Masada is an ancient fortress in Israel and well worth a sunrise or sunset. We combined it with a dip in the Dead Sea after getting our dose of history and gorgeous views at the top of Masada. Gai Elkin, husband of Itay's cousin Tirza, dropped us off early in the morning. Yaniv, Itay and I took the western ramp up while the sun was still gentle. We did a self guided tour with occasional stops to listen in on tour guides for big groups. Masada is fascinating for its history (King Herod built it between 37 and 31 BC as [View Full Entry]

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[PLEASE NOTE: We have not emailed you about all our entries in order not to flood your inboxes, but we have already published 5 entries. Please click HERE to see all the other entries you missed. Happy reading!] Before Matti left us, we enjoyed one last big dinner with the extended Shalev family at Kibbutz Givat Chaim. Matti was born and raised on this kibbutz, and his parents were among the first pioneers to settle here back in the 1920's. As the sun set and we welcomed Shabbat, we paid tribute to his parents and grandparents, w [View Full Entry]

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A wise guy (aka Gai Elkin) once told me, "Israel is a small country surrounded by enemies." This was glaringly visible on our trip to the Quneitra Tatzpit, or lookout point. It was a steady feature throughout the trip to stop for tatzpit moments, overlooking cities, religious sites, valleys, wadis, and various other geopolitical and natural vistas. At the edge of the Golan heights, we enjoyed a pit stop at Coffee Anan, just a few meters away from the Quneitra Tatzpit. We saw up close the border with Syria: to our left was Mount Hermon, the highest peak in Israel and [View Full Entry]

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You scream, I scream, we all scream for hummus, kabobs and falafel! Rivka (Drora's sister) hosted us for two unforgettable meals, including Hamin. It's a slow cooked dish of meat wrapped in cabbage, vegetables and rice wrapped in grape leaves, hard boiled eggs, zucchini...you name it! It's my favorite and takes a lot of effort to make as each bite size piece is hand wrapped. So, big thanks to Rivka! One thing I did not know before going to Israel is how much hummus is consumed on a daily basis. Outside of breakfast, it is served for every snack and meal [View Full Entry]

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So many great people and not enough words to describe the warmth and hospitality of everyone. Before going, I felt like I had met everyone already because of all the stories shared over the years. First and foremost, Rivka and Moshe. Rivka is Drora's older sister and also an amazing cook. After our 3 hour run with Matti, we showed up at Rivka's and enjoyed an impromptu lunch of fish curry, matzah ball soup and other goodies. We also met with Drora's brother, Itzik and his wife Eti. Jews moved to Israel from all over the world and Itay's family reflects [View Full Entry]

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Our first day in Jerusalem started with what we thought would be an innocent run with Matti. I thought, he's twice my age...how fast can he really run? Think no more folks, we ran on and off for 3 hours!! I took up running 10 days before going to Israel and could not believe that Matti who is not a regular runner gave us the running tour of Jerusalem. We saw all the important buildings in town before heading to a bustling market where people were busy shopping for Shabbat dinner. I started my fresh juice kick that day and tried [View Full Entry]

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Greetings Everyone! Welcome to our journey, in Itay's homeland this time. Few thoughts before getting into the details...Israel is a unique country in many ways and instead of pretending to be a historian I will provide links to sites where you can read further if you are intrigued. You can also click on photos on the top if you want to read the blog at a later time. This blog is meant to share photos for friends and family, educate some of our friends about Israel (or at least peak their interest in Israel) and note my observations and experiences. So, [View Full Entry]

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One last week in India, and our honeymoon officially begins. After Pooja and Ashish dropped us off at the train station in Chandigarh, we headed to Delhi to meet up with Ritya. She hosted us at her pad in Gurgaon before the Sunday morning flight to Goa. Paradise at last. It's a long way from the cold nights up in the Himalayas, and well worth the wait. Our home for the week was the Marriott resort in Miramar, next to the Goan capital of Panaji. Boy did we get the red carpet treatment, thanks to Jaspreet's mom and her Marriott connections: [View Full Entry]

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Welcome back....the world's attention turned to India last week, and not in a good way. Thanks to everyone who wrote and thought of us. Rest assured, we were far away from the horrible events at Mumbai (more on that later). At the same, we realize that security is a state of mind, whether you live in Mumbai, New York, London or anywhere really. To travel is to live life. No terrorist attack can change that. Ater one last weekend in Ludhiana with Babloo and old school friends, we travelled to Delhi with Jaspreet's mom and Babloo. We said our goodbyes to [View Full Entry]

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Back into civilization, and apparently just in time for wedding season in India. We felt presentable after a few more showers and finally washing our clothes, which took more than 10 buckets of clean water. Ewww. First stop was Dehra Dun and a family friend's wedding. [Itay apologizes for not remembering certain names and titles in advance. And a further apology for regional confusion: Dehra Dun is not in Punjab, but let's pretend so in the spirit of better story telling.] The wedding reception featured all vegetarian cuisine, and unfortunately no alcohol. No problem. Itay was u [View Full Entry]

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