(post by John, photos by Jen)
We departed for Israel on Sunday, February 19. A few people have asked us, “why Israel?” I can answer that question as follows: Unmatched history, great food, the chance for
warm weather in February, and to meet up with friends.
We arrived on Sunday evening in Tel Aviv and promptly rented
a car and drove to
Jerusalem. We chose to stay in an “authentic” hotel in
East Jerusalem.
The Azzahra hotel has interesting history and great restaurant. The hotel is run by a Palestinian family and
thus is sometimes shut down when there is civil unrest in
Jerusalem.
http://www.azzahrahotel.com/
We departed Monday morning to hike up the
Masada
ruins
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masada. This former
mountain fortress, build by King Herod over 2,000 years ago, was the site of the
Jews last stand against the Romans in 67AD
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Masada. It took us approximately 45 minutes to hike
up to the top and the views from the top were breathtaking. You can still see the sites of the Roman
legion’s encampments that surrounded the fortress during it’s siege. We were also fortunate enough to tour the
ruins with the Manbeck’s, our friends from
Amsterdam
who are also touring
Israel
this week.
 |
| On top of Masada with the Dead Sea in the distance |
 |
| Feriancek and Manbeck kids |
We left Masada for the
Dead Sea. The
Dead Sea
is the lowest point of dry land on the entire earth!
 |
| At the Dead Sea, the lowest point of dry land on Earth |
Why do they call it the
Dead Sea
you ask? Well, the salt content is nine
times higher that the ocean. There is so much salt
that no living creature can survive in its waters
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea. Because of the high salt content, people easily float when in it’s waters. We all swam and acted like human bobbers in
its waters.
We drove back from the
Dead Sea
for a nice dinner and an early bed since we had a big tour ahead of us the next
day…
On Tuesday, we hired a guide for the entire day to tour
Jerusalem. The history of this city is astounding. I suggest you read this link before going
further as a primer for our day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem.
 |
| On top of the Mount of Olives (the old city of Jerusalem in the background) |
From the Mount of Olives we decended the hill to the Garden of Gethsemane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_Gethsemane. This is the place where Jesus was betrayed by Judas. Some of the trees remaining in the garden still date to the time of Jesus!
 |
| Allison, Ryan and Matthew in the Garden of Gethsemane |
We next received a car tour of greater Jerusalem.
The city was much more spread out than we expected and there is not a
piece of flat ground anywhere! All
hills. There are beautiful residential
areas throughout the city. We also went
to the area of Jerusalem that was annexed by Israel after
the 1973 six-day war. From
this vantage point we could see Bethlehem which
is located in the Palestinian controlled area of the West
Bank. During
the Arab-Israeli conflict from 2000-2004, the area we were overlooking Bethlehem was a dangerous
spot due to Palestinian snipers.
We next ate lunch at an Israeli fast food restaurant (great
schnitzel!) before heading into tour the Old City.
The Old
City is historically
divided into four quarters, going back to the time of the Romans. Today, there exists a Muslim quarter, Christian
quarter, Jewish quarter, and Armenian quarter.
We started our tour at the Jaffa gate and
the first site we saw with the Church
of St. James! This was a must stop if for no other reason
the photo op.
 |
| The Church of St. James |
Next stop was a walk through the Jewish quarter. The Jewish quarter was largely destroyed
during the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli wars.
When the Jews took control of Jerusalem
in 1967, they were able to perform a large scale archeological dig before
beginning to rebuild. During this dig
they discovered areas that existed during the time of Jesus and well as the
time of the Crusades and Medevil times. The farther back in time, the lower the
street level. Jerusalem has been destroyed and rebuilt over
25 times in the past 5,000 years and each time it was rebuilt, it was rebuilt
on top of the former city.
 |
| View of the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall from the Jewish Quarter |
We next visited the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. For almost 2,000 years, this was the closest Jews could get to their most holy site
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Wall
 |
| The Kids at the Western Wall |
We next went into the Arab quarter which is the site of the
majority of the stations of the cross.
The highlight was the Chruch of the Holy Seplecher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre originally built by the Emperor Constantine who converted the Romans to
Christianity in around 300 AD.
This Church was built on the site of where Jesus was crucified and
subsequently laid to rest.
 |
| Matthew peering into the site where Jesus' crucifix stood |
 |
| In front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre |
This concluded our intense history lesson for the day. We drove back to the hotel, ate dinner, and
crashed for the night.
 |
| Allison, Ryan and Matthew with our tour guide Aiby outside the Jaffa gate |
On Wednesday, we made a trip to Bethlehem, which is located in the Palestinian controlled
portion of the
West Bank. The purpose of our trip was to visit the Church
of the Nativity, the site where Jesus was born
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem,_Israel#Birthplace_of_Jesus. We arranged a Palestinian tour guide who
escorted us directly to the Church. The
“stable” where Jesus was born is actually a cave. We were able to see the site where he was
born as well and the manger where the three wise men paid him a visit
 |
| In front of the cave where Jesus was born |
 |
| The kids in the manger where Jesus was laid after he was born |
We left the Church to return to
Jerusalem and find a park to play a bit! The kids played for an hour and a half or so
while John found time for a short siesta.
 |
| Playing at the park in Jerusalem |
Next we went back to the Old City
to see the sight of the Last Supper.
Located just outside of the city walls, it is an unassuming structure
that we were able to view all by ourselves.
 |
| The site where the last supper is believed to have taken place |
We then grabbed a quick bite to eat before seeing a 45
minute light show at the Tower of David, next to the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City. This show came highly recommended for kids
and it did not disappoint. A show worthy
of a Hollywood production depicted the history of Jerusalem.
By some stroke of technological genius, the show was projected onto the
walls of the ancient castle like structure.
I cannot come close to describing how unique and amazing this show was.
After the camel ride we traveled west from Jerusalem to the town of Nahsholim, a Kibbutz located on the Mediterranean coast
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahsholim. Nahsholim was very quiet and had a wonderful beach. Upon arriving, we checked into our guest house (which turning out to be a five-bedroom ranch house...the kids loved it!) and then took a short walk along the beach before departing for dinner in Haifa. Not surprisingly, after our Jerusalem adventures, the three hour drive to Nahsholim, and the 45 minute drive to Haifa, we were all quite tired. We enjoyed dinner at a nice Italian restaurant and went back to our guest house for a good night's sleep.
 |
| Our guest house in Nahsholim |
 |
| Sunset over the Mediterranean Sea |
Friday and Saturday is the weekend in Israel (Saturday is their holy day) and thus we were fortunate enough to spend the day with our good friends the Betzer's who live in Tel Aviv. Nir came to work at AMS in Minnesota from 2006-2008 after we acquired the company where he was working. He and his family (wife Aviva and son Ronan) also moved to Eden Prairie during that time. Ronan went to the same Elementary school as Allison and Ryan.
Nir, Aviva and Ronan showed us the lovely sights of Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is a thriving, modern city that sits on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Aviv. Tel Aviv was founded next to the ancient port city of Jaffa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffa.
We toured the city seeing the modern shopping malls and eating lunch at a Wonderful Israeli deli. Allison, Ryan and Matthew are developing a taste for falafel and shawarma!
Next we toured the Israeli street market. Food, clothing...anything you want to purchase you can find here, but you better be ready to negotiate!
 |
| Ryan, Matthew and Ronan in the Tel Aviv Outdoor Market |
 |
| The boys teaching John how to play brain games |
At the end of the day we toured the ancient city of Jaffa right as the sun was setting. It was a beautiful evening to be overlooking the Sea while in a town that is almost 10,000 years old.
 |
| The view from Jaffa (Tel Aviv skyline in background) |
To end the evening, Nir and Aviva invited us back to their house for dinner. We had a wonderful day reconnecting with friends and touring Tel Aviv.
Saturday morning and early afternoon was beach day! It felt great to play on the beach and lay in the sun.
 |
| We love the beach!!! |
Saturday afternoon we made a pilgrimage to the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus established is ministry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Galilee
 |
| Hiking up the the church signifying where Jesus' ministry was located (Sea of Galilee in background) |
One last stop before dinner at the Basilica of the Annunciation which is erected on the site where it is believed the annunciation took place in Nazereth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_the_Annunciation
The day ended with dinner at a wonderful authentic shawarma restaurant. The kids and I could eat here every night!
 |
| Mmmmmm.... |
Sunday was beach day! We were treated to 80 degrees and sunny weather before having to depart for the airport. We had such a great time on this trip. Warm weather, unmatched history, great food, and great friends.
Take care,
John
