18 May 2010: On the way home…, but where is that?

At least we THINK we might be on our way back to the States, but we have not decided. As one of my friends commented, we are improvising every step of the way.

We had a very nice two days in Tel Aviv at the Renaissance again. This time, though, the weather was humid and hazy – no beautiful clear views of the Med. The Med, however, was a little too cold for us to do anything but walk on the beach.

Each night we were there we were taken to dinner by one of Alan’s former business associates and his wife - a great treat, because locals know the best places to eat; moreover being with locals adds so much to a trip. Both nights were delightful experiences, and now I not only miss the country I have made friends with, but I miss the new friends I have there.

Today (Tuesday 5/18/10) is a full day of travel – first a taxi to the airport; then the flight to Rome, and now we wait for the connecting flight to Madrid. We got up, packed, had breakfast, and made it to the airport in plenty of time – so early, in fact, we were too early to check in. The airport staff sent us to – well – ‘chill’ at the terminal café for an hour before they would even let us go through security. It is a holiday in Israel today, Shavuot (or Feast of Weeks – I looked it up on the Internet, but I have forgotten the significance, except I remembered it is a time for serving cheesecake and cheese blintzes. I availed myself of plenty of those items at breakfast and again at the airport – it is only respectful, after all, to participate in the holiday.)

The holiday caused a problem for us in that we were not able to turn in our rented cell phone at the post office, which was closed. The airport information staff told us there was no recourse and had only criticism of the phone rental company. Later we found by e-mailing the person from whom we rented the phone that we forgot what she told us about turning it in. By the time we found out what we should have done with the phone, it was too late to do it, so we still have the phone. (UPDATE: This problem has since been resolved – just sent via FedEx to their office in NYC.)

Security in Israel is thorough! They ask why you are there, if you have any family there, if anyone gave you anything, who packed your bags, where they have been since you packed them, where you are going and why, how long you plan to be there …we passed the test and were allowed to have our bags x-rayed, checked and get to the gate.

The flight was crowded with two busloads of TOURists, and seats at the gate were scarce. Everyone had his hand-carry items on the floor in front of him. Alan got up to walk a bit, and left our hand luggage on the floor in front of his seat, beside mine. Just as he left the area, a man threw his hand-carry items into Alan’s seat and plopped himself in the seat next to it. I said nothing, but when Alan came back, he asked the man to remove his hand luggage so Alan could sit down. What made that guy think there were enough seats for him to sit in one and put his luggage in another?

It amused me to see the groups of tourists – grown people all wearing either blue ball caps or a yellow bandana around the neck – reminded me of a large group of cub scouts going on a field trip. We settled into our seats on the Alitalia plane and immediately noticed the plane was inferior to the one we had flown over on – the a/c was not working, the plane smelled stale, Alan’s seat would not recline– when the passenger in front of me reclined his seat, I practically had his head in my lap (and he kept pushing to see if it would go further), my tray table angled precariously to the left of center, making it impossible to fit it between my seat’s armrests, and the window shade was stuck in a not-quite-open position.

All of this combined with the expression on Alan’s face as he pulled the armrest between our two seats off its frame, revealing the electrical cords, sent me into a giggle fit, and I then needed to go to the rest room. Alan had to pull me up by my hand to extricate me from beneath the man’s body that was practically lying in my lap, and the lady on the aisle had to get up. As I started to walk to the back of the plane, the flight attendant signaled that I had to sit down again – after going to all that trouble. Finally, after they started serving our snack, I was able to get to the lavatory, but there was a line. When I did get a turn, it was out of TP.

Fortunately I fell asleep after I ate – there was nothing better to do – the air is too dry for me to read, and the television was in Italian.

When we arrived in Rome three hours later we accidentally went out of the security area and had to get in line again to go through the magnetron and have our passports stamped again. We grabbed some food and took turns reading our Louis L’Amour paperback.

(Somehow the settings on my camera created the above effect: Alan reading Louis L'Amour.)

Maybe we should go home. I miss my family, having good TP (or at least some TP), I am tired of not knowing what the signs say (where do I get to ‘press one for English?’), and I want to find out where home is. On the other hand, after a good night’s sleep, we might decide on another destination.

Added 6/9/2010: We arrived back Stateside the next day after a much more pleasant flight from Rome to Madrid, a delightful train ride back to Rota,

Above: 1) Turtles in the "rain forest" inside Madrid Train Station; 2) Alan outside our train.

--and a flight to McGuire the next morning. Fortunately, even though we had no reservation at the Rota Navy Lodge, a cancellation came in at 6 p.m., and we got a room. We arrived at McGuire late, but were able to get a connecting flight to Dover the same night and retrieve our car. We expected the battery to be dead since we have a keyless entry that is constantly searching for a key, but we were able to start the engine and drive to a Marriott property close by, where Carson’s discount once again saved us money.

The next morning we drove to Courtyard at Hopewell, NJ and visited with Anne, Chris and the children for the rest of the week and the weekend. Isabelle and Chase spent Saturday night with us at the hotel – great fun! We drove across to Denver again and spent a weekend with Mark, Katie and Carson at M & K’s house. We spent another week with them while we looked for houses, and now we are in Provo visiting Carson. Since it is now Summer Vacation for most school children we are going to postpone Space A flights until the Fall, but we might take a road trip or two.

Goldenbear’s Honey

The Weekend

(Left--view of the Old City from the Mt of Olives)

Weekends in Israel are Thursday night through Saturday night, with Friday being the Muslim holy day, and Saturday the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat). We attended church at the "Mormon University" on the Mount of Olives on Saturday, and we must have scheduled our attendance just right, because they had a "linger longer" after church (a potluck luncheon) with all kinds of delicious foods. Since breakfast and lunch were taken care of by the potluck, we didn't venture out for food until after nightfall, as it was very warm and muggy (about 90F), and all the restaurants were closed until not only sunset, but until "three stars are visible in the night sky." I don't know what Israelis do on a cloudy Saturday night--wait an extra night to view the stars?

On Friday we went to the Mount of Olives for a beautiful view of Jerusalem, then the Garden of Gethsemane. There was a very spiritual feeling in the garden, as it was the only religious place we have been that hasn't been "improved" or commercialized. We then went to the King David Hotel, "the" place to stay while in Jerusalem, as evidenced by the long list of notables who have stayed there--from heads of state to actors and actresses. Their signatures are on a long scroll imbedded into the floor in the main lobby.

We have enjoyed our time at "Ariela's Place," the room we rented about a half mile from the Old City. We would highly recommend it for anyone wanting a reasonable rate for a convenient room in Jerusalem. Her phone number is (Country code 972) 052-380-7077. The rate we paid was about $68 per night, which we thought was great.

At right is one of the old olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane....we had such a peaceful feeling there in the garden...

We are now packing for the return to Tel Aviv today for a two day stay at the Renaissance, which is right on the beach --maybe we'll dip our toes in the Med....I will meet with my old IBM colleague, Moshe Abu, tonight, then another business associate on Monday night, before heading to the airport on Tuesday morning, heading back to Madrid. After that our plans are kind of fuzzy, which really means we don't know what we're going to do next.

Our trip to Jerusalem has been fantastic and memorable, truly a trip of a lifetime, and we feel very blessed to have been able to be here.

That's all for now--I'll post more in a day or two.

Goldenbear

The Garden Tomb and Jewish Quarter of the Old City

Today we took a cab to the Garden Tomb, which is a short distance north of the Damascus Gate, and therefore outside the current city walls. The owners of the site, a Protestant group from England, contend that this is the true Golgotha and burial place of Jesus. Archeological experts disagree, but not all agree that The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the correct place either. The problem is that there have been so many rulers of Jerusalem over the centuries, and so many demolishings and re-buildings, that it is impossible to tell exactly where anything happened.

Nevertheless, when one looks at the Garden Tomb and feels the tranquility there, one gets a totally different feeling than one gets at the Holy Sepulchre, which, as one tour book put it, "has been decorated beyond all recognition." Here is a picture of the tomb:

If nothing else, at least the garden tomb gives more of a true representation of how the site at The Church of the Holy Sepulchre once might have looked.

Next we walked back to the Old City and toured the Jewish Quarter, which has been extensively "refurbished" since the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel regained control of Jerusalem from Jordan. Many parts of the Jewish Quarter were destroyed under Arab control, and repair work and excavation of rocks and buildings down to levels existing at the time of Christ, or even several centuries prior to his birth, have been underway for many years. You can actually see the various levels in several areas cut away for viewing. We witnessed a couple of "parades" of young men - what might have been part of a Bar Mitzvah, because one of the young men was walking under a canopy that others were holding over him - they were led by a drummer, and it was very exciting to watch.

What must be a truly meaningful restoration for Jews is the newly completed (just opened last month) synagogue in this area of the city. At least two previous synagogues at this site were destroyed by enemies, and it has taken forty years to rebuild. You will notice in the photo below that the synagogue is interestingly juxtaposed beside a mosque, just as The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is.

Once again we had lunch at the same restaurant in the Arab Quarter - the host now recognizes us and begins to prepare our meal as we make our way to "our" table. We tried the delicious grilled chicken this time. Move over El Pollo Loco!

It was once again pretty hot by the afternoon, so we took a cab back to our apartment and hoped our laundry delivery would come this morning, because we were down to our last bits of wardrobe. Fortunately the man brought the laundry this morning - VERY expensive - must be more costly when you don't speak the local language.

One of the things we have really enjoyed is seeing so many cute children here. We were able to capture a photo of two young ladies having lunch together in the restaurant with us. They were obviously feeling very grown up to be having luncheon together and gave Alan permission to take their picture.

The Evening and The Morning Were The Second Day

We awoke rather late this morning, as we worked on sorting photos and writing the blog until 0100, so after a quick breakfast of hummus and pita bread, a banana and water, we walked to the Jaffa Gate of the old city, entered Jerusalem, and navigated our way to the Damascus Gate. Just before reaching the gate we stopped and bought fresh squeezed orange juice--very delicious! Debbie also had a taste of tamarind juice (which she plans to go back for tomorrow), but it was not for me.

We crossed the road outside the wall and walked up Nablus Street to the Garden Tomb, arriving just in time to see them lock the gates for the noon hour (really for 2 hours).

We decided then to get a cab to the Jerusalem Center for Near East Studies up on Mt. Scopus. The cab driver didn't recognize the name, so I said BYU Center. He still didn't understand, but questioned, "Mormon University?" I said "yes," and jumped in the cab. He said "40 shekels," and I responded with "just use the meter." He laughed and said "OK." We arrived in 20 minutes with the meter reading 28.9 shekels, so I paid him 30--he said, somewhat surprised, "oh, 30 shekels, ha ha." I'm SURE he had no idea that he would overcharge me by 33% if we agreed on a fixed price...

Unfortunately, we arrived at the center just as THEY were closing for lunch for 2 hours. The security guard took pity on us, though, and asked what we wanted. We said we wanted to see President Brown and deliver a message from our son, so he allowed us to enter and he paged Pres. Brown. We had a short chat with him, then thanked him for seeing us and left the building. We walked uphill for about a half mile, to the Lutheran Hospital at Augusta Victoria, and had a small pita pizza and water for lunch. We returned to the Center at 1400 and had a private tour of the magnificent building and grounds, including viewing a beautiful mosaic exhibit by local artists and a private organ concert performed by the Center's music director. It was very moving listening to the powerful organ while looking out at a spectacular panoramic view of the Old City, including the Dome of the Rock.

We then caught a cab back to the Old City and entered through Lion's Gate, which was a little bit tricky, since the street in front of it was closed and the taxi driver just pointed off in the general direction we should head. We ended up in the Muslim cemetery, which is closest to the Golden Gate (tradition has it that when Christ returns, or comes for the first time, depending on your religion, he will open the Golden Gate, and the graves closest to the gate will be the first opened and their deceased the first to be resurrected), and the gate leading to the Lions Gate was locked. We had to back track for a quarter mile and start again.

Once inside the Old City, we visited St Anne's Church. Anne and Joachim are the parents of Mary, the mother of Jesus, or Jesus' grandparents, and this church is supposed to be erected where their home once was - also counted as Mary's birthplace. Debbie took some great photos of the pools of Bethesda right next to St. Anne's. We then walked up the Via Dolorosa and entered the Austrian Hospice for some warm apple strudel and cream. It was a bit pricey, but the visit to the Hospice (hostel) was worth it - a little bit of Europe right in the middle of Jerusalem, complete with a waitress who spoke German (or was it Austrian?). By the way, if you ever visit Jerusalem and want to stay in the Old City, this could be a good choice. They charge 42 E per night per person, which includes a full breakfast, and it is right in the center of the city-unfortunately right across from a minaret with the loud speakers that blast the meuzzin several times each day - talk about a stunning 'wake-up' call.

After dessert, we walked to the restaurant where we had lunch yesterday and treated ourselves to another mezze salad meal. Yum! - and walked 'home' to our little apartment to cool off and relax - gathering energy for another day of adventure tomorrow.

Goldenbear70 and His Honey, signing off

Be sure to look for more photos on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/21984041@N08/

He Is Not Here, For He Is Risen!

We have been so blessed on this trip. The visibility our first day out in the Galilee region was a bit hazy, but we were able to take the best photos that day. Subsequent days' visibility was very poor, so we were happy to have been able to take the photos we did the first day. The heat wave continued even as we traveled to Jerusalem via Tel Aviv yesterday, but this morning, as we exited our apartment, the temperature was in the seventies, and a cool breeze was blowing. We are also very grateful to have found out about Safed Inn in the North and Ariela's Place here in The Holy City, where we have had excellent, clean accommodations for a fraction of what a hotel would have cost. Our location here is especially great - just a 20-min. walk to the Jaffa Gate!

We entered the Old City there and mostly toured the Arab Quarter today. It is ironic that the most sacred place for Christians is right in the Arab Quarter - the Via Dolorosa follows through the Arab Bazaar where shopkeepers hawk, calling for your business, and once they have you in their shops, they do not want you to leave without making a purchase. At one spot I thought one of us would have to feign a heart attack to get free of the proprietor (who promised us he would still 'love' us even if we did not make a purchase). There is even a mosque just across from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We did not hear it, but we learned from others there are times when the meuzzin and the church bells are competing for the peoples' attention. There is an object lesson in that description.

Alan was a good guide since he has been here twice before. One shopkeeper even told him he remembered him from his trip a couple of years ago -- that's a good intro line, because it got us into his shop. (I'll bet he says that to all the boys.)

We had another scrumptious lunch at one of the Arab Quarter restaurants: lamb and multiple salads. We paid the price for walking downhill all afternoon when we walked back to our apartment - the walk was all uphill. We had asked a taxi for a price to take us back, but decided we needed the $10 more than he did (and we need the exercise).

The commercial setting and the overbearing religiosity of the various sites combined with the information I have read that indicates these sites were somewhat arbitrarily selected by Constantine's mother, Helena, combined with my own common sense that of course, it would not be possible to be walking on the same stones as King David or Jesus or the first Apostles, left me feeling spiritually untouched. One of the Greek priests actually had to ask a woman to leave one station of the cross, because, as he put it - "You cannot stay overnight here." I felt the need to sit somewhere quiet away from the worshipping throngs and read my guide book and contemplate the great sacrifice of those who have gone before us to preserve our faith.

I found my answer in one of the guidebooks I read after we returned: "It is important to remember that Jesus is not buried here; he was resurrected." As beautiful as this city is and full of all the names and places I have always read about, I know my testimony of the Gospel is not based on any icon or tangible location. So, while being here gives a context to the scriptures, the Spirit is always here for us when we open the door by prayer and studying the scriptures. "Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me." Revelations 3:20

See more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21984041@N08/sets/72157624041760766/

Goldenbear's Honey

Portions of Children and Other Israeli Menu Items

Above: Street in Rosh Pinna

We are in Jerusalem eating breakfast this morning in our tiny studio apartment, "Ariella's Place"(also recommended by the ladies in Jaffa who referred us to Safed Inn), just about ten blocks from the Old City. I find that I miss having salad for breakfast. After doing without fresh fruits and veggies for several days, Israel's menu offerings have more than satisfied my cravings, as most meals are loaded with salads, including breakfast. This morning we only had banana and fresh pita with hummus and hinni (both pronounced with a 'cchh' sound at the beginning) - the first made with chickpeas, and the latter made with sesame seeds. Alan walked to the corner market to purchase those items along with copious amounts of water.

One night we had dinner in Jish (near Tzfat) - fabulous meal that was mostly salads - and the menu had such sections as "Portions of Children." One might wonder how they prepared the children, but then realize it was their selections FOR children (i.e., smaller portions suitable for children to eat). Later that night we walked from Safed Inn to the pizzeria just around the corner, where Alan ordered salad and was told their only salad item was 'Grease' salad, meaning of course, 'Greek' salad, but we had a chuckle between us as we each pictured a refreshing salad made of crisp grease - from the pepperoni perhaps?

The most irresistable eating establishment was Chocolatte in Rosh Pinna. Yes, an entire restaurant based around the ingredient, chocolate! We could not resist. Their menu offered 'chocolatte' (self-expanatory) and 'spicy chocolatte' (the former plus Tabasco and Chili). There was a soup like that too, as well as any drink you could imagine - hot and cold/alcoholic and non- - adapted for chocolate - 'pina colada chocolate' anyone? There was a whole room devoted to desserts and confections in glass cases that I am pretty sure they had to clean often to get all the drool marks off them. We settled for: 1. Deb - quiche (no chocolate added) and salad; and 2. Alan - Shakshuka (a Mediterranean dish of poached eggs in thick tomato and veggie sauce); and 3. Shared - the inevitable piece of decadent chocolate cake, pictured below.

While driving through the Golan Heights and Hula Valley (northeast corner of the country, bordering Syria and Lebanon), we saw such verdant fields of olives, every kind of fruit imagineable (bananas, cherries, dates, peaches, apples...), and we stopped to buy cherries (one of Alan's favorites) and an apple. Our innkeeper back in Tzfat told us we must bless the cherries, as they were the first of the crop this year, so we did. She prepared a nice platter of them to have with our after-dinner herb tea.

Yesterday we drove south from Tzfat, through Cana and Nazareth, where we did not stop, because it was an oppressively hot and humid day with wind coming like the worst Santa Annas in California. Besides it seems the most sacred spots of Nazareth are commercialized past any chance of a spiritual experience. What used to be a quiet isolated town is quite a busy metropolis - a lot can change in 2000 years. It was interesting, however, to get a geographic perspective of the location of the various places mentioned in the New Testament. Cana is in such close proximity to Nazareth, there is almost no delineation between the two cities in modern day. It would have been quite a long walk from Nazareth to the Galilee area. No wonder having ones feet washed was such a treat!

After that I fell asleep, telling Alan to just stay on route 60 all the way to Jerusalem. He woke me up saying he did not like continuing on that route - just did not feel good about it. When I asked why, he said he just had a bad feeling come over him - thought we might be headed for the West Bank. (You have to realize that most of the road signs are in Hebrew and Arabic, so we are somewhat illiterate as drivers.) It was clearly the shortest route to Jerusalem according to the map. Shortly after Alan's "bad feeling," we saw up ahead a checkpoint - a clear border-crossing just before Jenin. Alan asked me to name some of the other towns along the route ahead, and I said, "Ramallah" - and at that point we made a quick u-turn and backtracked back almost to Afula and took the route to Tel Aviv, where we dropped off the rental car and took the bus to Jerusalem. We did not want to be at the mercy of whatever mood the Palestinians were in at the moment. The experience reminded me that in ancient times Jews traveling to Jerusalem went around Samaria, because they did not get along. It was Jesus who traveled through Samaria and there encountered the 'woman at the well.'

Today we are off to explore Jerusalem. Stay tuned...

Goldenbear's Honey

The Galilee and Golan Heights

Today (Sunday) and yesterday, we toured through the Galilee area and the Golan Heights. The Golan is an area in NE Israel that was captured from Syria during the 6 Day War in 1967, and that Syria has been anxious to get back ever since. Galilee, of course, is the area of Jesus' ministry, and we have seen the general area of the "multiplication," better known as "Feeding the 5000," the Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Tiberias. We also visited Belvoir, a Crusader fort from 1187--astounding ruins! We have some great pictures to share, so please check Flickr (see link below) for all the labelled photos. Pictured above is the Mount of Beatitudes from the Sea of Galilee.

I only have a few minutes before they pull the plug on me at the hotel, so I'll keep this short. We're leaving the north for Jerusalem tomorrow, so maybe Debbie will add more then.