Friday, March 1 through Monday, March 18: Preparing for Israel and Off I Go!

Friday morning, the sun was out. I took all three dogs on the first walk, but only Libby and Kelsey later. We did the golf course loop and had wonderful views of Mt Humphreys.

On Saturday, my sisters Wendy and Carrie visited David Lovret, one of my brother John's best friends. David and his family live in Bergen, Norway. David came all the way from Norway to celebrate John's life. John was godfather to David's twin sons. A great photo was posted on Instagram.

The family gave David some of John's mementos to take home.

Saturday night, Libby and Gus hosted a pickleball meeting. There were twelve of us. We wanted to talk about trying to organize a Williams Pickleball Club. We also discussed approaches and options for securing better places to play. Libby shared notes about pickleball groups in Prescott and Prescott Valley.

Sunday was Rodeo Pickleball. We all arrived early to clean the floors and strip the floor of old court lines. We want to reconfigure the two courts in the barn. And, there had been a party in the barn Friday night. Sticky dried soda spills!

After the clean-up, and before pickleball play, we had a potluck lunch.

Several weeks ago, I bought a table for the 14th annual Young Life Steak Dinner and Auction at Lost Hills. For the table of eight, we invited three pickleball couples --- Libby and Gus, Chris and Raymond, and Jan and Joe. It was held in the magnificent dining hall.

There was some confusion, and Jan and Joe never made the dinner. But, the other of us did! Chris and Raymond, Tom and I, and Libby and Gus. I also bid on several silent auction items and won them!

Monday morning, I headed to Flagstaff for my monthly hair appointment. I was in a good situation for my trip to Israel. I was fully packed except for my toiletries. Monday afternoon, Tom and I made a date to play cards with Libby and Gus. We went to their home after dinner. It was fun, even though I needed a refresher on the two card games we played. One was Tom's euchre. The other was a game the Beatty's know.

Tuesday there was the usual Highland Meadows ladies breakfast. This time, we went to the Branding Iron Restaurant. The food was good and the server was excellent.

Afterwards, Libby and I went to pickleball. Jan and Joe were not playing, as they headed out to visit cousins in Indio.

Wednesday was my travel day to Tel Aviv via London. Tom was also traveling --- to Tennessee. We dropped the dogs off at Cinder Hills Kennel around 1:00pm. Then, we headed to Phoenix and Sky Harbor International Airport. We stopped for lunch at PF Chang's.

I had my favorite chicken lettuce wraps and Tom had Mongolian Beef. All was good!

Tom dropped me off at Terminal 4. I was a little early, but he needed to hit the road and begin his trek east.

I was flying British Air to London. I had upgraded my ticket to Premium Economy. Before my flight, I walked all over Terminal 4 to meet my Fitbit goal of 12,000 steps. Done!

The flight departed on time at 8:35 pm. I had an aisle seat and the configuration was only two seats, window and aisle. The flight arrived in London at 1:20pm.

Customs was a breeze, and then I took a transit train to a different terminal, where my hotel was located.

Dinner was a take-out sandwich at the airport. I also made sure I knew where my early morning flight to Tel Aviv departed from. Yet, another terminal. This time, I would take a bus shuttle.

I had a glass of wine at the hotel, and retired to bed. Early morning wake-up call for my 8:00am flight to Tel Aviv.

It was a four hour flight from London to Tel Aviv. I was met at the airport by a Grand Circle driver.

He took me to Haifa, where I met up with our tour leader, Uri Chen, and the ten other folks of the tour. One couple was from Wisconsin, another couple was from Alaska, one solo woman was from Chicago, four more solo ladies from California, and the son of one solo lady from San Francisco.

We met Uri, our tour guide. He is from a kibbutz on the Golan heights.

That night, we had dinner on our own. Uri showed us the main restaurant street of Haifa. I joined three of the solo ladies from California --- for dinner at a Lebanese restaurant.

It was at this dinner, that I surmised that I was the only conservative in a group of liberals.

The first full day in Haifa was going to the top of Mt Carmel. There are only eleven of us and the bus holds 39 people. So it was lovely to spread out!

The viewpoint was spectacular of Haifa and Haifa harbor. Across the crescent shaped harbor is Lebanon.

The lookout had a lovely view of Bahai Gardens, too.

Our next stop was very special. It was lunch at an olive farm in the town of Tzippori. The family grows and produces an award-winning extra virgin olive oil. The mother and the daughter spoke beautiful english. The mother is from Wales.

The daughter is the master of the olive production. We saw an old press and a new press. The daughter went into great detail of what to look for in the United States when we are buying extra virgin olive oil. I'm not sure Costco's version meets her five rule test!

After lunch, each of us gave the host gifts from where we live. I brought a Grand Canyon National Park apron. It seemed to be a hit.

I did have to cut out the "made in China" label 😊😊😊

That night, we walked to a local restaurant for the Welcome Dinner. We ate at Shtroudi Restaurant in the German district. The composition of the tour group: four ladies from California, one man from San Francisco (son of one of the California ladies), a couple from Alaska, a couple from Wisconsin, a woman from Chicago, and me!

The hotel we are staying at in Haifa is very nice. Out my window, I can see the water and harbor.

The next morning, we drove to a kibbutz in Regavim. There, we met a member of the New Israeli Guardians. This group is enthusiastically trying to instill in Israeli youth the value of nature and the land.

After a talk from this gentleman, we chopped vegetables in preparation for our lunch later.

Then, we were given gloves and shears to prune some older olive trees. This was a volunteer effort to help the kibbutz farmers.

What a fun and different experience!

We pruned the trees for less than an hour. It was now time to eat lunch. So, in the middle of the orchard, we had a hot lunch cooked by several of the New Guardians.

Next stop is Caesarea National Park. This palace, harbor, and city was built by Herod the Great. Herod, it turns out, was a genius architect. He even built a large pool under his seaside palace. The outline of this pool still stands!

It is not often that I can take a photo with a Roman Caesar!

At this location was also a hippodrome, where chariot races took place.

Caesarea National Park was a very interesting site!

Monday morning, we packed up and left Haifa. First stop was Nazareth and the Church of Annunciation. In the bible, this is where the angel Gabriel told Mary she would bear a child that was the son of God.

 We left Nazareth for lunch in a town of Kfar Kana. The choices were falafel or shawarma. I went with the falafel. The shawarma was chicken and looked good too.

After lunch, we journeyed to the city of Safed. It is nearly 3,000 feet in elevation and is center of Kabbalah, a Jewish mysticism group with a practicing faith. We met with one Rabbi, originally from West Los Angeles. He explained the Kabbalah faith and answered questions.

The city of Safed is full of beautiful shops and art galleries. We even stopped at a weaving factory where they make beautiful cloths for religious wear.

Near the bus parking lot, I saw an interesting sculpture of musicians.

Our last stop was where we would be staying for two nights --- Peace Vista Lodge on the kibbutz Kfar Haruv. It was a beautiful setting --- high above the Sea of Galilee --- facing west. Each of us had our own lodge.

There was a complimentary bottle of wine, and a beautiful sunset.

Before dinner, we met with a gentleman who lived on the kibbutz. He talked about life on the kibbutz and their opportunities and challenges. There was plenty of time for questions and answers.

We then were escorted to their community dining hall. We were the only people dining and they served  a cafeteria-style dinner.

The next morning, breakfast was delivered to each room.

Our first stop of the day was the Gamla Nature Reserve. We walked to a viewpoint of an ancient fortress that was captured by the Romans.

At the Gamla Nature Reserve, the flowers were blooming and distant Mt Hermon had snow.

On our way further north, we had to take a detour. The military authority and police were exploding some mines near the road. In the Golan Heights, where are over 1,000,000 unexploded mines. They are all known and labeled, but expensive to deal with. So, they are only handled if the land is needed for housing or farming.

Taking the detour, we did arrive at the Valley of the Tears. This amphitheater is where a significant battle of the 1973 Yum Kippur War took place. The Israelis were victorious, but many died.

Lunch was at a Druze village in the town of Majdal Shams, one of the most northern parts of Israel, under Mt Hermon. The Druze are an Arab religious community that opted out of mainstream Arab nationalism. The restaurant is in the home of a Druze family, and we had a nice conversation with a lovely young lady.

Our tour director, Uri, lives on a nearby kibbutz. We stopped at Ein Zivan to see his community and meet his wife. Uri and his wife selected this kibbutz to raise their family and to enjoy the horses.

That afternoon, we returned early to our Peace Vista Lodge. We stopped at a local market to pick up picnic items for dinner. I walked the circumference of the kibbutz. There is a large dairy farm on the property.

And, the cows were full of milk!

The sunset was beautiful.

I decided to enjoy an evening on my own --- taking a bath in the Jacuzzi tub, eating cheese and crackers, drinking wine, and watching some American TV series reruns. I also had a nice WhatsAp chat with Tom.

The next morning, breakfast arrived. It was another nice assortment of breads, cheese, fruit, and vegetables.

We checked out of Peace Vista Lodge and headed down from the Golan Heights to the Sea of Galilee. There, we stopped at Capernaum and the Church of the Beatitudes. This is where Peter lived and Jesus gave this famous Sermon on the Mount.

We then to the Sea of Galilee shore and saw the skeletal remains of a fishing vessel that dates back to Jesus’s ministry.

We took a cruise on a boat out on the Sea of Galilee, Lake Kenneret. I had a shell from John’s Celebration of Life. There, I threw it out on the sea as remembrance.

 

There was even some dancing on that boat!

While leaving the boat cruise on the Sea of Galilee, there was a real fisherman on the shore!

The next stop was lunch in the city of Tiberius. We ate at the Gaeli Gill, a fish restaurant on the boardwalk shore. Most of us had the grilled filet of fish option, but Royal Kiehl had the entire fish --- head and all!

It was a nice setting for the group.

The last stop before Jerusalem was the Jordan River.

It is here where many current visitors opt for a baptism.  I saw a photo of Governor Mike Huckabee and Libertarian Glenn Beck.

 We arrived in Jerusalem around 4:00pm. We are staying at the Leonardo Boutique Hotel for six nights. I was assigned a nice room with a balcony --- and a view. This hotel is adjacent to the Russian Orthodox section of Jerusalem, but very near the main street of Jaffa.

We were on our own for dinner, so Barb Miller and I wandered to Jaffa Street --- looking for a restaurant. We saw Uri on our rounds. A good choice was a restaurant called Café Rimon. There, we had some fabulous lentil soup and a glass of wine.

The next morning, it rained. This was our full day in the Old City of Jerusalem. Our bus driver, Ilan, dropped us off by the Western Wall. We were equipped with umbrellas and rain coats --- as were other tourists!

Our first stop was a tour of the maze of chambers and cisterns underneath the Western Wall. This is the last standing remnant of ancient Jerusalem’s Second Temple. Although the wall is nearly 1,600 feet in length, only about 230 feet are visible above ground.

We spent an hour seeing portions of the wall that have been perfectly preserved and sealed off until excavations that began in 1967. Many religious people were praying along the sealed off wall.

We had a comprehensive walking tour in the area around the Western Wall, the Jewish Quarter, and the Islamic Dome of the Rock, perched on the Temple Mount.

We had lunch together at the Everest Kafeteria, and then we had time to shop for souvenirs. I was on a mission to find a Jerusalem cross for me and my girlfriend Bev Nickerson. The King David Jewelry shop was a good find!

We then continued our visit to the Second Temple, with a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that was built around what is believed to be the site of Christ’s burial and resurrection.

Our final stop of the day was the Mount of Olives to enjoy a panoramic view of the Dome of the Rock and the Old City.

Dinner was on our own again. I originally was going to dine with granddaughter Emily Bernstein, but she was out of town for several days. The next morning was the Jerusalem Marathon, so the city was bulging with visitors. I opted to make a dinner in my room with wine, cheese, and crackers. Nice view from my balcony!

Emily is living and working in Jerusalem for ten months. What an awesome experience! She is an intern for a government entity that works with Ethiopian Jewish refugees. On Friday, we made plans to dine together. She was running in a 5k associated with the Marathon activities. We made arrangement to meet for dinner at one of her favorite restaurants, Focaccia Bar.

Friday, with the Jerusalem Marathon disrupting all of the city traffic, Uri made a schedule change and we headed out to the Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park with the Bell Caves and Abu Ghosh Village. The caves, on the western side of the Judean hills, were amazing.

We then had dinner at a Lebanese restaurant in Abu Ghosh. Our tour director, Uri, said that it is the best Lebanese restaurant in all of Israel.

Our next stop was a benedictine monastery, a crusade-era church, with beautiful gardens.

Before heading back to Jerusalem, we stopped at an Abu Ghosh diner --- filled with photos and relics of Elvis Presley. 

One of the Elvis statues is the same exact replica of one that is displayed in our town of Williams on Route 66!

That night, I met Emily for dinner. We each had a delicious Asian rice noodle dish. We were fortunate to get reservations at Focaccia. It was Friday evening of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest --- so many restaurants are not open. It was also a very busy weekend with the Marathon. What a neat visit together!

Saturday was the Jerusalem Museum. There, we visited the Shrine of the Book: Dead Sea Scrolls.

We then separated and took several hours on our own to view all of the exhibits at the museum. I liked one mosaic piece --- a Muslim room facing Mecca.

That afternoon, five of us took an optional tour to Bethlehem. The weather was not going to be the best. Weather.com had a notation of 100% precipitation. Bethlehem is located in the West Bank. So, we had to drive through a checkpoint to get there. This checkpoint level is manned by Israeli soldiers.

When we got to Bethlehem, we were greeted by Joseph, our tour guide. We proceeded to a large restaurant, filled with many tourists, and bought lunch --- can you guess it? The choice was chicken shawarma or chickpea falafels! After lunch, we walked to Shepherd's Field. It marks the place where the angels first announced the birth of Christ.

We went inside the Bethlehem Chapel. A mural depicted the shepherds.

By the time we left the chapel, the clouds opened up with down-pouring rain!

It was time to join the bus and drive to the Bethlehem Church of the Nativity. I must admit, I don't think I have ever been this wet. I had an umbrella, but the wind was bringing the rain down sideways. Before our bus was parked in a large bus station, I saw this sign.

There are no Starbucks Cafes in Israel, but this was close 😊😊😊

Bethlehem is always very crowed with tourists --- especially at significant religious properties. Even the pouring down rain did not preclude crowds. Our tour guide, Joseph, is a Palestine Christian. His family has lived in Bethlehem for many generations.

A true benefit of Joseph is that he knew how to beat the lines. The Church of the Nativity was packed. Instead of waiting in lines, he took us down passage ways and into the Church exit!

This Basilica is the oldest major church in the Holy Land. Its grotto holds religious significance as the birthplace of Jesus. There were some beautiful stained glass windows.

Our tour guide Joseph once again was a master. We bucked the lines to the grotto by going in the exit! This star artifact represents the exact place where Mary gave birth to Jesus.

Across the small grotto was another artifact --- a representation of where the manager lay.

After this visit, tour guide Joseph showed us his church.

It was now time to go back to our bus. We did have one stop in a local shop. I needed to buy one more Jerusalem cross --- that was not smooth. My Southern California friend Beverly asked for that favor.

We came back to the hotel --- still very wet. I took a shower and stayed in my room for the evening. Lucky that I had cheese, crackers, and wine! The next morning, I enjoyed another beautiful buffet breakfast.

Today was a busy day. We started the morning at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust History Museum.

The eleven of us were given several hours to walk through the museum on our own.

All of the exhibits were beautifully done. It was so very touching. Over six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust time period.

And, 1.5 million were children.

A highlight of the Yad Vashem visit was meeting a Holocaust survivor. Her name was Rena Quint. She was in her early 80s and wrote a book.

Rena was only a little girl during the Holocaust period. But she spent an hour with our small group and shared her memories.

Rena now lives in Jerusalem. But, most of her adult life was in the Bronx, New York City. After the visit with this Holocaust survivor, we walked back through the garden entrance to meet the bus.

 Our next stop was the Machaneh Yehuda market. This area is one of Jerusalem's oldest Jewish neighborhoods. Several of us had lunch at a restaurant Uri recommended, Azura. I had a delicious dumpling soup. We then were able to wander around the market.

I wanted to buy some dried sweet fruits to bring home to Tom. He expressed interest in these when my Italian foreign exchange student son, Francesco, brought some to me in December.

After the market, we drove up to Mount of Olives for a great view of the Old City of Jerusalem.

That night, we went to dinner in a home located in an ultra Orthodox part of Jerusalem. There, we met Joseph. As we ate dinner, Joseph shared with us his life and his ultra Orthodox beliefs.

It was a very enlightening talk. I never knew that weddings are arranged by matchmakers, that the husbands spend all day studying and praying, and that the wife works to support the family.

Monday morning, we loaded ourselves onto the bus and Ilan, our driver, took us to Herodion. This was an optional tour, but everyone went except Annette. Annette is 83 years old. Although she was a trouper most of the time, this tour had many, many steps. Herodion is a hilltop fortified palace built by Herod the Great.

Herod had the entire mountain built, so that from his fortified palace, he could see Jerusalem. It was an amazing architectural feat!

The next stop was Mar Elias Monastery. It was a Greek Orthodox monastery originally built in the sixth century AD, and then rebuilt in the 12th century. We had lunch there.

Our final stop of the day was Ein Karem. It is an area in the hills southwest of Jerusalem. Ein Karem is notable as the birthplace of St. John the Baptist. We were a little early for visiting the church, so we enjoyed some ice cream!

I had some of my brother John's ashes with me. John had always wanted to visit Israel. I thought it proper to leave some of his ashes in Jerusalem. The birthplace of John the Baptist seemed ideal. So, while no one was looking, I placed John's ashes in the garden of the Church of St. John the Baptist!

We returned to our hotel at about 3:00 pm. At about 5:30 pm, we all regrouped to meet a Palestine woman who was going to talk about the Palestine and Israel issues. It was a comprehensive review. She shared with us her experiences and her impressions. In a way, it was disturbing. There seems to be no suitable resolution. It is like a "he said, she said" standoff.

That evening, granddaughter Emily and I meet for dinner one last time. My tour guide, Uri, had recommended a restaurant called Menza. Emily knew of Menza, but had never been there. So, reservations were made and we met at 7:00 p.m. Emily had a delicious steak and I had spare ribs. We shared a bottle of red wine. All was excellent!