Rebecca and I just got back from our two week Israel trip. It was an amazing, but exhausting vacation for us. Rebecca has always wanted to go to Israel. She almost went there for a semester at BYU Jerusalem, but the center closed due to violence right before she was scheduled to go. Every since we I have known her she has talked about going there some day. However, my response has always been that it is way too dangerous. Well, about a year ago we found out that one of the conferences that I regularly attend and present at was going to be in Jerusalem. I was invited to give a talk there, and so we decided to make the trip together. We then spent about six months planning for the trip (really only the last 2 weeks were serious planning) and were excited when it finally came time to go.
Rebecca's parents agreed to watch the children for us, which really made the trip possible. Sounds like the kids had an amazing time of grandparent spoiling while we were gone and I will have to try to post about it after I finish posting about all of the Israel trip.
Rebecca and I left for the airport in the morning on Tuesday 6/14. We just got a flight out of Salt Lake City, so we had a 2.5 hour drive down to catch our plane. Starting on the drive and then especially in the airport it was a really strange feeling for me and Rebecca to just be alone. We didn't have five little ones to keep an eye on or direct, but also I realized that we are both used to taking charge and handling problems in different ways. Even though Rebecca and I are very similar in lots of ways, being able to spend so much one-on-one time with her was a great way to see her style and get to know her individually again.
The first flight was from Salt Lake to New York - about 5 hours. Nothing really eventful on this flight except for me being runner up for the upgrade list. I was really hoping to get first class so I could give it to Rebecca since she has never flown first class in her life. We also got to watch In the Heart of the Sea which I thought was pretty good. I did only get to see it on a 8 inch screen and one of my headphones wasn't working so I am excited to watch it again. The second flight from New York to Tel Aviv was a huge plane with mostly Jewish passengers on it. We left at 11:50 pm and they served dinner 2 hours later. With all of the meals they offered a regular option and a Kosher option. I got the regular which was lasagna and Rebecca got the kosher chicken. Both were pretty good for airplane food. After the meal we both tried to sleep. Rebecca also made friends with the lady sitting next to us who had a one year old boy. She was Israeli, but had been living in America for the past few years. Rebecca got to hold the boy a couple times while he screamed and the mom used the bathroom. Breakfast was served about an hour or two before landing. It was an egg and cheese sandwich (my regular option had an English muffin and Rebecca's kosher one had a bagel bun).
We arrived at 5:30 pm Israel time. The passport check was a mess with no real lines and the mass of people just kind of eased there way toward the attendants. We were in line for maybe about an hour before we finally got through. Then we were off to get our rental car from Budget. It was another hour before we got to the front of that line. When we did, they tacked an extra $100s to our car rental price and said it was not an option. It was so frustrating trying to deal with that in a foreign country with someone who didn't speak English as their first language. It was then another hour for them to shuttle us to the car and get it checked out to us. So it wasn't until 8:30 when we finally hit the road. This was probably one of the most stressful parts of the trip. First the hassle of getting the car, but then trying to make our way to our destination at night. I had printed off directions, but then we were told that there would be a toll road and a fine associated with that route. So we had to just kind of wing it. We had to stop a couple times to ask for directions, but we finally made it the 2 hour drive across the country to our hotel. Driving at night in Israel was pretty cool. It was fun just thinking about driving in the middle east and imagining that if I took a wrong turn we could end up an an area where we would be blown up by rockets or mine fields. In reality it felt very safe and it was neat to see the lights of all the little towns.
When we got to our hotel at about 11 pm. No one was there. Although it was listed as a hotel on Priceline, it really seemed more like a hostel type place with individual rooms. We tried knocking on a few doors, but we couldn't find anyone to let us in our room. Finally, a neighbor saw us, called up the owners, and we were able to get in. I guess the latest that they usually do check in is 6 pm. Our room was small and not the greatest, but it was pretty clean, it felt safe, and our bed was comfortable.
Rebecca, waiting in line for our car rental at the airport
On our first day we drove to the west coast of the country to see Haifa and Caesarea. It was a really pretty drive, this time seeing the country in the day time. Again, it was a really neat feeling thinking that I was driving in the middle east. Everyone drove small little cars there and they weaved all around and used their horns a lot! Navigating on the freeways was pretty easy as most of the road signs were written in English in addition to Hebrew and Arabic (two written languages that we couldn't even attempt to make any sense of when we saw them). Once we got in the cities though it was really difficult to get around. All of the streets were small, very maze like, and there were usually no street signs at all.
Somehow we made it to our first stop - the Baha'i gardens. This is the main religious site for those of the Baha'i faith. It is this huge garden area built up the side of Mount Carmel. There are probably a million stairs from the bottom of the gardens up to the very top, but luckily those were closed so we got to drive around to the different view points. They kept these gardens perfectly trimmed. We even saw some guy trimming a tree. He didn't just cut it by eye, but he had a metal frame that he put around it so he would cut it exactly the right shape. They also have a shrine for the tomb of the leader who started the religion.
We then made our way to two of Elijah's caves. Supposedly, these were the caves that Elijah stayed in when he was preparing for his showdown with the priests of Baal. The first was just a smaller church with the cave at the front behind where the preacher would stand. There was a cable care that went down to the second cave, but we decided to walk it instead. The second cave was bigger and much more crowded. There were a bunch of Jewish men and women inside saying prayers and chants together. The men and women had separate sides of the cave that they could be on and I had to cover my head to go in. It was fun to see the festivities inside it.
Then we drove down to Caesarea. Caesarea was a huge Roman city at the time of Christ, but I don't think he ever went there. It is the site where Peter first to the gospel to the gentiles by converting a Roman centurian. Paul also preached here and was held a prisoner here for a few years. The city is just ruins now, but the ruins were pretty cool to see. It seemed to be a very elaborate city, especially thinking that everyone else was just living in huts at the time.
On the way back to our hotel we stopped by Megiddo. Megiddo and the surrounding Jezreel Valley is where the last battle (Armageddon) is supposed to begin. It is just a pretty valley now with farming fields throughout it.
Back in Tiberias we went to a street market to buy some food to last us through the Jewish Sabbath. We got some cheep fruit, tomatoes, pitas, and Rebecca got three of four different types of olives. There was a guy selling the olives and he let her taste test them, so she tried ten or so of them while deciding on the ones to buy. I am not a huge fan of olives so I opted out of the taste testing.
We then found a street vendor and bought falafel and shawarma, which were both delicious.
I didn't get any pictures of our food, but here is what shawarma looks like when they are cooking it. They then cut off small pieces and roll it up in a pita.
And then we went to bed a little early in preparation for our bike ride the next day.
