A Visit to the Holy Land

(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.

We started at the Mt. of Olives http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_of_Olives which provided a panoramic view of the Old City of 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.

The light show at the Tower of David

Overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem from the Mt. of Olives on a beautiful night

On Thursday, before leaving Jerusalem, we absolutely had to do a camel ride!  We all did a 5 minute ride and enjoyed it immensely!

Our expert camel jockey

Can you have a camel as a pet?

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