Blogs from Center District, Israel, Middle East

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Middle East » Israel » Center District February 18th 2023

I had a little drama a couple of weeks ago. My backup disk where I saved photos and other useful information concerning my travels during last 15+ years suddenly died. After a lot of checking it looked perfectly empty, hundreds of Giga information disappeared. It made me think again about my dilemma - travel and read or travel and write... Still not sure what I'd like to do and a lit bit bored by the cold weather and winter in general, decided to put my a confused thoughts to this blog. Hopefully, they will stay here. Not like my previous site on wix that also dissapeared. Lost in the Cloud... Meanwhile I have no trips coming soon, so it also don't add positivity to my current state of mind. Weekend is over, and what did I ... read more
Pumpkin tart
Sticky toffee pudding
Fish fennel yogurt

Middle East » Israel » Center District » Rehovot August 30th 2019

Home sweet home! It was a 22 hour event to get from our beautiful AirBNB in Plettenberg Bay (thank you Leslie!) to our much missed house in Rehovot. It included our last, on the wrong side, drive in "the bus" packed to the gills with luggage. Getting to the George airport way too early (thanks to me, who didn't want to be there late or stressed). Little did I know (although I should've known by this point) that it is a tiny airport with nothing to do and nowhere to go. We sat at the cafe drinking cappuccinos and hot chocolate for TWO HOURS before checking in. It was a small plane (but not the smallest we've been on this trip) and a short 1.5 hour flight to Johannesburg. There we had to wait for over ... read more
Morning contemplation in Plett
The full Bus
The calm before the storm. Plett

Middle East » Israel » Center District » Rehovot August 14th 2019

I don't remember having such a stressful day before a trip before. Flights cancelled and re-set, lack of information about entering South Africa which if we didn't find out our two youngest would have had to return home, passport name issue. Things to remember: *Not a great idea to have two different country passports (American and Israeli) with two different names (of the same person) on each. What can I say, I am a woman of many identities. *READ ALL EMAILS FROM TOP TO BOTTOM when corresponding with travel agent. *If you are planning a trip to South Africa with children under the age of 18, make sure you have their birth certificates in English. *Do NOT do early check in online for 8 people all at the same time. El Al decided they needed to ... read more
Visiting Mom at work day we leave
Weizmann Library children’s corner
Someone’s unhappy we’re leaving

Middle East » Israel » Center District » Rehovot August 13th 2019

Tomorrow night is the Big Moment and we are in a whirlwind of preparations. Clothes, food, binoculars, drugs (Advil and malaria pills people), travel games, battery packs, shoes are everywhere. But it's the little things, like entertainment for the long African nights, that we can't forget. I've prepared all the movies I can think about related to Africa to put on a disc on key to bring with us. Out of Africa, The African Queen, The Gods Must Be Crazy, A United Kingdom (which I already watched and found very interesting, thanks to my lovely friend Sarah), and.... ...the whole series of Ally McBeal! I know. Not about Africa. But a fun show that my kids would never see if they weren't stuck inside on a warm African night :). Any other suggestions?... read more

Middle East » Israel » Center District » Rehovot August 5th 2019

Nine days till our Safari Adventure! Adam has been planning the entire trip since November (2018) and it will be a fun packed African Adventure in three different countries; Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. The travelers include the Strauss clan, Bubbe Barbara Kaufman, and our niece, Rotem. Shaya and Rotem both just finished their Army service (Shaya for 2.8 years and Rotem for 4.8 - she was a Commander). Today, we went to get all the needed vaccinations. We were supposed to go two weeks ago but the nurses decided to strike that day and it got pushed off. I needed four shots! Tetanus/Polio, Measles:Mumps:Rubella, Hepatitis A and Typhoid. Apparently, if you are a 70's child you only received one MMR shot and you really should have two... Adam, Noam and I got the MMR shot. ... read more
From Soldier to Civilian
International vaccination travel card

Middle East » Israel » Center District » Kfar Saba April 8th 2019

What a super experience. Early start and cool air, but eventually things warmed up and being under the flame when a boost was needed really singed the back of the neck. The pilot was doing his first flight as balloon commander, after his fiftieth flight. He was brilliant, took us high and brought low over wheat fields, hot houses and eventually landed where carrots were being harvested. Pilot then produced some goodies including some bubbly. The views were superb, seeing fields, mountains and several fish farms in the Jezreel Valley. By the way the actual location is not exact.... read more
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Middle East » Israel » Center District » Ra'anana May 15th 2018

After 15 hours in the air we finally arrived back in Israel very tired but pleased to be home. We had visited San Francisco, flown via Houston to Quito, toured the Galapagos Islands by yacht with flights from Quito and back, flown via Houston to a Cabo San Lucas resort at the southern tip of the Baja peninsula in Mexico, and now we made it home again via San Franciso long haul. Including indirect connections, our total flight distance was over 27,000 miles / 40,000 km - farther than once around the world. The next day we would start to reflect on our experiences of the past 21 days ! There was one positive side-effect of our travel weariness and jetlag after the 9-10 hour timezone shift. A couple of days later we celebrated the ... read more

Middle East » Israel » Center District » Ra'anana March 15th 2018

We had a brief wait in London Heathrow airport before boarding our final BA flight to Israel. We looked at each other, shook our heads and said how much simpler everything could have been if we had originally flown El Al from Tel Aviv to Newark with code-share on AA to Chicago and back, rather than using British Airways. At least last night's flight from Newark would have taken us directly home instead of this stopover in London. Our last flight from London was on time and we made it back home - just two days later and one serious diversion from our original plan. Glad to be back, but at least we finally saw all Don's family even if it took two location stops. .... read more

Middle East » Israel » Center District » Ra'anana January 24th 2016

Our adventure nearly didn't get started as despite having had a flu jab, I (Lesley) went down with the flu on Tuesday. On Sunday morning the doctor agreed that I could fly. We spent Sunday packing and went to the airport to meet up with the group only 10 minutes late. But we weren't the last.We checked in and made for the lounge. From the lounge window we could see the beginnings of the storm due to hit Israel after our departure. We seem to have picked our vacation times well because during the last storm we were away and missed the flooding in Raanana. As we settled down and I was taking my evening tablets I remembered the half sleeping tablet given to me by the hospital when I had my hip op. I had ... read more
Our touring zone in Africa




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