Day Trip--Herzliya, Jaffa

Ben was invited to give a lecture in Hertzliya (a city north of Tel Aviv) on Tuesday. We decided to take the whole family and make a day of it. We started by heading to the beach in Herzliya. It was a warm, sunny day so it turned out to be quite pleasant. The water was chilly but not so cold that we didn't go in. The boys loved fighting with the waves but we didn't go too far out because Tel Aviv beaches are famous for their vicious undercurrent.

The kids playing on the beach in Herzliya

The curly blonde mop belongs to Miss Libbie

Asleep on the beach

Libbie slept on the beach while the boys built castles and I went for a run. As I started my barefoot run along the beautiful shoreline, I took a deep breath and thought, "Maybe next time we should live in Tel Aviv instead of Jerusalem..." It was that magnificent. Once I returned to the family, Ben took a turn for a run and he came back with quite a smile saying, "I've never had so much fun running before." There's something magical about the ocean air, the wet sand on your naked feet, and the freedom of just running. I don't think we've ever run in bathing suits (plus a t-shirt for me) before either; that added to the feeling of utter freedom.

As I was running, I thought about how running has been a way for me to bond and communicate with my surroundings. Growing up in West Chester, we used to run up Benjamin Drive and past Hillsdale Elementary, sometimes making it all the way down to Creek Road; in Provo I ran on a trail along the mountain, overlooking the city below; in Tokyo, it was Yoyogi Park, sometimes stopping to do Tai Chi with the retired people; when I think of Berlin, I remember running through the forest behind our house and getting lost, praying to find my way back; in Kiev, I used to run around an abandoned track down the road, avoiding the strange looks I would get if I ran on the street; in Lviv, along the abandoned railroad track (while trying to avoid stingy nettle); in Galilee I ran on a path along the sea and along the Jordan River; in Jerusalem, I run between Arab and Jewish neighborhoods or the loop around Hebrew University, or down to the Old City and back (hills, hills, and more hills). My running paths become my memories. My mental map of a new location is created by running.

After our runs along the Mediterranean Sea, we got back in the car and drove down to Jaffa/Yafa/Yafo/Jophe/Japho/Joppa in search of lunch and something interesting to see in the few hours we had before meeting up with Zohar and her family in Tel Aviv.

On the way to Jaffo, we passed the newly dedicated LDS church, which is on the fourth floor of this building.

We drove into Jaffa (southern Tel Aviv area) and found a great parking place on the sidewalk ("When in Rome...") right by the famous flea market. We peeked around a bit, mostly just flabbergasted by all the junk. The streets were lined with stores selling furniture, rugs, dishes, shoes, and anything else you might wish to buy. Aaron chose a recorder and Elliot a water gun.

Jaffa Flea Market

We walked over a few streets through the busy shops with a South-Street-Philly feel and found the restaurant we were looking for--a Kosher North African place called Dr. Shakshuka. We ordered a variety of small dishes (mostly as directed by our very kind waiter) and had a delightful meal. The first few bites we ate were especially amazing. We love Arab and Israeli food but it was great to have something new--new spices, new flavor combinations, and fresh (non-pita) bread to sop up all the leftover sauces with. So delicious.

North African "shakshuka"

After filling up at Dr. Shakshuka's, we stopped at Abulafia, an Arab bakery that's been in Jaffa since 1879. The pastries were hot and incredible. My overall experience with bread here has not been impressive, but this place almost made up for it. We bought several varieties and took them to Zohar's house to share. She was impressed that we found two of the best places to eat in Jaffa. (Go Frommer's!)

We drove into the beautifully restored Old City of Jaffa to find the visitors' center was closed for renovations so we just walked up the hill to an amazing viewpoint where we could see the city of Tel Aviv and the Mediterranean Sea. Jaffa is thought to be one of the oldest port cities in the world. Through this port came the cedars from Lebanon for the construction of Solomon's Temple; Jonah embarked for his adventure with the whale here; when the Greeks were here, they created the story of Andromeda, whose rock you can still see from the shore; Richard the Lion-Hearted came through here with the Crusaders; Napolean also passed this way.

Jaffa is supposedly the place where Jonah embarked on the boat that led to his adventure with the whale

View of Tel Aviv and the Mediterranean Sea from above the amphitheater in Old Jaffa

Everything is in bloom this season (except, at this moment, Elliot)

A monument on top of the hill depicts scenes from the Bible: the conquest of Jericho, the near-sacrifice of Isaac, and Jacob's dream.

You can see the Israelites with rams' horns in their hands at the top of this monument, depicting the conquest of Jericho

An even better view of the surroundings

After exploring Jaffa, we drove up to Zohar's house for dinner and a short visit.

As we drove home, we thought about what a wonderful day we'd had and wondered if this is what our life would be like here if we had a car. I guess we wouldn't appreciate it as much if we had one everyday.

We are really going to miss this area when we leave. At the same time though, as we took several trips back and forth from the car (which is probably 50 meters from our apartment door), carrying kids and unloading bags, we kept thinking, "attached garage... someday...."

Easter weekend

It took us four days to celebrate Easter this year. My parents were here so it was fun to draw it out as long as possible. We started on Friday with a quick stop at the Garden of Gethsemane. Surprisingly, my mom and dad had it all to themselves.

We had the idea to stop in at the Garden Tomb on our way to taxi over to the market, but when we got there we realized why there weren't any tourists at the Garden of Gethsemane... seemingly, they are all at the Garden Tomb. I thought we should stop in just for a chance to contemplate the Easter season at a tomb that (at least) closely resembles Christ's tomb. It turns out that there was a worship session (advertised as "Son-Rise Service,") scheduled to start in fifteen minutes that wasn't too full. We decided to stay at least for a little and check it out. The music was rockin' and the people were partying in a very non-LDS way but it was actually kind of great. They handed out the lyrics to the songs so we could sing along. It was fun to be part of the crowd and celebrate the Resurrection in a new way.

Some of the crowd at the "Son-Rise Service"
Every continent except Antarctica was represented 

Dad getting into it

Aaron getting not so into it 

Mom and Dad enjoyed themselves

The Garden Tomb during the service

We stayed for half the service then ducked out to get on with our day. It was a pleasant way to start the Easter weekend, particularly because we hadn't planned to go. If we would have put it in the schedule and gone out of our way, it wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable. But as a coincidental stop-by it was nice.

On Saturday we continued our Easter celebration with our Sabbath Easter service. I spoke in church on John 3:16 ("For God so loved the world that he gave his only Begotten Son...") and how that relates to Easter. I talked about Easter as a holiday of love and sacrifice. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ loved us and made sacrifices to show that; we make sacrifices in our lives to show our love to them as well as to the people around us.

On Easter Sunday we celebrated with a traditional Easter dinner with friends. Our good friends Rasmus and Martha from NYC came to visit a few days before Easter so they were here to celebrate with us. We also invited our friends the Williams family. Mom managed to get a nice-sized ham over here in her check-on baggage so we enjoyed some non-Kosher meat for the evening. We also had a little turkey, au gratin potatoes, "Angel" Biscuits (made with yeast but fast... super light and fluffy), chard casserole, and a green salad. All very yummy.

Karen, Kourtney and Rasmus helping to prepare the feast

Bedlam before the meal

Somehow we didn't take any pictures of the table but we had it set with bright colors for the occasion. 

For dessert mom made rhubarb pie and Jolynn made a cake. Aaron and Rasmus also made homemade vanilla ice cream. Rasmus had no idea what he was getting into when he asked if he could help, but he was a great sport about it. Aaron took the lead and poured half a bag of sugar in it. It turned out delicious in the end.

Jolynn made this cute cake

We continued with the secular celebration of Easter on Monday by dyeing eggs and having an egg/candy hunt. Aaron has known for years that Santa and the Easter Bunny are characters created to represent the fun and magic of the holidays, as brought to children by people who love them. We try not to talk about Santa or the Easter Bunny in ways that misrepresent actuality but somehow it's still magical for all of us. I love it when they visit our house! Aaron considered contributing to the role of Easter Bunny this year but instead chose to go play outside and be surprised. This year we sent an email to the Easter Bunny to let him/her know when would be a good time to come. We didn't know where to send it so we just went with easterbunny@gmail.com. We were all delighted to get a note back from EB saying he/she would do her/his best to accomodate our request. It made our day!

Aaron discovering "the Easter Bunny" had come

Elliot enjoying some Peeps brought from a USA-based Easter Bunny

Libbie was so impressed that there were candy and eggs scattered around the house
She was especially amused by this carrot-shaped chocolate

Elliot was also thrilled at the discovery of a chocolate carrot umbrella

Showing off his haul (which he later shared with his siblings)

Enjoying Easter treats on the couch, post hunt

Happy belated Easter everyone!

Catherine Visit: Day ???: Tzippori, "The Ornament of All Galilee"

The quote in the title of this post comes from Josephus, the Roman-Jewish historian. 

On our way from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee, Catherine, the kids, and the two Peters parents stopped at Tzippori, a world-class archaeological site and national park that boasts--in a short history of the area--Assyrian, Hellenistic, Jewish, Babylonian, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Crusader, Arabic, and Ottoman influences. Lest the Christians feel left out, it is also a green valley away from Nazareth; in its day, its wealth attracted skilled craftsmen and stone masons, like Joseph, to settle nearby.  

From Tzippori, looking at Nazareth on the distant hills

As often happens around here, the six of us could spend no more than few minutes for every century of history that has left its mark on the area, and still we found ourselves leaving the site a few hours later. An amazing situation as well as an unavoidable shame. Oh, to be an archaeologist! 

To the point, this post cannot do justice to what we saw. Please pause now and familiarize yourself a site with better photos. Here are a few: 

         A Biblical Tzippori site with a few good pictures

         Wikipedia on Tzippori 

         Wikipedia on the Synagogue in Tzippori (Zodaic, meet Abraham)

         A beautiful picture of The Mona Lisa of Galilee

A few moments from our particular stay follow. 

An Amazonian warrior mosaic, covering a fraction of the meters and meters of mosaic wonder lining the floor of the ornate "Nile House." Depictions of goddesses, gods, warrior heroes, animals, harvest feasts abound. VGA doesn't have anything over this picturesque prototype of pixelation. 

One way to keep the kids from leaving the walkways in the Nile house. 

Elliot eating up the Twentieth-Century Fox action, Byzantine style.  

A busy mosaic centerpiece, the Nile mosaic, celebrating the measuring (and subsequent proportional taxation) the depth of the Nile. 

A bird's eye view of the street grid layout of the Roman city. 

Aaron losing a shoe along a main road cutting across the Roman city.
Notice grid layout, at a diagonal, behind the pillars in the right middle ground.

The boys, at a staged archaeological dig for kids. A very happy hour. Helmets, pick axes, major sieves included.
The closest we've all been to real excavation: Aaron and Elliot recovered an unbroken lamp, dating back to approximately the late March period of 2011. 

Ben, Catherine, and a super friendly local Park Ranger-Archaeologist of the First Iron Age.  The ranger's research surveying the valleys around Jerusalem suggest that the early people of Israel may have arrived in the land at about the time the Bible suggests, although in far fewer numbers than is usually thought. 

'Nuf said. 

Ein Gedi

Today we went with some friends to Ein Gedi, a nature reserve along the Dead Sea. They have a big car with lots of extra seats and were gracious enough to let us pile in and join them on this day trip out of the city.

Our first stop was at the gas station, which in most places would be a boring stop, but not along the West Bank's Route 90! Here the gas station had camels to ride on. Just yesterday Elliot said that he wanted to ride on a camel. I had kind of been avoiding it because I try to avoid tourist traps and the camels never look too happy to me but Elli really wanted to do it and we were right there and it wasn't too expensive so we went for it. Aaron and Ivan were the first to jump on.

When the camel first stands up it's a surprisingly rocky ride. Aaron was frightened for about 1.5 seconds.

After the initial shock, it's quite a fun ride.

Elliot, Emily and I took the next ride. We really had to hold on tight while standing up. Elliot had a blast.

The rocky beginning to a camel ride

I was surprised at how bumpy the whole ride was. The bum ache puts bike bum aches to shame.

Elliot, Kourtney, and Emily

Libbie didn't want to ride but she did tolerate sitting on a camel with mama

After getting our fill of camels at the gas station parking lot and only getting spit on once (that was me) we piled back into the car and continued down highway 90 to Ein Gedi. We considered stopping at Qumran but decided to save that for another day.

Libbie was really tired (after a late night last night at the new church building dedication in Tel Aviv... more on that later I hope) and we realized that we forgot our Ergo so we were really hoping that she would nap on the way. Alas, she did not sleep on the way. So our peaceful nature reserve hike/walk turned into a take-turns-holding-the-kicking-screaming-two-year-old jaunt through what must have been a beautiful park. I didn't see much on the way in because said tantruming-two-year-old preferred her mom's arms to anyone else's. She kept trying to get down to lie on the ground and sleep. For fear of sun stroke and wanting to move on, we didn't let her. I finally found a nice cave where she could lie in the shade but of course she decided against it once we got there. So I managed to carry her the rest of the way to the first waterfall. Within a few minutes, she was at peace with the world again...

Enjoying a waterfall pool at Ein Gedi

Standing near the actual waterfall was pretty intense. Here is Aaron trying to get closer and closer saying, "I can't do it!"

Aaron eventually made it all the way into the waterfall

Elliot loved the pounding pace of the waterfall

Ben managed to get his entire head into the waterfall, which he reports caused him to have a headache and to see lots of spots. Apparently he also couldn't hear his daughter wailing.

Taking shelter from the storm of the waterfall and the people

Aaron, Ivan, and Elliot played lots of splashing games

Libbie just wanted to snuggle up in the "pipi" (blanket) after she was done swimming

The hikers, with the Dead Sea in the background

An attempt at a family picture
(Those boys in the back were waiting for their turn to get a family picture.)

Our fellow adventurers for the day

The largest waterfall in the park. I think it was called "David's Waterfall."

The Family

Stalactites inside the cave by David's Waterfall

Libbie finally fell asleep on my shoulder during the walk back to the car.
(We really missed our Ergo... what a difference it makes. All that kicking and screaming just wouldn't have happened.)

We got back to the car and enjoyed some ice cream. Some of us went over to check out the ancient synagogue and enjoyed that as well.

When we arrived in Jerusalem, we invited our friends to our local falafel place and enjoyed some fresh eats from our buddies at French Hill falafel.

We had a really marvelous day. The only downside to this whole day (besides forgetting the Ergo) was that somewhere between the ice cream and the falafel, I lost my favorite shoes! I am so sad about this... I am just hoping that somebody will turn them in to the lost and found and tomorrow when I call they will say they have them and will send them to me. I love those shoes, and can't really justify buying a new pair right now since I have another pair of Vibrams (KSOs, which I don't love as much). So hopefully they will show up. So sad.