Israel Day 9 (August 22nd)
We began our day early with a tour of the City of David, which is where Jerusalem was created first. Ruins were beyond recognition but we got to walk through old water tunnels. The water was freezing cold and reached our crotches. The passage way was really narrow and he had to duck to make our way through, not to mention that is was pitch black.
After the tour we made our way to the Christian Quarter were we walked around Via Dolorosa, the passage where J.C. is said to walk with his cross. We ended at the Church of Sepulture (or something like that). This is where Jesus was crucified, buried and then resurrected.
We were so exhausted after walked for 2 days straight that we decided to head back to the Hostel for a 2 hour nap. We then walked to Ben Yehuda Street, one of the most popular in Jerusalem. We ate and shop (Rebecca bought some bras in her favourite shop called "C Cup and Up"). To end the night we went to the cybercafe so keep you guys informed.
Israel Day 10 (August 23rd)
This was our last day in Jerusalem but due to our tiredness we slacked off a little. We walked around the shuk (market) at the Jewish and Muslim Quarter in search of a Huka for Ariel and some souvenirs.
Sorry are getting kicked out of this computer again. We will continue later.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Monday, August 22, 2005
Summary #4: Reporting for Jerusalem
Israel Day 5 (August 18th)
Our day began by making our way to the Eretz Israel Museum. Half of the exhibits were closed down and the rest weren’t very good. This place did not cater to tourists as most was written just in Hebrew.
From there we walked all the way to the Diaspora Museum at the Tel-Aviv University. This museum is all about Jewish life outside of Israel.
As most people suggested otherwise we did take the public bus to the Disengoff Center where we were to meet with Sharona after she was done her work. As most Israelis on a hot night, we went for a dip at the Banana Beach.
After that we met with Rebecca’s best friend from Calgary, Alexandra and her Israeli boy toy. They took us to this AMAZING lounge which is located on one of the most under-developed streets of Tel Aviv. Once inside, we were asked to take off our shoes. The place is painted with glow-in-the-dark paint and is decorated with lots of mirrors which were more noticeable due to the use of black lights. Very “glow bowling-ish”! The floors are made of sand which are covered by Arabic carpets and the tables are low to the ground which were surrounded by pillows for us to sit on. VERY COOL!
Israel Day 6 (August 19th)
Today was such a lazy day! We slept in (a lot) and then went to the Rishon beach for chi-lazing! In the evening, we went to the Birthday party of a close family friend of the Glogowski’s. The restaurant was beautiful and the food was delicious. There was Latin Dance music all night and people actually danced (probably because most of them are Latin). For entertainment, they hired a magician…David Blade style! He did this really cool trick just for Gadi and I were he split a deck of cards with his mind (we were holding the magician’s hands!) We were shocked!
Israel Day 7 (August 20th)
Alexandra woke us up at nine in the morning because she wanted to come over (actually, she didn’t want to go to a family function of the boy toy). We went to Rishon beach again (while Gadi slept at home) until shortly after lunch. Today was Sharona’s B-Day so the family went out for dinner (at 3pm)
The most amazing part of the day was the birthday party in the evening. We went to club on the beach in Herzlia Pituach. The tables and chairs were all in the sand by the water. The dance floor was underneath the open sky with a live DJ which was very good. We took off our shoes and danced all night! We even saw girls skinny dipping but we fought the urge to join them.
Israel Day 8 (August 21st)
We woke early and took the bus to Jerusalem- City of Gold. We made sure to make reservations in a hostel in advance from Winnipeg. One small detail that we missed was the location of this hostel. Although we knew it was in the Old City of Jerusalem, we were under the impression that we would be staying in the Jewish Quarter. Imagine our surprise when we found out we’d be sleeping in the heart of the Muslim Quarter!
Upon checking in there was a sign behind the counter: no alcohol, no smoking which we had no problems with. However, the third point was one the shook us up a bit: NO UNMARRIED COUPLES IN A ROOM! We had to lie about our identities and tell them that we were cousins. Despite everything, the hostel was very nice (and cheap) and had an incredible view of the old city from the roof top, so we decided to stay.
We wandered about the city and made our way towards the Kotel (Western Wall). No matter how many times each of us have been to the Wailing Wall, the feelings you get are still strong and makes you feel very spiritual.
We then checked out the new Southern Wall excavations which turned out to be quite informative. There is just so much history surrounding the Temple Mount! The evening consisted of a night tour through the Jewish Quarter and ended with a walk in the new Western Wall Tunnels that go underneath the Muslim Quarter of the city. The Western Wall that everyone sees is 80 meters long, but by walking in the tunnels, we discovered that this is just a fraction of the total length which is 488 meters!
On the way back home, we walked outside the city walls. We asked a security guard for a good place to eat in the old city but were warned of its dangers.
Sorry we have to cut this short as we are being kicked out of the cybercafe.
More to come later..
Our day began by making our way to the Eretz Israel Museum. Half of the exhibits were closed down and the rest weren’t very good. This place did not cater to tourists as most was written just in Hebrew.
From there we walked all the way to the Diaspora Museum at the Tel-Aviv University. This museum is all about Jewish life outside of Israel.
As most people suggested otherwise we did take the public bus to the Disengoff Center where we were to meet with Sharona after she was done her work. As most Israelis on a hot night, we went for a dip at the Banana Beach.
After that we met with Rebecca’s best friend from Calgary, Alexandra and her Israeli boy toy. They took us to this AMAZING lounge which is located on one of the most under-developed streets of Tel Aviv. Once inside, we were asked to take off our shoes. The place is painted with glow-in-the-dark paint and is decorated with lots of mirrors which were more noticeable due to the use of black lights. Very “glow bowling-ish”! The floors are made of sand which are covered by Arabic carpets and the tables are low to the ground which were surrounded by pillows for us to sit on. VERY COOL!
Israel Day 6 (August 19th)
Today was such a lazy day! We slept in (a lot) and then went to the Rishon beach for chi-lazing! In the evening, we went to the Birthday party of a close family friend of the Glogowski’s. The restaurant was beautiful and the food was delicious. There was Latin Dance music all night and people actually danced (probably because most of them are Latin). For entertainment, they hired a magician…David Blade style! He did this really cool trick just for Gadi and I were he split a deck of cards with his mind (we were holding the magician’s hands!) We were shocked!
Israel Day 7 (August 20th)
Alexandra woke us up at nine in the morning because she wanted to come over (actually, she didn’t want to go to a family function of the boy toy). We went to Rishon beach again (while Gadi slept at home) until shortly after lunch. Today was Sharona’s B-Day so the family went out for dinner (at 3pm)
The most amazing part of the day was the birthday party in the evening. We went to club on the beach in Herzlia Pituach. The tables and chairs were all in the sand by the water. The dance floor was underneath the open sky with a live DJ which was very good. We took off our shoes and danced all night! We even saw girls skinny dipping but we fought the urge to join them.
Israel Day 8 (August 21st)
We woke early and took the bus to Jerusalem- City of Gold. We made sure to make reservations in a hostel in advance from Winnipeg. One small detail that we missed was the location of this hostel. Although we knew it was in the Old City of Jerusalem, we were under the impression that we would be staying in the Jewish Quarter. Imagine our surprise when we found out we’d be sleeping in the heart of the Muslim Quarter!
Upon checking in there was a sign behind the counter: no alcohol, no smoking which we had no problems with. However, the third point was one the shook us up a bit: NO UNMARRIED COUPLES IN A ROOM! We had to lie about our identities and tell them that we were cousins. Despite everything, the hostel was very nice (and cheap) and had an incredible view of the old city from the roof top, so we decided to stay.
We wandered about the city and made our way towards the Kotel (Western Wall). No matter how many times each of us have been to the Wailing Wall, the feelings you get are still strong and makes you feel very spiritual.
We then checked out the new Southern Wall excavations which turned out to be quite informative. There is just so much history surrounding the Temple Mount! The evening consisted of a night tour through the Jewish Quarter and ended with a walk in the new Western Wall Tunnels that go underneath the Muslim Quarter of the city. The Western Wall that everyone sees is 80 meters long, but by walking in the tunnels, we discovered that this is just a fraction of the total length which is 488 meters!
On the way back home, we walked outside the city walls. We asked a security guard for a good place to eat in the old city but were warned of its dangers.
Sorry we have to cut this short as we are being kicked out of the cybercafe.
More to come later..
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Summary #3
Israel Day 3
We slept through the morning because of lack of communication with Becca's aunt and because of her inability to "wake up children". We met with Sharona in Tel-Aviv, who took us to an arts and crafts market close to the Dizingoff Centre. After Sharona left for work we made our way to the fruit and vegetable market (Shuk) . Alex, took us a for a very detailed and guide self tour through the old city of Jaffa. This city has so much history. The French, British, Ottoman, Babylonians, etc all had once controlled this town. At night we went for a swim at the Rishon beach where we stayed to have a few drinks at the footsteps of the water enjoying the view of the sunset hitting the Meditereanian Sea.
Israel Day 4 (Gadi's BIRTHDAY!!!)
Our day started by going to a spa (Relax Spa) we enjoyed an amazing couples massage, followed by a sauna/jacuzzi room ending with a healthy and included lunch. That was part of Becca's birthday gift to Gadi (Whose present is this for eh?). Ariel, Becca's brother, was taking part of a 2 and half month volunteer program for the Israeli Army and today was his graduation ceremony. We drove 2 and 1/2 hours past Be'er Sheva to the middle of nowhere for a 1/2 hour act. Once back, we got together with Becca's family to drink and eat to celebrate Gadster's 23 BDay.
Interesting Fact: So far I (Gadi) do not believe that we came to Israel, every single person speaks Russian in this country...
We slept through the morning because of lack of communication with Becca's aunt and because of her inability to "wake up children". We met with Sharona in Tel-Aviv, who took us to an arts and crafts market close to the Dizingoff Centre. After Sharona left for work we made our way to the fruit and vegetable market (Shuk) . Alex, took us a for a very detailed and guide self tour through the old city of Jaffa. This city has so much history. The French, British, Ottoman, Babylonians, etc all had once controlled this town. At night we went for a swim at the Rishon beach where we stayed to have a few drinks at the footsteps of the water enjoying the view of the sunset hitting the Meditereanian Sea.
Israel Day 4 (Gadi's BIRTHDAY!!!)
Our day started by going to a spa (Relax Spa) we enjoyed an amazing couples massage, followed by a sauna/jacuzzi room ending with a healthy and included lunch. That was part of Becca's birthday gift to Gadi (Whose present is this for eh?). Ariel, Becca's brother, was taking part of a 2 and half month volunteer program for the Israeli Army and today was his graduation ceremony. We drove 2 and 1/2 hours past Be'er Sheva to the middle of nowhere for a 1/2 hour act. Once back, we got together with Becca's family to drink and eat to celebrate Gadster's 23 BDay.
Interesting Fact: So far I (Gadi) do not believe that we came to Israel, every single person speaks Russian in this country...
Summary #2
Israel Day 1
This day was not very excited as we got to the Holy Land at around 6pm. He heat wave did not take us by surprise by it took quite a time to get used to it. Sharona, Becca's cousin, came over to the house where we are staying at and we had an early day, ehhh night (time change, hard to get used to).
Israel Day 2
We started our trip out slowly by going to Tel-Aviv's beach for a night tan and swim, naturally both of us burned in the process. The water at this time of the year is quite warm, almost the same temperature as the air. Alex, Becca's uncle, took us to a Russian restaurant for an amazing shish-kabab. To kill the evening we went to a mall nearby.
Sorry guys, we know, so far not very exciting days....
This day was not very excited as we got to the Holy Land at around 6pm. He heat wave did not take us by surprise by it took quite a time to get used to it. Sharona, Becca's cousin, came over to the house where we are staying at and we had an early day, ehhh night (time change, hard to get used to).
Israel Day 2
We started our trip out slowly by going to Tel-Aviv's beach for a night tan and swim, naturally both of us burned in the process. The water at this time of the year is quite warm, almost the same temperature as the air. Alex, Becca's uncle, took us to a Russian restaurant for an amazing shish-kabab. To kill the evening we went to a mall nearby.
Sorry guys, we know, so far not very exciting days....
Summary #1
Here is a brief summary of the past events that Becca and Gadi went through:
Toronto
(Yawn) Not very exciting city how everybody makes it to be. We walked for quite sometime to find some action downtown with no luck. We did find some obtacles on the way. On Yonge street we got caught up by a filming crew who would not let us walk pass the shoot. They told us it was for a French car commercial. They had a camera mounted to a little helicopter, pretty cool.
We continued towards the lake to find nothing that was to our interest. We still had about 8 hours to kill, so we decided to make a long stop at the movie theater. We started by watching "The Aristocrats" (funny, but not highly recommended) we then stayed in the theater and we sneaked into "The Island" (high action packed movie, shitty acting!). Anyways, after that we just made our way back to the airport for a 12 hour flight.
Unfortunately our Internet time is lacking. We will try to go to a cyber cafe maybe later on and add all the Israel part so far. We are really sorry for the delay.
Regards to everyone and just wanted to tell you that we are having a great time (mostly at the beach :) )
Becca and Gadi
Toronto
(Yawn) Not very exciting city how everybody makes it to be. We walked for quite sometime to find some action downtown with no luck. We did find some obtacles on the way. On Yonge street we got caught up by a filming crew who would not let us walk pass the shoot. They told us it was for a French car commercial. They had a camera mounted to a little helicopter, pretty cool.
We continued towards the lake to find nothing that was to our interest. We still had about 8 hours to kill, so we decided to make a long stop at the movie theater. We started by watching "The Aristocrats" (funny, but not highly recommended) we then stayed in the theater and we sneaked into "The Island" (high action packed movie, shitty acting!). Anyways, after that we just made our way back to the airport for a 12 hour flight.
Unfortunately our Internet time is lacking. We will try to go to a cyber cafe maybe later on and add all the Israel part so far. We are really sorry for the delay.
Regards to everyone and just wanted to tell you that we are having a great time (mostly at the beach :) )
Becca and Gadi
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
We are here and safe
Hello everyone,
Sorry that we could not post anything earlier, but apparantly we have very limited internet access!
Toronto was boring (more about that later) and yes, Israel is hot! Yesterday we went to the beach and already got burned. Today we will be doing a little shopping in Tel-Aviv and going to the "shuk" (market).
We promise to write more about our experiences in detail later.
Best regards to you all,
Becca and Gadi
p.s. pictures are coming soon too (hopefully)
Sorry that we could not post anything earlier, but apparantly we have very limited internet access!
Toronto was boring (more about that later) and yes, Israel is hot! Yesterday we went to the beach and already got burned. Today we will be doing a little shopping in Tel-Aviv and going to the "shuk" (market).
We promise to write more about our experiences in detail later.
Best regards to you all,
Becca and Gadi
p.s. pictures are coming soon too (hopefully)
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Look Gadi, I wrote a blog!
Gadi has been nagging me to make an addition to OUR blog...so here it goes!
I am in my second last week of work and all I can think about is the upcoming trip. I am super excited to return Israel to visit with family and friends. There are members of my family whom I haven't seen in years, and others whom I have never met, such as a cousin's youngest daughter, Linor. I will also be meeting up with close friends who will be travelling at the same time as me, such as my best freind from Calgary (Alexandra) and close family friends from Toronto (Irene and her husband Ronen).
I look forward to travelling around the country, seeing all the sites and experiencing all that Israel has to offer. Most of all, I look forward to doing everything with the person closest to me (Gadi, that's you).
I do promise to write more in the future, but mostly just so that I can get Gadi off my back.
I am in my second last week of work and all I can think about is the upcoming trip. I am super excited to return Israel to visit with family and friends. There are members of my family whom I haven't seen in years, and others whom I have never met, such as a cousin's youngest daughter, Linor. I will also be meeting up with close friends who will be travelling at the same time as me, such as my best freind from Calgary (Alexandra) and close family friends from Toronto (Irene and her husband Ronen).
I look forward to travelling around the country, seeing all the sites and experiencing all that Israel has to offer. Most of all, I look forward to doing everything with the person closest to me (Gadi, that's you).
I do promise to write more in the future, but mostly just so that I can get Gadi off my back.
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