In two days time, I took Debbie and Alexa on a tiring and non-stop, action packed tour of Israel. We saw the desert, the coast and the north - wilderness and cities, old sites and new ones. Check out where we went:
Day 1:
After leading my "Reform Liturgy Workshop" service Monday morning, we drove east with our rental car past Ma'aleh Adumin and on to the Dead Sea. We made a short stop over at a nude Palestinian beach, and then high-tailed it back to Jerusalem. I dropped the girls with the car in traffic near Mea Sha'arim, and ran back to school for a meeting.
After the meeting, around 3, we left again, this time for the north. We took route 443 north to get a good view of Ramallah and Modi'in, the took the 6 along the Green Line until its end. Somehow, apparently because I took a wrong turn, we then got lost in Kfar Penis, but found our way again and made our way in good time to Zichron Ya'akov. There, we window shopped and had dinner at the best restaurant in all of Israel - Tishbi, owned by the winery of the same name.
After dinner and too much wine, we drove on to Haifa, where we spent the night the ridiculously luxurious Holiday Inn - highly recommended!
Day 2:
We arose with the butt-crack of dawn, enjoyed an amazing breakfast, and then drove east towards Tiveria, enjoying views of the Lower Galilee along the way. After a 6 minute stopover to view the Kineret, we drove north to Tsfat. There, we learned about the mountain town's history, saw some old synagogues, and did much shopping. Unfortunately, the candle factory was closed due to a power outage. Oh well...
We left Tsfat fifteen minutes behind schedule, but made up for lost time on our drive south, along route 65, through Afula and eventually on to Hadera. Seconds before turning onto the coastal highway to head south, we made a last-minute call to visit Casearia. Seven minutes was all the time we had for the old Roman port, and then we jumped back in the car to see Tel Aviv.
In Tel Aviv we enjoyed the country's best falafel opposite Kikar Rabin, visited the Nachalat Benyamin street fair, Shuk HaCarmel, and Shenkin Street. After a little freshening up, we drove to Jaffa, and then had dinner along the beach.
After dinner, I said goodbye to the girls, and drove myself back home to Jerusalem.
Phew!
It was an amazing two days. Tiring, but amazing!
Where's this nude beach?
Posted by: Barkin | Sunday, April 03, 2005 at 12:30 AM