| If you have seen Jan's Place you will know that she is part Jewish, and so it was inevitable that a trip to Israel had to happen sooner or later!
The opportunity presented itself when one of Jan's Great-Aunts died and left some money in her will. We decided, as a family, that this was the time to do it - so we did. It seemed appropriate that 1997 was also our 25th Wedding Anniversary year as well. We flew EL-AL (wonderful airline - even the food was good, kosher of course) arriving in Israel on 18th December and stayed until 1st January 1998. This meant that we were there for Chanakah which began on 23rd December and also New Year. We felt immediately at home on arrival - it was raining! It rained all the next day as well, but then cleared and was wonderful weather for all our stay. Being winter in Israel means it is much the same as a good summer in the England! |
| We did pretty much the full tourist bit; a couple of one day tours taking in Massada, Dead Sea and Jericho one day, and then Nazareth, Galilee and the Jordon Valley on another. We also did a half-day trip on Christmas Day, to Bethlehem and Yad Vashem. Bethlehem was awful, a real dump of a place, but Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Memorial) was a different experience altogether - totally overwhelming. We were in tears for most of the time, and if we hadn't have had the time constraints of having to get back on the coach, would have stayed longer. But perhaps a short first stay was better for the emotions! |
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| Staying in the Jerusalem Tower Hotel, Hillel Street, meant we were just 10 minutes walk from the Jaffa Gate which leads into the Old City. From our first glimpse of the floodlit walls of the Old City on the evening of our arrival, it drew us like a magnet many times. We were also about 150 yards from Ben Yehuda Street - the place to be if you are into shopping, food and simply walking up and down people-watching. It was also the place hit by suicide bombers only a few weeks before our visit. |
| Containing the Western (Wailing) Wall, the Dome of the Rock Mosque, and different quarters, the Old City was an amazing place to be. Yes, we did get slightly conned by a smart operator on our first visit. So watch out for Zeka (pronounced Sakey) at the Jaffa Gate and make sure he doesn't invite you for tea at his brother's shop, you won't get out without spending some money! But we quickly learned that most useful hebrew phrase, "Todah Lo" - Thank you, no"! This worked very well on all those occasions when you didn't want to be bothered by anyone. But the traders can be very persistant, and it could get quite wearing after a while and the "guides", well, they were in a class of their own on the persistent scale. But it was all part of the experience. As were the taxies. Never, repeat never, start your journey without negotiating a price (the drivers never use their meters!). Our first taxi journey nearly cost us 300 NIS instead of 20 (NIS=New Israeli Shekel and there are about 5 NIS to the £1.00) |
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