Israel Food

I mentioned the food a couple of times during our stay in Israel. For someone who is the provider of meals in our family, it was a pleasant break from the normal routine. At every meal there was tons of food and tons of vegetables...they sure seem to eat a lot of salads...even at breakfast. We also had an amazing amount of desserts after each dinner and sweet bread at each breakfast. As with all different places you go, there were many items we didn't know. One morning I decided to try something that I thought was veal, but it ended up being sweet. It's called halva and is made of sesame paste and honey. The craziest thing we ate was tongue. The server assured me I would love it and be back for more...I just asked for a small piece. :) It was actually pretty decent tasting, but I couldn't quite get past the idea of it. I do always enjoy trying new things, within reason, so very much enjoyed all the fun options. 

half of the breakfast at our first hotel
 

breakfast in Ashkelon...probably my favorite food place
 

still in Ashkelon...went all the way down the room
 

this is continuing down that row
 

this was in Jerusalem...look at all those snacks
 

 

and, here's the regular food area
 

this was in Tiberius where we had the tongue
 

extensive salad bar
 

also when we went to restaurants they would start with pitas
and lots of sides to put in it
 

 

Israel Highlights

People have been asking me for a quick recap of our trip or a main thought about it, etc. which is pretty difficult to do. So, I thought I'd just write a short post on some of the favorites...

Favorite spot historically - I'd probably have to say the Southern Steps area of the Temple. It's a place Jesus would have walked and spent a decent amount of time. Plus, they have excavated a whole lot more than when I was there so you can really get a feel for what it would have been like in the 1st century.

Favorite spot of interest - The Dead Sea. It's just cool and weird and unlike anything else. 

Favorite quote - "Ancient doesn't mean primitive."  

Favorite unexpected thing - How neat it was to have a pretty opinionated Jewish guide. It really helped me look at both Israel's past and present with different eyes. 

Favorite museum - The Israel Museum. We flew through it and I really would have loved to spend hours there. So much amazing stuff. 

Favorite Biblical connection - Having Jesus' reading in Luke 4 being reread in a remake of a synagogue in Nazareth where he spoke those words

Favorite traditional Jewish food - Schwarma? Hummus? Olives? Chocolate spread? :) We ate really well.

Favorite place we stayed - Holiday Inn in Ashkelon. Probably the most westernized of the places (actually had a queen bed...all others had two twins pushed together), and had the best buffets. 

Favorite human connection - Having our guide read accounts of some people who had trees planted in their honor at Yad Vashem which meant they helped the Jewish people during the Holocaust. 

Favorite random thing - being told what to do and where to go...not having to really make any decisions. 

That's about all I can come up with tonight. Leave a comment if you have any questions you'd like to ask...

connected with a friend from long ago who was also with my sis in Israel

 

my professor while at IBEX
 

one of the girls on the moshav that we knew 18 years ago...Naomi
 

Israel, Last Day

I can't really believe we've already been back almost three days...in some ways it seems like forever since we went, and on the other hand, I still feel like we're recovering from the trip. :) It's thankfully been a pretty low key couple of days. We both still feel pretty tired and not quite back to normal. 

Our last day was spent at a worship service at Yad Hashmonah where I had attended IBEX back in college. The moshav has changed quite a bit and it was good to see my old room and one of the girls I had known back then, Naomi. Also, Pastor Randy gave the message and it was good to hear him speak. From there we had lunch in Abu Gosh, and back to the hotel. We packed up and headed out to Joppa. As you can see from the first pic, tons of people go to the beach on the weekend! We couldn't believe how crowded it was. 

 

Sat was also our anniversary, 17 years, and here's a nice pic we took overlooking the Med. Sea
 

Joppa is the area that Jonah ran to when he was trying to escape the Lord's command...here's a wharf area there
 

We had dinner around sunset overlooking the sea
 

And, lastly, a sunset pic as our bus makes it's way to the airport to head back home...good end to our trip
 

It's sure nice to have normal Blogger back. :) I was posting via the tablet while we were gone so I wasn't able to format and add links like normal. Thanks for bearing with that and making your best guess as to what pictures were. :)

Israel, Day 13

We're sitting here at the airport in Tel Aviv waiting for a 12:30 am flight back to the states. It's crazy to think our time is done and that we've already been here almost 2 weeks! What a great trip...super wonderful people to spend the time with...awesome guide(s), bus driver, and schedule...more food than we could ever think of eating (I plan to do a seperate post to show you all the food).

Anyways, Friday was our last real tour type day. We began the morning over at Beit Shan which is an incredible site...lots of archeaology uncovered there. You can see the pics looking down from the high hill all the area they have discovered. The primary OT text here is that Saul's body was fastened to the walls and then removed by the men of Jabesh Gilead. There is a tremendous amount of 1st century Roman history here as well. One of the pics is of the ampitheatre where the gladiators would fight. The long trail up the hill has some Canaanite and even Egyptian levels. We joke that sites have to be at least 2 thousand years old for us to be interested around here...but, in the States we're amazed at places only 200 years old...different perspective for sure.

And, lastly, we headed over to Bethlehem. It's definitely a disappointing site to see, but it's still the place of Christ's birth. That town is under Palestinian control currently so Israeli tour guides are not welcome there. The wall with lots of graffiti on it seperates the two people groups. As expected, there is a large church on the historic site and three different sects control part of it. The present church was built by Justinian and the lovely mosiacs below the windows are from his time, I think. More interesting really than the church is just being in an area controlled by the Palestinians...it felt a bit unsettling to me and just more chaotic. Nice to get back to Jerusalem.

Today is also Dave and my 17th anniversary...nice place to celebrate!

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I wasn't able to get internet yesterday afternoon/evening so couldn't post this...we just arrived back onto American soil...good to be halfway back. :-)

Well, I thought I had internet at JFK, but was wrong...so, we got back into Wenatchee early afternoon and have been enjoying being with the kiddos, getting unpacked, and trying not to fall asleep. :) Can't wait to get to bed tonight!

Israel, Day 12 Part 2

Following Baniyas we headed up to the Golan Heights area where you can look over into Syria and Lebanon (don't tell my mom! :) ).  We went up a mountain area called Har Bental and saw where Israel had bunkers and other military fortifications to defend themselves in the war in 1967. They no longer have military involvement there so have opened it to the public to walk through. The other pics are from the sunset on the lake of Galilee following a boatride and a fish dinner.

Today was our last real day of touring...can't believe we'll be heading home tomorrow night. Looking forward to seeing the kiddos again! 

Israel, Day 12 Part 1

We had another full day yesterday in the upper Galilee area. We tried to start off the day at Hazor, but I guess the guard slept in, so it wasn't open. So, off to Dan we went which is a significant Biblical site. It was here that Jeroboam, king of Israel, set up an altar for his kingdom to come worship rather than going to Jerusalem. There is also an ancient mud brick gate which Abraham likely saw on his way to recovering his nephew, Lot, from the Mesopotamian kings.

The last four pics are from Baniyas, or Caesarea Phillippi. It is situated at the base of Mt Hermon and was a major center for idol worship, particularly Pan. It was the most northern spot of Christ's ministry. Peter made his great confession here, and it could also have been the spot of Jesus' transfiguration. The picture of the fort is a good example of how different eras build on top of the other. 

Israel, Day 11 Part 2

I must say that I'm getting to the point of over mind-saturation. Things are starting to blur...especially when we see a number of sites in one day. It's interesting to be up the the Northern part of Israel as it is so much more lovely and much greener and wetter. We visited the site called The Mount of Beatitudes. It also has a church on the spot with lovely gardens and a church. I just included a pic of the high windows in the church which each have a beatitude written. The pics with the black triangle (which was the top of a synagogue) and the seat (which is a "bema" seat where judgments would be made) are from Korazim...another of the cities Christ cursed.  

We also took a favorite hike down Mt. Arbel. The top portion only has metal loops drilled into the rock and guide wires to hold on to...super great fun, but a smidge scary. :) You can see what look like caves in the hillside where Jews hid  out from Herod.

The last pic is when we were at the Jordan River...gotta sign off now...no more internet

Israel, Day 11 Part 1

We've been continuing on in the Northern part of Israel around the Lake of Galilee. We began at Tabgha which is where Christ likely fed the disciples following His resurrection. You can see that they have errected a lovely church on the site and the rock inside is the "table" at which the disciples ate the fish with the Lord. The steps are where you'd pull up a fishing boat and climb onto the shore.

The next spot was the city of Capernaum. It is where Peter mother-in-law lived and where Christ had his headquarters. The picture of what looks like a doorway is said to be Peter's house. Jesus often preached in the synagogue here (shown in the pic with the column), and it was the scene of many miracles. Matthew also had his tax collection office here. The grinding stones are in the last picture...what would be a "mill stone" that Christ spoke about. 

Today is also Josh's 10 birthday...Happy Birthday Josh!!