Blogs from Israel, Middle East - page 4

http://www.heygo.com 2nd February - Dream houses of Tel Aviv Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 and developed as a metropolitan city under the British Mandate in Palestine. The White City was constructed from the early 1930s until the 1950s, based on the urban plan by Sir Patrick Geddes, reflecting modern organic planning principles. The buildings were designed by architects who were trained in Europe where they practised their profession before immigrating. They created an outstanding architectural ensemble of the Modern Movement in a new cultural context. We walked along citrus tree lined streets with several interesting houses, through a pretty alley passed an old water tower. One house had an etched design on the facial, depicting the tree that sat opposite in the piazza. The Pagoda House built in 1925 is an impressive three-store... read more

This was the last day of our break and we did not rush to leave. We had a leisurely breakfast and went back to the room to pack. Check out was simple and we put our bags into the car. All the closures since the virus outbreak meant that we had not made our usual spring trip to the Golan. In previous years the water level in the Kinneret lake (also known as the Sea of Galilee) was significantly down due to lack of rain. Seeing wide dry banks all around the lake had not been encouraging. Fortunately this winter had broken that drought cycle spectacularly. The Kinneret was filled and the authorities had even released some of the water to prevent overflow. We wanted to see the lake in its fullness. So we decided to ... read more

There are many cities in the world, big and small, noisy and quiet, for business and leisure, but there is not a single city in the world that looks like Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the cradle of three religions – Jewish, Christian and Muslim. Its atmosphere is saturated with the rich and ancient history of the universe and the birth of humanity. Only in Jerusalem can you feel the power of history and the vulnerability of man to time. In this city, you can see how the ancient past and the turbulent present touch. "Jerusalem, you are a city built to unite all» This is what king David called the capital of the Jewish people and their state in Psalm 122. What makes Jerusalem so special in our eyes?Bible researchers have counted 70 names of Jerusalem: The ... read more

In the morning we went to breakfast and hoped to find the mask situation improved. One change we made was to go slightly off schedule so that we might be between dining waves. That helped somewhat purely by dint of fewer diners. Unfortunately otherwise it was not much better. After the meal we complained about the situation which went against the virus mask regulations. The management promptly agreed with our point and indeed when we went back to dinner in the evening more staff were supervising. They politely admonished people to keep their masks on when not sitting and eating at their own tables. We felt much happier from then on. Before leaving breakfast we made sandwiches for our lunch; frankly this was not encouraged but we were subtle and only took a minimum of food ... read more

Last night we made a little presentation to Bill Dawson from our group...the Brown Bus. In the past we’ve been Aqua, Gray, and Purple, so this tear we’ve referred to ourselves as the pooper scoopers. We gave Bill a poop emoji hat which he wore on the bus this morning. It got a great laugh!! Today we started with a long drive to Caesarea. It was rainy day but warm. Caesarea is a great Seaport built by King Herod. It is important to Christians because Paul spent two years in prison there in Cornelius was the first non-Jew to be baptized Christian. Read acts 10:1-6 to know more. Typically it’s beautiful and sunny at Caesarea but today was rainy and windy, Plus there is a lot of construction going on so it wasn’t conducive to great ... read more