Much to our surprise, we LOVE LOVE LOVED Bulgaria. We took a train from Thessaloniki, Greece to Sofia, Bulgaria (which is the capital of Bulgaria). Bulgarians are extremely warm and welcoming to foreigners and have a fierce pride of their history. Part of the former Soviet Union, Bulgaria is a very new and sometimes struggling democracy that has suffered from intense inflation and rapid market changes.
However, as the Bulgarians have said themselves - their culture overall tends to be easygoing since they were dominated by a foreign government for centuries. Bulgaria was just admitted into the European Union in January 2007 and is slowly transitioning into the EU. The euro is not yet in circulation in Bulgaria, but they hope to have it there soon.
Perhaps most interesting on our entire trip is the "Bulgarian bobble" as they call it. In Bulgaria, if you nod your head - this means that you are saying "no". If you shake your head - this means that you are saying "yes". Basically, the complete opposite of how you communicate with your head in the U.S. We had no idea how much we nod our heads until we were in Bulgaria and managed to confuse them thoroughly!
We had several conversations that quickly disintegrated into "Abbott & Costello" sounding conversations, as it is very difficult to remember the opposite meanings of the shaking/nodding of your head. "Is that chocolate ice cream?" He shakes his head no. We say, ok, so then what is it? He says, Chocolate! We say, ok and nod our heads. He says "what?" We say "we just asked you if that's chocolate?" He shakes his head. Oy vey!!!
Other than the confusing head gestures, Sofia is a beautiful town. It is full of plazas, fountains, gardens, pedestrian only streets, sidewalk markets, etc. We began with the Sveta Nedelya Cathedral which is a magnificent domed church famous because in 1925 communists blew up part of the church in an attempt to assassinate Tsar Boris III. Over 120 people were killed in the attack including most of the cabinet, but Boris escaped unharmed. We then visited the gorgeous St. Nikolai Russian church which features murals painted in the 11th century and was the church of Bishop Serafim, one of Bulgaria's most important spiritual leaders. He is entombed in the cathedral and worshippers write their prayers and wishes on pieces of paper to leave beside his monument.
We traipsed through Yuzhen Park and saw the "1300 Years Monument" built in 1981 to celebrate the anniversary of the creation of the First Bulgarian Empire. Personally, it looked like it could fall over and collapse at any moment...but who knows. We saw the Monument to the Soviet Army which was built to commemorate the Russian "liberation" of Bulgaria in 1944 and is a classic example of the bullish and intimidating social-realism of that time period. It was a stark comparison to the "Sofia monument" which is a 24 meter high monument which has become the city's symbol. It is built on the site where a HUGE statue of Lenin once stood. This statue is a bronze female figure on top of a column, representing Sofia, supposedly the personification of wisdom and fate (yay for having women figures as the symbol of Sofia!)
One of our favorite parts of Sofia is the synagogue which is the largest Sephardic synagogue in Europe, consecrated in 1919. Bulgaria only has a few thousand Jews and the synagogue is very well guarded. We purchased some terrific Bulgarian Jewish music at the synagogue and gawked at the unbelievable 2.5 ton brass chandelier dangling from the ceiling - really incredible to see and well known throughout Bulgaria. We also toured the Banya Bashi mosque which is the city's only working mosque. Built in the 1500s by the Turks it is a beautiful structure in the heart of the city.
And of course, we visited the Alexsander Nevski Memorial Church which is perhaps the most well known symbol of not only Sofia, but of the entire country of Bulgaria. It was built in the late 1800s as a memorial to the 200,000 Russian soldiers who died fighting for Bulgaria's independence during the Russian-Turkish war. The massive, awe--inspiring church is truly exceptional with neo-Byzantine style architecture, domes laden with several tons of gold, intricate mosaics, and chandeliers.
The food in Bulgaria was decent, nothing too exciting. Although we managed to regularly confuse waiters with our head nodding and shaking! Oy vey again! The most famous Bulgarian food is the shopska salad which is made of chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions covered with shredded feta cheese. The Bulgarian food is heavily influenced by Greece & Turkey - lots of kebabs, salads, etc.
So, after a terrific time exploring Sofia, we headed for the train station to take the overnight train to Istanbul, Turkey. The train was delayed for over 2 hours so we sat in the train station reading our Turkey travel books. After a few minutes, two young men came over and asked us if we were visiting Turkey? They spoke fluent English and sat with us for the next 2 hours giving us suggestions on where to visit, what to eat (and what to not eat!), how to get around, Turkey's culture, etc. They were both in college and were hilarious and very very helpful.
They gave us their cell #s and emails and excitedly asked for us to keep in touch with them, they would love to have friends in the U.S. The most interesting part of our conversation was when they found out we are from Washington, DC and they immediately asked us what we think of President Bush. Being the good Democrats that we are, we of course told them that we are anti-Bush - which they were thoroughly surprised by. They thought that all Americans support Bush!
They also felt that after the American invasion of Iraq, we would next invade Iran, and then we would invade Turkey! It was absolutely fascinating to hear their perspective on the American government's "blood hungry drive" and our obsession with the military industry and oil. They also told us that although Istanbul was a very modern city, very very few people spoke English. Once we got on the train, they invited us to their cabin to share in their ample supply of wine and vodka (which we politely declined).
The train ride was...well...not quite what we expected. We were in a first class cabin which was by far the dirtiest and shoddiest place we stayed in the entire trip. The train was NOTHING like the very modern, European train we took from Greece to Bulgaria. Rather, this was a Soviet era train that was barely functional at best. But, we sucked it up and made do for the 13 hour train ride. On the train, I was commenting to David that the entire trip had been going so smoothly and not a single problem had arisen. Of course, I spoke too soon.
In Bulgaria, we asked multiple people about the visa fee to travel from Bulgaria to Turkey. EVERYONE told us that we could pay this visa fee with Bulgarian money since it was right on the Bulgarian border. So, we saved enough Bulgarian money to pay for this visa fee (which was $20/person). But, when we had to exit the train at 3:30am at the border to go through immigration - we quickly discovered that they did not accept Bulgarian money!
There was no ATM at the station and our hearts began pounding as we realized that it was the middle of the night in a podunk town on the border between Bulgaria & Turkey. After much pleading with the only vendor that was open at the train station, the wonderful wonderful duty free shop-owner agreed to give us Turkish lyra in exchange for our Bulgarian money - and we were able to purchase the visas! Hurray!
We arrived in Istanbul early in the morning and quickly began to venture out and explore istanbul, which is the only city in the world that is on two continents (Europe and Asia)! It was our first time seeing rain in about a month, so we pulled out our travel ponchos and set out in the storm for our sightseeing!
We began with a lunch at a cafe outside the Ayasofia where we chatted with a newlywed couple from Manhattan on their honeymoon. We tried some terrific kebabs and fell in love with the Turkish dish called "iskender" which is shaved lamb and chunks of pita bread soaked in yogurt covered in a spicy tomato sauce. We ate this dish multiple times in Istanbul it was so good!
But anyway, we toured the Ayasofia which was the largest Christian church in the world from 500 AD to 1500 AD. It was designed to surpass in grandeur, glory, and magesty every other religious edifice ever constructed - and it truly was gorgeous with a soaring dome about 15 stories high that is 100 feet wide, glittering gold mosaic tiles and vast windows
Next we headed for the Blue Mosque which is one of the most defining features of Istanbul's skyline. The goal of the Blue Mosque was to rival the Ayasofia! The successively descending gold domes have created numerous legends, but the place is beautiful. We donned the appropriate scarfs and covering to cover my shoulder's and took our shoes and socks off - as is traditional to do in a mosque.
Along the way we passed the Hippodrome and then toured the Yerabatan Cistern which bears a striking resemblance to a scene out of Phantom of the Opera. It was a gigantic underground fishpond that was used to store water in the city, but now is a historical artifact filled with hundreds of huge fish (like over 20 pound fish!) There are also two famous Medusa heads, one on its side and the other upside down. Mythology says that placing her this way neutralizes her power and caused her to turn herself into stone.
Finally, we headed to the massive and incredible Grand Bazaar - with over 2600 shops, it is incredibly overwhelming to navigate, but very exciting at the same time. We purchased souvenirs and sharpened our haggling skills with the various stores, this is truly THE place to bargain about prices! The sights, colors, smells, etc - just incredible. There are also about 15 gates which all look exactly the same so we also spent quite a bit of time trying to find our way back out of the bazaar as well!
And then we headed for the AMAZING Turkish baths. The men's part of the Turkish baths was more complex than the women's side, so here is David's perspective on the Turkish bath experience:
The Turkish Baths were . . . well . . . interesting to say the least. The women and men both had their own Bath houses, but David's experience seems much more appealing, accurately reflecting the male-dominance in the Turkish society. So, the following is David's account.
As you walk into the bath house, you feel like you are in the lobby of an average priced ski lodge. We both purchased the premium package which included a 10 minute exfoliating soap bath and a half hour oil massage. Then we parted ways and went to our respective baths.
The men went upstairs where everyone has an individual room with a glass outter wall and door that overlooks the common area below. Little did the lucky ladies below know they could get a show if they only looked up! In the room, we (well, now I) stripped and put on red plaid loin cloths (basically) and sandals, both of which were provided. Then, after locking the door and putting the key's strap on your wrist, the men walk back down through the common area (again, those below with wandering eyes potentially receiving a show that usually only those who pay good money can see) and into the first room of the bath house.
The first room is full of men of all ages and sizes dripping with either water or sweat. I'll get back to this room in a bit. After walking through this room, you walk through the next door into the main area of the bathhouse. I have never seen anything like it. It was as hot as a sauna, big enough to hold a Bar Mitzvah, and shaped like an octagon with a fifty foot, dome-shaped ceiling. In the middle of the room was a raised marble platform about three feet high and forty feet in diameter. In the middle of this platform were sweaty men relaxing on their backs, so I joined them.
On the perimeter of the platform were men on their backs or stomachs or sitting receiving their exfoliating soap bath. On the perimeter of the room, about ten feet from the platform, were basins that looked like toilets with a big faucet running into each. Most were filled with water and had metal bowls resting at its foot. Some even had men sitting next to them using these bowls to pour water over their heads and bodies.
Thirty minutes and thirty pounds of water weight later, Ahmed beckoned me to the perimeter to get mine. I remember his name was Ahmed because he reminded me twenty times and spelled it thirty. I wonder if someone was trying to get a tip . . .
Now Ahmed was a very nice guy, but if he were an animal that was regularly eaten by people, he would feed a family of ten for a month, and his moustache would produce three complete wigs. He was one stong, hairy man. Regardless, I was excited because everyone else looked like they were in heaven (I never thought I'd imagine a big hairy man being in my version of heaven . . . ) The soap bath began with cracking my back and ended with a bucket of water being thrown over my head, and I welcomed both equally as much. Ahmed then pointed me to the room through which I had first walked. In there, I took a seat on the marble floor next to one of the same basins as in the sauna room. Ahmed followed me and washed my hair then pointed me to a line for the oil massage.
After a twenty minute wait for the oil massage, upon entering the room, its aura forced a sudden calm over me. After changing into a dry towel and informing everyone in the room that I was not a Bush fan (they asked and gladly laughed at my answer), I endured a thirty minute good massage. It was nothing memorable, but it was definitely worth it. Following a quick shower, I walked back into the hair-washing room where Ahmed (he was all over the place) changed my towel for me and wrapped me in a warm dry towel and gave me a turban on my headwith another. "Yea, yea, yea. You're name's Ahmed." I returned to my glass locker upstairs and changed back into my street clothes. When back downstairs, Rebecca and I were sharing fresh orange juice when I saw Ahmed standing in the middle of the common room staring at me. So, I caved and gave him a tip. I had never been so relaxed, and never had I even had a dream that was as weird . . . What an experience.
We had a terrific dinner of iskender (we love it!) and various Turkish appetizers and headed for the hotel. The next day we TRIED to visit the Jewish parts of Istanbul. After some very very frustrating communication barriers with security guards at the synagogue (which has been bombed twice in recent years), we finally gave up and realized that they simply would not allow us inside!
So, we headed for the Jewish museum which has a terrific timeline of Jewish life in Turkey for hundreds of years. However, the process of finding this museum, tucked away in an alley that was not on any of our maps was quite an experience. As our Turkish friends had told us - very very few people in Turkey speak English. I've been to 24 countries and Turkey was by far, the hardest country I've been in to use English. I was very surprised since Istanbul is such a modern city - but we just tried to adapt and do our best.
After the Jewish museum, we walked across the Galata bridge which is lined with various fish cafes UNDERNEATH the bridge, it was quite interesting. We went to one for lunch with huge bean bag chairs for chairs and tried some of the local fish (which wasn't too amazing to be honest, but worth trying).
Next we headed for the Topkapi palace which is...well, PALATIAL is the best word for it. Residence of the sultans and seat of the Ottoman Empire for almost 400 years, the palace was ENORMOUS. Perhaps most well known was its harem sector with over 400 rooms for the 800+ "concubines" available to the sultan, the last one was released in 1909! As a feminist, it was historically interesting - but i just have to say...YUCK. The rest of the palace was just breathtaking, the kitchen is the largest kitchen in the world and had over 1,000 employees. We bumped into the NY lawyer couple who we had seen several times throughout Istanbul and chatted with them about the palace's grandeur.
We left the palace after quite a few hours and sat in one of the cafes outside. David was playing solitaire while I was chatting with Brad and the man at the next table (wearing a Georgetown shirt) asked him what he was playing. After much conversation, we quickly discovered that the man was from Turkey but lived in the U.S. (his wife had gone to American University!) and he was in the Turkish rug business.
He noticed our Frommer's travel book in my bag and said - turn to page 140 - they interviewed me for that page - and sure enough, it was the page all about "how to buy a Turkish rug!). He kept pushing us to buy a Turkish rug which he says are marked up 5-6x in the U.S. (although they still begin at $1000+ even in Turkey!).
After chatting with him, went to the Spice Market at the top of the Golden Horn. We learned all about the "Natural Turkish viagara" which they are known for - it is basically pistachioes, honey, and some other spices - but they had a million kinds of it and it supposedly has the same impact as taking Viagara. Enough said. But, the spice market was so fun - there were samples galore, you could smell everything, all the colors and scents were quite powerful. We tried some things that tasted amazing, and then tried one candy that was probably the most foul thing I've ever sampled! :) But, such is life in a foreign country.
Well, that's about it! We had iskender for dinner (again) and headed back to the hotel to pack up and head for the airport the next day! It was a tremendous trip and we had a great time!
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Fourth Travel Update - Greece
David and I both arrived in the Athens airport around the same time and successfully met up with each other at our "meeting point". As I stood in line to go through immigration, I met two guys who had just taken the New York bar exam and we exchanged our shared miserable stories about that horrid process. :) After I met up with David, we thought it would be fun to explore every possible part of the airport...in our attempt to find an ATM machine that worked and would actually give us Euros! After the 9th machine, we did a little dance for joy upon actually receiving the money. We also ran into the Italian national basketball team in the airport - who were all over 8 feet tall!
Exploring Athens was fascinating, it's really not such a beautiful city. The traffic is terrible, graffiti runs rampant, and there are porn/sex shops galore. However, it's remarkable how the city is built around the ancient Greek structures that are sprinkled throughout the modern, downtown Athens. We explored Hadrian's arch, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the national gardens.
While walking along the sidewalk, you practically run into the Roman baths which were found when Athens began constructing their underground subway system - the baths date back to 5th century BC and literally are in the middle of the sidewalk along the road. The Congressional hall (for their Parliament) is also very interesting - the building once served as a homeless shelter during a housing shortage in the 1900s. Hard to imagine the U.S. capitol ever serving as a homeless shelter...
We also visited the Panthinaikon Stadium which was built in 330 BC and is also right on the side of a very busy street. In 1896, the first modern Olympics were held in the stadium and it was used again for the summer Olympics in 2004. The Greek Presidential Palace is actually very similar to the White House, except for the VERY strangely dressed security guards who resemble the guards at Buckingham Palace. We went to take a picture next to them - they don't move, their eyes are glued on the street, and they are standing as straight as an arrow. They don't even flinch when one of the city's thousands of stray dogs brushes up against them!
Perhaps the most impressive site in Athens is the Acrpolis. We climbed the 500 foot mountain to get to the ancient city of Acropolis that was built in the 5th century BC. Among other ancient greek ruins, is the Parthenon which is the temple of the Greek goddess Athena and is considered the most important surviving building of classical Greece. The U.S. Supreme Court looks remarkably similar to the Parthenon.
The food in Athens has been terrific, we've tried salami and feta sandwiches, calzones, fantastic Greek salad, etc. Greek salad in Greece is very different than in the states - there is no lettuce, it's just cucumbers, onions, olives, and tomatoes with olive oil and amazing feta cheese. We also had pizza with goudah cheese which was actually better than we expected. The waiter also brings a bowl of ice and places it in the middle of the table (w/o tongs) for us to use in our glasses as we choose. Strange. They also bring us the bill and put it on the table whent he main course is delivered to the table - also odd. We left Athens via the Port of Pireaus on a high speed ferry for Cyclade Santorini (cyclade = island).
The ferry was ENORMOUS, like a huge cruis ship - thousands of people and cars travel throughout the Greek islands on the ferry. We watched the sun set over the Aegean sea from the ferry and arrived in Santorini which Greeks consider to be the most beautiful of the Greek islands.
Our hotel in Santorini was only a few meters from a black sand beach that was created from the volcano on the island. The volcano is still active and most recently erupted in the 1950s. The beach was fabulous, David was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was a topless beach! The water was very interesting, it was not blue at all because the floor of the sea is paved in black volcanic rock - there is no sand anywhere along the sea or under it from the volcano.
We had a great lunch at an outdoor cafe at the beach, grilled feta with veggies, tzatziki sauce (which tasted a lot like Costco's tzatziki sauce!), Greek salad, spinach pie, and Greek meatballs. While hanging out at the pool bar in our hotel,we became friends with two American women, Lili & Kathy, who were in their early thirties. One is a family doctor and the other is a medical student. We had a terrific time with them and went out to dinner together. The doctor's story was incredible, she is jewish and was born in Russia and her parents sneaked out to the U.S. and eventually arrived in NYC where they worked 4 jobs and tried to make a living - and now their child is a doctor. Talk about the American dream.
So anyway, our meal was fun and the food was phenomenal - we all shared everything which ranged from stuffed grape leaves, fish roe salad, Greek potata salad, fava beans, smashed yellow peas, moussaka, swordfish, lamb chops, creamed mushrooms, beets, and olive tapenade. While we chatted with the two, David asked our friend Steve, the thirty-something bartender from San Francisco working in Crete for the summer, what liquor was special to Greece. He recommended the Ouzo. So, David partook, and didn't necessarily enjoy. But, when in Rome . . . or Greece! Ouzo is known throughout different parts of Europe, but Greece claims to have the best. It tastes very similar to Sambuko (which tastes like liquorish) is commonly mixed with only water and ice.
Conversation was terrific - Kathy was a life long Florida Republican and has now decided to vote for and even volunteer for Hillary! :) yay! We left Santorini on a 4:30am ferry to head to Crete. It was pitch black when we arrived at the port which is at the bottom of a huge mountain. There are no lights on the mountain road which is carved into the side of the mountain, so from the bottom of the mountain, you basically just see headlights snaking their way through the side of the mountain - it was quite the sight to see!
The ferry was very strange - there are no assigned seats unless you purchased tickets in a cabin (which we thankfully had done!), but people are sprawled out sleeping on the floor EVERYWHERE, there are not enough chairs for all the passengers- I can't believe that people travel like that for hours and hours on the ferry. But we had a cabin and slept quite well on the way to Crete. Crete was great, but extremely hot - as was Athens and Santorini.
At this time of year, the Greek islands usually experience weather in the mid 80s. When we were there, they had a tremendous heat wave and it was between 105 - 110 degrees every day. VERY hot to say the least. In Crete we went to the archaelogical musuem which has artifacts from the Minoan civilization in Crete - dating back 6800 years!!! The Minoans were one of the first civilizations in Europe. We toured the Palace of Knossos which has the oldest spiral staircase, toilet, and chair in all of Europe. The current Greek chair in the Hague is actually designed after the Minoan chair found at the Place of Knossos on Crete.
We had a fabulous time visiting the "Wet Wet" beach (literally, that's the name of the beach, we're not making it up!) which is where the Ionian & Aegean seas merge. The beach was gorgeous, crystal blue water with islands scattered throughout the sea. The local airport was at one end of the beach so every few hours a plane would come roaring down over our heads and looked like it would actually land in the water. One plane missed the runway and had to circle back around and try to land again!
We then took an overnight ferry back to Piraeus which was on an even more impressive ferry than the previous ones! It had escalators throughout and reminded us a lot of the boat in the movie Titanic (except of course - our ferry didn't crash into an iceberg and sink!). But the customer service was entertaining, the cashier refused to let us change our order - he said, once it is punched in, he can't change it. Again, there were people without cabin assignments who slept everywhere, some brought hammocks or blow up mattresses and slept on them in the lobby! The ferry was supposed to arrive at 5:30am, so we set our alarms for 5:15am. But, there was some delay and we didn't disembark until 6:45am, so much sleep we missed out on! :) It seemed that the gods did not want to allow us an easy morning - beginning with our shortened sleep.
The cab ride from Piraeus to the Budget car rental office required two different cars. The first began to break down after two minutes of the fifteen minute drive, so the driver pulled over and arranged for another cab to take us the rest of the way. Upon arrival, we learned that the office was not yet open. Thankfully, we recognized the Temple of Zeus across the street, and we remembered there being a number of cafes close by. Unfortunately when we found them, they too were closed. So we sat on the curb in the 100 degree heatwave that continued and dined on the delicious Special K cereal bars we had packed.
Soon after our fine dining, we headed back to Budget and saw a man unlocking the doors and entering - this made us very happy. Maybe the gods had changed their minds? Nah . . . when we sat down with the man, he told us a price that was considerably more expensive than we originally had been told (and had in writing from Budget). However, we were told that we could either pay the new price or go somewhere else. So, we paid and asked for a good map of Greece since we were driving through Western and Northern Greece the next few days. They had none. Budget, who undoubtedly provides a plethora of tourists with rental cars for vacation every day had no maps of Greece to give us. So, we rented a GPS system that was programmed in German (good thing neither of us knows German!). If the lack of maps was a ploy for us to spend extra money, it worked. Grrrr Budget.
So after finally finding our way out of Athens, we headed toward Delphi and tried to make a stop in Thebes which was right along the way. For those who don't know, Thebes is where the story of Oedipus originates. However, when we drove through Thebes, no road signs catered to us egocentric English-speaking tourists. In fact, this seemed to be a trend along most of the roads. After a failed attempt of a stop in Thebes, we continued to Delphi. Immediately upon arriving in Delphi, we fell in love with the area. The quaint town of 2,000 people rests in the side of Mount Parnassus overlooking the Gulf of Corinth. Our family-run Acropole Hotel was on the road (the town has three) that juts out the most from the mountain. It was separated from the main roads, where the shops and restaurants were, by flights of twenty steps. Every room in the hotel had a balcony with an absolutely breathtaking view. David couldn't stop taking pictures.
After settling in, we explored the ancient Oracle of Delphi which houses the Temple of Apollo, one of the best preserved stadiums in Europe that seats 7,000, and a theater that seats 5,000 and was one of the most respected theaters during its time. After heading back down from touring the Oracle in the 100+ degree weather, we headed toward the Delphi museum and cafe. Unfortunately, the cafe had only sparkling water and no mineral water. On display at the museum were various artifacts, statues, and jewelry from around the 6th century BCE. When we tried taking pictures in the museum where one of us was posing, we got yelled at even though we weren't touching anything. We still don't know why, but posing is not allowed there!
Back near our hotel, we found a little shop that sold traditional Greek products. We befriended the shop-keep, Yurgos, and he gave David a taste of Raki, a liquor with 40% alcohol that tastes like raisins. The stores selection of Greek olive oil, local Greek wine, tapenade, and liquor greatly decreased the weight of our wallets. That evening, we ate at a restaurant, Epikouros, with a view as spectacular as our balcony's, owned by the same family as our hotel, and food to match the aura.
Before our food came out, our waiter, Dimitris, noticed David eyeballing something cake he was serving to the Japanese tour group that filled the place. So, he brought us a complimentary piece, still before our food was served. The other waiter then walked by and, in jest, scolded us for eating dessert before dinner. As we began to eat, we struck up a conversation with our Dimitris. After five minutes of standing and talking, he pulled up a chair and sat down (yes, the restaurant was full of people and he was one of two waiters).
Following our twenty minute conversation, during which he told us he had spent 3 years in prison so he doesn't like lawyers and he was scared of planes so he had never left the area, we noticed many patrons glaring at him. When he got up, he finally went back and retrieved their food. After we ate, we realized that we had ordered, and eaten, too much. Our meal consisted of spetzofai (a dish of toatoes, peppers, onions, and sausage, that is special to Northern Greece), spanakopita, mousaka, zuchinni balls (yum!), baklava, and local Greek wine. What a meal!
As many of you probably have read about in the news, Greece has suffered a national tragedy this week. Over 200 fires are blazing across the country and over 60 people have died (they expect the death toll to climb well over 100 people). The fires have been set by arsonists, they have arrested two people so far - a 65 year old man and a 77 year old woman. The government is offering a $1 million reward to people who provide informationt hat leads to a conviction. The acts of arson are allegedly politically motivated and aimed at influencing the upcoming presidential election (September 16). Currently, the right wing party controls the government, but the election is expected to be very very close. The right wing party has been supporting increased construction and development of land and the arsonists are allegedly trying to stop this increased construction.
The Greek prime minister has declared a state of national emergency and the country has received aid from countries throughout Europe. The Flags are flying at half-staff and the news is covered in this story. It's horrific, but an incredible piece of Greek history which we are living through. On our drive from Delphi to Metsovo, we passed by many of these raging fires and saw the plumes of smoke for miles and miles. The smoke filled mountains were on our right and the gorgeous Gulf of Corinth was on our left as we drove. At one point a helicopter with an ENORMOUS bucket flew right next to us, dipped the bucket into the water and then flew to dump the water into the fires and again and again. We saw tanker planes filling up with water and trying to extinguish the fires but to no avail. It's been a terrible experience to witness and the entire country is mourning the losses of lives, property, and spirit at these unimaginable acts of arson.
We decided to take a detour along our drive to Metsovo and stopped to swim at the beach at the Apollo beach hotel. We basically just pretended we were guests at the resort and enjoyed the beach, swam in the pool, showered and changed. We had a heavenly lunch at their patio cafe overlooking the water with breeze blowing through the trees.
We arrived in Metsovo which is a very quaint town with the focus on the town square. Kids were laughing and playing, hundreds of people were out walking, greeting friends in the square. Our restaurant was clearly a family business as we were served by a 10 year old waiter who was helping his mom. We had a great meal of noodles with various meats, cornflour pie with kale (david was a fan, rebecca - not so much), and smoked metsovo cheese. We befriended the guy at the hotel - Yanis - who looked like he had been crying watching the latest news about the Greek fires. We had a fabulous homemade breakfast of chocolate cake (yay for chocolate cake at breakfast!), local ceralis cheese, bread, and eggs. On our drive from Metsovo to Thessaloniki we almost ran over a herd of billygoats just sleeping on the road, guarded by a dog who looked about as ferocious as Lucy!
In Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Athens, we saw the old synagogue, and learned that the entire city's internet had been down for 2 days because of the fires. We also learned that when a Greek person doesn't know the answer to a question we ask them (most often when we ask for directions), they close their eyes and raise their chin towards us, almost like when you turn up your nose to someone. It is a very rude looking gesture by our American standards and we have been quite put off by it until we learned what it actually meant!
We arrived at the Thessaloniki train station and met a very friendly American named Al who is on a 10 year program in Bulgaria. He and his wife are missionaries with the Free Methodist church - and he befriended us for the entire train ride until his stop. But he was very helpful, even though the conversation was...interesting to say the least. So, we're in Bulgaria and doing fabulously! We'll try to send out another update about Bulgaria and Turkey, but it may not be until we get home.
Exploring Athens was fascinating, it's really not such a beautiful city. The traffic is terrible, graffiti runs rampant, and there are porn/sex shops galore. However, it's remarkable how the city is built around the ancient Greek structures that are sprinkled throughout the modern, downtown Athens. We explored Hadrian's arch, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the national gardens.
While walking along the sidewalk, you practically run into the Roman baths which were found when Athens began constructing their underground subway system - the baths date back to 5th century BC and literally are in the middle of the sidewalk along the road. The Congressional hall (for their Parliament) is also very interesting - the building once served as a homeless shelter during a housing shortage in the 1900s. Hard to imagine the U.S. capitol ever serving as a homeless shelter...
We also visited the Panthinaikon Stadium which was built in 330 BC and is also right on the side of a very busy street. In 1896, the first modern Olympics were held in the stadium and it was used again for the summer Olympics in 2004. The Greek Presidential Palace is actually very similar to the White House, except for the VERY strangely dressed security guards who resemble the guards at Buckingham Palace. We went to take a picture next to them - they don't move, their eyes are glued on the street, and they are standing as straight as an arrow. They don't even flinch when one of the city's thousands of stray dogs brushes up against them!
Perhaps the most impressive site in Athens is the Acrpolis. We climbed the 500 foot mountain to get to the ancient city of Acropolis that was built in the 5th century BC. Among other ancient greek ruins, is the Parthenon which is the temple of the Greek goddess Athena and is considered the most important surviving building of classical Greece. The U.S. Supreme Court looks remarkably similar to the Parthenon.
The food in Athens has been terrific, we've tried salami and feta sandwiches, calzones, fantastic Greek salad, etc. Greek salad in Greece is very different than in the states - there is no lettuce, it's just cucumbers, onions, olives, and tomatoes with olive oil and amazing feta cheese. We also had pizza with goudah cheese which was actually better than we expected. The waiter also brings a bowl of ice and places it in the middle of the table (w/o tongs) for us to use in our glasses as we choose. Strange. They also bring us the bill and put it on the table whent he main course is delivered to the table - also odd. We left Athens via the Port of Pireaus on a high speed ferry for Cyclade Santorini (cyclade = island).
The ferry was ENORMOUS, like a huge cruis ship - thousands of people and cars travel throughout the Greek islands on the ferry. We watched the sun set over the Aegean sea from the ferry and arrived in Santorini which Greeks consider to be the most beautiful of the Greek islands.
Our hotel in Santorini was only a few meters from a black sand beach that was created from the volcano on the island. The volcano is still active and most recently erupted in the 1950s. The beach was fabulous, David was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was a topless beach! The water was very interesting, it was not blue at all because the floor of the sea is paved in black volcanic rock - there is no sand anywhere along the sea or under it from the volcano.
We had a great lunch at an outdoor cafe at the beach, grilled feta with veggies, tzatziki sauce (which tasted a lot like Costco's tzatziki sauce!), Greek salad, spinach pie, and Greek meatballs. While hanging out at the pool bar in our hotel,we became friends with two American women, Lili & Kathy, who were in their early thirties. One is a family doctor and the other is a medical student. We had a terrific time with them and went out to dinner together. The doctor's story was incredible, she is jewish and was born in Russia and her parents sneaked out to the U.S. and eventually arrived in NYC where they worked 4 jobs and tried to make a living - and now their child is a doctor. Talk about the American dream.
So anyway, our meal was fun and the food was phenomenal - we all shared everything which ranged from stuffed grape leaves, fish roe salad, Greek potata salad, fava beans, smashed yellow peas, moussaka, swordfish, lamb chops, creamed mushrooms, beets, and olive tapenade. While we chatted with the two, David asked our friend Steve, the thirty-something bartender from San Francisco working in Crete for the summer, what liquor was special to Greece. He recommended the Ouzo. So, David partook, and didn't necessarily enjoy. But, when in Rome . . . or Greece! Ouzo is known throughout different parts of Europe, but Greece claims to have the best. It tastes very similar to Sambuko (which tastes like liquorish) is commonly mixed with only water and ice.
Conversation was terrific - Kathy was a life long Florida Republican and has now decided to vote for and even volunteer for Hillary! :) yay! We left Santorini on a 4:30am ferry to head to Crete. It was pitch black when we arrived at the port which is at the bottom of a huge mountain. There are no lights on the mountain road which is carved into the side of the mountain, so from the bottom of the mountain, you basically just see headlights snaking their way through the side of the mountain - it was quite the sight to see!
The ferry was very strange - there are no assigned seats unless you purchased tickets in a cabin (which we thankfully had done!), but people are sprawled out sleeping on the floor EVERYWHERE, there are not enough chairs for all the passengers- I can't believe that people travel like that for hours and hours on the ferry. But we had a cabin and slept quite well on the way to Crete. Crete was great, but extremely hot - as was Athens and Santorini.
At this time of year, the Greek islands usually experience weather in the mid 80s. When we were there, they had a tremendous heat wave and it was between 105 - 110 degrees every day. VERY hot to say the least. In Crete we went to the archaelogical musuem which has artifacts from the Minoan civilization in Crete - dating back 6800 years!!! The Minoans were one of the first civilizations in Europe. We toured the Palace of Knossos which has the oldest spiral staircase, toilet, and chair in all of Europe. The current Greek chair in the Hague is actually designed after the Minoan chair found at the Place of Knossos on Crete.
We had a fabulous time visiting the "Wet Wet" beach (literally, that's the name of the beach, we're not making it up!) which is where the Ionian & Aegean seas merge. The beach was gorgeous, crystal blue water with islands scattered throughout the sea. The local airport was at one end of the beach so every few hours a plane would come roaring down over our heads and looked like it would actually land in the water. One plane missed the runway and had to circle back around and try to land again!
We then took an overnight ferry back to Piraeus which was on an even more impressive ferry than the previous ones! It had escalators throughout and reminded us a lot of the boat in the movie Titanic (except of course - our ferry didn't crash into an iceberg and sink!). But the customer service was entertaining, the cashier refused to let us change our order - he said, once it is punched in, he can't change it. Again, there were people without cabin assignments who slept everywhere, some brought hammocks or blow up mattresses and slept on them in the lobby! The ferry was supposed to arrive at 5:30am, so we set our alarms for 5:15am. But, there was some delay and we didn't disembark until 6:45am, so much sleep we missed out on! :) It seemed that the gods did not want to allow us an easy morning - beginning with our shortened sleep.
The cab ride from Piraeus to the Budget car rental office required two different cars. The first began to break down after two minutes of the fifteen minute drive, so the driver pulled over and arranged for another cab to take us the rest of the way. Upon arrival, we learned that the office was not yet open. Thankfully, we recognized the Temple of Zeus across the street, and we remembered there being a number of cafes close by. Unfortunately when we found them, they too were closed. So we sat on the curb in the 100 degree heatwave that continued and dined on the delicious Special K cereal bars we had packed.
Soon after our fine dining, we headed back to Budget and saw a man unlocking the doors and entering - this made us very happy. Maybe the gods had changed their minds? Nah . . . when we sat down with the man, he told us a price that was considerably more expensive than we originally had been told (and had in writing from Budget). However, we were told that we could either pay the new price or go somewhere else. So, we paid and asked for a good map of Greece since we were driving through Western and Northern Greece the next few days. They had none. Budget, who undoubtedly provides a plethora of tourists with rental cars for vacation every day had no maps of Greece to give us. So, we rented a GPS system that was programmed in German (good thing neither of us knows German!). If the lack of maps was a ploy for us to spend extra money, it worked. Grrrr Budget.
So after finally finding our way out of Athens, we headed toward Delphi and tried to make a stop in Thebes which was right along the way. For those who don't know, Thebes is where the story of Oedipus originates. However, when we drove through Thebes, no road signs catered to us egocentric English-speaking tourists. In fact, this seemed to be a trend along most of the roads. After a failed attempt of a stop in Thebes, we continued to Delphi. Immediately upon arriving in Delphi, we fell in love with the area. The quaint town of 2,000 people rests in the side of Mount Parnassus overlooking the Gulf of Corinth. Our family-run Acropole Hotel was on the road (the town has three) that juts out the most from the mountain. It was separated from the main roads, where the shops and restaurants were, by flights of twenty steps. Every room in the hotel had a balcony with an absolutely breathtaking view. David couldn't stop taking pictures.
After settling in, we explored the ancient Oracle of Delphi which houses the Temple of Apollo, one of the best preserved stadiums in Europe that seats 7,000, and a theater that seats 5,000 and was one of the most respected theaters during its time. After heading back down from touring the Oracle in the 100+ degree weather, we headed toward the Delphi museum and cafe. Unfortunately, the cafe had only sparkling water and no mineral water. On display at the museum were various artifacts, statues, and jewelry from around the 6th century BCE. When we tried taking pictures in the museum where one of us was posing, we got yelled at even though we weren't touching anything. We still don't know why, but posing is not allowed there!
Back near our hotel, we found a little shop that sold traditional Greek products. We befriended the shop-keep, Yurgos, and he gave David a taste of Raki, a liquor with 40% alcohol that tastes like raisins. The stores selection of Greek olive oil, local Greek wine, tapenade, and liquor greatly decreased the weight of our wallets. That evening, we ate at a restaurant, Epikouros, with a view as spectacular as our balcony's, owned by the same family as our hotel, and food to match the aura.
Before our food came out, our waiter, Dimitris, noticed David eyeballing something cake he was serving to the Japanese tour group that filled the place. So, he brought us a complimentary piece, still before our food was served. The other waiter then walked by and, in jest, scolded us for eating dessert before dinner. As we began to eat, we struck up a conversation with our Dimitris. After five minutes of standing and talking, he pulled up a chair and sat down (yes, the restaurant was full of people and he was one of two waiters).
Following our twenty minute conversation, during which he told us he had spent 3 years in prison so he doesn't like lawyers and he was scared of planes so he had never left the area, we noticed many patrons glaring at him. When he got up, he finally went back and retrieved their food. After we ate, we realized that we had ordered, and eaten, too much. Our meal consisted of spetzofai (a dish of toatoes, peppers, onions, and sausage, that is special to Northern Greece), spanakopita, mousaka, zuchinni balls (yum!), baklava, and local Greek wine. What a meal!
As many of you probably have read about in the news, Greece has suffered a national tragedy this week. Over 200 fires are blazing across the country and over 60 people have died (they expect the death toll to climb well over 100 people). The fires have been set by arsonists, they have arrested two people so far - a 65 year old man and a 77 year old woman. The government is offering a $1 million reward to people who provide informationt hat leads to a conviction. The acts of arson are allegedly politically motivated and aimed at influencing the upcoming presidential election (September 16). Currently, the right wing party controls the government, but the election is expected to be very very close. The right wing party has been supporting increased construction and development of land and the arsonists are allegedly trying to stop this increased construction.
The Greek prime minister has declared a state of national emergency and the country has received aid from countries throughout Europe. The Flags are flying at half-staff and the news is covered in this story. It's horrific, but an incredible piece of Greek history which we are living through. On our drive from Delphi to Metsovo, we passed by many of these raging fires and saw the plumes of smoke for miles and miles. The smoke filled mountains were on our right and the gorgeous Gulf of Corinth was on our left as we drove. At one point a helicopter with an ENORMOUS bucket flew right next to us, dipped the bucket into the water and then flew to dump the water into the fires and again and again. We saw tanker planes filling up with water and trying to extinguish the fires but to no avail. It's been a terrible experience to witness and the entire country is mourning the losses of lives, property, and spirit at these unimaginable acts of arson.
We decided to take a detour along our drive to Metsovo and stopped to swim at the beach at the Apollo beach hotel. We basically just pretended we were guests at the resort and enjoyed the beach, swam in the pool, showered and changed. We had a heavenly lunch at their patio cafe overlooking the water with breeze blowing through the trees.
We arrived in Metsovo which is a very quaint town with the focus on the town square. Kids were laughing and playing, hundreds of people were out walking, greeting friends in the square. Our restaurant was clearly a family business as we were served by a 10 year old waiter who was helping his mom. We had a great meal of noodles with various meats, cornflour pie with kale (david was a fan, rebecca - not so much), and smoked metsovo cheese. We befriended the guy at the hotel - Yanis - who looked like he had been crying watching the latest news about the Greek fires. We had a fabulous homemade breakfast of chocolate cake (yay for chocolate cake at breakfast!), local ceralis cheese, bread, and eggs. On our drive from Metsovo to Thessaloniki we almost ran over a herd of billygoats just sleeping on the road, guarded by a dog who looked about as ferocious as Lucy!
In Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Athens, we saw the old synagogue, and learned that the entire city's internet had been down for 2 days because of the fires. We also learned that when a Greek person doesn't know the answer to a question we ask them (most often when we ask for directions), they close their eyes and raise their chin towards us, almost like when you turn up your nose to someone. It is a very rude looking gesture by our American standards and we have been quite put off by it until we learned what it actually meant!
We arrived at the Thessaloniki train station and met a very friendly American named Al who is on a 10 year program in Bulgaria. He and his wife are missionaries with the Free Methodist church - and he befriended us for the entire train ride until his stop. But he was very helpful, even though the conversation was...interesting to say the least. So, we're in Bulgaria and doing fabulously! We'll try to send out another update about Bulgaria and Turkey, but it may not be until we get home.
Third Travel Update - Israel, Jordan, Egypt
After a quiet night in Eilat we headed for Dolphin Beach to scuba dive with dolphins. At the beach we were reminded again how small the world is when we ran into a family from Washington that Becca recognized from one of the DC synagogues.
Scuba diving with dolphins was truly a remarkable experience. The Red Sea is extremely deep and clear, so we were able to just swim into the coral reef and dolphin area. Given that we were inexperienced divers, we both had an instructor assigned to dive with us which was extremely helpful. The added benefit of this was that our instructors have a relationship with the dolphins. The highlight of the dive was when Brad's instructor played with one of the dolphins for several minutes. From our time in the water it was pretty clear how social dolphins are and how much they enjoy interacting with each other and with humans they know. If you ever have the opportunity to swim or scuba with dolphins, it is well worth it. At one point, one of the dolphins swam right into Becca's feet to say hello!
One side note, in discussions with Brad's instructor, the topic of global warming came up. His instructor noted that this summer they recorded the highest water temperatures in recorded history in the Red Sea. If the temperature rises another 1 or 2 degrees Celsius the coral in the Red Sea (some of the best in the world) will die.
After finishing our dive we returned our rental car, said goodbye to Israel and headed for the Israel-Jordan border. The border crossing was opened a little more than 10 years ago after the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan was signed. After exiting Israel we literally walked with our luggage 100 yards or so to the Jordanian border. There was little doubt how different the country we were entering was - there were pictures of King Hussein everywhere and the signs that were previously in Hebrew, Arabic and English now were only in Arabic and English. After clearing customs we arranged for a cab to transport us to our nearby hotel.
Riding through the streets of Aqaba, we were struck by the differences between Israel and Jordan. The roads weren't nearly as well maintained, the cars were significantly older and the houses looked very poor. Arriving at our hotel we were surprised that we had to go through gates and metal detectors just to enter the lobby.
Jordan seemed to be a country of contradictions as well. It was extremely common to see a fully covered woman on the beach with her young children in bathing suits. Unlike Israel, where observant men dressed as modestly as women, most the men at the resort dressed like any westerner would. We also rented waverunners to use on the Mediterranean which were VERY funny
After a couple of relaxing days in Jordan we prepared to fly to Cairo. We were very nervous when our hotel assured us that we should leave at 8 am for our 9 am flight on the day of our departure. We arrived at the airport with 30 minutes to spare and ended up making it through intense security in about 10 minutes - a far cry from airports in the U.S. While checking in for our flight our passports were checked no less than 6 times each, including before our van even entered the airport. Despite this intense security, only Brad was required to pass through a metal detector. Becca was instead just lightly patted down in a separate booth used for all women travelers - apparently they don't feel that females are potential terrorists.. The flight from Amman was interesting, they had a horrible snake movie on the tv the entire time which was not so pleasant. It's also such a contrast from the states where someone who dresses typically "Middle Eastern" attracts significant attention in the post 911 world, we Americans stood out the Royal Jordanian flights
After flying through Amman we arrived in Cairo for the last leg of our trip together. As we rode from the airport to the hotel we were struck by three things. First Cairo is a huge city of 22 million people. Second it is an incredibly poor city, which was very evident during our drive in. Apparently unemployment is over 20%! Third, the drivers are terrible. Lane markings are ignored - they are more like decorations on the road, street lights are never used and really are just suggestions and horns are used all the time. Even the worst American drivers are highly skilled as compared to Egyptian drivers. The scariest part of Egypt was crossing the street - it felt like a game of frogger.
Friday night we enjoyed a wonderful dinner cruise on the Nile River. The cruise was highlighted by traditional Egyptian songs and dancing. The best part of the cruise, however, was the waiters. They seemed to be particularly interested in Becca, waiting on her with great care (especially when Brad left the table). They were very disappointed; however, when they found out we were married, although they continued to blow kisses to her and give her their email address! Becca also re-discovered her favorite Egyptian dish (which she first had when she visited Egypt in 2000). It is called coshery, it is made of lentils, pasta, rice, garbanzo beans, onions, and a sour sauce - quite fabulous! The Egyptians really enjoy their chick peas - they call whole chick peas "hummus" and they even served us chick pea soup (which was actually disgusting).
The following day we met our tour guide and headed out to see the sights of Cairo. We started at the Egypt Museum – an incredibly large museum that houses artifacts dating back over 4000 years of Egyptian history. We were blown away both by the size of the museum and its contents. It was remarkable how well the many sculptures, paintings and other artifacts have held up over thousands of years. The detail work and colors used were unbelievable and we left the museum even more impressed with Egyptian history than when we arrived.
After stops at the Papyrus Museum, where they make the ancient Egyptian art on paper from the papyrus plants that grow in the Nile, and an oil shop that sells Egyptian perfumes and oils, we headed for the Pyramids. While I had been to the pyramids before, Brad had not. He was blown away by their immense size. The largest of the pyramids took over 17 years to build and is construction by over 2 million blocks that were floated up the Nile River from southern Egypt. They truly are a wonder of the world.
Brad and I, being the political dorks that we are, spent a lot of time asking our guide questions about Egyptians' views on the United States, Middle East politics and the Egyptian government. We found the discussion both fascinating and sad. Our guide talked at length of America's diminished reputation in the region. He said this was due to both the war in Iraq, President Bush's perceived arrogance and the U.S.' strong support for Israel. We found it interesting that he viewed Arafat with great affection and Abbas with great disdain. While we didn't share his sentiments, we found the healthy exchange of ideas to be valuable and insightful. At the end of our day our guide thanked us for the discussion and debate.
The next morning Brad and I headed to the airport separately. He flew back to Washington and I continued my journey to Greece with my brother. As he finished he trip he wrote down the following thoughts which I thought you all might like to read:
I found our two weeks of traveling to be an insightful, educational and immensely enjoyable experience. I won't soon forget literally touching history in the 2000 year old tunnels under the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem or having my picture taken on a camel with the great Pyramids behind me. I've wanted to travel to this part of the world for many years. Being able to finally do it was really a dream come true.
My time in Israel left me with great admiration for the Israeli people. I don't think I quite comprehended how small and vulnerable the country is until we started to drive around it. In spite of the daily dangers faced by the Israeli people, I was inspired by their determination to live their everyday lives with as little disruption as possible.
I was also greatly impressed by the infrastructure and development of Israel, especially compared to Jordan and Egypt. In 60 short years they have built a modern state out of mostly desert. While there certainly were parts of that country that were poor, I didn't get the same sense of poverty that I witnessed on the streets of Aqaba and Cairo. I think that is a testament to the ingenuity of the Israeli people and their commitment to the development their country.
It truly was a remarkable trip that we took and we can't wait for our next visit there soon.
Scuba diving with dolphins was truly a remarkable experience. The Red Sea is extremely deep and clear, so we were able to just swim into the coral reef and dolphin area. Given that we were inexperienced divers, we both had an instructor assigned to dive with us which was extremely helpful. The added benefit of this was that our instructors have a relationship with the dolphins. The highlight of the dive was when Brad's instructor played with one of the dolphins for several minutes. From our time in the water it was pretty clear how social dolphins are and how much they enjoy interacting with each other and with humans they know. If you ever have the opportunity to swim or scuba with dolphins, it is well worth it. At one point, one of the dolphins swam right into Becca's feet to say hello!
One side note, in discussions with Brad's instructor, the topic of global warming came up. His instructor noted that this summer they recorded the highest water temperatures in recorded history in the Red Sea. If the temperature rises another 1 or 2 degrees Celsius the coral in the Red Sea (some of the best in the world) will die.
After finishing our dive we returned our rental car, said goodbye to Israel and headed for the Israel-Jordan border. The border crossing was opened a little more than 10 years ago after the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan was signed. After exiting Israel we literally walked with our luggage 100 yards or so to the Jordanian border. There was little doubt how different the country we were entering was - there were pictures of King Hussein everywhere and the signs that were previously in Hebrew, Arabic and English now were only in Arabic and English. After clearing customs we arranged for a cab to transport us to our nearby hotel.
Riding through the streets of Aqaba, we were struck by the differences between Israel and Jordan. The roads weren't nearly as well maintained, the cars were significantly older and the houses looked very poor. Arriving at our hotel we were surprised that we had to go through gates and metal detectors just to enter the lobby.
Jordan seemed to be a country of contradictions as well. It was extremely common to see a fully covered woman on the beach with her young children in bathing suits. Unlike Israel, where observant men dressed as modestly as women, most the men at the resort dressed like any westerner would. We also rented waverunners to use on the Mediterranean which were VERY funny
After a couple of relaxing days in Jordan we prepared to fly to Cairo. We were very nervous when our hotel assured us that we should leave at 8 am for our 9 am flight on the day of our departure. We arrived at the airport with 30 minutes to spare and ended up making it through intense security in about 10 minutes - a far cry from airports in the U.S. While checking in for our flight our passports were checked no less than 6 times each, including before our van even entered the airport. Despite this intense security, only Brad was required to pass through a metal detector. Becca was instead just lightly patted down in a separate booth used for all women travelers - apparently they don't feel that females are potential terrorists.. The flight from Amman was interesting, they had a horrible snake movie on the tv the entire time which was not so pleasant. It's also such a contrast from the states where someone who dresses typically "Middle Eastern" attracts significant attention in the post 911 world, we Americans stood out the Royal Jordanian flights
After flying through Amman we arrived in Cairo for the last leg of our trip together. As we rode from the airport to the hotel we were struck by three things. First Cairo is a huge city of 22 million people. Second it is an incredibly poor city, which was very evident during our drive in. Apparently unemployment is over 20%! Third, the drivers are terrible. Lane markings are ignored - they are more like decorations on the road, street lights are never used and really are just suggestions and horns are used all the time. Even the worst American drivers are highly skilled as compared to Egyptian drivers. The scariest part of Egypt was crossing the street - it felt like a game of frogger.
Friday night we enjoyed a wonderful dinner cruise on the Nile River. The cruise was highlighted by traditional Egyptian songs and dancing. The best part of the cruise, however, was the waiters. They seemed to be particularly interested in Becca, waiting on her with great care (especially when Brad left the table). They were very disappointed; however, when they found out we were married, although they continued to blow kisses to her and give her their email address! Becca also re-discovered her favorite Egyptian dish (which she first had when she visited Egypt in 2000). It is called coshery, it is made of lentils, pasta, rice, garbanzo beans, onions, and a sour sauce - quite fabulous! The Egyptians really enjoy their chick peas - they call whole chick peas "hummus" and they even served us chick pea soup (which was actually disgusting).
The following day we met our tour guide and headed out to see the sights of Cairo. We started at the Egypt Museum – an incredibly large museum that houses artifacts dating back over 4000 years of Egyptian history. We were blown away both by the size of the museum and its contents. It was remarkable how well the many sculptures, paintings and other artifacts have held up over thousands of years. The detail work and colors used were unbelievable and we left the museum even more impressed with Egyptian history than when we arrived.
After stops at the Papyrus Museum, where they make the ancient Egyptian art on paper from the papyrus plants that grow in the Nile, and an oil shop that sells Egyptian perfumes and oils, we headed for the Pyramids. While I had been to the pyramids before, Brad had not. He was blown away by their immense size. The largest of the pyramids took over 17 years to build and is construction by over 2 million blocks that were floated up the Nile River from southern Egypt. They truly are a wonder of the world.
Brad and I, being the political dorks that we are, spent a lot of time asking our guide questions about Egyptians' views on the United States, Middle East politics and the Egyptian government. We found the discussion both fascinating and sad. Our guide talked at length of America's diminished reputation in the region. He said this was due to both the war in Iraq, President Bush's perceived arrogance and the U.S.' strong support for Israel. We found it interesting that he viewed Arafat with great affection and Abbas with great disdain. While we didn't share his sentiments, we found the healthy exchange of ideas to be valuable and insightful. At the end of our day our guide thanked us for the discussion and debate.
The next morning Brad and I headed to the airport separately. He flew back to Washington and I continued my journey to Greece with my brother. As he finished he trip he wrote down the following thoughts which I thought you all might like to read:
I found our two weeks of traveling to be an insightful, educational and immensely enjoyable experience. I won't soon forget literally touching history in the 2000 year old tunnels under the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem or having my picture taken on a camel with the great Pyramids behind me. I've wanted to travel to this part of the world for many years. Being able to finally do it was really a dream come true.
My time in Israel left me with great admiration for the Israeli people. I don't think I quite comprehended how small and vulnerable the country is until we started to drive around it. In spite of the daily dangers faced by the Israeli people, I was inspired by their determination to live their everyday lives with as little disruption as possible.
I was also greatly impressed by the infrastructure and development of Israel, especially compared to Jordan and Egypt. In 60 short years they have built a modern state out of mostly desert. While there certainly were parts of that country that were poor, I didn't get the same sense of poverty that I witnessed on the streets of Aqaba and Cairo. I think that is a testament to the ingenuity of the Israeli people and their commitment to the development their country.
It truly was a remarkable trip that we took and we can't wait for our next visit there soon.
Second Update from Israel
We are doing fabulously and having a terrific trip!
So, the last update we left the north and were heading to Jerusalem. Our drive was fascinating - we drove through the West Bank, sometimes in Jewish areas, sometimes in Palestinian areas. When we first got our rental car, we asked the Budget guy at the tel aviv airport if it was safe to drive through the West Bank. His jaw dropped and he said in very Israeli fashion "ehhh, why would you want to go to the west bank?" We explained that we weren't actually visiting the west bank, but wanted to drive through it to get from Tiberias to Jerusalem.
He then opened the map and pointed to the areas of the map which Budget would not allow us to enter into with the rental car (Ramallah, Jericho, Bethlehem, etc) - because they were too dangerous. As we drove through the West Bank and made our way through the many checkpoints on the road up to Jerusalem, we were very aware of "The Fence" separating parts of the West Bank and protecting Israelis from would-be suicide bombers entering Israel from the West Bank.
The Fence was EXACTLY like the AIPAC replica of the fence at Policy Conference 2 years ago and truly is a fence - not a wall as some people refer to it. Only about 1-2% of it is a wall, the rest of it is a fence and has been extremely successful in preventing terrorists from attacking Israelis. However, the poverty in the West Bank is pretty unbelievable and the road was dotted with "camel crossings" as we made our way up the mountains to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was terrific - I really really missed it. For those of you who don't know, I lived in Jerusalem for 6 months in college when I studied at Hebrew Univesrity. When we first arrived in Jerusalem, we went to Yad Vashem - Israel's Holocaust Museum. They opened a new building in 2005 which I hadn't seen - it was truly fantastic and very different from the DC Holocaust museum. There was a very interesting letter from a U.S. Senator to a Jewish constituent, explaining why the U.S. shouldn't get involved in WWII. I will never forget the photograph display of the first Shabbat service in a German death camp after the camp was liberated by American soldiers. The American military Jewish chaplain was leading the emaciated Holocaust survivors in their first Shabbat services in years - it was an amazing moment in history captured in the picture.
Perhaps the most compelling exhibit I have ever seen is Yad Vashem's children's memorial. The memorial displays 5 candles in a building with many many many mirrors - situated so that the flame of the candles are reflected over 1.5 million times so you are surrounded by 1.5 million flames - to represent the 1.5 million Jewish children killed in the Holocaust. Names of the victims are read as you walk through and see your own image dully displayed in the mirrors next to the millions of flames and soft Jewish music is played. Truly a breathtaking memorial - very simple and yet it says so much.
So, after a very dark and difficult afternoon at Yad Vashem, we stopped by the Knesset Building (Israeli Parliament) since we are the never ending political junkies and then headed to meet up with a bunch of my old AIPAC friends who are now living in Israel (Karen Brunwasser, Glassman, Ginsberg, & Baylene). We went to a terrific grill restaurant and enjoyed a terrific dinner of grilled lamb and chicken kebabs with 12 kinds of Israeli salads - carrot salad, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, cabbage, beets, etc - so yummy! We spent hours telling old AIPAC stories and laughing too loudly - our waiter told us that other patrons were complaining about the noisy Americans and asked us to quiet down! :) Hah!
Brad has been very entertained that dozens of people keep thinking that I'm Israeli and stop to ask me for directions (which I am terrible at even in the states!) - it's been very funny. Apparently I look Israeli (or Jewish which is what i think). The cab cars are
interesting - they are all either Mercedes or BMWs - some people say that they are from the German government for continued reparations after the war. And before you get in the cab, you haggle with the driver over the price of the cab ride so you won't get ripped off at the end!
The next day we toured the Old City of Jerusalem with my friend Daniel Ginsberg who has tremendous knowledge of the city. A South African Jew who I worked with at AIPAC, Dan fabulous accent and stories made our tour unforgettable. We loved the story about Neil Armstrong who said that as he walked in Jerusalem along the steps of Jesus, walking on the Jerusalem stone was more meaningful to him than walking on the moon! Pretty incredible. We learned so many fascinating facts about the city - we saw the original green line separating East & West Jerusalem before 1967 and the mezuzahs on each of the gates entering the Old City which are made of shell casings from the 1967 war. Walking through the Old City – we heard dozens of languages and cultures all coming together to tour this magical city.
Israel is such a country of contradictions. 18 year old girls are either in the military for their mandated service after high school and walking aroudn with huge guns over their shoulders - or they are Orthodox and married and probably pregnant (seriously, I think that like 99% of the Orthodox women under the age of 50 are pregnant right now!). There is nothing in the middle. The Orthodox women cover their head in wigs, dress in long skirts and long sleeves (regardless of the heat) and they all have huge families of 8-10 kids. There is also a lot of controversy surrounding the exemption given to ultra-Orthodox men and women who do not have to serve in the military at all. And yet, a number of Orthodox families with a lot of kids are on government assistance even though they don't serve in the military.
As I mention the Old City of Jerusalem, I am compelled to discuss the terrible incident that occurred whil we were in Jerusalem. Friday morning in the Jewish quarter of the Old City, a Palestinian terrorist stole a gun off of an Israeli security guard in the Old City and shot 11 people (only injured them) before he was killed. We were not in that part of the city - but we had been there the day before and were planning to go again that day. It was scary to have something like that happen while we were there - but the rest of the city continued to prepare for the Shabbat which was quickly approaching. We didn't even know that the incident occurred until Canadian tourists told us about it. The Israelis were like - eh, it's nothing, but I think that's just how they cope - especially since it has been SO long since something like this has happened in Jerusalem. Security was definitely heightened in the city over the sabbath and Saturday night and we were a bit more aware, but nonetheless - we still felt quite safe and at home in Jerusalem.
So, onto perhaps a more interesting subject - the food has been quite fabulous. However, there is a new Israeli phenomenon to have pizza with corn and pizza with tuna. We tried the corn pizza which was odd, the tuna one looked gross. We also tried a tuna quiche which was...interesting. It's so different than the states b/c in Israel they have dairy restaurants or meat restaurants - most restaurants are kosher so you can't mix meat and milk within the same restaurant. I also convinced Brad that israeli olives taste different than American olives (which they do!). He attempted to try one...and remembered why he hates olives as intensely as he does. :)
We also visited the Kotel (Western Wall of the Second Temple) several times and experienced its spirituality and magic. The wall was actually busier at 10pm than at 2pm! The entrance to the Western Wall is very secure and you must go through a metal detector and have your bags searched. There is a sign on the wall informing Orthodox visitors that the rabbis have ruled that the metal detectors are ok to walk through on Shabbat. The sign also says that the rabbis believe that Jews are not permitted to enter the Dome of the Rock and informs women to dress appropriately (shoulders must be covered).
We went on a terrific tour of the tunnels of the Old City running along the entire length of the Western Wall (what we see outside is just a tiny slice of the actual Western Wall). The tunnel tour was phenomenal - we walked on original streets from the Second Temple
(about 2000 years ago) and learned how the city was built, destroyed, built, destroyed, and rebuilt. We saw the cisterns which provided water to the city and learned how they erected such a tremendous temple.
Daniel also helped us find our way through the neighborhood of Mea Shearim, the first neighborhood built outside of the Old City's walls and is perhaps one of the most Orthodox neighborhoods in the world. It truly was like stepping several hundred years back into old Polish Jewish communities. The sign at the entrance of the community required women to dress "modestly" and the walls are plastered with posters for their "community board". Some of the people speak in Yiddish because they believe Hebrew is too holy to be used on a daily basis. There have been stories of them throwing stones at Jews who drive their car through the neighborhood on Shabbat - since Orthodox do not drive cars or even use electricity on the sabbath.
In preparation for Shabbat, we visited Mahane Yehuda - better known as The Shuk - or the outdoor market which is perhaps one of my most favorite places in Israel. We first went to Marzapan - which has the MOST AMAZING chocolate rugalach I have ever had - you truly crave them. They're amazing. Yum. There was a kid in there on birthright from New Jersey who saw the crowd at the store and asked me - what's going on? What do I do here? I explained about the rugalach and he got some - and agreed with my assessment of the fabulous pastry. :) We wandered through and bought pita, hummus, babaganoush, cucumbers, nectarines, etc - all for about the total of $5 - gotta love Shuk
prices!
The shuk is truly experiencing a cultural renaissance and was more alive and vibrant than I'd ever seen it before. We were there on a Friday morning and men and women scurried about trying to gather their groceries to prepare for the Sabbath - they carried 10-15 bags in their hands as they hurried home with their 10 kids to get ready for the holiday, as they do every Friday when the country shuts down to celebrate Shabbat.
Experiencing Shabbat in Jerusalem is truly amazing and unique. The buses don't run, shops and restaurants are closed, people don't work, the country comes to a standstill - to pray, eat, sing, and spend time with family. We walked to services Friday night and then to dinner at my friend Michael's friend Nechama. As we walked through the streets, we heard Shabbat services spilling out of synagogues from practically every corner and voices rising in song through the streets. People passed on the street with the customary greeting of "Shabbat shalom" - everyone had the same purpose - to celebrate Shabbat.
Dinner was terrific and very international with Jews from the U.S., England, South Africa, and Israeli. Our host went to the shuk three times on friday to get various things! As we walked back to the hotel at midnight, the streets were filled with people walking home from shabbat dinner, singing, greeting friends, etc. It truly reminded me why I love this city so much and how wonderful it feels to be in a place that cares about Judaism so much and where I feel so much at home.
We also visited the Israel Museum and saw the Dead Sea scrolls which date back about 2000 years old. They are the oldest known written versions of the Hebrew Bible and are very similar to today's Hebrew Bible. It was very humbling to see documents preserved so well and the structure they are displayed in was built right next to the Knesset to signify the importance of this archaelogical find.
The Arab bazaar (outdoor shopping) was fun - the shopkeepers aggressively try to lure you into their stores and haggle with you over the prices - often throwing out prices to you as you leave the store for items you weren't wanting to purchase. You're never really
sure if you're getting ripped off or not, but Brad's bargaining skills have improved drastically after that experience!
After crossing through the bazaar, we visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Jesus is supposed to have been crucified and buried. Unlike the western wall, it was tucked away in a corner of the old city and hard to find - another reminder that we really are in a city that caters to the Jewish interests. Brad was surprised by how built up and ornate the structure was. There was mass being sung by Catholic monks walking through the stations of the Via Delarosa.
Saturday night we headed to Ben Yehuda street to do some shopping and dinner - wow, what a contrast between Shabbat and post-Shabbat Saturday night. Unlike the calm of shabbat with empty streets and quiet stores - the city became alive and vibrant. We bought a gorgeous menorah and set of candlesticks with jewish symbols etched into the crystal. The stores offered 50% off discounts to birthright Israel groups! :)
I found my favorite frozen yogurt store that blends together whatever you want to create your own personalized frozen yogurt (mine is strawberry, peach, mango, blackberry, and cherry) and Brad tried the chocolate crepes. Yes, we had dessert before dinner...we're on
vacation. :) We watched street performers and listened to 30 Asian Christian tourists perform Christian hymns on the street. New York influences are certainly present on Ben Yehuda Street as we saw "NY Big Apple Pizza" and "NY Bagel Shop".
Sunday we visited Hebrew University which was difficult for me to see. I studied abroad there for a semester in 2000 and in 2002, the cafeteria which I had eaten in every day was bombed by a Palestinian terrorist - 9 people were killed and over 80 were wounded. There is a memorial there now, but it is still painful to see. The security to enter Hebrew U was incredible, it was the only place where they asked to see our passports and interrogated us as to why we were there. We also had the beloved Israeli "toasted cheese" which is just a big sesame bagel with cheese adn tomato smushed down and toasted in a panini press so it becomes a flat hot sandwich - delish! Hebrew U is
also in East Jerusalem, and overlooks the Arab neighborhoods - many of which are much poorer than the Jewish neighborhoods.
We then left Jerusalem and began our descent into the Dead Sea region. We only went through 1 checkpoint leaving Jerusalem, they don’t really care who leaves - just who comes in. As we descended, we passed signs telling us the "below sea level" markers - until we reached the bottom which was 416 meters below sea level - the lowest place on earth. We went to Ein Gedi which is an oasis in the desert.
We hiked through the mountains and reached the gorgeous natural springs with a freshwater waterfall in the middle of the desert. After a fabulous and refreshing swim in the water and waterfall, we hiked back down and observed ibyx (like an antelope or gazelle) and tons of gophers running throughout.
We stayed at the Ein Gedi Country Resort hotel which is a lush and green resort in the middle of the desert - truly a reflection of the ingenuity and innovativeness of Israeli technology to build a resort in the desert. The rooms were overlooking the dead sea in the mountains and a stone's throw to Jordan.
Today we woke up incredibly early (4 am) to hike Masada near the Dead Sea. For those of you who don't know the history, Masada was an ancient city built by Herod on top of a mountain/plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. It was one the last to fall to the Romans during their conquest of the country in 70 AD. As the city was falling to the Romans, the remaining Jews chose to kill themselves rather than face the harsh death at the hands of the Romans. The story of Masada is one that has inspired Jews for generations and was well worth rising early in the morning to see.
We set out on our 90 minute hike up the very steep 2 kilometer mountain just before sunrise. As we steadily made our way up the mountain we witnessed a gorgeous sunrise above the Jordanian mountains on the east bank of the Dead Sea. By the time we reached the top we were sweltering under the early morning sun and tired from our rigorous hike up. As we started to explore the ruins, we were struck by the size and sophistication of the inhabitants of Masada. The ruins included a system of aqueducts and cisterns to supply bathing and drinking water for the city, filled by buckets brought up the mountain on the backs of donkeys every day. One donkey was actually trained to walk 6 miles into the mountains to a garden where it was loaded up with fresh vegetables for the city (and we can't even train our dog to fetch a ball!)
The ruins also included a synagogue, Byzantine chapel, bathhouse, and several palaces. As we wandered around the 2000 year old ruins we were struck by both the ingenuity of Herod and the city's inhabitants as well as the sadness of their fate. It certainly was an impressive site and a sobering way to begin our day. On the way down, we met a woman who worked at Hillel in DC and told me that my friend Brianne was on top of the mountain leading a birthright group! Such a small world.
This afternoon we headed to the Ein Gedi spa, a lovely complex located on the the shores of the Dead Sea. Swimming, or floating, in the Dead Sea is an experience unlike anything else. Because of the extremely high concentration of salt in the water, it is possible to simply float in the water without treading water or exerting any effort. While it looks like beach from afar, the white ring around the edge of the water is actually compacted salt left after the water evaporated. Because the water burns if it comes in contact with your eyes or face, throughout the water there are fresh water fountains to wash yourself off in.
Given that fact this is the lowest place on earth, in the middle of a desert, it was extremely hot (over 113 degrees on our car's thermometer). After a short float in the Sea we headed up to the mud pits. Becca, not surprisingly, loved getting a mud bath and before long was covered in mud from head to toe. Brad wasn't as enthusiastic and quickly showered after trying out the mud bath. He apparently doesn't like to get dirty! :)
After "baking" in the sun to allow the mud to dry, (supposedly this is good for the skin), we showered and headed south towards Eilat, the resort down on the Red Sea where Israel, Jordan and Egypt are within a few miles of each other. The afternoon drive through the desert was beautiful, though it did feel a bit odd to be climbing up to reach sea level.
Tonight we've settle in our hotel in Eilat, preparing to go scuba diving with dolphins tomorrow and then trek across the Israel/Jordan border as we conclude the Israel portion of our trip. We will have swam in 4 bodies of water (Mediterranean, Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea, & Red Sea) and have had a tremendous visit in Israel - we are sad to leave the country but we know we will return to Israel many times in
the future.
So, the last update we left the north and were heading to Jerusalem. Our drive was fascinating - we drove through the West Bank, sometimes in Jewish areas, sometimes in Palestinian areas. When we first got our rental car, we asked the Budget guy at the tel aviv airport if it was safe to drive through the West Bank. His jaw dropped and he said in very Israeli fashion "ehhh, why would you want to go to the west bank?" We explained that we weren't actually visiting the west bank, but wanted to drive through it to get from Tiberias to Jerusalem.
He then opened the map and pointed to the areas of the map which Budget would not allow us to enter into with the rental car (Ramallah, Jericho, Bethlehem, etc) - because they were too dangerous. As we drove through the West Bank and made our way through the many checkpoints on the road up to Jerusalem, we were very aware of "The Fence" separating parts of the West Bank and protecting Israelis from would-be suicide bombers entering Israel from the West Bank.
The Fence was EXACTLY like the AIPAC replica of the fence at Policy Conference 2 years ago and truly is a fence - not a wall as some people refer to it. Only about 1-2% of it is a wall, the rest of it is a fence and has been extremely successful in preventing terrorists from attacking Israelis. However, the poverty in the West Bank is pretty unbelievable and the road was dotted with "camel crossings" as we made our way up the mountains to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was terrific - I really really missed it. For those of you who don't know, I lived in Jerusalem for 6 months in college when I studied at Hebrew Univesrity. When we first arrived in Jerusalem, we went to Yad Vashem - Israel's Holocaust Museum. They opened a new building in 2005 which I hadn't seen - it was truly fantastic and very different from the DC Holocaust museum. There was a very interesting letter from a U.S. Senator to a Jewish constituent, explaining why the U.S. shouldn't get involved in WWII. I will never forget the photograph display of the first Shabbat service in a German death camp after the camp was liberated by American soldiers. The American military Jewish chaplain was leading the emaciated Holocaust survivors in their first Shabbat services in years - it was an amazing moment in history captured in the picture.
Perhaps the most compelling exhibit I have ever seen is Yad Vashem's children's memorial. The memorial displays 5 candles in a building with many many many mirrors - situated so that the flame of the candles are reflected over 1.5 million times so you are surrounded by 1.5 million flames - to represent the 1.5 million Jewish children killed in the Holocaust. Names of the victims are read as you walk through and see your own image dully displayed in the mirrors next to the millions of flames and soft Jewish music is played. Truly a breathtaking memorial - very simple and yet it says so much.
So, after a very dark and difficult afternoon at Yad Vashem, we stopped by the Knesset Building (Israeli Parliament) since we are the never ending political junkies and then headed to meet up with a bunch of my old AIPAC friends who are now living in Israel (Karen Brunwasser, Glassman, Ginsberg, & Baylene). We went to a terrific grill restaurant and enjoyed a terrific dinner of grilled lamb and chicken kebabs with 12 kinds of Israeli salads - carrot salad, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, cabbage, beets, etc - so yummy! We spent hours telling old AIPAC stories and laughing too loudly - our waiter told us that other patrons were complaining about the noisy Americans and asked us to quiet down! :) Hah!
Brad has been very entertained that dozens of people keep thinking that I'm Israeli and stop to ask me for directions (which I am terrible at even in the states!) - it's been very funny. Apparently I look Israeli (or Jewish which is what i think). The cab cars are
interesting - they are all either Mercedes or BMWs - some people say that they are from the German government for continued reparations after the war. And before you get in the cab, you haggle with the driver over the price of the cab ride so you won't get ripped off at the end!
The next day we toured the Old City of Jerusalem with my friend Daniel Ginsberg who has tremendous knowledge of the city. A South African Jew who I worked with at AIPAC, Dan fabulous accent and stories made our tour unforgettable. We loved the story about Neil Armstrong who said that as he walked in Jerusalem along the steps of Jesus, walking on the Jerusalem stone was more meaningful to him than walking on the moon! Pretty incredible. We learned so many fascinating facts about the city - we saw the original green line separating East & West Jerusalem before 1967 and the mezuzahs on each of the gates entering the Old City which are made of shell casings from the 1967 war. Walking through the Old City – we heard dozens of languages and cultures all coming together to tour this magical city.
Israel is such a country of contradictions. 18 year old girls are either in the military for their mandated service after high school and walking aroudn with huge guns over their shoulders - or they are Orthodox and married and probably pregnant (seriously, I think that like 99% of the Orthodox women under the age of 50 are pregnant right now!). There is nothing in the middle. The Orthodox women cover their head in wigs, dress in long skirts and long sleeves (regardless of the heat) and they all have huge families of 8-10 kids. There is also a lot of controversy surrounding the exemption given to ultra-Orthodox men and women who do not have to serve in the military at all. And yet, a number of Orthodox families with a lot of kids are on government assistance even though they don't serve in the military.
As I mention the Old City of Jerusalem, I am compelled to discuss the terrible incident that occurred whil we were in Jerusalem. Friday morning in the Jewish quarter of the Old City, a Palestinian terrorist stole a gun off of an Israeli security guard in the Old City and shot 11 people (only injured them) before he was killed. We were not in that part of the city - but we had been there the day before and were planning to go again that day. It was scary to have something like that happen while we were there - but the rest of the city continued to prepare for the Shabbat which was quickly approaching. We didn't even know that the incident occurred until Canadian tourists told us about it. The Israelis were like - eh, it's nothing, but I think that's just how they cope - especially since it has been SO long since something like this has happened in Jerusalem. Security was definitely heightened in the city over the sabbath and Saturday night and we were a bit more aware, but nonetheless - we still felt quite safe and at home in Jerusalem.
So, onto perhaps a more interesting subject - the food has been quite fabulous. However, there is a new Israeli phenomenon to have pizza with corn and pizza with tuna. We tried the corn pizza which was odd, the tuna one looked gross. We also tried a tuna quiche which was...interesting. It's so different than the states b/c in Israel they have dairy restaurants or meat restaurants - most restaurants are kosher so you can't mix meat and milk within the same restaurant. I also convinced Brad that israeli olives taste different than American olives (which they do!). He attempted to try one...and remembered why he hates olives as intensely as he does. :)
We also visited the Kotel (Western Wall of the Second Temple) several times and experienced its spirituality and magic. The wall was actually busier at 10pm than at 2pm! The entrance to the Western Wall is very secure and you must go through a metal detector and have your bags searched. There is a sign on the wall informing Orthodox visitors that the rabbis have ruled that the metal detectors are ok to walk through on Shabbat. The sign also says that the rabbis believe that Jews are not permitted to enter the Dome of the Rock and informs women to dress appropriately (shoulders must be covered).
We went on a terrific tour of the tunnels of the Old City running along the entire length of the Western Wall (what we see outside is just a tiny slice of the actual Western Wall). The tunnel tour was phenomenal - we walked on original streets from the Second Temple
(about 2000 years ago) and learned how the city was built, destroyed, built, destroyed, and rebuilt. We saw the cisterns which provided water to the city and learned how they erected such a tremendous temple.
Daniel also helped us find our way through the neighborhood of Mea Shearim, the first neighborhood built outside of the Old City's walls and is perhaps one of the most Orthodox neighborhoods in the world. It truly was like stepping several hundred years back into old Polish Jewish communities. The sign at the entrance of the community required women to dress "modestly" and the walls are plastered with posters for their "community board". Some of the people speak in Yiddish because they believe Hebrew is too holy to be used on a daily basis. There have been stories of them throwing stones at Jews who drive their car through the neighborhood on Shabbat - since Orthodox do not drive cars or even use electricity on the sabbath.
In preparation for Shabbat, we visited Mahane Yehuda - better known as The Shuk - or the outdoor market which is perhaps one of my most favorite places in Israel. We first went to Marzapan - which has the MOST AMAZING chocolate rugalach I have ever had - you truly crave them. They're amazing. Yum. There was a kid in there on birthright from New Jersey who saw the crowd at the store and asked me - what's going on? What do I do here? I explained about the rugalach and he got some - and agreed with my assessment of the fabulous pastry. :) We wandered through and bought pita, hummus, babaganoush, cucumbers, nectarines, etc - all for about the total of $5 - gotta love Shuk
prices!
The shuk is truly experiencing a cultural renaissance and was more alive and vibrant than I'd ever seen it before. We were there on a Friday morning and men and women scurried about trying to gather their groceries to prepare for the Sabbath - they carried 10-15 bags in their hands as they hurried home with their 10 kids to get ready for the holiday, as they do every Friday when the country shuts down to celebrate Shabbat.
Experiencing Shabbat in Jerusalem is truly amazing and unique. The buses don't run, shops and restaurants are closed, people don't work, the country comes to a standstill - to pray, eat, sing, and spend time with family. We walked to services Friday night and then to dinner at my friend Michael's friend Nechama. As we walked through the streets, we heard Shabbat services spilling out of synagogues from practically every corner and voices rising in song through the streets. People passed on the street with the customary greeting of "Shabbat shalom" - everyone had the same purpose - to celebrate Shabbat.
Dinner was terrific and very international with Jews from the U.S., England, South Africa, and Israeli. Our host went to the shuk three times on friday to get various things! As we walked back to the hotel at midnight, the streets were filled with people walking home from shabbat dinner, singing, greeting friends, etc. It truly reminded me why I love this city so much and how wonderful it feels to be in a place that cares about Judaism so much and where I feel so much at home.
We also visited the Israel Museum and saw the Dead Sea scrolls which date back about 2000 years old. They are the oldest known written versions of the Hebrew Bible and are very similar to today's Hebrew Bible. It was very humbling to see documents preserved so well and the structure they are displayed in was built right next to the Knesset to signify the importance of this archaelogical find.
The Arab bazaar (outdoor shopping) was fun - the shopkeepers aggressively try to lure you into their stores and haggle with you over the prices - often throwing out prices to you as you leave the store for items you weren't wanting to purchase. You're never really
sure if you're getting ripped off or not, but Brad's bargaining skills have improved drastically after that experience!
After crossing through the bazaar, we visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Jesus is supposed to have been crucified and buried. Unlike the western wall, it was tucked away in a corner of the old city and hard to find - another reminder that we really are in a city that caters to the Jewish interests. Brad was surprised by how built up and ornate the structure was. There was mass being sung by Catholic monks walking through the stations of the Via Delarosa.
Saturday night we headed to Ben Yehuda street to do some shopping and dinner - wow, what a contrast between Shabbat and post-Shabbat Saturday night. Unlike the calm of shabbat with empty streets and quiet stores - the city became alive and vibrant. We bought a gorgeous menorah and set of candlesticks with jewish symbols etched into the crystal. The stores offered 50% off discounts to birthright Israel groups! :)
I found my favorite frozen yogurt store that blends together whatever you want to create your own personalized frozen yogurt (mine is strawberry, peach, mango, blackberry, and cherry) and Brad tried the chocolate crepes. Yes, we had dessert before dinner...we're on
vacation. :) We watched street performers and listened to 30 Asian Christian tourists perform Christian hymns on the street. New York influences are certainly present on Ben Yehuda Street as we saw "NY Big Apple Pizza" and "NY Bagel Shop".
Sunday we visited Hebrew University which was difficult for me to see. I studied abroad there for a semester in 2000 and in 2002, the cafeteria which I had eaten in every day was bombed by a Palestinian terrorist - 9 people were killed and over 80 were wounded. There is a memorial there now, but it is still painful to see. The security to enter Hebrew U was incredible, it was the only place where they asked to see our passports and interrogated us as to why we were there. We also had the beloved Israeli "toasted cheese" which is just a big sesame bagel with cheese adn tomato smushed down and toasted in a panini press so it becomes a flat hot sandwich - delish! Hebrew U is
also in East Jerusalem, and overlooks the Arab neighborhoods - many of which are much poorer than the Jewish neighborhoods.
We then left Jerusalem and began our descent into the Dead Sea region. We only went through 1 checkpoint leaving Jerusalem, they don’t really care who leaves - just who comes in. As we descended, we passed signs telling us the "below sea level" markers - until we reached the bottom which was 416 meters below sea level - the lowest place on earth. We went to Ein Gedi which is an oasis in the desert.
We hiked through the mountains and reached the gorgeous natural springs with a freshwater waterfall in the middle of the desert. After a fabulous and refreshing swim in the water and waterfall, we hiked back down and observed ibyx (like an antelope or gazelle) and tons of gophers running throughout.
We stayed at the Ein Gedi Country Resort hotel which is a lush and green resort in the middle of the desert - truly a reflection of the ingenuity and innovativeness of Israeli technology to build a resort in the desert. The rooms were overlooking the dead sea in the mountains and a stone's throw to Jordan.
Today we woke up incredibly early (4 am) to hike Masada near the Dead Sea. For those of you who don't know the history, Masada was an ancient city built by Herod on top of a mountain/plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. It was one the last to fall to the Romans during their conquest of the country in 70 AD. As the city was falling to the Romans, the remaining Jews chose to kill themselves rather than face the harsh death at the hands of the Romans. The story of Masada is one that has inspired Jews for generations and was well worth rising early in the morning to see.
We set out on our 90 minute hike up the very steep 2 kilometer mountain just before sunrise. As we steadily made our way up the mountain we witnessed a gorgeous sunrise above the Jordanian mountains on the east bank of the Dead Sea. By the time we reached the top we were sweltering under the early morning sun and tired from our rigorous hike up. As we started to explore the ruins, we were struck by the size and sophistication of the inhabitants of Masada. The ruins included a system of aqueducts and cisterns to supply bathing and drinking water for the city, filled by buckets brought up the mountain on the backs of donkeys every day. One donkey was actually trained to walk 6 miles into the mountains to a garden where it was loaded up with fresh vegetables for the city (and we can't even train our dog to fetch a ball!)
The ruins also included a synagogue, Byzantine chapel, bathhouse, and several palaces. As we wandered around the 2000 year old ruins we were struck by both the ingenuity of Herod and the city's inhabitants as well as the sadness of their fate. It certainly was an impressive site and a sobering way to begin our day. On the way down, we met a woman who worked at Hillel in DC and told me that my friend Brianne was on top of the mountain leading a birthright group! Such a small world.
This afternoon we headed to the Ein Gedi spa, a lovely complex located on the the shores of the Dead Sea. Swimming, or floating, in the Dead Sea is an experience unlike anything else. Because of the extremely high concentration of salt in the water, it is possible to simply float in the water without treading water or exerting any effort. While it looks like beach from afar, the white ring around the edge of the water is actually compacted salt left after the water evaporated. Because the water burns if it comes in contact with your eyes or face, throughout the water there are fresh water fountains to wash yourself off in.
Given that fact this is the lowest place on earth, in the middle of a desert, it was extremely hot (over 113 degrees on our car's thermometer). After a short float in the Sea we headed up to the mud pits. Becca, not surprisingly, loved getting a mud bath and before long was covered in mud from head to toe. Brad wasn't as enthusiastic and quickly showered after trying out the mud bath. He apparently doesn't like to get dirty! :)
After "baking" in the sun to allow the mud to dry, (supposedly this is good for the skin), we showered and headed south towards Eilat, the resort down on the Red Sea where Israel, Jordan and Egypt are within a few miles of each other. The afternoon drive through the desert was beautiful, though it did feel a bit odd to be climbing up to reach sea level.
Tonight we've settle in our hotel in Eilat, preparing to go scuba diving with dolphins tomorrow and then trek across the Israel/Jordan border as we conclude the Israel portion of our trip. We will have swam in 4 bodies of water (Mediterranean, Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea, & Red Sea) and have had a tremendous visit in Israel - we are sad to leave the country but we know we will return to Israel many times in
the future.
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