My dad and Jacob were here with me for 2 weeks over winter break. Since it was my dad's first time here, we tried to make it to all the major and some of the hidden attractions in Israel.
The North (הצפון)
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| The Bahai Gardens in Haifa |
We started in the North, in Haifa, where there was a tri-cultural holiday festival going on, called the Festival of Festivals. The festival celebrated Christmas, Hanukkah, and Eid Al-Adha and features local street food, concerts, a parade, etc.
We also went to the Bahai Gardens, one of the centers of the Bahai religion, and walked ALL over Haifa.
On our way to Jerusalem, we stopped by the ancient ruins of Caesaria. The ruins were left by the Romans right along the Mediterranean coast.
Jerusalem (ירושלים)
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| Celebrating a Bar Mitzvah in the streets of the Jewish Quarter |
In Jerusalem, we spent quite a bit of time in the Old City. We took a Sandmans tour of the four quarters.
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| Wooden crosses at the beginning of the Via Dolorosa |
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| View from the Tower of David |
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| Sufganiyot! Mmmmm |
The South (הדרום)
We made our way down to the South to float in the Dead Sea, climb Masada at sunrise, hike En Gedi, and take in the views of the dramatic landscape.
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| Floating in the Dead Sea |
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| En Gedi |
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| View of the Dead Sea and the hills of Jordan |
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| The Negev |
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| Masada at sunrise |
Masada is a site atop a plateau overlooking the Dead Sea, where the last of the Jewish rebels held out against the invading Romans. After scrambling up the snake path to the top, we wandered the ruins.
Back to the North! (הצפון)
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| Sefad |
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| View of the Mt. Meron from the Old City |
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| The Artists' colony in Sefad |
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| Making Shakshuka in our guesthouse |
After exploring Sefad, we stayed in a beautiful Tzimmer (a home that became a guest house) near Sefad in a vegetarian Moshav (small village), called Amirim-- so peaceful and gorgeous!
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| The grottoes |
The next day, we drove over to Rosh HaNikra, the Northern-most point along the coast where there are beautiful white cliffs along the sea hiding colorful grottoes beneath them.
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| The cliffs |
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| Inside the grottoes |
