A couple weeks ago, a few people from my synagogue (and by a few I mean about 65) came to Israel for a tour.
On the first day, my family waited in the lobby for everyone and at 5:30, we met everyone for dinner, then went to a place where we could view the Old City, which is the old part of Jerusalem that David built, althought there are four sections of it: Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Armenian.
We started the next day with the same view over the Old City, and then the kids got to draw whatever we wanted from the view. Next we went into the Old City, and all the kids got to see a movie about the Holy Temple which got destroyed and how the Old City got built. Then we walked through Hezekiah's water tunnels which are tunnels filled with water that used to send water to the city, but the water isn't drinkable anymore. But it's still fun to wade through it and look at the walls. Then we went to an archeological digging site where they are uncovering artifacts from the Old City and I found a bone! Then we went back to the hotel and swam in the pool.
The next day, all we did was explore the Old City and have a scavenger hunt. And then we went to a street called Emek Refaim which is very near my house where we could go wherever we wanted for lunch. Then we went back to the hotel and swam in the pool. Later that day we went to the holiest spot in the world for Jews because it is the closest spot to where the Holy Temple used to be.
The next day we went to the Holocaust Museum except for the younger kids like my brother went to the Biblical Zoo. Then we went to the big market called Machane Yehuda but it is sometimes just referred to as "the shuk." That night we had Shabbat, Friday night services in the spot that overlooks the Old City.
The next day we left early so that we could travel to a few tourist spots in Israel. First we went to Masada which is a fortress that King Herod built as his summer home. Then we went to the Dead Sea which is the saltiest body of water in the world, and we floated! It was fun but it stung a little bit. Then we went to Ein Gedi which is a place where you hike but there are also waterfalls that were fun to play in. Then we went to the Kibbutz Gonen and we had dinner there.
The next day we went to the city of Svatt where we went to the synagogues and saw some artwork. The synagogues were pretty cool and ancient and mystical. I bought a star of david necklace for 25 shekels. Then we went to a winery where the kids played some games and the adults tasted wine. After that we got to meet some soldiers who protect and border and we got to ask them questions.
The next day we went to the Golan Heights which is the top right corner of Israel. First we looked in some bomb shelters which were actually bunkers which means it's a bomb shelter but it's a place for soldiers where they communicate through radios and they have weapons there. Then we went to a chocolate factory called de Karina where the chocolate was REALLY good. Then we went to a place where we got to see a little movie about the Golan but it was really cheesy and lame. Then we saw a map of the Golan and we got an audio presentation about the Golan's history.
The next day we went to Tel Aviv, but before that we went to a Roman city that is in ruins and we got to see a little bit of the Roman lifestyle. After that we went to our hotel and swam in the Mediterranean Sea. I got three jellyfish stings! But they didn't hurt that much.
The last day, we explored Tel Aviv. The first thing we did was we went to the place where Israel was declared a country. Then we got to make sculptures in the dark. Mine was supposed to be an elephant but it came out looking more like a skull. I hated it so I threw it on the ground and then it looked like a sailing ship. What an odd trio. Then we went to Old Jaffa and we had a walking tour of it. And then we got to shop in the markets. I bought two bracelets and a necklace, but at this point, both of the bracelets and the necklace are already broken. But luckly one off the bracelets is still usable. After that, we had dinner and then said goodbye. The whole group went on the bus back to the hotel except for my family and a few people who had to go to the airport or Jerusalem. On the bus I was really sad and I cried because I was really sad to see all my friends leave and I would have to go back to not having very many friends close by.
pics from the trip:
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| digging for artifacts at a place were the dirt from the holy temple was dumped |
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| after walking in the water tunnels, we played in a little pool outside |
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| me floating in the dead sea, a sea that has so much salt, that u always float, but it stings your cuts |
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| at the top of masada, a huge mountain, i was silly |
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| a police officer studying, in svatt |
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| me with some soldiers |
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| me and jonah with some soldiers that someone from the comgregation gave to them |
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| us on our HUGE balcony at the king solomon hotel |
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| me and my friend aviva acting cool at the kibbutz (farm community) |
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| all the kids from the trip |
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| the ark at the western wall |
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| the two youngest and cutest kids on the trip, the girl is 3 the boy is 5 |
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| me playing in the water at ein gedi, a hiking and waterfall place |
