It got down to -8 degrees in La Crosse last night, so I thought I might warm things up with some pictures of Israel. I went there recently as a tourist, but also to visit my daughter, who is studying there for a year. It was a wonderful trip, and if you have never been there or thought of going, you don't know what you're missing. People there say that it's the center of the world, and when you're there you know what they mean.
It goes without saying that for a religious person Israel and especially Jerusalem is a special place. I saw the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus is supposed to have been crucified and his body laid down; the Western Wall, which is the remains of the 2nd Temple built by King Herod; the Dome of the Rock (although only Muslims in general are allowed to enter), where Muhammad supposedly ascended to heaven (Jews believe this is where Abraham offered up Isaac as a sacrifice); and the Ba'Hai gardens in Haifa--Haifa is headquarters of the Ba'Hai religion.
It is an incredible blend of old and new, culture, history, and religion. Passions run high, and of course there is occasionally unrest in one place or another. However, while there you have no sense of insecurity, in fact just the opposite. Soldiers with automatic rifles are literally everyplace, which at least for me made me feel safer. Moreover, the local population--Jews and Arabs alike--Arab merchants anyway--LOVE tourists. They frequently complain they don't have enough. They really go out of there way to make you feel at home. (If I had a shekel every time a merchant shouted to me, "My friend, come here--I want to show you something" I'd be a rich man.) My Hebrew is none too good, but during my time there I only met one person who did not speak English fluently. In fact, in most parts of the modern city, you'll hear more English spoken than any other language, including Hebrew.
I stayed at the Agron hostel, right in the heart of the new city and a 20 minute walk from the Old City. I spent about 2/3 of my 10-day trip in and around Jerusalem, spent a full day in Tel Aviv, and went on tours to Masada and the Dead Sea, and to Caesarea, Haifa, Acre and Rosh Ha'Nikra. The latter is the northernmost part of Israel along the coast, right at the Lebanese border.
The following pictures show Jerusalem, then the Dead Sea/Rift Valley, then the seacoast along the North Shore and the Ba'Hai gardens. The good-looking folks in the pictures are my daughter and her slightly less attractive old man. The food you see us holding in the Old City are a felafel and shawarma, respectively--a shawarma is the Israel version of a gyro or doner kebab, a warm flatbread filled with vegetables, pickles, tahini sauce and meaty goodness. The beer is the local brew, Goldstar.
It goes without saying that for a religious person Israel and especially Jerusalem is a special place. I saw the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus is supposed to have been crucified and his body laid down; the Western Wall, which is the remains of the 2nd Temple built by King Herod; the Dome of the Rock (although only Muslims in general are allowed to enter), where Muhammad supposedly ascended to heaven (Jews believe this is where Abraham offered up Isaac as a sacrifice); and the Ba'Hai gardens in Haifa--Haifa is headquarters of the Ba'Hai religion.
It is an incredible blend of old and new, culture, history, and religion. Passions run high, and of course there is occasionally unrest in one place or another. However, while there you have no sense of insecurity, in fact just the opposite. Soldiers with automatic rifles are literally everyplace, which at least for me made me feel safer. Moreover, the local population--Jews and Arabs alike--Arab merchants anyway--LOVE tourists. They frequently complain they don't have enough. They really go out of there way to make you feel at home. (If I had a shekel every time a merchant shouted to me, "My friend, come here--I want to show you something" I'd be a rich man.) My Hebrew is none too good, but during my time there I only met one person who did not speak English fluently. In fact, in most parts of the modern city, you'll hear more English spoken than any other language, including Hebrew.
I stayed at the Agron hostel, right in the heart of the new city and a 20 minute walk from the Old City. I spent about 2/3 of my 10-day trip in and around Jerusalem, spent a full day in Tel Aviv, and went on tours to Masada and the Dead Sea, and to Caesarea, Haifa, Acre and Rosh Ha'Nikra. The latter is the northernmost part of Israel along the coast, right at the Lebanese border.
The following pictures show Jerusalem, then the Dead Sea/Rift Valley, then the seacoast along the North Shore and the Ba'Hai gardens. The good-looking folks in the pictures are my daughter and her slightly less attractive old man. The food you see us holding in the Old City are a felafel and shawarma, respectively--a shawarma is the Israel version of a gyro or doner kebab, a warm flatbread filled with vegetables, pickles, tahini sauce and meaty goodness. The beer is the local brew, Goldstar.
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