Friday, February 4, 2011

Things I Discovered in Israel

In Eilat:


Eilat (tiny red dot at the bottom of the map) is a beach resort on the Red Sea, at the southernmost tip of Israel, very close to both Egypt and Jordan. To arrive there, you travel all the way through the Negev desert and there it is... the sea! .


It's a beautiful place! And it's hot. We had an earthquake when we were there.



Another cool experience was flying north from Eilat to Tel Aviv. We checked in at this airport; it was a small plane and a short flight, so we flew very low all the way across the Negev desert. It was fascinating.





On the Golan Heights:


In one direction, you can see Syria:


In another direction, you can see the Sea of Galilee:


You can go skiiing on Mount Hermon:


And visit the Golan Heights Winery (very popular wine for Passover):




In Jerusalem:


The Dome of the Rock actually has a big rock inside. It is said to be the very rock to which Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed.


Ben Yehuda Street is a party at night:






In Tel Aviv:


The beach scene:


For a country as tiny as it is, Israel is amazingly diverse... snow, desert, agriculture, nightlife, history, new culture, ancient culture. Many beautiful places, and fascinating.

7 comments:

rachel said...

That was interesting - Israel as we never see it on the news.

judy in ky said...

I know... I was amazed at how much more there is to the country than we ever hear about.

Bearette said...

i am intrigued by israel, but always wonder if it is safe to go there. maybe someday...

judy in ky said...

Well, when I was there I felt perfectly safe. I think all we hear about are the bad things, but there is so much else. We had a guide who kept track of all the news and kept us away from any possible trouble. We never heard of any though. People there just live their lives.

Bearette said...

My husband lived on a kibbutz one summer during college and told me about the ketusha (sp?) rockets from Hezbollah terrorists whizzing nearby...makes me nervous! That was a long time ago, though.

judy in ky said...

We stayed at a kibbutz near the border with Lebanon, and one night we saw flashes in the sky. We thought it was lightning, but the Israelis told us they were ketusha rockets. We we expressed concern, they said "Oh, don't worry, they have a range of only 12 miles and we are 15 miles away"! They were pretty casual about it. I guess it happens all the time.

Bearette said...

Yes, d's attitude was similar. he says it's pretty safe now. i love the photos, so maybe i will go someday.