Israel Part Two: Jaffa

In Israel, Google employees have Friday and Saturday off for the Muslim and Jewish sabbaths, while Sunday is part of the work week.  This may be how the rest of the country works, but I can't confirm that.  Therefore, Darren had a meeting up in Haifa beginning in the afternoon on Sunday.  

So we used the morning to go explore the old port of Jaffa.  The Hebrew name for Jaffa is Yafo (which is why when you look at a map, sometimes it says Tel Aviv-Yafo).  Jaffa has been around since very ancient times, but most of it has been absorbed by the new city of Tel Aviv.  The old city center of Jaffa still remains for visitors to see.  Jaffa was known in Biblical times as either Japho or Joppa (many different transliterations of the name from different languages) and was an important harbor during Solomon's reign (see 2 Chr. 2:16) and is also mentioned as the place where Peter performed a miracle (see Acts 9:36-43).

There are only one or two historical sites to see in Jaffa, instead it is more about the scenery and the atmosphere.  The core of the old town has become more an arts, crafts, and dining scene.  During our time there, we just walked around, explored and took lots of pictures.

One of the art shops in the area

Great views of the Mediterranean Sea from Jaffa

There are actually a lot of feral cats in Israel.  Everywhere we went we saw lots of cats roaming around.  Some looked gross and mangy, but actually most of them looked well-fed.  It was cool to see cats on the prowl instead of the usual domestic cat that is fat and just lays around waiting to be fed (Gracie).  It was hard not to go up and pet them, but I realized that they were probably full of diseases and maybe not very nice.

Feral cats fighting for territory

Another great shot by Darren of downtown Tel Aviv from Jaffa

We passed by the Monastery of St. Peter, which was dedicated in 1891.  It stands on the site that was formerly occupied by a Crusader citadel.  The monastery commemorates the miracle Peter performed of raising Tabitha from the dead as I mentioned above.  We did not go inside because it was Sunday and they were having a service.

Monastery of St. Peter

At the end of the 18th century, Napoleon actually seized control of the coastal towns in the area, including Jaffa.  This is my only guess as to why this statue of a French soldier and a French cafe called Napoleon exist in Jaffa.

Classic Robison way of taking pictures

We really enjoyed Jaffa, maybe even more than Tel Aviv.  It had a quaint, old feeling, but still seemed to have modern housing hidden behind old-looking stones. Tel Aviv has some nice buildings and streets, but has as many dilapidated and abandoned buildings as well.  And even in the busy, tourist section of downtown.  

After our tour of Jaffa and bit of walking around in Tel Aviv, Darren went to his meeting, while I went back to the hotel.  It then proceeded to rain nonstop for the rest of the day, so I just stayed in the hotel and planned out our Jerusalem itinerary for the next two days.  One hundred pages of our guidebook was just devoted to Jerusalem!  So there was a lot to read up on.  Darren didn't return from his meeting until very late, so we went in search of any place that was still serving food and came upon a little restaurant that served breakfast foods from around the world.  I had a "Scandinavian" breakfast that was a mix of melted cheese, spinach, sunflower seeds, and poached eggs (maybe other things?) that was mixed together and served almost like a spread, which I put on the toasted brioche it came with.  It was fantastic!

Next up are two posts about our time in Jerusalem!

Israel Part One: Tel Aviv, Haifa, Sea of Galilee

This past week Darren and I have been in Israel and we had a fantastic time.  Darren had to go to Tel Aviv and Haifa to attend two meetings that were on Sunday and Wednesday, so we decided that I would accompany him and we would try to do some sightseeing before and in between the meetings.  Even though I knew Darren's work had a good-sized office in Tel Aviv, I just never thought about the possibility that we would do some sightseeing there, but once everything came together, I was really excited.  Darren was in Israel briefly this summer while on a work trip, and while he did see some sights (mostly the Dead Sea and Masada), it was a very short trip, so he was also looking forward to going back.

The whole trip was incredible and we took over 400 pictures.  I want to remember the details as much as I want to share our trip with you, so I will be splitting this trip into multiple posts with many pictures, just to prepare you.  Also, multiple friends of ours mentioned they will be traveling to the area soon and wanted to hear about our experiences, so I will be adding in commentary and recommendations for them.  So now to begin!

We arrived Friday afternoon and got through immigration and customs with no problems.  The guy at the immigration booth even joked that he thought we might be heading to the BYU Jerusalem Center because our passports show that we were both born in Utah.  We made sure to correct him that we definitely do not attend BYU (Sorry, Dad). ;)  We picked up our rental car and attempted driving in Israel.  Wow, Israelis seem like they are unsafe drivers.  I'm not exactly sure why they have lane markers, turn signals, or parking spot lines, since most people do not use them.  I have proof, too, which will come later.  Anyway, we drove to our hotel, which was right next to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, where a lot of other hotels were located.  We stayed at the Best Western, which was not super fancy, but they had free wi-fi and (more crucially) free parking.  Most other places charged for parking.

Our hotel, Best Western, was not fancy but it worked out pretty well

Some (maybe most? I'm not sure) hotel rooms in Israel come with a small kitchenette in the room.  The reason is apparently to allow Jewish guests to store or prepare a small meal for the Sabbath since they would not go to a restaurant or even use electricity that day.  It worked out great for us because we could eat breakfast in the room every morning.  We both had cereal most mornings and we even found a convenience store around the corner that sold my favorite kind of American cereal: Quaker Oatmeal Squares.

The small kitchen in our hotel room

Another thing about the hotel unique to the country was the small box on the post of every door.  This is called a Mezuzah, which contains specific scriptures that the Jewish people believe should be on the posts of every door (see Deuteronomy 6:9).

By the time we got settled, it was dinner time, so we just ate at a place close by and then headed home as a thunderstorm was rolling in.  The next morning, while Darren was getting ready, I walked across to the street to the promenade just to enjoy the sunshine (the weather in Zürich had been a little dreary before we left) and to take some pictures.  The white sandy beaches are gorgeous and well-maintained.  The promenade stretches for miles along the coast.

The hotels along the beach

Who knew Israel was an excellent beach getaway?

Locals enjoying the water

We then left our hotel and drove up from Tel Aviv to Haifa, which is the third-largest city and a major industrial center.  It is a non-religious city, so it is a good place to visit on a Saturday, when most other cities are closed down.  Haifa sits at the foot of Mount Carmel.  We drove up to the top of Mount Carmel to see the views and visit some sites.

The view of Haifa from Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel is mentioned in the Bible several times, including when Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal (see 1 Kings 18:19).  We went to the Carmelite Monastery that is built around a cave where it is said Elijah lived for a short time.

The Carmelite Monastery chapel

The cave where Elijah is said to have lived

The headquarters of the Baha'i faith are also located on Mount Carmel.  We made a short visit to the beautiful gardens they have that extend all the way down the mountainside.

The Baha'i Gardens

After a quick lunch, we jumped in the car and drove to the Sea of Galilee.  We just passed through Nazareth and didn't stop to take pictures because while there are one or two things to see, the city is overcrowded and a bit rundown.  Plus we were running out of daylight and decided we were more interested in the Sea of Galilee.  The Sea of Galilee is actually just a good-sized lake that is Israel's main source of fresh water.  Another interesting fact is the lake is down in a valley, so its surface is actually 200 feet below sea level.  There are several small towns around the Sea of Galilee.  Our first stop was the largest town of Tiberias, which was the regional capital in ancient times.  A major flood in 1934 damaged much of the town, so there are only a few ancient buildings left.  However, the town has a nice lakefront promenade that we walked down.  The Sea of Galilee was very pretty and I could see this area being a decent vacation spot.

Walking towards the promenade

A view of the lake from Tiberias

One old building we came across, which we think is an old mosque

We then drove north along the western shore of the lake to see the Church of the Beatitudes, which was built by the Roman Catholic church on a hill believed to be near the place where Christ gave the Sermon on the Mount.  The area around the church was beautifully landscaped and also had a great view of the lake.

The view from the grounds of the Church of the Beatitudes

The Church of the Beatitudes

Inside the church

A great shot of the church at sunset by Darren

Our final stop was the remnants of the ancient town of Capernaum, where the Apostles Peter, Andrew, James and John were from.  Christ also preached and performed several miracles here.

A statue of Peter the Apostle

Some believe that these ruins below are what is left of Peter's house.  From what I remember reading, a church had been built around the foundations of the house, but it fell into ruin over time.  Over the house, a sort of church has been built with a partial glass bottom to view the ruins.

The remains of Peter's house

The structure over Peter's house

Another interesting site was the ruins from a synagogue built around the 4th century AD, which was built on the foundation of a previous synagogue that was from the time of Christ.  It was fascinating to be able to walk inside and around this structure and try to imagine what it looked like when it was used.

An ancient synagogue

Darren inside the ruins of the synagogue

A picture of sunset from the town of Capernaum

Most sites close around 4 or 5 pm during the winter months, so we headed back to Tel Aviv around 5 pm.  Just as a quick note, we ate at a great place called Orna and Ella, which served fresh and local food.  It was my favorite place we ate at while we were there and I would recommend it to anyone.

Orna and Ella does not have an English sign, so watch for this sign

That was our first day in Israel!  More to come!

Christmas 2010

We went to Texas for Christmas vacation and returned to Zürich last week.  Though this blog is usually about our adventures in Europe for people in the US, I still want to write about our trip for posterity's sake (let's face it, blogs are the new journals).  We left Zürich Christmas Eve early morning and even with bad weather and major delays going on in Europe, we thankfully made it Dallas without any problems.  My mom, step-dad, brother, and sister-in-law live in Dallas.  Since moving to Dallas 8 years ago, we started a tradition of going out to dinner on Christmas Eve with some family friends.  Darren and I had been up for 24 hours straight, so needless to say we were exhausted, but we managed to make it through the night and have a good time.

My awesome dress was provided by my super fashionable mom

We had a great Christmas morning and just like in younger days, my parents were the last ones up!  We had a lot fun opening presents and afterwards we ate our traditional breakfast casserole.  Mom surprised me by framing my Master's degree diploma, which I had requested it to be shipped to her house, but she never told me it had arrived.  It was a really thoughtful gift, but now we need to get our undergrad diplomas framed to match!

A few days later, our family from California arrived to join in on the Texas fun!  We had another round of presents when they arrived.

Our little cousin each gave us special gifts, Steve got a sheriff's badge

Darren and I gave some of our family members a gift basket that had a sampling of some things we like in Switzerland like Nutella, Lindt Chocolate, Rösti, and handmade crafts from the Strasbourg Christmas market.

Grandma and Papa opening their gift basket

Christmas dinner #2

Another fun thing we did with everyone was go to the ICE! attraction.  Just like the ice displays in really cold climates, this exhibit had ice sculptures, but with a theme of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Darren and I then traveled down to Austin to spend time with my dad and step-mom who moved there in October.  We had fun hanging out with my little brother and getting ready for my new little sister, Lauren, to arrive.

Movie buddies watching Toy Story 3

We also were fortunate enough to be in town when my roommate from college was having her wedding reception in San Antonio.  So we drove down to see them on New Year's Day.  It was fantastic to hang out with these two and participate in one of their wedding events.

Best friends and the husbands

On January 3rd, my baby sister, Lauren, was born!  She had some difficulty breathing when she first arrived, so they decided to send her to a children's hospital where she could get better care.  After a few days, her breathing improved so she is home now with my parents.

Lauren just after she was born

Dad already trying to indoctrinate her with BYU stuff

Me and Lauren

The next day we flew back to Zürich and things have been pretty quiet ever since.  It was kind of tough to leave the US and come back to our still-furniture-less apartment, but it was actually warm and sunny on Saturday so my love for Zürich is renewed!  More adventures to come for us in the short ten or so months we will be here!  Stay tuned.