Jerusalem and the Holy Land Tour 2023

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Can you believe it? Another year has passed and it's time for the next Farina Family Vacation Adventure! This time we reached deep into the travel bucket and came up with a winner...THE HOLY LAND! Now everyone should know by now I love all things history. What has MORE history than the Holy Land? Walking in the steps of history, seeing the sights many of us have only seen on TV, eating the local food and, of course, SHOPPING.

This trip required planning and I suggest, if you are planning on any major tour, plan it and plan it well. We chose TRAFALGAR as out tour guide. They are a well established tour company and we have been on many tours with them and all were excellent. They take care of all the arrangements from airport pick up to hotels, local transportation and local guides to meals and much more. They have always been professional, very cost competitive and 4 - 5 star accomodations right in the heart of the city we are visiting. As you can tell I reccommend them highly.

If you want to save a buck or two, you can do as I did and book your vacation through VACATIONSTOGO.COM. They are a discounted travel agent and saved us a minimum of 15% from booking direct with Trafalgar. We got their discount as well as the past traveler discount direct from Trafalgar for a double dose of savings. I use Vacationstogo.com frequently and have been very satisfied with them and their service. Our agent Devan Padilla is excellent. She took care of everything. They are available on the web.

One important suggestion is, for any trip of any dimension, buy the travel insurance. Do not skimp here on the coverage; get the top tier coverage. You are covered for anything including $500,000 emergency flight home in case of sickness. They cover lost bags, medical costs, trip delay, trip cancellation, and so much more. It adds a few bucks to the cost but saves a world of issues if something were to go wrong. I use Travel Guard, the most well known insurer covered by the AIG insurance company.

Packing is always an experience. This year I invested in packing cubes. These are individual zippered bags of various sizes that you stuff your clothes into, press out the air and easily and compactly fit everything you need into a smaller suitcase. I have one bag for undergarments and socks, one for tee shirts, one for top shirts, one for dressier shirts, one for pants, and a final one for shorts. It really organizes your suitcase and makes things easier to find. Its like a game of Tetris to fit everything in, but I assure you, you can fit much more stuff into a smaller suitcase packed this way.

As always, I did not get any local currency. In this case, it is the Israeli Shekel, first introduced on June 4, 1969. It has had several interations since then. Today one Shekel is worth $0.27. The reason I do not change money in advance is one of cost. Anyplace you change money in the US, at a bank, AAA or, heaven forbid, the airport, you will pay a fee and sometime the fee is high and the exchange rate is terrible.

What I do is use my ATM bank card. If you have a bank card with the Mastercard logo, you are in business. Just tell your bank where you are going and for how long. Tell them you want access to an ATM using your PIN number in the countries you are visiting. The rest is easy. Go up to any BANK OWNED ATM, put in your card and PIN, and get local currency. The fee is minimal, many times nothing, and the exchange rate is the bank rate so you are getting the best rate there is. It is VERY IMPORTANT not to use just any ATM. Many ATM's are privately owned and, therefore, unregulated. These machines look just like any other ATM but they do not have a bank name written on them. Here you will definitely get ripped off both on the exchange rate and the very high fees. So look for an ATM at a bank, or make sure the machine you are using has a bank name prominantly displayed on the machine. I use SANTANDER, but in Israel look for Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, or First International Bank of Israel. These machines can be found everywhere.

When you take money, consider one or two days cash needs only. Most major purchases should be on AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, or other major credit card. Whoops forgot....Call your issuing bank and tell them where and when you are traveling and that you want them NOT to restrict your card use. With all the scams out there lately, unless you notify your bank, or have an international card like AMEX Platinum, you can be open to a very unlpleasant suprise: card denial.

Our itinerary is OUTSTANDING!

First we depart Detroit for a short flight to Atlanta. There we board a direct flight to Tel Aviv where we will be met by our guide and shuttled by bus to our hotel in the heart of Jerusalem.

Now Cathy and I often go to our first city at least two days before the tour. the reasons are simple: we get some free time and we get a rest from the sometimes grueling trip. This time we are two days early, so we will have plenty of time to explore on our own. My goal is the shopping district and sampling the local foods. Just walking around the Old Jersulem should be perfect.

Another thing to consider in your trip planning is weather. Jerusalem is in the desert so it will be HOT. Many days will be over 90 degrees and the humidity may be high, so plan your dressing accordingly. Light colors and layers. Also remember, for women, shoulders must be covered and knees as well especially in the holy sites. In the bigger cities, like Tel Aviv, it's more relaxed but poor planning may get you blocked from getting to see the most holy sites so be aware.

After our two free days we join the tour whch will take us to:

The Dead Sea and the famous city of Masada where 973 Jews died rather than be captured by the Romans in 70 AD. The ruins are high above the desert floor. The siege hill constructed by the Romans is still evident as are the 6 Roman settlements used by the soldiers during the siege.

From here we are off to the Church of the Nativity and the town of Bethlehem to visit the birthplace of Jesus.

Onward to Galilee where we will see THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS, some of history's most controversial non-Biblical literature.

Next is a boat ride in the Sea of Galilee. Here we will visit the home of St. Peter and the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount.

Onward to Acre, Haifa, Caesare, and finally Tel Aviv. Acre is where the Knights Templar built their Church and where thy lost a major battle to the invading Muslims. We will spend two nights in Tel Aviv, a very modern city with an ancient past.

Next stop, we leave Israel and are off to Jordan and the city of Amman. In Amman we visit local craftsmen and get a chance to make soap by hand . We will have lunch with the locals where we can share ideas and learn about our differences.

The next stop is a huge BUCKET LIST stop for me: PETRA. Yes, we will visit the ancient city where Indiana Jones found the Holy Grail!

Finally we head out to the DEAD SEA, the lowest place on earth, where we will have two luxurous days in a resort.

Our journey ends with a quick flight from Jordan back to Tel Aviv where we cross the ocean once again to head back to Detroit and another amazing vacation is in the books.

Please feel free to follow along. I hope to blog every day. If you like this trip, please feel free to visit the other trips in this blog series. For more of my work, do visit PHILFARINAAUTHOR.COM where you can learn about my books: GRAVESEND, THE ENOCHIAN DILEMMA, GHOSTWITCH, LIVE, DIE, REPEAT and my soon to be published, THE SWEET EMBRACE OF DEATH.

SAFE TRAVELS.

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