around the holy land

we rented a car and spent a few days driving around this small yet interesting country. we drove through the dessert and also through completely cultivated lands. all the territories that used to be dessert not too long ago are today covered with numerous highways, train tracks and plantations of all kinds from potato to plantains and vineyards to sunflowers. they are all artificially irrigated and some covered in tents to create what we assumed to be a climatized environment.

we also visited many cities each with their big shopping malls and mac donald’s all around and of course old architecture and so many wonderful parks and sacred sites. we went to the north to haifa and akko and to the lebanese border. to the east to zefat and the sea of galilee south of the golan heights. we also visited nazareth and bethlehem, surprisingly to us a part of the palestine territories where israelis cannot cross, just as our rental car with Israeli plates was probably not allowed to cross as per our rental agreement but with which we somehow did cross.
we also went to the south to gaza or at least to the border to see the wall. the israelis call it a security wall and the palestinians the apartheid wall. to us it was definitely a very big and tall wall.





we also visited the dead sea to the east and had the mandatory bath in it. an amazing experience similar to nothing we have tried before. maybe astronauts experience this with no gravity in space. it was crazy to be floating completely effortless, even standing you can float and if you try to submerge yourself you will certainly fail at it.

it would have been a great idea for esteban to read the sign that advised not to submerge the head in the sea. turns out the salinity and minerals are so painful to your face that once he tried submerging his head he had to dart out of the water into the showers to relieve some of the pain in his eyes ears and nose. luckily it did not last long and we continued bathing in this exotic place. in total we had the car for five days, enough to see and enjoy a lot of israel.

tel aviv and yafo

the marina where we stayed was some 20 kilometers north of tel aviv and yafo so it was relatively close to go there and so we did a few times. the cities are next to each other and are full of nice street cafes and markets. we tried different restaurants and walked around many different places. we must have gained a few pounds courtesy of the great pastries and delicious hummus and other great dishes. this city reminded us of miami because of the beach-style life. these two places were among the many we really liked of israel, and we were lucky to spend some time there with our good local friends!

jerusalem

jerusalem is a beautiful city. it has history; old buildings and modern architecture as well; boutiques and delicious restaurants; parks and lots of places to walk around. it is super clean and we were lucky to have had a very pleasant weather which of course always helps when visiting a place. we visited the old city within the wall and some of the jewish, catholic and muslim sacred sites. it is a place were the difference of religions is obvious in every monument and the variety of cultures in every restaurant.




we were impressed with the quality of products sold in the boutiques, most of them really pretty and well designed. I loved the clothes in all the windows and enjoyed seeing people wearing the latest fashion. we have not seen much of this in the last months, specially women, as they are mostly covered. we also enjoyed the markets and generally walked all around this very interesting place.

israel

after a short and pleasant 24 hour sail we arrived in israel just a day before their independence day. entrance into this country was a bit different from any other place we have visited before. they have strict security measures in place and the navy monitored our every movement as far as 40 miles from their shores. we maintained constant radio contact and they escorted us into the marina with a big navy ship loaded with a gun pointed at us; but we must admit they were at all times very polite and welcoming. once settled in the gorgeous marina at herzliya we joined in their 63rd independence day celebrations. we met our very special neighbors from s/v nirvana who gave us t-shirts from the regatta and flags. we blended right in and celebrated with them.



we also went around the entire complex with a shopping center, fancy stores and delicious restaurants and enjoyed the beautiful show of the regatta and the air show courtesy of the israeli air force acrobat planes flying over the mediterranean sea. it was a joyful and beautiful day, at least for some; as for the palestinians it is known as a date for mourning (they call the creation of israel the "naqba" which means catastrophe in arabic).



learning of the history of this country and the struggle of those who live here was very appealing to us. the conflicts of culture and religion are visible everywhere. the military planes fly constantly and there are security measures on land like check points in all public places, not to mention restrictions and walls between israel and their neighbor countries and palestine territories.

we learned a lot from visiting this wonderful place but still leave without understanding many of the intricacies of their problems. it is amazing how the israelis have managed to build such an amazing and developed country in the midst of all the conflicts and of course the dessert. i absolutely loved israel and was pleasantly impressed with everything i saw.