criplomats

This week seemed almost boring after all of our excitement and travels from last week! It’s also nice, though, to get back into a routine.

On Wednesday, we met our friend Jeff for drinks after work – he is heading to Manila for his next assignment. He was a charter member of John’s book club, and was a great contributor to the club – we’ll miss him.

Thursday evening, we attended a premiere of a documentary about Theodor Hertzl at the Ambassador’s residence. It was interesting – he is considered the father of Zionism and worked for the establishment of a Jewish state.

Yesterday, John and I volunteered to work at the annual holiday bazaar – he made balloon animals for the kids (a big hit!) and I worked at the refreshments table. On the way home, I was thrilled to stop at a full-service grocery store and load up the car with groceries!

This has been one of the most fun and busiest weeks we have had in Israel, filled with visits from friends.

It started last Saturday (John’s birthday) when Mary, Jimmy and Will came over to have brunch at Benedict’s with John, Jimmi and me.

Later that night, we hosted a great birthday dinner at John’s favorite new restaurant, A Place for Meat (delicious steaks). Here’s our group:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, John, Jimmi and I hopped in the truck and headed north for our favorite Golan-Galil tour. We added Mt. Tabor Winery to our stop. It’s at the foot of Mt. Tabor where some people believe the transfiguration of Jesus took place (I was surprised to see a mountain in Israel named after a mountain in Arkansas where my mom was born! Just kidding.)

We had a good lunch at Kibbutz Ein Gev on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. They have delicious fish (I had smoked trout), and it was lovely to sit next to the water in a pretty setting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we checked into our cabin at Vered Hagalil and watched the sun set over the lake.

Monday morning, Jimmi and I took a quick trip down the hill to the Mount of the Beatitudes, which was even more crowded than last time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove over to Rosh Pina, a charming town built on a steep hillside, where we wandered around art galleries and jewelry shops, and admired their assortment of artistic and comical cats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We pulled off the road to explore a tranquil Jewish cemetery, where I was fascinated by this grave decorated with gnomes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made our usual stops at Galil Mountain and Dalton wineries to re-stock our supply, stopped in Jish for a good Arab lunch, wound around the Sea of Galilee at sunset, then headed home.

Jimmi went to Jerusalem on Tuesday to visit our friends there and do some siteseeing, and John and I went back to work. We went to a fun Marine party on Thursday night.

Friday was a holiday, so John and I walked up to the arts and crafts market and moseyed around, then had brunch at a cute cafe. When Jimmi got back to town from Jerusalem in the early afternoon, she and I repeated the outing, and also walked through the regular market next door, where Jimmi had a yummy wrap made by Druze women – they were baking thin bread over a rounded convex pan, then stuffed it with hummus, cheese, and spices and wrapped it up burrito style.

While we were out shopping, John went to the airport to pick up our friend Justin from Barcelona. Friday night, we all went to Whitehall for dinner, then sat on the beach and had a glass of wine.

Sadly, Jimmi headed back to Calgary Saturday morning. John, Justin and I headed out for a whirlwind tour of Israel, since Justin headed back to Spain before the sun came up this morning. Click for more photos from Jimmi’s trip.

Justin is a huge war and history buff, so he was elated to stop at the Israeli Tank Museum. I mean, he really loved it. He can tell you all kind of details about tanks. Lots. Believe me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to admit, I had fun, too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we spent several hours in the Old City in Jerusalem, walking through the crowded market. We went to the Wailing Wall, and got a pretty close look at the Dome of the Rock. And we saw most of the stations of the cross.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From there, we headed east toward the Jordan border, and stopped along the way so Justin could have his picture made on a camel. He said it was terrifying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took Highway 90 north through the West Bank. While we are not allowed to be in the West Bank, we can drive on this highway through it. It was a very interesting experience – landscape is stark and brown, not many towns to be seen, goat herders living in tents along the side of the road, etc. Before returning to green line Israel, we had to pass through Israeli security where we went to secondary for brief, but additional, screening.

Then, within minutes we were back in the fertile valley south of the Sea of Galilee as the sun started to set. We found an old battle site off the beaten path and we poked around the remains of the trenches and bunkers that faced the Golan Heights and beyond to Jordan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove for a bit through the high Golan, which was a completely different experience in the dark, being able to see the lights outlining the lake and all of the towns and villages in Israel, Jordan and Syria.

Click for more photos from Justin’s visit.

Then home, pooped! Justin was gone by the time we woke up this morning, and we got word that Jimmi had arrived back in Calgary. We’re so lucky to have good friends here in Israel, and also around the world to come visit!

We’re celebrating John’s birthday today! Looking forward to a fun day with good friends.

Speaking of good friends, our A-100 classmate Jimmi flew in last Sunday for a visit. It’s great to get the chance to visit with her. On Tuesday night, she and I went to see the Martha Graham Dance Company at the Opera House. It was a cool performance.

Thursday we hosted book club for “We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People.” The author, a now-suspended Foreign Service Officer, Skyped in to answer questions from the group. We had another friend Skype in later from Barcelona.

Last night Dave came over from Jerusalem and we all went to dinner at Nana – a good meal with good company!

John and I left Tel Aviv last Saturday afternoon and flew to Eilat, on the Red Sea. From there, we crossed the border into Jordan, and a driver took us to Petra. We checked in the hotel and had a late dinner.

We met our guide the next morning and made our way into Petra, through the winding Siq, a narrow passage through the red rock canyon. At the end of the Siq, we were rewarded with a spectacular look at the Treasury building.

We walked on to the center, poking our heads in caves and tombs along the way and saw more beautiful facades. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel, repeated saying “no thanks” to offers of camels, donkeys and horses to ferry us back uphill.

Since we arrived in Jordan after dark, we had not seen the countryside, so it was fun to see it in daylight on our way back to Israel. It was very mountainous and brown, with a few olive trees and some type of scrub brush here and there. This is Bedouin country, so we saw their tents and camels and herds of goats and sheep – an odd juxtaposition, given that we were speeding past on an excellent highway.

Click for more pictures of Petra.

Back in Tel Aviv, we went to Trivia Night with a group of Embassy employees at the local Irish Pub. I kept score, and John played on a team – lots of fun.

We went to a fun dinner on Wednesday – “Pakistan Night,” hosted by our upstairs neighbor who served in Pakistan on her last tour. She cooked a Pakistani meal for several of us who are heading there next year. It was a lot of fun – she even had a loop of photos from Pakistan projected on the wall.

Last night we went to another nice dinner party and had a delicious meal – Naz is known for her cooking and she didn’t disappoint. Good wine and company, as well!

We started off the week at a fun party to celebrate Howie and Petit’s marriage – the party was in Hertzliya in Bruce’s backyard, complete with beautiful flowers and twinkly lights.

I was the social sponsor for a new employee this week, which means I went to his house in Hertzliya on Monday before he arrived to make sure everything was in order, and stocked the fridge. Tuesday I went to the airport to pick him up and take him, his wife, and dog to the new house.

Wednesday night, John and I took the new couple, Dubi and Diedre, out to dinner. The next day was a holiday, so they came to our apartment in the afternoon to use the computer and U.S. phone. Then we met up with Howie and Petit, and we all walked down to the train station for a great tapas dinner at Vicky Cristina – what a neat place and good food.