Israel Museum in Jerusalem

Start your trip to Israel off with a long visit to the Israel Museum. This is advice we did not take from the Lonely Plant guide and should have. We've been here almost two weeks. Dear traveler: go to this museum first. It is fantastic! We barely scratched the surface of all the offerings but here you will set the historical context of all that has gone on in the land of Israel .

We saw the King Herod exhibit, a recommendation from our rabbi back home, and it was incredible. What this person accomplished in his short time as king, rebuilding the Temple (the 2nd Temple), Caesarea, Masada, Herodonia, Jericho, is mind-boggling and sets up all that one sees within Israel.

Suriname

The life-cycle of a Jew section was also quite interesting, from birth to marriage to death and all the ritual involved from around the world, the Diaspora is diverse! Makes me want to go to the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv.

Cochin India

There are several relocated and rebuilt (or maybe reproduced) synagogues from around the world. One from Suriname looks a lot like the synagogue in Barbados with a sand floor and wooden Torah arc. Cochin India allowed women to learn Hebrew and the walls were colorfully painted. Eastern Europe representation was only photographs. In a black room. It was quite moving. But pictures are all that remain and what was interesting for me to see were that the synagogues looked like log cabin chalets...and they were all destroyed.

There was a Dead Sea Scroll exhibit and a full scale model of the Second Temple.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

After the Israel Museum we were hungry and we went in search of more falafel on our way to see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We saw pilgrims kissing stone blocks and praying along the way of the Stations of the Cross. We saw a small group of American women making a video along the Stations of the Cross for the folks back home. It seemed odd that such a holy place is wedged into such a small area in crowded Old Jerusalem.

In shopping in Old Jerusalem, we found more Hebrew pants, some for daughter and some for son. A great and tremendously full day.

Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and How the GPS Might Not Be Wrong

Exhausted. Slept in today.  Went to Tel Aviv to meet up with friend and Hebrew tutor we know from home, Kim. We ate at her favorite cafe near her parent's house. Not much to report here accept that Tel Aviv is a city like other large cities with fashionable folks eating pricey food. Oh, and traffic.

In the evening we had plans for a walking tour under the Western Wall in Jerusalem. This is something we heard about from friends and from the Lonely Planet. If you go, call ahead and reserve a space. We hit traffic going into Jerusalem. To try to get there on time, we ran through Old Jerusalem, with its narrow and dark catacomb alley ways. We thought we were headed in the right direction but then found ourselves at the upper part of the Western Wall and lacked appropriate shoulder covering. Stress was building because for one thing I felt nervous for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and for another we were now late for our tour.

We did make it to the tour but had to catch up with the rest. The tour was very crowded and so, being at the back, I had a hard time hearing what was going on. Be that as it may, the underside of Jerusalem and the Old City shows many layers of civilization and for that reason alone is worth seeing these tunnels. I didn't take any shots in the tunnels.

Then we got into the car late at night with two crabby teenagers. I plugged in "go home" into the Garmin and then ignored it! I felt the GPS was taking us in a crazy, out of the way direction when really she (our GPS is a she) was trying to get us to avoid driving into the West Bank. We drove into the West Bank anyway, and like two dorky, unseasoned tourists, stopped at the guard station and said we made a mistake and just need to turn around. It was no big deal to him and we were likely being idiots. But if your Garmin tells you to go a certain way you just might have to listen to her.