Tallinn Christmas Market...

The Christmas Market was small, but we enjoyed it. The booths sold a variety of local crafts and I came home loaded up with ceramic Christmas decorations, wooden spoons and amber hedgehogs.It was interesting talking to an American at the market who grew up on a cattle farm in Colorado. He blamed the spread of corporate farming in the US for his inability to afford to farm as his forefathers had. After researching his options, he moved to Estonia where he now owns a farm with 1,000 sheep.

The setting was lovely with a giant tree in the center of Town Hall Square; there is some documentation that suggests that Tallinn actually had the first decorated Christmas tree in the world in 1441. I wish I could take credit for taking this wonderful photo, but it was actually shot by our friend Darren.

It was quite entertaining watching teenagers dressed in ski jackets dancing to songs from Grease on the main stage. Father Christmas met  kids in a small cottage, then came onto stage to sing some songs.

A Beautiful Medieval City...

It has taken six years, but James and I finally went on our first AWC trip together. As you can see, we were clearly not alone in our excitement to visit Tallinn, Estonia, as this trip was the most popular that the club has hosted in years. In fact, it was so popular that our group of 33 had to be split into two separate hotels. Of course, we joked that all the cool people were at our hotel; the bummer is that the only time we saw the rest of the group was during the group tour on the third day when we met up at this viewpoint for a photo.

We had made our way to this viewpoint with a few other couples earlier in the weekend. The Old Town is so well preserved that it is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. There was a light dusting of snow over the city when we first arrived, which added to its fairy-tale charm, but it rained much of the rest of the weekend.

A Successful Panto...

Another very funny scene was when Aladdin (played by a girl, which is another panto tradition), his mother, his brother and a lesser genie used magic carpets to “fly” to rescue the captured princess.

Two of the shows star’s were Abanazer (the villian, who was perfectly cast) and the Genie. James had actually auditioned for the Genie, who was fashioned after Austin Powers, but this Dutch fellow was better suited. After seeing how much fun everyone had, I made the mistake of saying that I’d consider auditioning for a small part next year.

Kung Gets Mangled...

 This was my favorite scene, which starred Kung and Foo as well as the Dame (check out that costume!)

First, Jimmy got wet when he opened up the Hotpant washing machine.

Then he got put into the Mangle.

I didn’t have any inside information, so was thoroughly surprised by the life-size cutout of Jimmy. Too funny!

Foo Gets Washed...

This entire scene was hysterical. Foo climbed into the Hotpant washing machine and started spinning around.

When it opened, out popped a shrunken version of Foo, played by Katy’s 6-year-old brother Danny.

Ashlynn Loves Dancing...

Ashlynn really enjoyed dancing with her friends Ellie and Katy in the choir. This version of Aladdin was set in China rather than the Middle East, which should help to explain their costumes.

The kids did a great job, especially considering how demanding the schedule was over that weekend in early December. In addition to Friday night’s dress rehearsal (during which Ashlynn’s bike was stolen from a light rail station in Voorburg), they performed the two-hour show twice on both Saturday and Sunday in front of several sold-out crowds. I came back for Saturday’s evening show; it was great just getting to enjoy it without having to take photos.

Working Hard...

Singing and Dancing to Dolly Parton’s Nine to Five

Kung + Foo = Slapstick

Kung and Foo were definitely the slapstick portion of the show. Here they are knocking themselves out.

Veronica had a bit part with three lines that allowed her to crack a joke with her dad.

Before the Big Show...

Back in June, Jimmy and Veronica auditioned for a speaking part in Aladdin, the Anglo American Theatre Group’s winter panto (a typical British musical-comedy for families featuring cross-dressing, slapstick and sexual innuendo). While Veronica didn’t get an official part, Jimmy got the role of Kung, part of a comic duo of cops. Here he is before the show with Foo.

Veronica and Ashlynn were both in the teen choir, which meant that they sang and danced in several scenes. The time commitment to be part of the panto was pretty high, but they all enjoyed it. I was lucky enough to be invited to watch the dress rehearsal so I could take photos to share with the cast.

Security in Israel...

Soldiers at the Zion Gate of Old Jerusalem

A Torah and an Uzi in the
Arab Quarter of Old Jerusalem

We had a 2 a.m. wake-up call to head to the airport. Unlike other airports, luggage is put into the bomb scanners just after entering. I was the only one in our group who had the thrill of being sent to the secondary search area. My anxiety grew as I saw suitcases being completely emptied by security; I dreaded having to repack when I was barely awake. Luckily, it was painless. I opened my suitcase and was asked if I’d bought any pottery. I said I’d bought two plates. After answering where I’d bought them, I was released to check in for my flight and go through the regular metal detectors at all airports. Having read about Israeli security for years, it was interesting seeing it first hand.

Day 6: Love that Mud!

The Opposite Shore is Jordan

The squishy mud on the bottom made it hard to walk, but after watching other people slathering themselves with mud, we had to try it. Andrea and I went to a shallow area and covered our bodies, except our faces, with the black mud that is rich in minerals. Benny followed us down to the water to take some photos, but didn’t stick around to capture how silly we looked when we were fully covered. Luckily there were good showers to rinse off all that salt and mud afterwards. What a great ending to our fantastic week!

Day 6: Lowest Point on Earth...

We ended the tour with a stop at the Dead Sea, whose surface is the lowest spot on Earth at 1,388 feet below sea level. With a salinity level of 31.5%, it’s 8.6 times saltier than the ocean. Unfortunately, the Lowest Bar in the World was closed when we arrived at the beach late in the afternoon.

These instructions didn’t exactly build confidence when walking down to the water, but didn’t stop us.

Marijke and Batya decided not to join us and Al took some convincing, but Linda, Andrea and I were excited to try floating in the Dead Sea. It felt cold when we first entered, but warmed up quickly. We walked out a little ways, sat down and were instantly floating. It was awesome! Whoever would have thought that one of the highpoints of the trip would have been a trip to the lowest point?

Day 6: Dead Sea Scrolls...

Next we went to a nature preserve with the intent of hiking to a waterfall. Despite beautiful weather, the trails were closed due to a risk of flash flooding (apparently it rained for four hours in Jerasulem today). Instead, we spent some extra time at the archaeological site at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, which we’d seen a small sample of at the Israel Museum yesterday. Saw the mouth of one of the caves where some of the scrolls were found; bummer that the hiking paths to the caves were also closed due to flash flood warnings.

Benny was a Fantastic Driver!

Day 6: Exploring Masada...

The former palace, originally surrounded by 4,300 feet of 12-foot high casement walls, was built in 20 BC for King Herod on top of a hill overlooking the Dead Sea. In 70 AD, Jewish “zealots ” fought off the Roman forces for between 1-3 years; once the wall was finally breached, the approximately 1,000 Jews committed murder/suicide rather than becoming slaves. Previously, they were viewed as heroes, but now they are thought of as rebels. Archaeologists have gone to great efforts to mark the ruins with lines delineating original construction below the line and reconstruction above, which I really appreciated since so many ruins don’t mark reconstructions.

Apparently Even the Birds are Jewish--
This one Appears to be Wearing a Yarmulke

Original Thermal Bath House

Day 6: Into the Desert...

Today was a fun last day in Israel with the best weather we had all week. Benny drove us to the desert, crossing back and forth between the West Bank and Israel (there was an occasional checkpoint between the two). We saw some Bedouin camps from the bus, but didn’t manage to get a photo. First we went to Masada National Park, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Before we went up, Batya asked if I wanted to hike down the 1,300 feet, but I wimped out and said I’d take the cable car; it seemed very strange to have to travel so high to get back up to sea level.

Remains of Roman Camp

The Dead Sea in the Distance
and the Old Sea Floor in the Foreground

Day 5: Israel Museum...

1:50 Scale Model of Jerusalem in the 
late 2nd Temple Period in 66 AD

Shrine of the Book Houses the Dead Sea Scrolls

Next, we visited the Israel Museum, which thankfully was uplifting. There are four complete synagogue interiors, Jewish art, Israeli art and a large selection of European art including Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Monet (which apparently were all donated). It was a very impressive museum and a nice distraction.

After dinner at the hotel, Andrea and I took a bus back into town to a pedestrian shopping area. Unfortunately, many of the shops were already closed, but I did manage to find some Roman glass earrings. Found the bar area, but decided to head back instead; if only we’d known that we’d have to wait 45 minutes for a bus, we would have accepted one of the offers for a free shot of whisky made by employees outside several of the bars. Later night than we’d expected, but we always felt safe or would have hopped into a taxi.

Day 5: Holocaust Museum...

Knesset Menorah, a 15-foot menorah that
 stands across from the Israeli parliament

Next up was Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. The construction of the museum, built in 2005, was very interesting and there was an overwhelming amount to read/watch/see. The hardest parts to visit were the Hall of Names (a large circular room containing the names and histories of all the victims) and the Childrens’ Memorial (where the names of the 1.5 million children murdered are read in a darkened hall illuminated by four candles reflected endlessly in mirrors). Needless to say, it was a very emotional visit. I literally felt the weight of sadness on my shoulders.

We had lunch at the museum; the room was actually split for dairy on the left and meat on the right. The salad bar was on the right, so clearly not designed with vegetarians in mind; I was happy because it was chockful of yummy veggies. For some strange reason possibly connected to the Sabbath, the only hot veggies offered at our hotel last night were either canned or frozen.

Day 5: Dome of the Rock...

We started the day with a 30-minute wait to go through security before viewing up close the Dome of the Rock (a shrine built in 691AD where Mohammed ascended to Heaven). The shrine isn’t open to the public, but is very beautiful from the outside. It just happens to be built on the spot that the 1st and 2nd “Temple of the Mount” were built (apparently a holy spot since around 500 BC--all that remains is the Western/Wailing Wall, hence its importance).

Afterwards, we were hoping to visit a synagogue that was recently renovated, but our timing was off. While a few of our group stopped for coffee, Andrea and I wandered around. We ended up in a wine shop; it was great fun laughing with the British owner while buying some Israeli wine to take back to the hotel.

Day 4: Israeli Folk Dancing Show...

After dinner, we took a bus to the Jerusalem YMCA for an Israeli folk dancing show. The beautiful art deco building was built in 1933 and was a great location for the show. At the end, the audience was invited up to dance to Hava Nagila. I wimped out and stayed seated with the rest of our group except for Marijke, who immediately jumped up and had a blast.


Marijke was born in Amsterdam in May 1945, just days after the liberation. How interesting it was to hear the stories of how her Jewish mother was able to avoid being shipped off to a concentration camp. She kept us entertained with many funny stories about her various husbands and her years as a linguist for the FBI.

Day 4: Church of the Holy Sepulchre...

Next we visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a very holy pilgrimage site which claims to be where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. The church is actually divided into separate sections for the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics and Armenians. It was rebuilt in the 12th century after the original 4th century church was destroyed. Under the lamps is where his body was thought to be prepared for burial. Even though this particular stone was added in 1810, that didn’t stop people from kissing it. We went upstairs to see the spot of the crucifixion, which is in the most elaborate part of the church with a lot of gold and silver icons, providing people another spot to kiss. It was strange witnessing a priest shove some folks aside as he prepared for a short ceremony.

It was also strange seeing several people crawling on their knees around the Tomb of Christ (the sepulchre).  

We opted not to wait in the long line to enter the tomb, but did go in a small cave that would have contained a family grave from around the same time.