Israel 6: The Dead Sea

This was one of the best and most anticipated parts of our trip. I have photographs of my mother grinning and slathered in the healing black mud associated with a visit to the Dead Sea spas. And, another, far more recent of my daughter in much the same pose. Also, I have pictures of them floating in the saline waters. I have always wanted to swim here.

One of the concerns I had about our trip was how we would get from place to place. As it turned out, and much to my relief, bus transportation was excellent and affordable. We took an early bus that brought us  past the beautiful Ein Gedi Kibbutz and gave us a look at Masada, a place we had hoped to visit. However, the outside temperature was 107 degrees. We took this ascent off our itinerary and headed to the beach and the hotel district in Ein Bokek. 

I had been concerned about the proper stop to get off, and had mentioned to Hank that I would ask the bus driver when we got closer to the area. However, as the Dead Sea came in sight, so did our hotel, the Crowne Plaza. I pointed this out to Hank, hopped up and got off the bus, assuming he was right behind. Our luggage was in the underbus storage - far in the back. I had managed to reach mine, and was going for H's when suddenly, the bus pulled away. "My husband is still on there," I exclaimed to the group of Hebrew speaking passengers who had disembarked with me. One offered his phone - but I figured (hoped?) H would notice I was gone. Anyway, I had my luggage, my passport and a reservation …

Several minutes after I rolled into the lobby, he arrived. Let's just say this is not the first time we've mixed our signals. 

The first thing that struck me about this area was its incredible color. The world looked like an abstract painting done in pastels. 

The view from our tenth story windows was a never ending pleasure. And so was the water - I could not get enough of the weirdly oily, warm, salty buoyant sea. Warning signs say to stay in no more than 30 minutes at a time, and there are clocks in easy sea view. I maxed out every time - then headed immediately to wash off in the beach showers. Any salt remaining quickly became pretzel type crystals. Kosher salt anyone? 


The other awesome amenity of our stay was the FOOD. We were really hungry for dinner on our first night. We had purchased dinner tickets, but were unprepared for the array of cold dishes arranged on buffet tables, hot foods of every description, and incredible desserts- all kosher. As I mentioned earlier, kosher food does not mix meat and dairy, so I was particularly impressed by the variety of creamy desserts made without cream. We could hardly wait to see what would appear on the breakfast buffet - now that we knew what an Israeli breakfast consists of. 

Our second night, Friday, was Israel Independence Day, the 70th anniversary. The hotel was filled with celebrants, and decked out in blue and white balloons. The dessert table did not disappoint.

This day, April 18, was also the anniversary of my mother's death. Walking through the lobby I came across a table covered in Yahrzeit (memorial candles). I am sure my mother was pleased and surprised to find her candle glowing in Israel this year.

This trip had so many wonderful moments - but the one that touched me most happened as I was walking out of the water after a mid morning dip. Many of the hotel guests were Russian speakers. I could not tell (or understand) if they were travelers or emigres, however, I noticed a group of about a dozen standing together in the water. As I passed them by, on this memorial day, I heard singing, and turned to see the group, now formed in a circle, singing Hatikvah, (the Hope) the Israel national anthem, in Hebrew, hands on heart. 

In the evenings, after dinner, Hank and I loved strolling out to the covered area over the water to watch the colors change as the day turn to evening. The air was soft, dry and warm. Sitting on the Israel side, we noticed lights coming on across the water …  easy swimming distance away - in Jordan, another country. Another world. I loved our three days here … 

5: Israel Museum

The Israel Museum is described as an Encyclopedic Collection. This means that it has an incredibly broad variety of exhibits, including Chanukah menorahs, actual parts of synagogues from other parts of the world, cultural clothing from many areas, archeological displays, paintings, sculpture, a beautifully painted Sukkah, necklaces worn by Jewish brides in Yemen; and a nail attesting to the practice of crucifixion in Jesus’ time. An urn-shaped building on the grounds of the museum, the Shrine of the Book, houses the Dead Sea Scrolls and artifacts discovered at Masada. 

The museum is on a hill with a sweeping view of Jerusalem. Since it was a beautiful Sunday morning, we decided to walk there from our hotel - about 30 minutes through lovely neighborhoods and a park, and right past the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Once at the museum we took advantage of several guided tours, learned a lot, and, at the end of a long day of walking around, took a cab back to our hotel in time to head out for dinner.

On a beautiful Sunday evening, the Jewish Quarter was lively with families, kids, music, shops and places to snack or dine. When we approached the restaurant we had chosen, we were greeted at the entrance by a young woman who handed us two menus - there were two separate restaurants here - one for meat, and one for dairy. This was a unique way to keep kosher - which requires the separation of milk and meat. We chose the meat side - filled with people of every age, and in a variety of head coverings - each which tells its own story about the identity of the wearer. I could not resist - I had chicken soup. It was great.

After dinner we headed back to our hotel to pack and get ready for the next stop on our adventure - the Dead Sea.

ISRAEL: Getting there and Day One April 10, 2018

I was nervous about going to Israel. I haven't flown in three years and I haven’t been out of the country for 10. At the same time I was thrilled to finally take the trip we've talked about for years. Our plan was to travel on our own - no tours, no car rentals.

To add to the stress, our El Al ticket details were changed several times in the days preceding our flight. Hank patiently and efficiently followed through with all the details.

I had the ultimate travel wardrobe, a guide book, travel apps, reservations and my camera cleared for endless photos. I may  have been nervous, but I was ready.

Corey arrived - in charge of the dogs and the house, we were off to PDX - JetBlue to JFK.

As soon as I got to the airport, I calmed down, enjoyed two thorough pat-downs at security, bought outrageously expensive bottles of water and a steamed bun, took my tabacum tablets (don’t leave home without them), and boarded the plane. I slept most of the way.

JFK to Ben Gurion – Tel Aviv

From Getty Images 

The scene at the international security gate at JFK resembled a herd of cattle moving along the lines. There were many Chasidic Jews among the crowd, headed back to Israel after Passover. In fact, there was an entire yeshiva of at least 200 boys, 14 – 18, dressed in traditional black coats, velvet yarmulkes, tall black hats, and immaculate white shirts with fringes hanging and pais dangling. This gangly, rambunctious group were all on our flight, in the back, with us. We had the very last seats in the rear – claustrophobia row. 

From the start, the boys were the entertainment. Since all came in wearing hats, several carrying hat boxes as well, the hats, the coats, the hatboxes, the luggage - all had to fit into the already packed overhead compartments.  

My mother’s Israel 1989 journal mentioned that on their El Al trips, religious men would stand for morning and evening prayers. On our flight, all the boys and all the men, three times, got up, opened the bins, retrieved coats and big hats, put them on and stood in the aisles and prayed. Then, off with the coats and hats, back into the bins, back into seats. This was a bumpy flight. They may have been pious, but they were also lively, creating havoc for exasperated flight staff. Anyway, they were a distraction. And I miraculously slept a great deal. We arrived at 5:00 AM Israel time. The sun had not yet risen.

Once through customs, Coffee – no Starbucks! Yes airport cafes with fresh baked breads and pastry. Taxi in the grey early morning to beautiful Hotel GilGal.

Too early to check in, we headed to the beach two blocks away, and, fairly exhausted, I took off my shoes, rolled up my pants and walked into the Mediterranean. My tiredness washed away - I never had jet lag. 

Photo from Museum Site

After settling in, we decided to walk to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art to see the collection of Israeli Art and The Modern and Contemporary paintings including work by many of my favorite painters. It is an extraordinary collection in an exquisite space. I absolutely loved the paintings – I saw works I knew, works I didn’t know by painters I did, and work by Kees Van Dongen, whose paintings of women – faces, and hat, I love, and have never seen real before. I spotted a lovely painting by Toulouse Lautrec – like seeing a familiar face in a crowd. And many beauties by Marc Chagall. 

From Museum Site

IIn one space there were four entirely different Picassos, shown together. In every way - the work in each exhibit was perfectly presented, ordered and shown – organized by color, theme, strokes, feeling, instead of by artist. This enhanced every aspect of the work and the experience. I was impressed.

While on the way to the museum, we realized that today, April 12 was Holocaust Remembrance Day: As we took our first walk through this new city, we kept hearing the intense roar of jet planes. Holy crap – We just got here and its war!  At an angle between buildings, we saw what we were hearing – group after group of F18 fighter jets zooming across the sky. As we joined the people peering up, a woman behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and said “don’t worry – it’s only the army doing a display in honor of the day.” I have to say, it felt pretty great to see the demonstration of strength.

In the evening we found a nearby restaurant – the least good meal of the trip, and went back to the beach to watch the sunset and the wonderfully varied crowds out for a stroll, walk, bike ride, jog, or swim on a gorgeous Tel Aviv evening.