Thursday, January 14, 2010

Shalom from Israel!

We enjoyed a great post-Christmas/New Year's celebration in Israel. We went to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and packed in quite a few things I've always wanted to see. (You know me, I have to check things off my list or I'll pine about it for years.) At first I was worried to go (and I didn't dare go alone with just me and Mac) but when we got there I saw there was nothing to be worried about and we had a great time .


Here I am at the Damascus Gate entry to the Old City of Jerusalem. It was easy to get lost there! I was mad we spent so much time wandering around when we could have been seeing things I could check off my list. What a waste.


Mac and I at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Christ was allegedly crucified. Now it is a big Greek Orthodox cathedral. I got this scarf in the Arab market and I couldn't haggle myself so I had to have my daughter do it for me. Otherwise I would have been taken for a ride.


One great thing about the expensive Israeli hotels is they all have a fantastic buffet breakfast. We ate these breakfasts and had no need for lunch and sometimes not even supper. Naturally the person who benefitted the most from these breakfast buffets was Mac and he certainly put any crowd at the Golden Corral to shame. I think the hoteliers weren't too pleased when he came through because he ate them out of house and home. This is just one of the many plates he loaded up. Sad, really.


Here I am around the Old City. Or Gethsemane or the Mount of Olives, I can't remember. I stick out like a sore thumb on my trips abroad even though I am a seasoned traveler. I left my Tinkerbell jacket at home this time but I did bring my "Italia" visor.


Mac and I enjoying some falafel at a busy restaurant in Jerusalem. We loved these and Mac stopped and got two more after this. We pretended not to notice the cigarette dangling from the cook's mouth the entire time. And no one got sick really so we're fine.


The view from our hotel of sunny Tel Aviv. We spent New Year's Eve here by ourselves after our kids banished us from hanging out with them. We ran into them anyway, ha ha. Joke's on them.


The boardwalk at the Tel Aviv Port. Nice Mediterranean view.


Hanging out on the boardwalk at the Tel Aviv Port. Our kids wanted to eat one nice meal here but Mac was too cheap so they ate a nice meal and we walked over to a sandwich shop. Money = pleasure = pain here.

We ended our vacation in sunny Arizona with my BFF Janny and her hubby Clint. It was 72 degrees and we ate oranges off their tree, took a walk, and stole furniture from the neighbors. Thanks, Janny for letting us stay with you!
We had a blast in Israel and Arizona and I can't wait to hassle my kids about another trip very soon!

1 comment:

Melissa said...

You guys are an amazing family of travelers. What a great trip!