil (Kineret). This is where several rivers flow into the Kineret. It is extremely rich soil and we drove through streams and along rocky trails through orchards of all types. It was really a 4x4 foraging trip. We tried fresh wild mint of the plant, mangos right off the tree, wild blackberries, pomelos (similar to grapefruit), and some ancient tiny little apple that was from the plant that Jesus' crown of thorns was made from. We saw various kinds of dates growing, picked a lemon off the tree, saw olive trees, papyrus reeds, wild artichokes and many other native plants. Yigal pointed them all out.
We stopped along the way for a swim in one of the rivers. It was very hot today and they water was so clean and refreshing. I swam, clothes and all. We then hopped back in the gym up very bumpy trails and climbed up to the Golan Heights. As we continued up the hills, Yigal pointed out so many historical sites (both recent and ancient) along with settlements, farms, and provided a ton of geographical info. We learned where the pre-1967 Syrian border was and also crossed over the Syrian-African rift, which is the biggest crack or fault line on the planet. The rift runs all the way from Lake Victoria in Africa up through the Red Sea, the Dead Sea, the Kineret and continues up north. Millions of birds follow this path in their migration south in the fall and north in the spring. I guess in another month, this will be one of the top bird watching areas in the world. The highest point we climbed to today was the ancient synagogue Kanaf, from the Helenistic Era. It was one that had not been dug up and the ruin are what remain. They are amazing. This place is very famous but not even in our book. Its only reachable by a hiking or jeep. The view down to the Sea and all the mountains surrounding was worth the price of the 3 hour private tour alone (around $150). There were remains of columns with detailed carvings of symbols of Judaism. It is one of the oldest synagogues in Israel. At that location, we could see Lebanon off in the distant and were about six miles from the Syrian border. Once you spend time up here, learn the history (ancient and modern) and geography, you can see why this land is such an essential part of Israel's history, safety and well being.
I spent time up there looking for the wildlife present around here. There are wild boars (quite a pest I heard), Gazelles and other native creatures. I spotted a few more Hyrax, but that was it. We had a peaceful ride back to Vered HaGalil and were so grateful for Igal's amazing tour of the area. I am so glad we did it. Vered HaGalil is beautiful itself, but I really wanted M to get a taste of the amazing area we were in. He was quite pleased with the tastings along the way and really enjoyed the trip.
We got back, had a quick shower and headed up to Rosh Pina to pick up some provisions and find someplace to eat. We went to dinner in the old city of Rosh Pina at a place called Chocolata. It was next to an old synagogue on winding cobble stone streets. We sat in a beautiful courtyard outside an 18th century (I think...too lazy to go out to the car and get the info...will update if wrong) building built by Barn Rothchld. It was such a unique setting and the food was again spectacular. They make homemade truffles here and they looked amazing. I was so full from dinner, I had to pass. It was a great place though, off the beaten path. We were by far the only english speakers there...besides our lovely waiter.
We got back a few hours ago and got Z to bed at a decent hour. It was such an amazing day in a beautiful region. Tomorrow after breakfast, we will head to Tel Aviv. We will drive directly east from here to Akko, an arab port town built by the Romans. When we planned this trip, we didn't spend much time thinking of the historical connection between the Romans and the land of Israel. It seems they tie together in an interesting way. It will give us a different perspective of the greatness of the ruins of ancient Rome that we will see there. We will have the image of all the building they did here along with the massive destruction of places and massacres of people that happened here. It is amazing how such great progress of the ancient Romans led to such destruction in this part of the world. Really an interesting two places to visit together.
After Akko, we had hoped to stop in Haifa to see the B'hai Temple. Because Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) starts on Wednesday, we want to get to Tel Aviv early enough to visit some markets and get some errands done. The holiday starts on Wednesday evening, but most things will close early in the day Wednesday so people can get home and prepare. Things will be closed Thursday and Friday and then Shabbat starts Friday night. The old Jaffa port town will be open because it is mostly Arab, but besides that, not much will be going on. We will have time to visit family, relax on the beach and rest up for Rome!
More from Tel Aviv. Michael has already reserved the computer for tomorrow night, so I will write more when I can. We love and miss you all. We have lots of pictures already and will figure out how best to share in the next few days. Please excuse any typos, its very late and I am beat. I have a hard time proofing this time of night. Take care and be well! ooh, another fox just came bye!
Lila Tov!
9/8 Shabbat
We were not going to drive anywhere on Shabbat, but traveling with Z has been quite challenging and although she has been a trooper, M and I wanted to do something kid related for her. After breakfast Saturday morning, M, Z and I headed off to the zoo. My mom stayed behind to go for a walk and rest. Z is a pretty easy going kiddo. As long as she is around other people, she is generally happy. On this trip, she has not wanted to be in her stroller at all. However, she does not want to walk either. Carrying her around in 90+ degrees has been challenging. She really just wants to stay in the hotel and play. She is fine when we are doing exactly what she wants, but sight seeing is not her idea of fun. M and I are not ones to run from one tourist site to the next when traveling, but generally we leave where we are staying in the morning and return late at night. Walking, hanging out in cafes, wandering through stores, seeing cool places, and heading off the beaten path. Zo is good for about one site a day and the rest she has to be dragged along kicking and screaming...I mean that literally. We had about 4 major tantrums total in the first 2 years and 3 months leading up to this trip. There have been minor meltdowns but nothing a little distraction didn't take care of in seconds. We have had a ton on this trip. M and I, being the first time parents we are, spend time wondering if this is because she is two or if it is because we are terrible parents who have dragged their little girl around the world so we can do what we want. We are trying to have a more balanced approach now of only taking her on one major outing a day. Other outings are for meals or to a park. It does help having my mom around so we can have some time for M and I to do the things we want to do. It is much harder than either of us anticipated. We read in our travel book Friday night that the zoo was open Saturday and decided to take her there to be around other kids and see the animals.
The Biblical Zoo is on the West side of Jerusalem. As I said, much of Jerusalem is at rest on Saturday and there was hardly anybody on the roads. It was actually our easiest driving in the city. It still took us 30 minutes to get there, several wrong turns along the way. The maps seem to be quite worthless here!!! We walked up to the entry just as it was about to open and we felt at home. It looked just like the entrance to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle and there were lines of families much like ourselves ready to enjoy Shabbat with the animals. We saw a ton of monkeys, more types than we have at the zoo at home. Being the monkey that I am, I was in heaven! The distance between the visitors and the animals is much smaller than our zoos at home. I guess a less litigious society means more opportunities for fun. I was fine with this until we came to the cheetahs. They were a little too close for comfort for me. They were about 15-20 feet (M's estimate, not mine....I know I tend to exaggerate!) from us with a small ravine and a few electric wires separating us. One of the cheetahs flinched when M took a picture of him and it scared the crap out of me. It was quite a amazing to be right there and a little frightening at the same time. The elephants were super close too. It was a really amazing zoo with a very nice outdoor play area for kids. Z got some quality swing time on the big girl swing (a first) and was thrilled. While it seemed so crazy to have driven on Shabbat in Jerusalem, it was also a very relaxing and nice family outing. Z was so happy. It was worth it.
We got back from the zoo and my mom really wanted to go back to the Kotel. We headed to the old city while M and Z napped at the hotel. It was very quite in the Jewish quarter. Lots of families out for a stroll, people playing shesh-pesh (backgammon) in the courtyards and friends just chatting with each other. Since it was not prayer time, the Kotel itself was relatively uncrowded and we had a nice few minutes of quite reflection. I was quite exhausted so we walked back to the hotel. Its about an hour walk back through the arab shouk, out the Jaffa Gate and up King David street. We took a "short cut" through Yemin Moshe, the first neighborhood outside of the old city walls. No one moved outside the city walls until the 1860's. Its a beautiful little neighborhood. It was quite warm and humid out so we were beat by the time we got back. Zo was up though so there was no nap for me.
Saturday night is the end of Shabbat. Not much opens until about 8 or 9pm. Michael and I took off from the hotel around 7pm and wandered through Independence Park and up to Ben Yehuda. We walked around downtown and the close by neighborhoods trying to decide what we wanted to eat. We ended up eating huge falafels at Melach HaFalafel (Falafal King). They were good, definitely not the best we had eaten though. They hit the spot and we headed down to a bar to watch the city come alive with people pouring out to celebrate the end of Shabbat. The people kept pouring into the streets and it brought back memories of my fun nights in Jerusalem. As we were walking back to the hotel, we passed Kikar Zion or Zion Square. M got to see something that only happens here in Israel...a bunch of Orthodox Jews dancing to zionistic religious rave type music in the middle of the square. There were 30 or so boys and men dancing crazy to blaring music. It was fun to watch. Wished I could go join them, but being that women and men don't dance together (unless they are married) in very Orthodox Judaism, I just stood back and smiled at the silliness of it all. M was quite blown away by the contrasting cultures mixed into one.
It was a great last day in Jerusalem and we went to bed quite late. It was all worth it.
9/9- Sunday
We checked out of our hotel around 11:30 on Sunday, a little later than we planned. We figured we could make it out of Jerusalem with out getting lost again, but no! We only had about 20 minutes of detour this time before ending up on the right road. We had debated about which route we should take up north to the Galill (the region around the Sea of Galilee or Kineret in Hebrew). One route takes you from the northern tip of the Dead Sea through the Jordan river valley, others take you through the mountains. We had asked several people as we were slightly concerned about the safety of driving so far through the West Bank. Many assured us it was safe, so we took the Jordan Valley route which promised to be the most scenic. We stopped near the Dead Sea for gas, something to drink and the area roadside attraction, camels. The Bedouins (desert nomadic people) often hang out with their camels waiting for tourists who want to take a ride. We just wanted a look and a few pictures of Z next to the camels, so we gave the man 10 shekels (around $2.50). Z was quite taken by them. It was cute.
We got on the highway heading North and Z talked and talked at the top of her lungs for the entire remaining 2 hours of our drive. We reached Tiberias after passing by Kibbutz Degania, the first Kibbutz in Israel. We were at about nap time and had not even given Z lunch yet. Although M did give her her first candy bar (a whole one much to my shock) when we stopped to get gas. Maybe the sugar contributed to her kooky behavior. Tiberias is a resort town along the Kineret. Lots of hotels, etc. We did not even plan to stop as really it is like any other small resort town in the world. Our destination was a ranch/farm up in the hills on the northeast side of the Kineret, called Vered HaGalil (Rose of the Galil). This place is in that book of the top 1000 places you should visit before you die. It is a popular place with Israelis and everyone we told we were going there was impressed we had stumbled upon it. Thanks D! The highway we came into Tiberias on is suppose to continue around the sea and up the hill to our destination. Well, we tried once to stay on the highway and ended up on a different one. We turned around, went back to Tiberias and tried again. Nope, back on the same wrong highway. By this time, Z was a little nutty and we were all about to lose our minds. We had three maps and I can read Hebrew just fine and could not seem to find the right road. After our third time back to Tiberias, we decide we have to stop right away and get Z some lunch. We had no idea how long it would take us to find our place and figure at least if she had eaten, maybe she would pass out in the car. In Seattle, I have to drive with the windows down and the music blaring while tickling her feet to keep her awake the 20 minutes drive home from the Little Gym. Here, we are in the car for hours and she is wide awake talking as loud as possible while M and I are losing our minds trying to find the right road. A stop was definitely in order.
We stumbled into a little cafe where no one spoke English but the owner, who happened to be there. It was called Jovani's. The hebrew said Giovani's, so I am guessing the english sign was just spelled incorrectly. The owner was a very nice man, and helped us order some wonderful food. Again, little tiny place out of the tourist area, not expecting much. We ended up with one of the best meals yet. Huge greek salad, perfect ravioli and a yummy cheese toast for Z. We were all blown away by the food! After we were a little calmer, we asked for some directions to the highway we needed to be on. The owner gave us exact directions....hurray, we will finally be able to go the right way.
WRONG! We followed his directions exactly and ended up exactly back on the same wrong highway! Argh. Well, if you can't beat them, join them. We drove on that highway about 20 kilometers, took a right on the next highway and right again on the next one. We went in quite a roundabout way, probably 30 or so extra miles, but at least we finally made it to Vered HaGalil. Z had still not fallen asleep. We love her dearly, but at that point, we were less than thrilled with her mood. The guilt of knowing it was our fault for getting lunch in her so late and arriving at our hotel 3 hours late for her nap, made it even harder to deal with.
We had heard such amazing things about this place that at first we were like, what on earth got this place in the 1000 places to see before you die book! We were all tired and crabby. Quickly set up Z's pack and play item (its the coolest thing ever. It is made by Phil and Ted's. I think they make mainly high end strollers. It uses technology like tents with poles that snap together to form the pack and play. It only weighs about 6 pounds total and rolls up in its little bag to the size of a tent bag. We debated spending the money on it since we have a pack n play, but it has been essential on this trip so far. Not very many places would guarantee a crib for her and we couldn't imagine lugging around the big pack and play.) We got her in her crib and she was out in seconds. 5pm was quite late for a nap, but if we wanted her to make it until 9pm. she needed a little nap.
M and I drove up to Rosh Pina to the store. We just needed a little break to get our heart rates back to a normal level! We got back and woke Z up after an hour nap and took her to the little playground here at the hotel. Vered HaGalil sits high up above the Kineret. The view is spectacular, south to the kineret, east to the Golan Heights and West to Tzafat and the mountains. There is a farm here where they grow produce for the restaurant. There is a huge stable with 20 or so beautiful horses. There's a playground and a pool too. Each unit is a little cabin. Its rustic, but so relaxing after being in Jerusalem for a week. Within the first few hours, my mom saw a red fox run by and we spotted several Hyrax. They are a furry critter, around the size of a cat. We were told today that they are a close relative of the elephant! Hard to imagine, we will have to check that one on the internet but they sure are cute! After some play time, we had a nice relaxing dinner on the grounds and all were asleep by 9:30pm! Michael and I had to fight the urge to take the highway back to Tiberias just to see where the hell it comes out! Next time ;)
9/10- Monday
This morning we woke up refreshed and were able to appreciate the beauty and tranquility of Vered HaGalil. The sun was shining bright, the air warm and refreshing and the greenery soothing and spacious. We headed to the restaurant for the delicious Israeli breakfast. I remember eating mangos by the dozen here, but I had not yet had any on this trip. We all stuffed ourselves on the best mangos and watermelon we had ever had. It will make it hard to ever appreciate a mango at home! This is a tropical region and they grow a bounty of produce up here. It is really so much better than I can even describe. Z had her usual breakfast here of pancakes. I think she has had pancakes every day of our trip. Ugh, I am a little concerned about her nutrition on this trip, but two year olds are known for their finicky eating I guess.
After breakfast, we drove up the hills to the holy city of Tzafat. The four holy cities in Judaism are Jerusalem, Jericho, Tiberias and Tzafat. Tzafat is the highest city in Israel and known for being the center of Jewish mysticism since ancient times. The city is built on a hill and winding streets and stair cases are filled with historic sites, very old synagogues and artist workshops. There is a pedestrian promenade with spectacular views. I know, I am using so many adjectives, but its just hard to put into words the amount of history, beauty and passion of this country!
We went into a very old Sephardic synagogue that was started by Jews who arrived here after fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. Most of my family is Sephardic, so it is particularly of interest to me. Z really enjoyed the shall they gave her to cover her arms inside and did not want to leave! We wandered around trying to find another synagogue, but never were able to. We did find a toy store and got Z a few diversions though! We stopped in a cheese maker and sampled some cheeses made there and then headed to a cafe for lunch. The waitress and cook/owner were enthralled with Z. The owner offered to take her to get ice cream while we ate our lunch. NIce offer, but I needed to get some nutrition in her...of course the topping of the pizza hardly counted as nutrition. Sometimes I think this girl intends to survive on dairy products alone. Luckily, we are in a country rich with dairy!
We got back in time get Z down by 2pm for her nap, and for M and I to meet up with a tour guide for a little tyul (trip) around the Galil and Golan. Yigal Volitzky is an independent guide that Vered HaGalil contacted for us. This area is so beautiful and the roads so poorly labeled, that I convinced M to have us take a guided tour of the region. Boy is he glad we did! We road around for 3 hours in an open land rover exploring the area. Going on guided tours here is so different than in the US. They are so incredibly knowledgeable and can take you places you would never find or in this case, be able to get to alone.
Yigal drove us down to the area along the northern shores of the Galil (Kineret). This is where several rivers flow into the Kineret. It is extremely rich soil and we drove through streams and along rocky trails through orchards of all types. It was really a 4x4 foraging trip. We tried fresh wild mint of the plant, mangos right off the tree, wild blackberries, pomelos (similar to grapefruit), and some ancient tiny little apple that was from the plant that Jesus' crown of thorns was made from. We saw various kinds of dates growing, picked a lemon off the tree, saw olive trees, papyrus reeds, wild artichokes and many other native plants. Yigal pointed them all out.
We stopped along the way for a swim in one of the rivers. It was very hot today and they water was so clean and refreshing. I swam, clothes and all. We then hopped back in the gym up very bumpy trails and climbed up to the Golan Heights. As we continued up the hills, Yigal pointed out so many historical sites (both recent and ancient) along with settlements, farms, and provided a ton of geographical info. We learned where the pre-1967 Syrian border was and also crossed over the Syrian-African rift, which is the biggest crack or fault line on the planet. The rift runs all the way from Lake Victoria in Africa up through the Red Sea, the Dead Sea, the Kineret and continues up north. Millions of birds follow this path in their migration south in the fall and north in the spring. I guess in another month, this will be one of the top bird watching areas in the world. The highest point we climbed to today was the ancient synagogue Kanaf, from the Helenistic Era. It was one that had not been dug up and the ruin are what remain. They are amazing. This place is very famous but not even in our book. Its only reachable by a hiking or jeep. The view down to the Sea and all the mountains surrounding was worth the price of the 3 hour private tour alone (around $150). There were remains of columns with detailed carvings of symbols of Judaism. It is one of the oldest synagogues in Israel. At that location, we could see Lebanon off in the distant and were about six miles from the Syrian border. Once you spend time up here, learn the history (ancient and modern) and geography, you can see why this land is such an essential part of Israel's history, safety and well being.
I spent time up there looking for the wildlife present around here. There are wild boars (quite a pest I heard), Gazelles and other native creatures. I spotted a few more Hyrax, but that was it. We had a peaceful ride back to Vered HaGalil and were so grateful for Igal's amazing tour of the area. I am so glad we did it. Vered HaGalil is beautiful itself, but I really wanted M to get a taste of the amazing area we were in. He was quite pleased with the tastings along the way and really enjoyed the trip.
We got back, had a quick shower and headed up to Rosh Pina to pick up some provisions and find someplace to eat. We went to dinner in the old city of Rosh Pina at a place called Chocolata. It was next to an old synagogue on winding cobble stone streets. We sat in a beautiful courtyard outside an 18th century (I think...too lazy to go out to the car and get the info...will update if wrong) building built by Barn Rothchld. It was such a unique setting and the food was again spectacular. They make homemade truffles here and they looked amazing. I was so full from dinner, I had to pass. It was a great place though, off the beaten path. We were by far the only english speakers there...besides our lovely waiter.
We got back a few hours ago and got Z to bed at a decent hour. It was such an amazing day in a beautiful region. Tomorrow after breakfast, we will head to Tel Aviv. We will drive directly east from here to Akko, an arab port town built by the Romans. When we planned this trip, we didn't spend much time thinking of the historical connection between the Romans and the land of Israel. It seems they tie together in an interesting way. It will give us a different perspective of the greatness of the ruins of ancient Rome that we will see there. We will have the image of all the building they did here along with the massive destruction of places and massacres of people that happened here. It is amazing how such great progress of the ancient Romans led to such destruction in this part of the world. Really an interesting two places to visit together.
After Akko, we had hoped to stop in Haifa to see the B'hai Temple. Because Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) starts on Wednesday, we want to get to Tel Aviv early enough to visit some markets and get some errands done. The holiday starts on Wednesday evening, but most things will close early in the day Wednesday so people can get home and prepare. Things will be closed Thursday and Friday and then Shabbat starts Friday night. The old Jaffa port town will be open because it is mostly Arab, but besides that, not much will be going on. We will have time to visit family, relax on the beach and rest up for Rome!
More from Tel Aviv. Michael has already reserved the computer for tomorrow night, so I will write more when I can. We love and miss you all. We have lots of pictures already and will figure out how best to share in the next few days. Please excuse any typos, its very late and I am beat. I have a hard time proofing this time of night. Take care and be well! ooh, another fox just came bye!
Lila Tov!
Friday, September 7, 2007
9/7/07
Today is a busy day in Jerusalem. It is the morning before Shabbat starts and everyone is bustling about trying to shop for food and get ready for Shabbos. This is a big Shabbat as it is the last one before the new year (Rosh Hashanah). Shabbat in Jerusalem is like nothing else. The city stops. No busses, no cars or taxis. No stores or restaurants are open. City life stops so that everyone can welcome the sabbath with their loved ones. Friday night is usually spent going to Shabbat services followed by a special meal and Saturday is spent relaxing, eating, and visiting with friends and family. My favorite thing to do on Shabbat is have a picnic in the park. I am very much looking forward to this tomorrow.
After breakfast, we drove up to Mt. Scopus where Hebrew University sits. This is where I lived for a year! It was so fun to go see my old campus, my dorm and the grassy knoll where we spent most of our shabbat days hanging out and avoiding studying. Z had fun running around the grassy knoll and I can't wait to send the pictures out to my old friends from that year. It was such an intense experience that year, filled with adventures and amazing friends. Its not just like visiting your old college campus. It was really a neat experience for me today. The lookout from where campus lies is beautiful. It faces south across the city with a view of the old city.
Z wanted more time playing in the grass, so we headed to another park on the other side of the city. We went to the Tayelet or Haas Promenade. This is probably the most stunning view point in Jerusalem. It faces North with a panoramic view of the entire city. They were setting up for a wedding there, I am guessing not a Jewish one since it is Shabbat and the High Holidays. There was middle eastern Enigma like music playing and we all sat mesmerized by our surroundings. Z was able to run around and enjoyed the view too.
It was time for lunch so we went back down to Emek Refa'im and had lunch at a nice outdoor cafe. It was getting late and we needed to shop for our Shabbat picnic. Now, having lived here for a year, I know better than to wait until 2pm on Friday to shop for Shabbat. I know it is a madhouse. Not to mention the streets packed with people and cars finishing up their last minute Shabbat errands. It is basically rush hour. You know how Ikea is on a weekend? That is what the stores are like this time of day. Z was totally losing it. It was quite hot out and she did not want to be in the stroller or wait outside with my mom. So M stayed out with her and I pushed and shoved my way around the supermarket getting pita, salads, hummus and fruit for our picnic. You have to be quite aggressive sometimes with your shopping cart or you will never get down the narrow aisles. I always felt so rude being assertive this way, but after being elbowed, pushed and shoved by old ladies, I learned this is just the way you do it here. As long as you say Slicha (both excuse me and sorry...convenient, huh?) it seems to be ok.
I made it out of the store, Z screamed on the walk back to the car and we made it back to the hotel with very little sanity left. Z has been sleeping for a while now and our heart rates seem to be returning to normal. Although I know I should have shopped first thing this morning, I did have that familiar sense of the chaos before the quietness of Shabbat which is a very neat feeling.
We thought about trying to get set up to go to dinner with a family in the old city for Shabbat, but we decided we were too old and had too many of our own requirements (toddler, vegetarian, bedtimes) to have Jeff Seidel hook us up (if you have been to Jerusalem, you have most likely heard of him. If not, google him. Its quite amazing how many people he manages to arrange shabbat dinners for.) We decided to have the nice dinner here at the hotel. There are tons of families staying here so it is very kid friendly. I am not expecting the most extravagant culinary experience, but I have rarely had bad food in Israel and expect it to be fun and lively.
Tomorrow we will relax. We will hang out, go for walks, maybe go for a swim in the pool and generally engage in the true spirit of Shabbat. I must say, M and I often talk about how great it would be to create a day of no errands, no email, no chores on Saturday and just have it be our day of rest and relaxation. This is Shabbat in Jerusalem. It is so easy when you are here, because everyone else is doing the same thing and the city just shuts down to everyday life. It is a special day and is treated as such. It is hard to do at home when you get caught up in life. It is a unique weekly event built right into our religion and culture. Religious or not, there is something to be said for taking some part of your week to be different from the rest. I am looking forward to the next 24 hours.
Do not expect a post tomorrow, as I will be partaking in the specialness of the day. On Sunday morning, we will head up north and stay at Vered HaGalil (a farm/ranch with guest cottages) near the Sea of Gallilee. It is beautiful up there. Very lush and full of parks and greenery. The Jordan river runs up there and there are some great towns to visit for both historical sites and pure beauty. I am not sure if we will have wireless up there, but we might as this is an extremely high tech country. If we do not, I will write each day and post it all when we get to Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
I tried to reply to some of you who commented and the emails bounced (tofumom and Barbara). Just wanted to say thanks for reading and glad you are enjoying the details of our journey. Its fun to share.
I hope you can feel the serenity there that will encompass this city shortly.
Shabbat Shalom.
After breakfast, we drove up to Mt. Scopus where Hebrew University sits. This is where I lived for a year! It was so fun to go see my old campus, my dorm and the grassy knoll where we spent most of our shabbat days hanging out and avoiding studying. Z had fun running around the grassy knoll and I can't wait to send the pictures out to my old friends from that year. It was such an intense experience that year, filled with adventures and amazing friends. Its not just like visiting your old college campus. It was really a neat experience for me today. The lookout from where campus lies is beautiful. It faces south across the city with a view of the old city.
Z wanted more time playing in the grass, so we headed to another park on the other side of the city. We went to the Tayelet or Haas Promenade. This is probably the most stunning view point in Jerusalem. It faces North with a panoramic view of the entire city. They were setting up for a wedding there, I am guessing not a Jewish one since it is Shabbat and the High Holidays. There was middle eastern Enigma like music playing and we all sat mesmerized by our surroundings. Z was able to run around and enjoyed the view too.
It was time for lunch so we went back down to Emek Refa'im and had lunch at a nice outdoor cafe. It was getting late and we needed to shop for our Shabbat picnic. Now, having lived here for a year, I know better than to wait until 2pm on Friday to shop for Shabbat. I know it is a madhouse. Not to mention the streets packed with people and cars finishing up their last minute Shabbat errands. It is basically rush hour. You know how Ikea is on a weekend? That is what the stores are like this time of day. Z was totally losing it. It was quite hot out and she did not want to be in the stroller or wait outside with my mom. So M stayed out with her and I pushed and shoved my way around the supermarket getting pita, salads, hummus and fruit for our picnic. You have to be quite aggressive sometimes with your shopping cart or you will never get down the narrow aisles. I always felt so rude being assertive this way, but after being elbowed, pushed and shoved by old ladies, I learned this is just the way you do it here. As long as you say Slicha (both excuse me and sorry...convenient, huh?) it seems to be ok.
I made it out of the store, Z screamed on the walk back to the car and we made it back to the hotel with very little sanity left. Z has been sleeping for a while now and our heart rates seem to be returning to normal. Although I know I should have shopped first thing this morning, I did have that familiar sense of the chaos before the quietness of Shabbat which is a very neat feeling.
We thought about trying to get set up to go to dinner with a family in the old city for Shabbat, but we decided we were too old and had too many of our own requirements (toddler, vegetarian, bedtimes) to have Jeff Seidel hook us up (if you have been to Jerusalem, you have most likely heard of him. If not, google him. Its quite amazing how many people he manages to arrange shabbat dinners for.) We decided to have the nice dinner here at the hotel. There are tons of families staying here so it is very kid friendly. I am not expecting the most extravagant culinary experience, but I have rarely had bad food in Israel and expect it to be fun and lively.
Tomorrow we will relax. We will hang out, go for walks, maybe go for a swim in the pool and generally engage in the true spirit of Shabbat. I must say, M and I often talk about how great it would be to create a day of no errands, no email, no chores on Saturday and just have it be our day of rest and relaxation. This is Shabbat in Jerusalem. It is so easy when you are here, because everyone else is doing the same thing and the city just shuts down to everyday life. It is a special day and is treated as such. It is hard to do at home when you get caught up in life. It is a unique weekly event built right into our religion and culture. Religious or not, there is something to be said for taking some part of your week to be different from the rest. I am looking forward to the next 24 hours.
Do not expect a post tomorrow, as I will be partaking in the specialness of the day. On Sunday morning, we will head up north and stay at Vered HaGalil (a farm/ranch with guest cottages) near the Sea of Gallilee. It is beautiful up there. Very lush and full of parks and greenery. The Jordan river runs up there and there are some great towns to visit for both historical sites and pure beauty. I am not sure if we will have wireless up there, but we might as this is an extremely high tech country. If we do not, I will write each day and post it all when we get to Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
I tried to reply to some of you who commented and the emails bounced (tofumom and Barbara). Just wanted to say thanks for reading and glad you are enjoying the details of our journey. Its fun to share.
I hope you can feel the serenity there that will encompass this city shortly.
Shabbat Shalom.
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