Israel is so different from other countries. History and politics and religion are woven into a tight knot here, not necessarily in a good way.
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- The weird thing about being in Israel is that your passport will bear no mention of it. You are given a tiny paper visa, which is not attached in any way. There is no stamp. So as not to offend future border control agents in other countries…
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- You could seat 13,000 spectators here and watch the chariots careen around Herod’s hippodrome (from the Greek: “horse-course”) at lightning speed and deafening hoofbeats.
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- Artist’s rendition of the Hippodrome at maximum “entertainment” level.
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- The Port of Caesarea had no reliable source of fresh water when construction on the city began in 22 BC. King Herod commissioned a raised aqueduct to deliver water from nearby springs.
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- Inside the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, built over the site in which Catholic tradition believes to be the house of Virgin Mary, and where angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced that she would conceive and bear her son, Jesus.
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- A gallery of mosaics in the Basilica show devotions to Mary from countries all over the globe. This is the Japanese Mary.
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- Where else can you have a Muslim, a Jew and a Christian walk into a bar? Our guides from National Geographic were so smart and funny, too.
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- In ultra-orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem, dress is extremely conservative. Internet and smartphones are prohibited, but flip phones are OK, for business only.
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- Kosher vegetables are wrapped in plastic, following a careful debugging by hand. Bugs are NOT kosher.
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- Hiking in the Golan Heights, with Syria just behind us. Significant battles took place here in the 1967 Six Day War.
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- Land mines used to be common in the Golan Heights, and some signs still exist in what is now a vacation spot with wineries.
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- Converting shekels to dollars and liters to gallons, gas is about 20% more expensive here. Israel is not friends with their oil rich neighbors.
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- Gefilte Fish is traditional Jewish food made from poached and deboned whitefish. I tried it. It was “good”.
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- Purim is a Jewish holiday that includes costumes, like Halloween. Meet Pippi Longstocking!
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