Israel Trip Report (August - September 2018)
Note: Although this report was written recently, it describes my trip from
August 2018, so some specifics may have changed since then, and/or other
historical or religious details mentioned may be mistakes or misunderstandings
on my part. There was so much to see and learn about that it was difficult to
remember everything clearly; even if I had written the report shortly after my
trip, I still may not have gotten everything right. But here goes …
Thursday, August 23: The Night Before in NYC
On the evening
before our departure, we took a car service from our home in Pennsylvania to Manhattan,
staying overnight at the Hilton Garden Inn Midtown East. We ate dinner at the
nearby Monkey Bar at the Hotel Elysee. In the morning, we had an early
appointment near the hotel, but we had the whole day free after that. Our first
stop was an early lunch at the Central Park Loeb Boathouse, followed by a trip
on the overhead tram (gondola) to Roosevelt Island, where we took the
complimentary bus ride around the island, stopping to explore the Franklin D.
Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on the southern end and Lighthouse Park on the
northern end. Upon our return to Manhattan, we had an afternoon break at
Serendipity CafĂ© for some frozen hot chocolate and a quick trip to Dylan’s
Candy Bar before we returned to the hotel, claimed our luggage, and took a taxi
to JFK Airport’s Terminal 4 (about $75 USD). Our non-stop Delta flight number
468 to Tel Aviv on an Airbus A330-300 departed at 10:59pm.
Friday, August 24: Flight to Tel Aviv and Then Driving to Jerusalem
We arrived in Tel
Aviv almost 11 hours later at 4:50pm on a Friday, which perhaps was not the
best time and day of the week to arrive due to the beginning of the Sabbath
(however, it was the best day and time in terms of price and availability for
plane tickets). After we cleared immigration and customs, we tried to withdraw
some money from an ATM cash machine so that we would have some Israeli shekels
as “walking-around” money (otherwise, we planned to use our credit cards
whenever possible), but our US ATM card did not work. Instead, we joined a line
of other travelers waiting to convert money at the cambio onsite.
We hailed a taxi to
drive us the 45 minutes (about 35 miles) to our hotel, the Waldorf Astoria
Jerusalem (about $70 USD). The Waldorf Astoria opened in April 2014 at the corner of
Agron and King David Streets, with convenient access to the outdoor Mamilla
Mall and the Old City. The hotel occupies the former site of the 1929 Palace
Hotel, which later became a government building. The Waldorf offers three
kosher restaurants and bars (The Palace, King’s Court, and Garden Terrace), meeting/event
space, and fitness center. (There were rumors that a spa and outdoor swimming
pool were in the planning stages when we visited, but I’m not sure whether they
ever opened.) The Waldorf offers 226 rooms and suites. Our King Grand Deluxe room contained a large
bathroom (with free-standing soaking bathtub, separate cubicles for the toilet
and shower, a large sink vanity, and AHAVA Dead Sea toiletries) with a large
closet located just outside. The bedroom area was a bit cozy, with a king-size
bed and a nightstand on each side, a desk/chair, and a comfortable lounge chair
in front of the sliding door that led out to the balcony (with two chairs). We
were a bit disappointed not to have received a lodging upgrade as Diamond
HHonors members, but perhaps the hotel was full. (Although the size of our room
totaled about 460 square feet, the bathroom and closet entry area probably
occupied more than 160 feet of that space, which made the bedroom area [where
we spent most of our time] seem undersized. Next time, we would probably just
book a regular King Deluxe room [which probably had a smaller bathroom but a
similarly sized bedroom] instead of splurging.)
It was interesting
to arrive at the Waldorf in the late afternoon just as Shabbat (also called
Shabbos or the Sabbath) was beginning. The hotel was filled with local Jewish
families who were immaculately groomed and impeccably dressed and ready to
begin their evening service in one of the hotel’s lower-level banquet rooms. (Most
of them also seemed to be staying at the hotel for the night.) We ourselves are
not Jewish, and even though we have a few Jewish acquaintances, they aren’t
particularly observant (except for one family friend who keeps Kosher [put in
the simplest terms, she does not consume meat and dairy products in the same
meal, and only specific proteins prepared in a certain way] even when she
visits with us for meals). We have occasionally walked through one of the more
devout Jewish neighborhoods in NYC, and we have seen some Orthodox Jews clad in
modest dress, with fabric (or wig) head coverings for women, and long side
curls (called payot) and black hats for men (or kippah [yarmulkes] for younger
men), but we really didn’t understand the meaning behind it. Shabbat is
observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until the
appearance of stars in the sky on Saturday night. It begins by lighting candles
and reciting a prayer called the Kiddush over two loaves of challah bread,
whereas it ends the next night with a closing prayer called the Havdalah that
is also recited over two loaves of bread. Traditionally, three festive meals
are eaten: one on Friday evening, the second early on Saturday afternoon, and
the third late on Saturday afternoon. During Shabbat, families spend time
together, and most importantly, they refrain from any kind of work or from
discussing unpleasant topics (such as money, business, politics, or non-religious
things). “Work” doesn’t necessarily refer to one’s profession (although it
includes that as well), it also means any kind of deliberate activity,
including farming, gardening, sewing, building/lighting/putting out a fire,
transporting/carrying things, and driving, among many others. We were stunned
to find out that “work” even includes pressing the buttons in an elevator (therefore,
there are separate Shabbat lifts at the Waldorf that stop on every floor so
that no one needs to press anything), using electricity (such as turning on/off
the lights in a hotel room, which is done using clocks and timers at the Waldorf),
and cooking (anything presented on the hotel’s Saturday breakfast/brunch buffet
must be prepared the day before). It was truly fascinating to get a glimpse
into the details of another religion. Prior to our trip, we had heard that on a
scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the most religious and 1 being the least), that
the city of Jerusalem was a 5, whereas Tel Aviv was a 2 and the Galilee was
somewhere in between; this was our experience as well, because on the following
Friday, when we stayed in Tel Aviv, the atmosphere and religious accommodations
were distinctly different. (I hope that I didn’t write anything offensive in
this paragraph; I was truly captivated by what I experienced during Shabbat, although
it is clear that I still have a lot to learn about the customs of a faith that are
so different than mine.)
After we settled in
at the hotel, we walked about 5 minutes to the nearby Super Mamilla convenience
store/market. We stopped here daily to buy snacks and drinks (both alcoholic
and non-) to enjoy in our room. After dropping our supplies back at the hotel,
we took a 10-minute walk to a restaurant called Rina and Alice. (Although it
was only a 0.5-mile walk, it was not on flat roads but instead on gentle hills,
making the walk slightly more challenging after a long day.) At the restaurant,
we shared two starters (hummus and cauliflower), one wood-fired pizza (cooked
in a clay oven called a taboon), and three rounds of drinks for about $55 USD.
Although we were able to use a credit card for the bill, we had to leave our
gratuity in cash. We felt lucky to find this restaurant open on Friday night,
when so many others seemed to be closed because of Shabbat.
Later, back at the
Waldorf, we enjoyed a nightcap at the elegant King’s Court bar. Because the Waldorf
did not have an executive lounge (perhaps this has changed since our visit), we
were given a drink coupon for one complimentary cocktail per person. We were
under the mistaken impression that we would receive a coupon for each night of
our stay, but when we requested another coupon on the following night, the
front desk clerks laughed at us. What a horrible response to an honest error!
At the nightly prices that the Waldorf charges for even the most basic room (about $400 USD), the nightly drink idea did not seem so far-fetched to us.
Saturday, August 25: Driving Tour of Jerusalem
Today, we enjoyed
our first amazing breakfast buffet at the Waldorf (breakfast was included
complimentary with our room rate, valued at about $45 USD per person per day
[and probably worth every penny!]). The Israeli breakfast is thought to have
originated on the kibbutz (a communal settlement). During the early days of the
state of Israel, residents of a kibbutz ate their meals in a communal dining
hall, where it was common for the residents to eat a light snack very early in
the morning, work in the fields for several hours, then return to the dining
hall for a hearty mid-morning buffet meal, similar to a brunch. By the 1950s,
Israeli hotels were promoting the "Israeli breakfast" in a style
similar to the kibbutz meals. The buffet breakfast at the Waldorf was a dairy
meal (so there were no traditional breakfast meats like bacon, sausage, or ham
[which weren’t even missed by these bacon-lovers!]), although cheeses, eggs,
and fish were available. Although we don’t recall seeing shakshuka (poached
eggs in a spicy tomato sauce) at the Waldorf, we saw it at other hotels later
in our trip. The buffet included items like Israeli salad (tomato, cucumber,
peppers, onion), hummus (mashed chickpea dip), tahini (ground sesame dip),
halloumi (cheese), fava bean salad, baba ghanoush (smoky eggplant dip), labaneh
(yogurt), fresh vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, radishes,
onions, carrots), olives, fresh fruits, bread, pastries, and some heartier
dishes (like noodle kugel); the list just goes on and on! The Israeli breakfast
buffet is really something to behold! In fact, it has even been called
"the Jewish state's contribution to world cuisine"!
Afterward our meal,
we met our private tour guide, Richard Woolf, in the lobby, where we loaded
into his tour-guide-certified KIA minivan for the day’s driving tour of
Jerusalem. Richard is a retired gentleman born in the UK (but who has been an
Israeli citizen for decades) who is a font of knowledge for all things Israel
and Jewish. We contacted Richard via email a few weeks prior to our trip, and
we were fortunate that he had availability to guide us for the next week.
Besides glowing recommendations, one thing that we liked about Richard was that
he didn’t require us to pay for his lodging during that week; he either
traveled back home at night or stayed with a family member or friend instead.
(Other guides that we contacted wanted us to pay for their rooms at the same
hotels where we stayed, which in the case of the Waldorf, would have meant
incurring a ~$400 USD per night hotel bill for the guide on top of his guiding
fees. All guides required us to pay meals (which we would have done anyway),
but the lodging seemed like too much to ask. Also, some guides required us to
stay on kibbutzes and eat all our meals onsite there, and that just isn’t the
way we like to travel. So we were thrilled to have found Richard!)
Our first stop was
the grounds of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, which opened in 1925.
Albert Einstein was one of the founders, and former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon and actress Natalie Portman are alumnae. An observation point on Mount
Scopus allowed us excellent panoramic views of the Old City.
Our next destination
was the Mount of Olives, named for the groves of trees that once covered its
slopes. Today, the top of the hill holds a mostly Muslim village called At-Tur.
We drove past the Augusta Victoria Hospital, a church-hospital complex built in
the early 1900s as a center for German Protestants in Ottoman Palestine. From
the northern side of the Mount of Olives, we viewed Mount Scopus and the Kidron
Valley, and we were able to see the Temple Mount from another side.
Religiously, the Mount of Olives has been used as a Jewish Cemetery for more
than 3,000 years and holds over 150,000 graves. Former Prime Minister Menachem
Begin is one of the more famous “residents”. Jewish people desire to be buried
there because they believe that when the Messiah comes, the resurrection of the
dead will begin on the Mount of Olives. In addition, it is a site of Christian
pilgrimage because of its association with Jesus and his mother Mary. Jesus is
said to have taught his disciples on the Mount, he is thought to have gone from
there to the Garden of Gethsemane on the night he was betrayed, and he is
believed to have ascended to heaven from there. As proof of this belief, there
are several “Churches of the Ascension” there for various religions, including
Lutheran, Russian Orthodox, and Catholic.
At the foot of the Mount of Olives, we visited the Garden of Gethsemane and
the Church of All Nations. The Garden is recognized as the place where Jesus
prayed and his disciples slept on the night before his crucifixion, the place
where Jesus and the disciples spent their time between the Last Supper and
Jesus’s arrest. In Aramaic, Gethsemane means “oil press”, and eight ancient
olive trees remain today. The trees are surrounded by a wrought-iron fence, so
you can see inside but not walk among them.
Next to the Garden is the Roman Catholic Church of All Nations (also called the Church/Basilica of the Agony), which was built
in the 1920s with combined money from 12 countries (including Argentina,
Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the UK,
and the US). A coat of arms of these countries is incorporated into the ceiling
design, each in a separate small dome and in the mosaics. Three other countries
(Hungary, Ireland, and Poland) paid for the three large mosaics in the apses (which
show the kiss of Judas, Jesus being consoled by an angel, and Jesus’s arrest), with
Australia sponsoring the decorative wrought-iron wreath (meant to resemble a
crown of thorns) surrounding the rock where Jesus is thought
to have prayed before his arrest. The mosaic floors are interesting, an original part of which is preserved
under glass. We were fortunate to observe a Mass taking place, although it was
in another language (perhaps Thai or Vietnamese); the congregation of the
visiting church was permitted to cluster reverently around the altar for the
service. Outside the church, a captivating vibrant, colorful triangular mosaic at the
top of the facade shows Jesus mediating between God and mankind as he gives his heart to an angel. On
Christ’s left, peasants look confidently at him, whereas on his right, another
group acknowledges its mistakes.
After we visited the garden and church, we crossed the street and descended
down an L-shaped set of marble stairs in order to enter the Tomb of the Virgin
Mary (also called the Church of the Sepulchre of Saint Mary). Because the tomb
is underground, we walked down a huge set of 47 marble stairs. At the bottom,
walls were blackened with smoke from centuries of burning candles, and the
ceiling is strung with hundreds of icons and oil lanterns (many topped with
what appears to be a large egg, but is in fact a way to prevent rats from
eating the olive oil fuel). In the dim space, pilgrims can wait in line to pass
before a shrine to pay their respects to the Mother of God. Mary is believed to
have died a natural death, at which time her soul rose to heaven (the
“Ascension”), and three days later, her body was resurrected to join her soul
(the “Assumption”). Like her son, Mary’s tomb was also found empty on the third
day. As we went down the stairs, we saw the Chapel of Saints Joachim and Anne
(Mary’s parents) on one side, originally built as the tomb of Jerusalem’s Queen
Melisende, and the Chapel of Saint Joseph (Mary’s husband) on the other side, initially
constructed as tombs for the queen’s relatives. Various altars can be seen on
the subterranean floor.
Back in the
daylight, we jumped back in the car and proceeded toward the Israel Museum. On
the way, we passed the Israeli Supreme Court and the Parliament (called the
Knesset, where we would have liked to have seen the Marc Chagall
tapestries and mosaics that tell
the story of the Jewish people from the biblical Patriarch Jacob to the
establishment of the State of Israel, but we didn’t have time). The Israel Museum, a 20-acre property established
in 1965, includes the world’s most comprehensive collections of the archaeology
of the Holy Land, as well as sections for Israeli Art, European Art, Modern
Art, Contemporary Art, Prints and Drawings, Photography, Design and
Architecture, Asian Art, African Art, Oceanic Art, and Arts of the Americas.
Among the unique objects on display inside the museum are the interior of a
1736 synagogue from Suriname (as well as three other reconstructed synagogues),
necklaces worn by Jewish brides in Yemen (as well as other dresses and
jewelry), a mosaic Islamic prayer niche from 17th-century Persia, a nail
attesting to the practice of crucifixion in Jesus’ time, and a wide variety of
Jewish ceremonial and ritual objects. An urn-shaped building called the Shrine
of the Book houses the Dead Sea Scrolls and artifacts discovered at Masada. The
Scrolls are considered to be the oldest biblical manuscripts in the world,
discovered as recently as 1947 hidden in 11 caves in and around the Wadi Qumran
area. The building consists of an above-ground white dome perched over a
building that is located two-thirds below the ground, with the dome reflected
in a pool of water that surrounds it, symbolizing the Sons of Light (from the
Scrolls). Across from the white dome is a black basalt wall, which represents
the Sons of Darkness. The dimly lit interior of the shrine is meant to depict
the environment in which the scrolls were found. The entire structure was
designed to resemble the clay pots in which the scrolls were found. Because the
scrolls are so fragile, they cannot all be displayed all the time, so a
rotation system is used. After a scroll has been on exhibit for 3 to 6 months,
it is removed from its showcase and placed temporarily in a special storeroom,
where it "rests" from exposure. The museum also holds other rare
ancient manuscripts, including the Aleppo Codex, believed to be the oldest
Bible written in Hebrew that dates back to the tenth century.
Adjacent to the Shrine is the Model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period,
which reconstructs the topography and architecture of the city as it looked
prior to its destruction by the Romans in 66 AD. Originally constructed on the
grounds of Jerusalem's Holyland Hotel, the model includes a replica of Herod's
Temple. Additionally outdoors is a modern and abstract sculpture garden,
including works by Rodin and Picasso, as well as an area that displays
archaeological ruins. One of the antiquities that we saw was the overhead door
lintel excavated from the Nabartein Synagogue located near Safed, the remains
of which we would see two days later during a driving tour. Admission to the
museum costs about $15 USD per person. As you would expect with any similar
world-class museum, it offers a gift shop, restrooms, parking, and restaurants
(both Kosher meat and dairy, however, no food service was available on the day
that we visited because it was Shabbat).
Next,
it was time for lunch in the charming hillside village of Ein Kerem. Along the way, we passed the
Hadassah Medical Center, but unfortunately because it was Saturday, we were
unable to visit so that we could view Marc Chagall’s stained glass windows
showing the 12 tribes of Israel. Each day, Richard gave us two options for
lunch: one quicker, less expensive counter service choice, and another slower,
more expensive table service meal; in every instance, we chose the longer
option, because having a nice relaxing noontime meal is important to us. We
dined on the sidewalk terrace of the restaurant Pundak, where our delicious meal
for three people (two salads, one kebab main dish [with a small green salad and
French fries], and some drinks) cost about $90 USD. Pundak has been operating
for over 25 years, but only in its current location (an historic landmark
Spanish building) recently. The restaurant offers both indoor seating and
outdoor dining (on either a front sidewalk patio or in a garden), a small bar, and
a private event room. The restaurant considers itself Italian (perhaps because
it has a brick oven to cook focaccia and pizza), but we thought that it offered
a well-rounded international menu. The salad that I ordered there (served in a
thin bread bowl) was the best one in all my days in Israel (and Israelis know
how to make a great salad!).
Ein Kerem (which
means “spring of the vineyard”) is known as the birthplace of John the Baptist
(said to be in a cave). The village is currently home to five churches and monasteries
including the Church of St. John the Baptist (there is another church in the
Old City with the same name), Visitation Church, Notre Dame de Sion Convent, Greek
Orthodox St. John Convent, and the Al Moskovia (Gorny) Russian Monastery. The village is also home to Mary’s Well, where it is believed that
Mary (miraculously pregnant with Jesus) drank from its waters while accompanied
by her cousin Elizabeth (also miraculously pregnant with John the Baptist at
the same time).
After lunch, we took
a short walk before climbing hundreds of stairs to reach the Church of the
Visitation (also called the Abbey Church of
St John in the Woods). In the courtyard, a lovely statue of pregnant Mary and
Elizabeth stands in front of a wall bearing 42 colorful ceramic tiles written
with the verses of the Magnificat (Mary’s song of praise, an ancient Marian
hymn) in many languages. The two-story modern Catholic church (built in 1955
atop the remains of an ancient Byzantine and Crusader church) commemorates the
site where Mary recited the Magnificat. In the lower part of the church, where
mosaics and frescoes show the Visitation between the two women, we were treated
to a group of French tourists singing the Magnificat near the crypt (the Rock
of Concealment where Elizabeth hid her infant son John from Herod’s soldiers
during the Massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem). The upper church is
dedicated to Mary, and its walls contains gorgeously colored scenes from her
life, including The Wedding at Cana (when Mary was consecrated as the mediator
between men and Jesus), the Council of Ephesus (when Mary was declared to be the
Mother of God), and a more (relatively) modern scene from the mid-1500s of a
Greek naval battle in which Christians defeated the Ottomans under the blessing
of the Virgin Mary (celebrated during the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary).
Feeling that our day of sightseeing was full, we declined to visit Ein
Kerem’s Church of St John the
Baptist, and instead returned to the hotel to rest. Afterward,
because it was still Shabbat, we had a difficult time finding a bar/restaurant
where we could enjoy happy hour, finally settling on the Glen (Whiskey) Bar, where we had about 4 beers for $20 USD. We
sat outside on their makeshift sidewalk café and watched pedestrians and
traffic go by. Then we stopped at the Super Mamila market around the corner
before returning to the hotel to change for dinner. (Glen Bar and the grocery
store are about a 5-minute walk from the hotel, although up a slight hill and
across a somewhat busy street.)
It was still not
after sundown, so restaurant choices in the immediate vicinity were limited, so
instead, we took a quick taxi ride (about $10 USD for a 5-minute ride) to a
venue called First Station because we had heard that several restaurants there
might be open. First Station is an historic train station that was part of the
Jaffa - Jerusalem railway route, back when it was called Khan Station because
of the old caravanserai building across the street. (A
caravanserai was a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover
from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce,
information, and people across the network of trade routes covering Asia, North
Africa, and Southeast Europe, most notably, the Silk Road.) The station first opened in 1892 and closed in
1998; however, after laying neglected for many years, in 2013 it reopened as a
cultural and entertainment center. The old station offices, ticket hall, and
concourse are now home to wooden decks, restaurants, vendor carts, and
children’s rides. On the Saturday night that we visited, a live band was playing
on the stage, but that area sometimes hosts movies, dancing, and other
activities.
Not all of the cafes
and pubs were open yet (they did open after sundown, however), making it easier
to choose a restaurant. Although the restaurant Adom looked crowded, when we
inquired about availability with the hostess, we were pleased that she offered
us two seats at the bar. Although Adom originally opened in 2001 in the
Finegold Courtyard in the city center, in 2013 it moved to First Station. The
Mediterranean, French, and Italian-inspired menu is fairly encompassing,
offering fish and seafood, meat, and pasta. Besides its fine-dining seasonal
menu, Adom also offers a lighter late-night menu and children’s options. The
restaurant offers outdoor seating on a deck, as well as dining indoors in one
of two rooms: the main dining area and the bar room, which contains tables
arranged around the three-sided bar. A private room can be reserved to host 14
guests. The name “Adom” means “red” in Hebrew, a nod to the color of the walls as
well as to the wines that the original restaurant served. In addition to Adom,
the partners also own the Colony, Lavan (which is Hebrew for “white”) at the
Cinematique, Khanele at the Khan Theatre (almost across the street from The
First Station), and Khan Catering. The drink menu arrived in a novel wooden box
(with selections offered on index-like cards) along with some freshly baked
bread and a spread. We had an excellent dinner of a shared starter (although it
was called a sabich, it was not the traditional sandwich, instead a bowl of
grains and vegetables, topped with a semi-cooked egg), two main dishes (chicken
in coconut sauce and squash risotto), a shared dessert (an amazing presentation
of tahini ice cream and other dollops of goodness), and a few rounds of drinks
for about $120 USD.
We took a taxi from
First Station back to the Waldorf, which we arranged using the Israeli Gett app
(similar to Uber or Lyft, which were not permitted in Israel at the time).
Although it was only a short ride, it cost about $10 USD. (It was less than one
mile from the restaurant to the hotel; however, it was not on flat ground but
instead over some gentle hills, and we were tired after our long day of
sightseeing.)
Sunday, August 26: Walking Tour of Old City Jerusalem
After we enjoyed
another fantastic breakfast at the hotel, we met our guide for a walking tour
of the Old City. We left the hotel, walked through the outdoor Mamila Mall, and
entered the city through the Jaffa Gate. The name “Jaffa Gate” refers to both
the historical Ottoman gate from 1538 and to the wide gap in the city wall that
currently allows cars to enter. The old gate has the shape of a medieval gate
tower with an L-shaped entryway (a defensive design to slow down attackers)
that was secured at both ends with heavy doors. The breach in the wall was
created in 1898 by the Ottoman authorities to allow German emperor Wilhelm II
to enter the city triumphantly.
The term Old City
refers to a 0.35-square mile walled area within the modern city that is home to several key
religious sites for three different religions: the Temple Mount and Western
Wall for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, and the Dome of
the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims. The Old City was added to the list of UNESCO
World Heritage Sites in 1981. The city's defensive walls and gates were built between
the years 1535 and 1542 by Turkish sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The walls
stretch for 2.8 miles, and are between 16 and 49 feet high, 10 feet thick, and
contain 35 towers. During different periods, the city walls followed different
outlines and had a varying number of gates. During the era of the Crusaders,
there were four gates, one on each side. The current walls have six gates;
several older gates that were walled up before the arrival of the Ottomans were
left as they were. The number of operational gates increased to seven after the
addition of the New Gate in 1887; the smaller eighth Tanners' Gate was unsealed
for visitors after being discovered during excavations in the 1990s. The sealed
historic gates comprise four that are at least partially preserved (the double
Golden Gate in the eastern wall, and the Single, Triple, and Double Gates in
the southern wall), with several other gates discovered by archaeologists of
which only traces remain (the Gate of the Essenes on Mount Zion, the Gate of
Herod's Royal Palace, and the Gate of the Funerals). Until
1887, each gate was closed before sunset and opened again at sunrise.
The Old City is divided into four uneven quarters: the Muslim Quarter,
Christian Quarter, Armenian Quarter, and Jewish Quarter. Despite the names,
there was no ethnic segregation.
We first visited the Armenian Quarter, the smallest of the four quarters.
(Although Armenians are Christian, the Armenian Quarter is distinct from the
Christian Quarter.) As we admired the exterior of the Cathedral of St. James,
we were the only three people there, and a guard manning the gate asked us
whether we would like a tour inside the monastery compound. Our guide was quick
to accept his offer, never having been permitted inside in all his years of
guiding. We passed clerical and lay residences, a school, a museum, a soccer
field, and the Church of the Archangel (also called the Convent of the Olive
Tree). It is believed that Jesus was bound to an olive tree here during his
trial; it is said that the fruits of that tree are miraculous, so I asked (and
was permitted) to eat one to help with my medical issues. Armenians displaced from the
former Ottoman Empire because of the genocide brought along a special type of
Turkish-style ceramic, which is now associated with Jerusalem and Armenians
because it is now used for all the street signs in the Old City and is also
sold in many stores. Also, Armenians are known for establishing the first
printing press in 1833, the first photographic workshop in 1855, and the first
coeducational school in Jerusalem.
Next, we visited the Christian Quarter, which contains the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre, considered Christianity's holiest place. Before we went to the
revered church, we exited out the Zion Gate onto Mount Zion (also called the
City of David) so that we could visit the beautiful Dormition Abbey (also
called the Basilica of the Assumption, but previously called the Abbey of Hagia
Maria Sion), a Benedictine community. But we were too early (it hadn’t opened
for the day yet), so we had to admire its exterior only. According to local tradition, it was on this
spot, near the site of the Last Supper, that the Blessed Virgin Mary died and
ended her worldly existence. Both in Orthodoxy and Catholicism, death is often
called "sleeping", which gave the original monastery its name. In
Catholic scripture, during the Assumption of Mary, Christ's mother was taken,
body and soul, to heaven. The present church is a circular building with
several niches containing altars and a choir. Two spiral staircases lead to the
crypt, the site ascribed to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary.
Then, we visited the
David’s Tomb Compound, a two-story stone building that is now known as the Cenacle
(also called the Upper Room), a room that was the site of the Last Supper, as
well as the room where Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, where the disciples
gathered after Jesus’ ascension, and where the Holy Spirit descended upon the
apostles after Pentecost. The main room has beautiful stained glass windows
that tell the story of David and two men who wronged each other (litigants). We
climbed some steps to the roof of this building, which our guide said was
popular during the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank (1948 to 1967), when
Israeli Jews were unable to visit holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City. The Tomb
of David was promoted as a place of worship, and the roof of the building above
the Cenacle was important because it offered views of the Temple Mount, becoming
a symbol of prayer and yearning. After we visited the Cenacle and rooftop views,
we descended below ground to visit David’s Tomb. The true site of David's
burial is unknown, although the Jewish Bible and the Old Testament place it in
the City of David near Siloam. In the 4th century, David and his father were
believed to be buried in Bethlehem. The idea that David was entombed on what
was later called Mount Zion dates to the 9th century. However, this remains an
important pilgrimage site to pay respects to the celebrated Old Testament warrior king of Israel who is traditionally credited with
composing many of the Psalms. The site is run in a synagogue model, where the
tombstone is in the interior room, with separate entrances for men and women.
At the center of the room is a tomb covered by a cloth behind which you can see
an alcove in the wall, a remnant of the ancient synagogue that was mentioned in
the Byzantine era as one of the seven synagogues that were located on Mount
Zion.
Afterward, we entered back into the walled city through the Zion Gate so
that we could visit the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre (also
called the Church of the Resurrection,
or the Church of the Anastasis), which contains the
two holiest sites in Christianity: the site where Jesus of Nazareth was
crucified at a place known as Calvary (or Golgotha), and Jesus's empty tomb,
where he is said to have been buried and resurrected. (A “sepulchre” is a small room or monument
cut in rock or built of stone in which a dead person is laid or buried.) Within
the church proper are the last four Stations of the Cross (also called the Via
Dolorosa, meaning “Way of Grief”), representing the final episodes of Jesus'
Passion (in which he is nailed to the cross, dies, is taken down, and laid in
the tomb).
According to historical record, in the second century AD, the Roman
emperor Hadrian built a temple dedicated to the goddess Venus in order to disguise
the cave in which Jesus had been buried. In 325 AD, the first Christian emperor
Constantine the Great ordered that the temple be replaced by a church. However,
during the building of the Church, Constantine's mother Helena rediscovered the
tomb. Constantine's church was built as two connected churches over the two
different holy sites, including a great basilica, an enclosed colonnaded atrium
with the traditional site of Golgotha
in one corner, and a rotunda that contained the remains of a rock-cut room that
was the burial site of Jesus.
Historically, two large, arched doors allowed access to the church.
However, only the left entrance is currently accessible because the right door
has been bricked up. Just inside the church is a stairway climbing to the site
of Jesus' crucifixion (Calvary/Golgotha), the most lavishly decorated part of
the church. The exit is via an opposite stairway that leads down to the enclosed
cloister. On the ground floor, underneath the Golgotha chapel, are the Chapel
of Adam and the Treasury of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, which hold many
relics including a fragment of the Holy Cross. The raised Chapel of the Calvary
(or Golgotha Chapel) contains the top of the Rock of Calvary. It is split into
two halves, one Greek Orthodox and one Catholic, each one with its own altar.
The rock can be seen under glass on both sides of the altar, and beneath the
altar there is a hole in the rock, said to be the place where the cross was
raised. The Roman Catholic (Franciscan) Chapel of the Nailing of the Cross
stretches south of it. Between the Catholic and the Orthodox altars, there is a
statue of Mary, believed to be miraculous. It marks where Jesus' body was
removed from the cross and given to his family and disciples. Beneath the
Calvary and the two chapels is the Chapel of Adam. According to tradition,
Jesus was crucified over the place where Adam's skull was buried. At the
crucifixion, the blood of Christ ran down the cross and through the rocks to
fill the skull of Adam. The Rock of Calvary appears cracked through a window on
the altar wall, with the crack caused by the earthquake that occurred when
Jesus died on the cross. Just inside the entrance to the church is the Stone of
the Anointing (also called the Stone of Unction), which marks the spot where
Jesus' body was prepared for burial by Joseph of Arimathea. The wall behind the
stone is defined by its striking blue balconies and cross-bearing red banners,
and is decorated with lamps. The modern three-part mosaic along the wall
depicts the anointing of Jesus' body, preceded on the right by the Descent from
the Cross, and succeeded on the left by the Burial of Jesus.
Our next stop was the Muslim
Quarter, which is the largest and most populous of the four quarters, extending
from the Lions' Gate to the Temple Mount to the Western Wall. It is a mainly
commercial area of the Old City, with lots of stalls in the souq (shuk) selling
spices, pastries, clothing, leather goods, antiquities, and handicrafts. Some
important sites are located here; however, they are inaccessible to non-Muslims
most of the time. The Temple Mount holds the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa
Mosque. The Temple Mount is a
holy site in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and consists of a flat plaza
surrounded by retaining walls (including the Western Wall) that was built
during the reign of Herod the Great. The plaza is dominated by three monumental
structures including the Dome of the Chain (where supposedly a chain once rose
to heaven), Dome of the Rock, and the al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as four minarets.
People reach the Mount through one of eleven gates, ten of which are reserved
for Muslims and only one for non-Muslims. This is the holiest place in Judaism,
and the place where Jews turn towards during prayer; however, their access to
it is limited. Many Jews will not walk on the mount itself because it is so
holy. According to Jewish scripture, the First Temple built by King Solomon
(the song of King David) was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC, whereas
the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Jewish tradition believes
that the Third (and final) Temple will be built on this site someday when the
Jewish Messiah comes. Jews believe that it is this site on which God’s divine
presence is manifested more than any other place on earth. It is from here on
the Foundation Stone that the world expanded into its present form and where
God gathered the dust used to create Adam. For Muslims, the Temple Mount is the
site of three sacred mosques, the holiest sites in Islam. The Dome of the Rock
(the gorgeous mosaic-clad gold-domed octagonal Islamic shrine first completed
in the 692 AD and then rebuilt in 1023 AD), is one of the oldest existing
Islamic structures in the world and occupies the area where the Holy Temple
once stood. The Al-Aqsa Mosque (with its silver-colored lead dome) faces Mecca;
Muslims believe that Muhammad was transported from the Great Mosque of Mecca to
al-Aqsa during the Night Journey to heaven, accompanied by the angel Gabriel
after he prayed there with Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Due to the claims of both
Judaism and Islam, the area is one of the most contested religious sites in the
world, remaining a major focal point of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Because
religious restrictions prevent Jews from entering the most sacred areas of the
Temple Mount (they have restricted access but cannot pray or wear religious
garb under penalty of arrest), the Western Wall (part of the retaining wall for
the Mount) is the holiest accessible site at which Jews can pray. Which is a
good transition to the final quarter…
Before we began the remainder of our tour, we stopped for lunch at the Holy
Café (also called Coffee Break). Here, we ordered two main dish salads, one
eggplant dish, slices of thick bread, and some drinks for a total of $67 USD.
We ate outdoors in the main square under cover of trees, in a busy pedestrian
courtyard area that offered good views of life passing by.
The Jewish Quarter (also called the Herodian Quarter) stretches from the
Zion Gate to the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. This area is home to numerous yeshivas (schools) and synagogues, most notably the Hurva
Synagogue, destroyed numerous times and rededicated in 2010. The
archaeological remains of the section of the Jewish quarter destroyed prior to
1967 has since been rebuilt and are on display in a series of museums and
outdoor parks that tourists can visit by descending two or three stories
beneath the level of the current city.
First, we visited
the excavated cardo maximus, an ancient Roman 70-foot-wide street lined with
pillars on each side. The central lane of the cardo was open to the sky so that
carriages and animals could pass, and it was flanked on each side by colonnaded
covered walkways for pedestrians. Some sections contained covered stalls for
merchants and workshops for craftspeople. The cardo began at the Damascus Gate
and ran across the city to the Zion Gate.
Then, we went to the
indoor Wohl Museum of Archaeology (admission about $5 USD per person), a
compound that contains remnants of six houses of ancient well-to-do families
preserved at different levels. The remains of these residences show us the
wealthy and splendorous way that the aristocratic inhabitants lived in those
days. We saw cellars, kitchens, and living rooms adorned with mosaics, embellishments,
and mikvahs (ritual baths). The houses were unearthed under layers of ashes
from a fire that raged the city shortly after the destruction of the temple. In
the first building, we saw bathrooms and mikvahs, which show how important
purification was. In a larger and more luxurious house, we saw color ornamentation
on the walls, elaborate mosaic floors, and colored pottery, further illustrates
the economic prosperity of the time.
Next, we visited the
Davidson Center Archaeological Park; admission to this site cost about $8 USD
per person. The site contains artifacts from the First and Second Temple
periods, the Byzantine Muslim period, the ancient Crusades period, and others.
Outdoors, the most exciting findings include the walls of the city from the
First Temple period, the steps leading up to the Temple, the original street
from the time of the Second Temple period, shops, and ritual baths. The indoor
part of the museum contains multimedia presentations including a video about
ancient pilgrimages and a virtual 3D model from the Second Temple period.
When we emerged from
the Archaeological Park, we temporarily exited the Old City through the Dung
Gate (also called the Mughrabi Gate or the Silwan Gate). Once outside, we had
good views across the valley to the Mount of Olives, and we could also see the
nearby City of David (including some recent excavations) and the steeple of the
infamous Saint Peter in Gallicantu (in Latin, gallicantu means rooster's crow [actually, literally, it means
another four-letter word for rooster that rhymes with “rock”, but I wasn’t sure
that I could post that word online for fear it would be considered profanity]).
It is the place where Peter rejected Jesus three times before the rooster
crowed twice. The original church was built in 457 AD but destroyed in 1010,
then rebuilt by the Crusaders almost a century later. Today, a golden rooster
tops the sanctuary roof in remembrance of its biblical connection.
Afterwards, we saw
the Western Wall, sometimes referred to as the Kotel, the Weeping Wall, or the Wailing
Wall (the latter two terms are felt to be undignified these days). The Western
Wall's holiness in Judaism comes from its proximity to the Temple Mount.
Because of the Temple Mount entry restrictions, the Wall is the holiest and
closest place where Jews are permitted to pray, though the holiest site in the
Jewish faith lies behind it. Visitors don’t have to be Jewish to visit the
Wall, but they do have to be dressed modestly and have their heads covered
(scarves for women and skullcaps [also called kippahs or yarmulkes] for men).
Most visitors write a prayer on a small slip of paper and then insert the note
in the wall. Note that men and women cannot visit the wall together; there are
separate sides for each of the sexes. The women’s side is much smaller than the
men’s and contains chairs and prayer books. Interestingly, devout visitors will
not turn their back to the wall when they depart, so they walk backward toward
the entrance. We saw something curious when we visited: some boys were
celebrating their bat mitzvahs with their male family members near the wall, while
their women relatives had to stand on chairs outside of the plaza area to peek
over a separation wall at the ceremonies. It seemed a bit sad that a boy’s own
mother couldn’t attend the religious initiation ceremony of her own son.
Finally, we walked part
of the Via Dolorosa (which means “Sorrowful Way” or “Way of Pain”), the
processional route that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion. The winding
route travels a distance of about 2,000 feet from the former Antonia Fortress
(the citadel that protected the Second Temple) near the Lions’ Gate to the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The path is marked by nine Stations of the Cross,
with the last five stations located inside the Church. The stations and their
approximate locations follow.
(1)
Jesus is condemned to death by Pontius Pilate (although this likely took place
at Herod’s Palace, the celebrated site is the location of three early nineteenth century Roman Catholic churches: the Church of the Condemnation and Imposition
of the Cross, the Church of the Flagellation, and the Church of Ecce Homo.
(2)
Jesus carries the cross.
(3)
Jesus falls the first time (this site is adjacent to the nineteenth century Polish Catholic Chapel).
(4)
Jesus meets his mother Mary (located at a nineteenth century American
Catholic oratory named Our Lady of the Spasm).
(5)
Simon of Cyrene carries the cross
(located adjacent to the Franciscan Chapel of Simon of Cyrene).
(6)
Veronica wipes Jesus' face (located at the Church of the Holy Face and Saint
Veronica).
(7)
Jesus falls the second time (located adjacent to a Franciscan chapel built in
1875 at the junction of the main cardo [the north-south road] and the decumanus
[the east-west road]).
(8)
The women of Jerusalem weep over Jesus (located adjacent to the Greek Orthodox
Monastery of Saint Charalampus).
(9) Jesus falls the third time (located at the entrance to the
Ethiopian Orthodox Monastery and the Coptic Orthodox Monastery of Saint
Anthony, which together form the roof of the subterranean Chapel of Saint
Helena in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre).
(10) Jesus is stripped of his garments.
(11) Jesus is nailed to the cross.
(12) Jesus dies on the cross.
(13) Jesus is taken down from the cross (this is the Stone of
the Anointing in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre).
(14) Jesus is placed in the sepulcher.
Later that night, although
we had a full day touring, we gathered up our strength to leave the hotel in
search of dinner nearby. We ate outdoors (but under cover of an umbrella awning)
on the sidewalk terrace of the Caffit Café Mamilla (a Kosher dairy restaurant),
not more than a 5-minute walk from the Waldorf. For a shared starter (grape
leaves), two main dishes (including one enormous plate of fish and chips and
Italian meatballs with crusty bread), a shared dessert, and three rounds of
drinks, our bill totaled about $100 USD. Indoors, the restaurant has two floors
of seating: the street level contains a bar and some tables, with additional
tables located on a mezzanine reached by a curved staircase.
Monday, August 27: More Jerusalem Sites
After breakfast at the hotel, we met our guide
for a 15-minute drive to Mount Herzl. Also called the Mount of Remembrance, it has been the home
of the Israeli national cemetery for prominent leaders and fallen soldiers and
servicemen since 1951. It also offers a museum and educational facilities, but
regrettably, we did not have
time to investigate the Herzl Museum, which our guide said was excellent. The park, which
lies beside the Jerusalem Forest, is named after Theodor Herzl, the founder of
modern Zionism, and his tomb lies at the top of the hill. Besides Herzl, the
cemetery is the burial place of five of Israel's prime ministers and presidents
including Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin (who is buried beside his wife Leah), and Shimon
Peres. Despite the national significance of the cemetery, some Israeli leaders are
buried elsewhere, including Menachem Begin (the former prime minister is buried
at Mount of Olives) and David Ben-Gurion (the founder of the Israeli state is
buried on Kibbutz Sde Boker). All soldiers, regardless of rank or unit, are
buried side by side with plain unadorned gravestones that only indicate name,
rank, and place and date of birth and death.
Our next stop was
only a 5-minute drive away. Established in 1953, Yad Vashem lies near Mount
Herzl and contains a 44-acre complex of museums, monuments, and research and
educational facilities, including the Holocaust History Museum, Museum of Holocaust
Art, Children's Memorial, Hall of Remembrance; various sculptures, and a
synagogue. As we walked toward the main museum, we passed by trees with plaques
acknowledging the "Righteous Among the Nations", meaning non-Jews who
saved Jews during the ongoing genocide of the Holocaust (like Oskar Schindler
from Schindler’s List) at great personal risk and without a financial or evangelistic motive. Yad Vashem (which means
“a monument and a name”) is a museum dedicated to preserving the memory of the dead, memorializing Jews who
fought against their Nazi oppressors, honoring Gentiles who selflessly aided
Jews in need, and researching the phenomenon of the Holocaust in particular and
genocide in general in order to avoid such events in the future. The main
museum consists of a long corridor connected to 10 exhibition halls, each
dedicated to a different chapter of the Holocaust. The museum combines the
personal stories of 90 Holocaust victims and survivors, and presents
approximately 2,500 personal items including artwork and letters donated by
survivors and others. The old historical displays revolving around
anti-Semitism and the rise of Nazism have been replaced by exhibits that focus
on the personal stories of Jews killed in the Holocaust. According to the
museum's curator and chairman, a visit to the new museum revolves around
"looking into the eyes of the individuals”. There weren't six million
victims, there were six million individual murders. It was a somber but
important visit for us, and we didn’t have nearly enough time to see everything
thoroughly. There is no cost to visit Yad Vashem.
Although our visit
to Yad Vashem was sobering, afterwards we were ready for lunch, so we drove
about 15 minutes to First Station (the repurposed train station venue where we
dined a few nights previous), where we had lunch outdoors on the front covered
deck of the Landver restaurant. Lunch for three people, including two salads,
one lamb-filled pita, lots of bread, and a few rounds of drinks cost $80 USD.
Afterwards, we
planned a tour of Bethlehem. Not only did we feel our visit was important
historically and religiously, but also because the town where we grew up is
also named Bethlehem (with nearby cities also biblically named including
Nazareth, Emmaus, Egypt, and a creek called Jordan). Because of governmental
restrictions between Israel and the West Bank in Palestine, our Israeli guide
was unable to accompany us. Since 1995, former Israeli land has been under the
military control of Palestine. However, he dropped us off at the border
crossing, where we showed our passports and walked across, to be met on the
other site by a local Palestinian guide he had arranged. Unfortunately, the
path inside the border/customs/immigration building was not readily apparent to
us, and we took some wrong turns in trying to walk through it. When we made it
outside, our local Bethlehem guide drove us to a nearby shop, where the owner
offered us refreshments while we browsed (we were also able to use their
restrooms); we would return to the shop at the end of our tour for the same
reason, and so that we could be enticed into buying some souvenirs. Although we
didn’t welcome these stops, we felt that we couldn’t refuse.
In biblical times,
Bethlehem was inhabited by the Canaanites and was the city in which David was
crowned as the King of Israel. It is also known as the birthplace of Jesus.
Bethlehem was destroyed by the Emperor Hadrian during the second century, but
Empress Helena (mother of Constantine the Great) began its rebuilding by
commissioning the Church of the Nativity in 327 AD. It was subsequently damaged
by the Samaritans (obviously not “good” ones!) and then rebuilt in 629 by
Emperor Justinian I.
The Old City of
Bethlehem consists of eight quarters (including Christian, Muslim, and Syrian)
laid out in a mosaic style, forming the area around Manger Square, which takes
its name from the manger where Jesus is said to have been born which now
resides at the Grotto of the Nativity, enshrined since the fourth century in
the Church of the Nativity.
When we were
finished with our brief walking/driving tour, our Bethlehem guide dropped us at
the border checkpoint, where we walked through immigration and customs to find
our Israeli guide waiting with his van to return us to the Waldorf.
After we returned to
the hotel, because the weather was so beautiful, we walked to the outdoor
Mamilla Mall, where we stopped at the Cafe Rimon Mamila for two rounds of
drinks and a shared starter (cauliflower) for about $42 USD. Although pricey,
the location was excellent for people-watching.
Later that evening,
we ate dinner near the hotel at the elegant 1868 restaurant. We dined outdoors on
a protected sort of front patio, where we ate a delicious quality multi-course
meal for about $180 USD. Although it was the most expensive meal of our trip,
it was the most memorable food and the best service. Particularly unforgettable
was the amuse bouche that we received from the chef, which were some spherified
olives that arrived perched in a miniature tree. Our meal was a great ending to
our last night in Jerusalem.
Tuesday, August 28: Masada and Bet She’an
After enjoying our
last buffet breakfast at the Waldorf’s Palace restaurant, we packed our bags
and checked out. Our first stop was a 30-minute drive away, the Good Samaritan Inn
Museum of Mosaics (also called Khan Al-Hatruri Caravanserai).
At the ticket kiosk, at the recommendation of our guide, we purchased
two 6-park national park passes (about $30 USD per person). According to the
Christian scripture, the site was the location of the event described in the
"Parable of the Good Samaritan" in the Gospel of Luke. (Jesus tells
this story about a traveler who is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half-dead
alongside the road. First a priest and then a Levite come by, but both avoid
the man. Finally, a Samaritan happens upon the traveler. Although Samaritans
and Jews despised each other, the Samaritan helped the injured man. Jesus is
described as telling the parable in response to the question from a lawyer,
"And who is my neighbor?" In response, Jesus tells the parable, the
conclusion of which is that the neighbor figure in the parable is the man who
shows mercy to the injured man, that is, the Samaritan. Today, the name
"Good Samaritan" means someone who helps a stranger, and many
hospitals and charitable organizations are named after the Good Samaritan. A
local archaeologist discovered that the site had been rebuilt in several
historical periods since the fourth century, and in every phase, the site had
functioned as a khan, an inn for travelers. In the Byzantine period, a church
was also built at the site, suggesting its importance as a pilgrimage site for
early Christians. The floor of the church was once a beautiful mosaic of
geometric patterns that had largely disappeared in modern times, so the
archaeologist and his team restored the mosaic based on early photographs taken
before the tiles had disappeared. After the successful restoration of the
church's mosaic floor, it was decided to take the project further and create a
mosaic museum at the site, which opened in 2010. The museum contains mosaic
floors excavated all across the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and
the Gaza strip, and a wing dedicated to the history and customs of the
Samaritan.
Back in the car, we
drove for more than 1.5 hours to reach Masada, an ancient fortification
situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, similar to a mesa. It is located
on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Herod the
Great built two palaces for himself on the mountain and fortified Masada
between 37 and 31 AD. According to Josephus (an historian), the siege of Masada
by Roman troops from 73 to 74 AD, at the end of the First Jewish-Roman War,
ended in the mass suicide of the 960 Sicarii rebels who were hiding there. The
fortress contained storehouses, barracks, an armory, a stepped pool (possibly a
mikvah), public baths, a church, a palace, and cisterns that were refilled by
rainwater. Three narrow, winding paths led from below up to fortified gates.
Although some tourists choose to hike the narrow paths leading up to Masada, we
took the much easier route and used the cable car (gondola). The base station
visitor’s center contains parking, restrooms, gift shop, restaurant, and
museum. At the top, restrooms are available, and there are water-bottle filling
stations positioned around the site, which can become very hot with the sun
beating down on mostly shadeless areas. Masada was declared a UNESCO World
Heritage Site in 2001.
We had the option to
stop at the Dead Sea for a swim/float, which we passed on because we had done
that from the opposite site in Jordan a few years previously.
Because our next
stop was over 1 hour away, we decided to eat lunch first at Cafe Cafe Ein Bokek,
where a meal for three people (three sandwiches and three drinks) cost about
$58 USD.
After a one-hour
drive, we arrived at Qasr el Yahud, the baptismal site of Jesus by John the
Baptist in the Jordan River. In Arabic, the site is called Al-Maghtas (meaning “immersion”), a
name that refers to the pilgrimage site on both sides of the river. It is also
considered to be the place where the Israelites, led by Joshua son of Nun,
crossed the river to enter the Promised Land following the Exodus from Egypt,
and where approximately 300 years later, the Prophet Elijah crossed the river
in the opposite direction to be taken into heaven by fiery chariots, as
witnessed by his disciple Elisha. After 40 years in the desert, the crossing of the river is
described as having taken place in a dry river bed, after the God of Israel
held back the river’s flow for the convenience of the 12 tribes once the Ark of
the Covenant and 12 men had entered the water. This event is considered as
being a spiritual baptism for the Children of Israel in the holy water, which
symbolizes the transformation from being nomads into sovereigns of their own land.
Similarly, the Baptism of Jesus, described in the Gospel of Mark, is seen as a
transformation, from which point Jesus ceases his former simple life in
Nazareth and begins his public ministry, in which he performs miracles and
gathers recognition, but first, we are told in the Gospel of Mark that Jesus
too, while fasting, is tested by Satan for 40 days and nights immediately
following the baptism. This site
was closed from the 1967 Six-Day War until 2011, so an alternate baptismal site
called Yardenit was established on the Sea of Galilee, but we are glad that we
were able to see this one. Visitors can purchase or rent white robes in which
to be baptized. There are locker rooms onsite, as well as a gift shop. An olive
grove and a green pastoral landscape create a serene atmosphere.
Then, after another
hours’ drive, we arrived in Beit She’an. Because it was only one hour before
closing time, we had the entire site to ourselves! Beit She’an, historically
known as Scythopolis, has
played an important role in history because of its geographical location at the
junction of the Jordan River Valley and the Jezreel Valley, controlling access
from Jordan and the inland to the coast, as well as from Jerusalem and Jericho
to the Galilee. In the Biblical account of the battle of the Israelites against
the Philistines on Mount Gilboa, the bodies of King Saul and three of his sons
were hung on the walls of Beit She'an. In Roman times, Beit She'an was the
leading city of the Decapolis, a league of pagan cities. Today’s spectacular
ruins include a theatre, cardo (street lined with columns/pillars), and baths.
I was so mesmerized by all the architectural ruins surrounding me that I was
looking around everywhere but down as I walked, and I took a nasty fall on some
uneven terrain; fortunately, nothing was broken but my pride.
After our tour, we
drove about 30 minutes to the town of Tiberias, where we would spend the next
few nights. We checked into the U Boutique Kinneret Hotel (associated with both
Leonardo Hotels and Fattal Hotels). This hotel is perched on the Sea of Galilee
and offers a small private beach, outdoor swimming pool, spa, lobby bar, poolside
snack bar, and a restaurant. The hotel has 60 rooms in categories of Superior,
Deluxe, Deluxe Panorama, Deluxe Balcony, and Executive Panorama. We were
assigned room 112, an Executive Panorama room. Our room was about 375 square
feet, with a large bathroom (separate bathtub and shower, sink, and a toilet.
(Unfortunately, there was always a bad sewer smell in the bathroom that never
went away.) Our air-conditioned corner room had a wrap-around balcony, which
allowed windows on two sides of the room. The king-size bed was flanked by two
nightstands, with a reclining lounge chair nearby. The desk/bureau unit held
the TV, along with coffee-making facilities and a minibar. Our room had a weird
circular pillar that interrupted the clear-span space; for that reason, we
wouldn’t book this particular room category again (although from the photos on
the hotel website, not all Executive Panorama rooms have a pillar.) Room décor
and furnishings were modern and attractive.
Later that night, we
walked to a nearby restaurant called Decks (Lido Pagoda), where we dined
outdoors on huge deck that protruded over the sea. We shared a hummus starter,
a shared steak, an enormous bowl of fries, and two rounds of drinks for about
$116 USD. While we ate, we were treated to some “adult entertainment” on the
beach and in the water below us! After dinner, on the way back to the hotel, we
walked a little out of our way to a small corner market/convenience store
(across from the Scots Hotel) to purchase some snacks and drinks (alcoholic and
non-) for our hotel room. It was a 5-minute walk (although not on an even
grade) to Decks, and another 5-minute walk (also a bit uphill) to the market.
Wednesday, August 29: Touring the Galilee Region
After breakfast at
the hotel, our guide picked us up and we drove about 30 minutes to the lovely
town of Rosh Pinna, near the town of Safed. Rosh Pinna was founded in 1882 by
thirty families who emigrated from Romania, making it one of the oldest Zionist
settlements in Israel. Our guide lived in Rosh Pinna and he wanted us to visit
the Nimrod Lookout, a memorial that commemorates 28-year old soldier Nimrod
Segev (who lived in Rosh Pinna) and his three-man tank crew who were killed in
the Second Lebanon War. Nimrod’s father created this peaceful site, elevated 1640
feet high on a hill overlooking the Hula Valley, the Golan Heights, and the
Upper Galilee Mountains. The memorial is an observation terrace surrounded by a
garden with benches.
We drove about 10
minutes to the site of the former Nabratein Synagogue, located in a pine forest
north of Safed. Naburiya (identical with Nabratein) was a Jewish village in the
Galilee during the First and Second Temple periods. The excavated remains of
the Naburiya synagogue indicate that it is one of the oldest in the Galilee.
The original synagogue was enlarged during the third century and destroyed in
the Galilee earthquake of 363 AD. The final, and much larger, synagogue building
was constructed in the late sixth century reusing stones from the earlier
building. The year of its construction is known from the inscription over the
main door, which is now displayed on the campus of the Israel Museum. (We saw
the door lintel when we visited the museum a few days prior.) The building
stood until 640 AD. The facade was partially reconstructed by the Jewish
National Fund and the Israel Antiquities Authority.
After about a 30-minute
drive, we arrived on the kibbutz of Sasa, where we made a short stop at Buza
Sasa for ice cream (about $10 USD for three single scoops). A kibbutz is a
collective community that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first
kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming has been partly replaced
by other economic means, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises.
Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism.
In 2010 (several years before our visit), there were 270 kibbutz in Israel.
Their factories and farms account for 9% of Israel's industrial output, worth $8
billion US, and 40% of its agricultural output, worth over $1.7 billion US.
Some kibbutz had also developed substantial high-tech and military industries.
For example, in 2010, Kibbutz Sasa, containing some 200 members, generated $850
million in annual revenue from its military-plastics industry. As for the ice
cream, one of the co-owners traveled the world, following his dream to learn to
make ice cream. Working in various ice cream parlors, he spent time in Florence,
Italy. After returning to Israel, he developed a partnership with a man who ran
a restaurant, and they opened their shop Buza (which means “ice cream” in
Arabic). They use high-quality natural ingredients to make handmade ice cream
daily. In their shop, you can watch the process through glass windows.
Back in the car, we
drove through some Druze villages (the Druze are an Arabic-speaking
ethno-religious group), then about one hour later, we arrived at the Hermon
Stream Nature Reserve (also called Banias). Unfortunately, we had forgotten to
bring our national park passes, so we had to pay an entrance fee when it should
have been included. This site, just north of the Golan Heights, developed
around a spring once associated with the Greek god Pan. The spring is the
source of the Banias River, one of the main tributaries of the Jordan River.
Archaeologists uncovered a shrine dedicated to Pan and related deities. The
spring at Banias initially originated in a large cave carved out of a sheer
cliff face which was gradually lined with a series of shrines. In its final
phase, the site included a temple placed at the mouth of the cave, courtyards for
rituals, and niches for statues. It was constructed on an elevated,
260-foot-long natural terrace along the cliff that towered over the north of
the city. A four-line inscription at the base of one of the niches relates to
Pan and Echo, the mountain nymph, and dates to 87 BC. After looking at the
exterior of the cave area, we took a short nature walk along a creek bed,
enjoying the cooler temperatures that the heavily foliage provided. At the end,
we were rewarded with some architectural ruins, including the remnants of the
temple of Pan with its grotto and the remains of the palace of Phillip II/Agrippa
II.
We stopped for lunch
in Kiryat Motzkin at BarBasar, a sort of high-quality butcher shop/wine
shop/cafe run by the son of our guide. It had a tiny 4-person dining counter perched
in front of a grill, where Richard’s son cooked us some delicious steak
sandwiches. Lunch for three including a few drinks cost about $50 USD.
Finally, we stopped
at Mount Bental, which offers great
panoramic views of the Golan Heights and even as far as Syria. Mount Bental was
the site of a courageous battle fought during Israel’s war for the Golan, held during the Yom Kippur
War in 1973. It was one of the largest tank battles ever and was miraculously
won by the Israelis with their small force of 160 tanks. The Syrians attacked
with 1,500 tanks and 1,000 artillery pieces that were slowly mowed down by the
much smaller Israeli force. The Israeli army suffered large casualties however,
and by the time the battle was over, only 7 Israeli tanks were operational.
After 900 of the Syrian tanks were destroyed, the Syrians turned and fled,
leaving the land for the victorious Israelis. Today, to remember the bloody
battle, the valley below the mountain, reaching to Mount Hermon, is called the Valley of Tears. The old army bunkers
are open to the public, most of them have been completely cleared out, but old
beds and batteries can still be seen. In a small room within the bunker, the
tale of the battle can be read from signs on the wall, with accompanying maps
to help understand the logistics and geography. When emerging from the bunker,
a video binocular can be operated for a small fee to see the Israeli-Syrian
frontier and the old battlefield now covered over with fields of grain and produce.
Mount Bental also boasts a metal
sculpture garden created by a Dutch artist and a fun cafe called Coffee Annan
(a pun on the name of the former secretary general of the United Nations, Kofi
Annan).
After we relaxed at our
hotel, we walked to the nearby Scots Hotel for a round of drinks. We had wanted
to stay at the Scots, but they weren’t showing any availability until after the
cancellation date at the U Boutique had passed. So we had to content ourselves
with drinks at their bar, where we spent almost $40 USD for one ridiculously salty
margarita and two beers.
On our way to
dinner, we bought some bottled iced tea at the Express Tveria grocery store,
which was a treat after going without iced tea for so long. We also made our
nightly stop at the small Barak market later on for additional drinks. We ate
dinner indoors at a restaurant called Little Tiberias, where for about $125 USD
we shared a starter (rolled eggplant) and two main dishes (one pasta and one
stroganoff), a shared dessert, and a few rounds of drinks.
Thursday, August 30: Another Day Touring the Galilee
After breakfast at
the U Boutique Kinneret’s restaurant, our guide picked us up for a short
10-minute drive to Magdala (also known as Migdal in Hebrew or words meaning
“Tower of the Fishes” in Aramaic). Magdala was an ancient city on the shore of
the Sea of Galilee, 3 miles north of Tiberias. It is believed to be the
birthplace of Mary Magdalene (who is often mistakenly referred to as a
prostitute but was more likely Jesus’s only female disciple). Archaeological
excavations conducted in 2006 found that the settlement began during the
Hellenistic period (between the second and first centuries BC) and ended during
the late Roman period (third century AD). Later excavations in 2009 to 2013 uncovered
an ancient synagogue, the oldest in the Galilee, and one of the only synagogues
from that period found in the entire country. They also found the Magdala
stone, which has a seven-branched menorah symbol carved on it, the earliest
menorah of that period discovered outside of Jerusalem. We paid about $4 USD
per person to walk around the compact site, including the outdoor architectural
ruins and a modern church called Duc In Altum after a Bible passage. The
spiritual center offers several chapels: the Encounter Chapel (with its
original first century floor from a marketplace in the Magdala port), Mosaic
Chapels (each of four chapels show a mosaic about the public life of Jesus,
including walking on water, fishing, Mary Madalene, and the daughter of Jairus
[the only woman Jesus ever raised from the dead]), the Boat Chapel (with its
unique boat-shaped altar behind which is a window showing the Sea of Galilee),
and the Women’s Atrium (with eight pillars representing women in the Bible like
Mary Magdalene and Salome).
Our next stop was
the Yigal Allon Center about 5 minutes away in Ginosar. This museum is
affectionately called the “Jesus Boat” or “Peter’s Boat” museum after the
famous 27-foot-long Galilee Boat on display. A unique, first-century AD vessel
recovered from the thick sediment of the Sea of Galilee during a 1986 drought
has been painstakingly and ingeniously preserved over a period of 11 years. It
was amazing to look at something so recognizable and functional from 2,000
years ago during the time when Jesus and Peter wandered the Galilee. A short
film and some small exhibits chronicle the boat's discovery, exhumation,
transfer, and conservation. Visitors can also take an optional boat ride out
onto the Sea of Galilee in a much more modern boat. We paid about $7 USD per
person for admission to the site, which offers restrooms [be sure to get a
scannable ticket to gain entry], gift shop, and self-service café (we bought 3
beverages for about $5 USD).
Then, we took a
10-minute drive to the Mount of the Beatitudes, a hill where Jesus is believed
to have delivered the Sermon on the Mount. The location actually has a negative
altitude (around 82 feet below sea level, nearly 650 feet above the Sea of
Galilee), which makes it one of the lowest summits of the world. The actual
location of the Sermon on the Mount is uncertain, but the present location
(also known as Mount Eremos) has been commemorated for more than 1,600 years.
Today, the site includes the Church of the Beatitudes, a Roman Catholic
Franciscan chapel built in 1938. Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass at the site
in March 2000. The current church sits uphill from the ruins of a small
Byzantine-era church from the late fourth century, which contains a rock-cut
cistern beneath it and the remains of a small monastery to its southeast. The
floorplan of the modern church is octagonal, with each of the eight sides
representing one of the eight Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are blessings
recounted by Jesus during his Sermon on the Mount and include messages for the
poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, the merciful, those pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those
persecuted because of righteousness; the moral is that they will all be
rewarded in Heaven. The church is Neo-Byzantine in style with a marble veneer
casing the lower interior walls and gold mosaic in the dome. Around the altar
are mosaic symbols on the pavement representing the seven Christian virtues,
four classic cardinal virtues of Justice, Prudence, Fortitude (or Courage), and
Temperance, and three theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity.
We got back in the
car for a quick 5-minute drive to Tabgha Monastery, one of the few sites where
we had to pay to park (about $3 USD). Tabgha (which means “spring of seven”) is
traditionally accepted as the place of the miracle of the multiplication of the
loaves and fishes and the fourth resurrection appearance of Jesus after his crucifixion.
The earliest building at Tabgha was a small chapel built around 350 AD by
Joseph of Tiberias, the Jewish convert to Christianity. After his conversion,
Emperor Constantine gave him the rank of count and granted him permission to
build churches in the Galilee, specifically in Jewish towns that didn't yet
have a Christian community. A bigger shrine was built in 486 AD by an Egyptian
who covered the floor with a beautiful Nile mosaic. The mosaic of the fish and
loaves is laid next to a large rock, which has caused some New Testament
scholars to speculate that the builders of the original church believed that
Jesus stood on this rock when he blessed the fish and loaves just before the
feeding of the crowd who had come to hear him. Today, the church is known as
the Church of Multiplication.
Our next drive was
much longer (about one hour) to Mount Tabor, where we visited the Church of
Transfiguration. The site is where the Transfiguration of Christ took place, an
event in the Gospels in which Jesus is radiantly transfigured upon a mountain
and speaks with Moses and Elijah and is called “Son” by God. The current
church, part of a Franciscan monastery complex completed in 1924, was on the
ruins of an ancient (fourth-to-sixth-century) Byzantine church and a
12th-century church of the Crusader Kingdom period. The church contains three
grottoes, also called tabernacles or chapels, which represent the three huts
which Peter desired to build, one for his Master (Jesus) and the other two for
Moses and Elijah. The Grotto of Christ is in the eastern part of the church.
Steps lead down to a lower level containing a sanctuary roofed with a modern
vault. The Chapel of Elijah is located in the south tower, whereas the north
tower holds the Chapel of Moses. In the upper part of the church is a mosaic on
a gold background representing the transfiguration.
We drove for another hour around the perimeter of the Sea of Galilee, finally stopping for lunch
at the Ein Gev Fish Restaurant. It was here that we got to try the famous St.
Peter’s Fish that we had heard about. (In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells
Peter to go fishing in the Galilee, because the first fish he’d catch would
have a silver shekel in it, which Peter could use to pay the Temple tax. Peter
followed Christ’s instructions, and indeed, the fish he caught had a shekel in
its mouth. According to legend, the fish Peter caught was a kind of tilapia,
which is now served by restaurants all around the lake.) We ordered one whole
fish (head and all) and two fileted fish, each of which was accompanied by a
side dish (we chose freekeh [wheat] and peas, boiled potatoes, and French fries).
A plate of dates was delivered with our bill, which came to about $110 USD for
the three of us, including a few beverages.
After lunch, we
drove about 30 minutes to our last stop of the day in Capernaum, another site
where we had to pay to park (about $1.50 USD). Capernaum was a fishing village with a population of about 1,500.
The village was inhabited continuously from the second century BC to the 11th
century AD, when it was abandoned sometime before the Crusader conquest. The
town is cited in all four gospels, where it was reported to have been the
hometown of the tax collector Matthew, and is located not far from Bethsaida,
the hometown of the apostles Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Jesus spent
time teaching and healing in Capernaum after choosing the town as the center of
his public ministry after he left Nazareth. Archaeological excavations have
revealed two ancient synagogues with columns and benches built one over the
other. A house turned into a church by the Byzantines is believed to have been
the home of Saint Peter. After we explored the outdoor ruins (including the
remains of an enormous synagogue with its columns and benches), we moved inside
to the modern memorial built over the house of St. Peter. The ultra-modern, disk-shaped
St. Peter’s Church (also called the Pilgrimage Church of St. Peter in
Capernaum) stands on concrete stilts, ensuring visibility through a glass floor
to the venerated ancient building. The Franciscan church is dedicated to St.
Peter, who Catholics consider the first leader of the church. We walked around
the sculpture garden adjacent to the church, stopping to see the bronze piece
entitled “Homeless Jesus”, which portrays Jesus as a homeless person, sleeping
on a park bench, with his face and hands hidden under a blanket, but with his
crucifixion wounds visible on his feet. There’s also a statue of the Saint
Peter (which stands majestically in front of the Sea of Galilee) as well as a
statue of Saint Francis of Assisi. From the ruins/grounds of the former
synagogue, we could see the striking red domes of the Greek Orthodox Monastery
in the distance.
Fortunately, after
our long day of driving and touring, we were only a 15-minute drive from the
hotel. We relaxed a bit in our room, then went out for some drinks at a
restaurant called Yali’s Cafe, where we sat in a sort of modular
air-conditioned and glass-enclosed side dining room. Three rounds of drinks
cost about $30 USD. We ate dinner at a restaurant called Gala Gil, where we
dined outdoors on a sort of seaside promenade on an array of starters, two main
dishes (one schnitzel and one kebab, both served with potatoes), and some
drinks for about $100 USD. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the
convenience store/market (across from the Scots hotel), where we bought some
drinks (both alcoholic and non-) to enjoy in our room.
Friday, August 31: Sightseeing On the Way from the Galilee to Tel Aviv
After eating a
buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we checked out of our room and met
our guide for a day of sightseeing on the way to Tel Aviv. Our first stop was
about an hour’s drive away in Akko (also called Acre). Akko is a port city on
the Mediterranean coast that is known for its well-preserved old city walls. Its
Old City has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since the 1990s,
large-scale archaeological excavations have preserved ancient sites.
After we parked the
car, we walked through the Gan ha-Metsuda Gardens, which allowed us views of
the Al-Jazzar Mosque. Known as the “White Mosque” because of its once
silvery-white dome that glittered at a great distance it is an excellent
example of Ottoman architecture because it incorporates both Byzantine and
Persian styles. Some of its fine features include its now-green dome and
minaret with a winding staircase of 124 steps.
Next, we visited the
Hospitaller Fortress for about a $10 USD per person entrance fee. The
Hospitallers were a military, monastic order devoted to caring for the sick in
the Holy Land and to maintaining the personal safety of the pilgrims who
flocked to the holy sites. The Hospitaller Order, which thrived in Jerusalem during the
First Crusader Kingdom (1187 to 1099) transferred its headquarters to Akko
during the Second Crusader Kingdom (1291 to 1191). The Hospitallers, who had a
quarter there during the First Kingdom, returned to Akko, expanded their
headquarters and rebuilt the site, which consisted of two to three floors
around a central court as well as underground sections including water
reservoirs and a sewage system. Although the entire site has not bee excavated
to date, an area of about 54,000 square feet was unearthed, which encompasses
the central court and the northern, eastern, and southern wings. (The western
wing has yet to be excavated.) Visitors can see the remains of the first floor
of the Hospitaller headquarters, since the upper floors were destroyed by the
Muslim conqueror and the ravages of time. The Hospitaller quarter houses three main buildings: the headquarters (Knights'
Halls); St. John's Church south of the headquarters (now a municipal community
center in the Ottoman Saraya House); and the hospital south of the church that
is yet to be excavated.
Before we departed
Akko, we walked through some of its narrow passageways past some of its bazaar
shops to reach the picturesque marina/fishing port. The quaint, tranquil
fishing harbor is lined with old fishing boats, dinghies, and yachts and offers
excellent views of the city walls.
Our next stop was
about 30 minutes away, the gorgeous Baha’i Gardens in Haifa. As we approached
from the bottom, we had to content ourselves with what we could see from the
car; fortunately, when we reached the top of the hill, we were able to park and
walk a short way to a lookout point where we could appreciate the downhill
view. Baha’i Gardens (also called the Hanging Gardens of Haifa) are garden
terraces arranged around the Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel. The design of
this UNESCO World Heritage site is meant to represent the first eighteen
disciples of Bab in the Baha’i faith. Nine concentric circles provide the main
geometry of the eighteen terraces. The gardens were completed in 2001 and
extend almost 0.6 mile up the side of Mount Carmel, covering over 2 million
square feet of land. The gardens are linked by a set of stairs flanked by twin
streams of running water cascading down the mountainside through the steps and
terrace bridges. The gardens are a not-to-be-missed site in our opinion.
We drove for another
30 minutes before we reached the city of Caesarea. Before proceeding to the
archeological site, we took a brief drive past the city’s Hadrianic aqueduct.
The Judaean port of Caesarea had no reliable source of fresh water when
construction on the city began around 22 BC, so King Herod commissioned a
raised aqueduct to deliver water from the springs near Shuni, about 10 miles
northeast. When Hadrian visited Caesarea in 130 AD on his grand tour of the
eastern part of the Roman Empire, the growth of the city required additional water,
so Hadrian commissioned a new aqueduct to be built. This new section doubled
its capacity, and the twin parallel aqueducts continued to supply water for 1,200
years.
After we arrived at
the ruins in Caesarea, we found that we were ready for lunch, so we found a
nice spot outdoors at the Port Kafe Namal Keys. Lunch for three people (three
main dish salads, lots of bread, and some drinks) cost about $75 USD.
Caesarea Maritima is
the site of one of the most important cities of the Roman World, the capital of
the province of Judaea. The city was founded between 22 and 10 BC
by Herod the Great as an urban center and harbor on the site of the earlier
Straton’s Tower. The city has been populated through the late Roman and
Byzantine era. Large-scale archaeological excavations began in the 1950s and
continue to this day, conducted by primarily Israeli and American volunteers
working under the supervision of archaeologists. Remains from many periods have
been uncovered, including a Roman theater, a temple dedicated to the goddess
Roma and Emperor Augustus, a hippodrome (a chariot/horse racing stadium) rebuilt
in the second century as a more conventional theater, the Tiberieum (a
structure honoring the emperor Tiberius where archaeologists found a reused
limestone block with an inscription mentioning Pilate, the only archaeological
find bearing his name), a boundary wall, and a 200-foot-wide moat protecting
the harbor to the south and west. In 2000, Caesarea was added to the tentative
UNESCO World Heritage list.
Finished with
sightseeing for the day, we made the 45-minute drive to the Hilton Tel Aviv,
our home for the next three nights. We didn’t actually spend three full nights
there, but we paid for three nights since our flight left at midnight on the
second day, and we wanted to stay in our room as long as possible until we had
to leave for the airport.
The Hilton Tel Aviv is located on the Mediterranean Sea in the heart of
Independence Park, within an easy walk of shops and restaurants. Hotel
amenities include five restaurants and bars (Cafe Med, Yakimono Sushi Bar,
Chloelys, Lobby Lounge, and Pool Bar), fitness center, shops, spa, outdoor
saltwater pool, and meeting/event space. Guests staying in specific room levels
and some HHonors members have access to the twelfth floor executive
lounge, with both indoor and (limited) outdoor space. (Breakfast is served in
the morning, with snacks throughout the day, light dairy meals in the evenings,
and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.) Our room was spacious, with a
large bathroom, closet, and refreshment center near the door. The bathroom had
a separate standing shower and soaking bathtub, sink vanity, and toilet, with
bathrobes, slippers, and Ahava Dead Sea toiletries provided. (We also received
a separate Ahava welcome amenity kit as Hilton HHonors members.) Although we
did not have a suite, our regular room was more of a junior suite setup, with a
king-size bed (with a nightstand on either side) and a sitting room area (with
sofa, comfortable chair, coffee table, and desk/chair) that led out to a
balcony (with chairs so that we could sit and admire the sea view). A
complimentary welcome fruit plate and sparkling water was waiting in the room when
we arrived.
After we relaxed at
the hotel, we walked to the Barkolit convenience store/market, where we
purchased some drinks (alcoholic and non-) and snacks for later in our room. We
ate dinner on the sidewalk terrace of the Halevantini restaurant, where we
feasted on a complimentary array of starters, including (non-gratis) falafel,
followed by two main dishes (one kabob [served with a skewered onion, tomato,
and one extremely painfully spicy hot pepper!] and one turkey shwarma, both
with fries), plus some drinks for about $70 USD.
Saturday, September 1: Sightseeing in Jerusalem
After a buffet
breakfast in the Hilton’s CafĂ© Med restaurant (which we thought was complimentary
for us as Hilton HHonors Diamond members but later found out was not), we took
a 10-minute taxi ride to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The museum was first
established in 1932 at another location, but moved to its present spot in 1971.
Today, it houses a collection of classical and contemporary art (with an
emphasis on Israeli art), a sculpture garden, gift shop, and restaurant. We are
not familiar with Israeli art, so we were happy to find more familiar paintings
by van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, Klimt, Kandinsky, and Pollock. We also enjoyed a
small rotating exhibit based on the Lewis Carroll book Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland. Admission was about $11 USD per person.
Afterward, we walked
about 10 minutes to Sarona, where we took an al fresco break at the Molly Bloom
pub (about $10 USD for two rounds of drinks). From their sidewalk terrace, we
could see a lovely koi pond with water lillies, as well as a small park where
dancers seemed to be practicing for some type of flash-mob performance. After
we finished our drinks, we walked through the interesting Sarona Food
Mall/Market, an indoor emporium with 90+ international
vendors of prepared foods and groceries.
Then, we walked down
Dizengoff Street until it met Rothschild so that we could stroll through the
Bauhaus District, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tel Aviv is nicknamed the
“White City” because it has over 4,000 buildings built in a unique 1930s style
called Bauhaus. Although many of the buildings from this period have been
neglected, over 1,500 more are slated for preservation and restoration.
Traditional Bauhaus architecture had to be adapted to suit the extremes of the
Mediterranean desert climate. White and light colors are used because they reflect
the heat. Walls not only provide privacy but also protect against the sun. Traditionally
large areas of glass that let in the light are replaced with small recessed
windows that limit the heat and glare. Long, narrow balconies, each shaded by
the balcony above it, allow residents to catch the breeze blowing in from the
sea to the west. Pitched roofs are replaced with flat ones, providing a common
area where residents can socialize in the cool evenings. Buildings are raised
on pillars that allow the wind to blow under and cool the apartments, as well
as providing a play area for children. Despite the innovative design features,
the buildings were still unbearably hot, so residents frequented small parks,
coffee shops, and restaurants, creating a cafe culture. We stopped for drinks
at a few of these cafes along the way.
We finished our
walking tour with lunch at the Pronto Opera Italian restaurant on their outdoor
sidewalk terrace, where we spent about $78 USD for one shared starter
(asparagus ravioli), one shared main dish (kale risotto), and two rounds of
drinks. The portions were small, and the prices were high, but the quality was
excellent. While we dined, we admired the nearby 1970s Nahum
Gutman Fountain, with its colorful mosaics that describe 4,000 years of
Tel Aviv history.
We took a 10-minute taxi
ride back to the area near the Hilton, stopping at the Amalia Market to pick up
some drinks and snacks to enjoy in our room. Later that night, we ate dinner at
Barbunia restaurant, where we enjoyed a meal that included an array of starters,
two fried fish dishes, dessert, and drinks for about $100 USD.
Sunday, September 2: More Sightseeing in Jerusalem Before Our Flight Home
After we ate a
buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we had a full day available for
sightseeing in Tel Aviv because our flight did not depart until almost midnight.
We took a 15-minute taxi ride to Jaffa (also called Yafo, Yafa, or Joppa,
depending on your language). This ancient port area is famous for its biblical
associations (stories of Jonah, Solomon, and Saint Peter) as well as the
mythological story of Andromeda and Perseus. We saw its Clock Tower (a
100-year-old limestone column built to honor the Ottoman reign in Palestine)
and a few other structures before walking through its famous flea market and
narrow whitewashed passageways. We stopped at the Allora restaurant for two
rounds of al fresco drinks (about $30 USD). We also visited the Carmel Market
(established in the 1920s, it sells mostly food but also home accessories and
flowers) as well as the Levinsky Market (a 1930s Greek and Persian market area
that sells spices, nuts, and dried fruits) before stopping for lunch at the
Landver restaurant (about $68 USD for one salad, one pasta, and some drinks).
Back at the Hilton, we walked down the steep paved seaside walk to the Hilton
Bay Club (no relation to the hotel other) for some drinks at their beachside
cafe. When we returned to the hotel, we visited the executive/club lounge to
eat a light dinner.
After relaxing in
our room and packing our bags, it was time to check out and go to the airport.
When we received our final bill from the front desk, we were dismayed to find
that our breakfasts at Café Med were not included as a complimentary amenity
for Hilton HHonors Diamond members. We were told that the only gratis breakfast
available to us was in the executive lounge, and that we would have to pay for
the other breakfast. We really felt duped by the hotel, and it was a terrible way
to end an otherwise great stay.
We took a taxi
(about $50 USD) the 12 miles from the Hilton to Terminal T3 at Ben Gurion
Airport. Our non-stop Delta flight number 467 on an Airbus A330-300 departed
Tel Aviv at 11:55pm, arriving back at JFK’s Terminal 4 almost 12.5 hours later at
5:05am. The driver from our car service met us at baggage claim, and drove us
approximately 3 hours to our home in Pennsylvania.
Conclusion
We really enjoyed
our trip to Israel, although we feel like we only scratched the surface with
our time there. There are so many more historical, religious, and
archaeological sites that we would like to have seen. Hopefully we can return
someday!
Hotels:
- Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem Link to my review
- U Boutique Kinneret Tiberias Link to my review
- Hilton Tel Aviv Link to my review
- King's Court at the Waldorf Link to my review
- Palace Restaurant at the Waldorf Link to my review
- Rina and Alice Link to my review
- Pundak Ein Kerem Link to my review
- Glen Bar Link to my review
- Adom Link to my review
- Holy Café/Coffee Break Link to my review
- Caffit Café Mamilla Link to my review
- Landver Link to my review
- Café Rimon Mamilla Link to my review
- 1868 Link to my review
- Café Café Link to my review
- Decks Link to my review
- BarBasar Link to my review
- Scots Hotel Link to my review
- Little Tiberias Link to my review
- Ein Gev Fish Link to my review
- Yali's Cafe Link to my review
- Gala Gil/Presko Link to my review
- Port Kafe Link to my review
- Halevantini Café Link to my review
- Molly Bloom Link to my review
- Pronto Opera Italiyna Link to my review
- Barbunia Link to my review
- Allora Link to my review
- Landver Link to my review
- Hilton Bay Club Link to my review
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