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.

Day 4: Old Jerusalem Christian Quarter...

We stopped for a lunch of chicken and veggies on pita bread in the Christian Quarter.

This is actually just outside the gate that we used to exit Old Jerusalem. I thought the No Tractor signs were pretty funny; we didn’t see any tractors, so perhaps the signs worked. Even funnier was a sign for a Money Changer that also did Tattoos (unfortunately, I failed to capture that).

Day 4: Old Jerusalem Muslim Quarter...

Just past the Western Wall is a passageway to the Muslim Quarter of Old Jerusalem. This quarter was very lively and colorful with shops selling everything from stuffed toys of American cartoon characters to belly dancing outfits to hookah pipes.

This quarter has the largest population with approximately 22,000 inhabitants. It was especially interesting to see the mix of religions; here you see a Jewish family in the foreground with a minaret of a mosque in the background. The Via Dolorosa, the path that Jesus walked carrying the cross to his crucifixion, starts in this quarter.

While the rest of the group stopped for a coffee, Linda and I did a little shopping. I was happy to find a reasonably priced silver pendant with Roman glass found in Israel; there is such an abundance of Roman glass shards that they have little value to archaeologists, but are lovely in jewelry.

Day 4: The Western Wall...

The most holy site in Judaism is the Temple Mount, the site of the First and Second Temple (destroyed in 586 BC and 70 AD, respectively). All that remains of the Temple Mount is this wall, known as the Western Wall or Wailing Wall. This plaza serves as an open-air synagogue. Men and women are separated while worshipping. Ironically, this sacred site stands directly in the shadow of one of Islam’s most holy sites.

To enter next to the plaza, we encountered our first security check since leaving Holland; surprisingly, it didn’t even seem like the machines were turned on. It is a popular practice to place prayer notes in the cracks of the Wall; over one million notes are placed each year and twice a year they are removed and buried in the cemetery on the Mount of Olives. I opted not to leave a note in the Wall as it would have seemed too contrived, but Linda did (she was raised Protestant, but converted to Judiasm several years after marrying Al).

Day 4: Old Jerusalem Jewish Quarter...

The Hurva Synagogue from 1864 was reduced to rubble in 1948.
The renovated synagogue opened in 2010.

Benny dropped us off near the Zion Gate, which is pockmarked from bullet holes. Built in 1540, it is one of the seven open gates to Old Jerusalem. We first passed through the small Armenian Quarter;  other than a few pottery shops, it is closed to tourists. Then we entered the Jewish Quarter, where everything was closed due to the Sabbath. This area was completely devastated when taken over by Jordan in 1948 with all but 1 of the 53 houses of worship destroyed. It  was completely rebuilt after Israel regained control in 1967 and now houses around 2,300 people. Interestingly, while some mosques were destroyed, there are still several within this quarter as you can see in the photo above.

Day 4: Mount of Olives...

The Mount of Olives was named for the olive groves that once covered the slopes of this mountain range of three peaks (the tallest at 2,683 feet). For over 2,500 years, this area has been used as a Jewish cemetery with the belief that when the Messiah comes, the resurrection of the dead will begin here. Today there is an estimated 150,000 graves. Orthodox Jews are never cremated; here they are still buried without a coffin in a cement tomb covered by a shroud. Rather than flowers, small stones are placed on the gravestone to show that someone has visited the grave.

We walked down the dramatic hill to the Church of All Nations where we saw 1,500-year-old olive trees. The modern church, built on the foundation of two earlier churches, includes a section of rock where Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest. After our visit, Batya called Benny to pick us up; he did one of his famous moves by whipping the mini-bus past the crowds, throwing open the door and whisking us off like rock stars.

Israel Day 4: First Views of Jerusalem...

Our first stop after breakfast was at an overlook for our first glimpse of Jerusalem, Israel’s capital (although not internationally recognized as such) with a population of 780,000. Until 1860, the city did not extend beyond the city walls shown in the center of this photo. The sun was nice to come out for a few minutes to make the Dome of the Rock’s (marking where Mohammed ascended to heaven) gold top shine. 

East Jerusalem, which is 57% Muslim and 43% Jewish

Mount of Olives

Day 3: The Haunted Elevator...

We arrived at our hotel in Jerusalem just as the Sabbath was starting on Friday at sunset. We learned that it is common for some Jewish families to spend the Sabbath at a hotel so it is easy for them to relax and not do any work. Both hotels served only kosher meals: dairy and eggs at breakfast with no meat other than herring, and meat with no dairy at dinner. I was impressed with the large selection of vegetables and salads each day except Saturday, which had a limited menu during the Sabbath. 

Little did I know that the timing of our arrival would impact us in a funny way. When Al, Andrea and I got into the elevator, I pushed for the 4th floor, but nothing happened. Then I pushed the close doors button and we went down to the basement. I pushed the 4th floor again and we went to the 6th floor. Al then confessed he was claustrophobic; he wanted to get out, but we convinced him to stay. Linda, Marijke and Batya were waiting and laughing when we finally arrived at the 4th floor. We thought the elevator was haunted, but turns out we’d gotten into the “Sabbath Elevator” and it had been pre-programmed to stop at every floor so passengers could ride it without having to do the work of pushing buttons. 

Day 3: Caesarea...

Our final stop on our journey to Jerusalem was at the ruins of Caesarea Maritima, a city and harbor built along the Mediterranean by King Herod around 25 BC. This theater seating 4,000 is the most ancient of all theaters in Israel. It has been fully renovated and is once again used for performances. We also saw the remains of the arena, which held 10,000 spectators, and the king’s pool. Despite the rain, there were a lot of windsurfers near the harbor.

This fellow wasn’t with us, but I couldn’t resist taking a photo of him demonstrating the public loo.

This Roman aqueduct brought water to the city from 4.5 miles away because there were no rivers or springs close by.

Day 3: Views and Falafels...

We stopped at Mount Carmel  to see the view from the roof of the monastery. Rather than sharing another view photo, I thought this sign at the entrance was more interesting. Perhaps these icons are listed in order of importance? Of course, that would change significantly if you read from left-to-right instead of right-to-left.

We stopped for lunch at a falafel restaurant in a Druze (an ancient and mysterious religion) village. At first glance I was disappointed to be eating at a tourist stop, but quickly changed my mind when I saw the huge assortment at the veggie bar. I especially loved the eggplant.