My trip to Israel with photos.

[mikeland]

My partner Adam and I just returned from a twelve day trip to Israel and I’d like to share some of our photos with you.

We flew Continental Airlines from Ft Lauderdale to Tel Aviv via Newark. It was a pretty long flight.




Fortunately we were in their Business/First section, so it was more comfortable.




I won’t show you what we ate for dinner, but here’s the dessert on the flight.




Our first glimpse of Tel Aviv’s beautiful beaches.



Our first few days were in Jerusalem. Here’s the view from our hotel.



A view of the old city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.




We entered the old city via the Zion Gate. I believe there are twelve gates in all.



The Romans built a great shopping area called the Cardo. Here are its remnants.




We saw a few cats around the old city.




An olive tree in old Jerusalem.



More ruins in the Jewish quarter of the old city.




The Muslim Al Aqsa mosque and the Mount of Olives in the distance.




The Israeli flag and the Menorah above the city.




These are the rules to enter the area of the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.




The Western Wall is the holiest place in the world for Jews.



In the Muslim Quarter, we had some freshly squeezed pomegranate juice.




The Arabs use green signs to bring good luck.




A typical street in Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter.





The fifth station of the Via Dolorosa where Jesus walked to the crucifixion.




A Muslim minaret stands near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.





Christian pilgrims use these crosses to re-enact Jesus’ way.





The place of Jesus’ crucifixion is marked by this ornate altar.





This is the stone where Jesus’ body was washed before burial. People place souvenirs here to bless them.





The beautiful dome over Jesus’ tomb.





There was a huge queue to enter Jesus’ tomb. No fastpasses here.





The Tower of David outside the city walls.





The main gates into the old city – Jaffa Gate.





Our hotel in Jerusalem had a great location – the Harmony Hotel.





We took a tour to Masada and the Dead Sea. We passed by the caves of Qumran where the Dead Sea scrolls were found.



Along the way, we stopped by the Ahava cosmetic factory.




Jordan was on the other side of the Dead Sea.





The Masada visitors center was very modern.





A cable car takes visitors up to the summit.




The view from above.





The ruins of the ancient bath houses are so interesting.





King Herod had a three level palace built on the side of the mountain.





This ramp was built by the Romans to conquer Masada.





We were also taken to a place on the Dead Sea to take a swim in the therapeutic waters.




The Seven Arches Hotel in Jerusalem – interesting architecture!





Yad Vashem – the holocaust memorial was a must see.




This was Yad Vashem’s visitors center.





A windmill in Jerusalem was a strange site.




One day, we toured a park called “Mini-Israel,” which had miniatures of many of the country’s sites.








This was a miniature of Haifa’s Baha’i Shrine and gardens.





A miniature of Jesus’ town on the Sea of Galilee.





A miniature of Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate.





A miniature of Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock – a holy place for all three main religions.




A model of the Western Wall. The tiny people in the model would even move as they prayed.





The details of the models were stunning.





Jerusalem’s finest hotel – the King David also had a miniature of itself.



A model of the menorah in front of Israel’s parliament building – the Knesset.





A model of the Seven Arches hotel – we saw the real one above.





A model of Herod’s palace on Masada as it must have looked in ancient times.





A model of the fantastic Dan Eilat Hotel.





Another view of the model of the Western Wall.





We spent some time in town of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee in the north of Israel.




We stayed at the FABULOUS Scots Hotel.




This was the spread at the amazing dinner buffet.





Even the wines got into the Scottish act!





From our hotel, we could see the tomb of one of the most famous Rabbis – Maimonides.




The beautiful view of the Sea of Galilee from our hotel.





The landscaping at the Scots Hotel was inspiring.





The main building had the restaurant in it.




A boat sails by on the tranquil Sea of Galilee.



The hotel gardens even had pomegranates growing on them.




This was one of the hotel’s buildings where rooms were located.





The delicious breakfast buffet – one of the best we had on our trip.




A nice view from the window.




We also visited Tabgha where Jesus fed the multitudes with fish and bread.




The rock below the altar was where Jesus performed his miracle.





The White Synagogue in Jesus’ town of Capernaum.





An octagonal church was build above where St. Peter’s house was.




We also stopped at an artist colony in the small town of Safed.





Many of the galleries were housed in an old mosque.





We also went to the port city of Haifa. This was the view from our hotel.





The hotel view at night – spectacular.





Israel’s only subway called the Carmelit went up and down Mount Carmel.





The Baha’i Shrine and Gardens at night.





The gardens went most of the way up Mount Carmel.





The Baha’i Shrine houses the tomb of the Bab - that religion’s founder.





Another view of the beautiful gardens.





Simply stunning.




In Tel Aviv, Israel’s modern city, I went to an arts and crafts market called “Nahalat Binyamin.”




The Opera Tower as we saw it from our hotel room – we’d seen the model of it in Mini-Israel.




A statue of a whale in the old city of Yaffo recalls the story of Jonah and the Whale – set here.





Another scene from the ancient city of Yaffo.





We went to an Arab restaurant near Jerusalem. We loved the pita bread.





They had dozens of different salads to try.




The outside of the Arab restaurant at night.




We also visited the ancient Roman town of Caesaria, also built by King Herod. Here, we saw a small sphinx head made from sandstone.




The ancient Roman amphitheater in Caesaria.




After the Romans, the Turks invaded Caesaria and built their mosque.





The Romans also had an aqueduct to bring water to the city.





We also visited Acco in the north. Acco is an ancient crusader city.


We saw these impressive columns built by the crusaders.





Of course, when the Arabs came in, they built their mosques.





Our final stop was Rosh Hanikra on the Israel-Lebanon border. We took cable cars down to the amazing grottoes.





The ocean waves had created these grottoes naturally.





These scenes reminded me of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean attractions.





The beautiful cliffs of Rosh Hanikra on the Mediterranean Sea.





A mountain marked the border between Israel and Lebanon.





This was the pretty view to the south.





I hope you enjoyed!

[kcnole]

Wow, I had no idea Israel had that many beautiful areas. I always figured it just looked like much of the rest of the middle east, just being desert and old buildings. Were there ever any moments where you felt unsafe in any of those areas or does our media here overplay the day to day hostilities between Israel and Palestine?

[LLCMC]

WOW! Unbelievably beautiful! I love the Mini Israel! Reminds me of Miniland at LEGOLAND.

Thanks for sharing!

[Rayangelo]

Wow!! Amazing pictures, You definitely saw some beautiful sites while you were there, I hope to make it out there someday.. Thanks for sharing.

[penguinsoda]

Wow!!! What absolutely stunning pictures!! The food looks incredible! What kinds of things do they eat over there? I know pomegranates... I wish we could get ones that look that nice here for less than $3 each... but what other kinds of food do they serve? Is it Americanized or traditional/regional foods?

It is much more beautiful than I thought. And how amazing to be able to visit such a historical place in person! Thanks for sharing pictures of somewhere I'll probably never get to go to myself!

[Roo719]

Facinating...thanks for sharing.

peace,
Roo

[haunted_hottie]

Israel has such a beautiful landscape. Thank you for sharing!

[Aladdin]

Great report! Thanks!

But, no pictures of you?

[SummerInFL]

Another WONDERFUL TR from Mike! I love it!


You visit the best places! I'm curious though (I'm not religious so you'll forgive me) but what miracle did Jesus perform with the rock? I'd like to know.


Thanks for sharing these amazing photos!

[mikeland]

Originally Posted by SummerInFL

Another WONDERFUL TR from Mike! I love it!


You visit the best places! I'm curious though (I'm not religious so you'll forgive me) but what miracle did Jesus perform with the rock? I'd like to know.


Thanks for sharing these amazing photos!

Thanks! I'm not a Christian, but from what I understand, Jesus fed "the multitudes" with five fish and two loaves of bread - sounds like appetizers to me.

Originally Posted by Aladdin

Great report! Thanks!

But, no pictures of you?

Thanks! I didn't want the report to be about me. I might put one in though.

Originally Posted by penguinsoda

The food looks incredible! What kinds of things do they eat over there? I know pomegranates... I wish we could get ones that look that nice here for less than $3 each... but what other kinds of food do they serve? Is it Americanized or traditional/regional foods?

Well, there are MANY different types of restaurants there, from fast food to fine dining. There are a lot of falafel places, as well as McDonalds too. We had a really nice meal at an Italian restaurant. One important thing is that most restaurants there were kosher, which meant if there was dairy on the menu, there could be no meat, and vice versa. Israeli Big Macs, for example, don't have cheese on them. (The Scots Hotel was a non-kosher hotel, btw.)

Originally Posted by kcnole

Wow, I had no idea Israel had that many beautiful areas. I always figured it just looked like much of the rest of the middle east, just being desert and old buildings. Were there ever any moments where you felt unsafe in any of those areas or does our media here overplay the day to day hostilities between Israel and Palestine?

I never felt unsafe in Israel - other than the precautions we all must take in big cities taking care of our wallets, etc.

[SCUBAbe]

thank you for sharing your pictures. I really enjoyed them.

[nursemelis374]

I am dying to go to Israel, I am thinking of planning a trip with some people from my church in 2010. Thank you so much for sharing! How did you feel the cost of things were in comparison to other European cities?

[mikeland]

Originally Posted by nursemelis374

How did you feel the cost of things were in comparison to other European cities?

Prices were MUCH lower compared to Europe. Hotels were much less, as well as food prices. For example, the dinner at the Arab restaurant my family took us to near Jerusalem - we had a huge dinner for 7 for a little over $100.00! Of course, tourist restaurants were pricier.

[Villains Fan]

Beautiful report! I went to Israel years ago with my family and your pictures brought back so many wonderful memories.

When we first decided to go to Israel, I was kind of like, eh ok, but it turned out to be the most memorable trip I've ever taken. The history and culture of Israel was just so tangible. I'll never forget being in The Cardo, and looking down into a well and seeing the ruins of the previous city down there...so amazing. The amount of some of the most important history in this beautiful country is just mind-boggling.

Thank you so much for your pictures!