I was touring with a lovely family of 5 (parents and three girls aged 7, 9 and 11) when the “troubles” began here in Israel. After only slightly changing our itinerary, we ended up having a great tour.
Operation “Clould of Defence” lasted only eight days, but showed that Israel was in the right and we could punish the Palestinian El Kaida organization known as Hamas without significantly harming the civilian population.
Now we have peace again. Prices are low, hotels and tourist sites aren’t crowded. I have a bit of free time now until the Hanuka/Christmas rush.
So what are you waiting for?

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I think anyone who gets up in the morning and can’t wait to get to work is lucky.

As a tour guide in Israel, I am one of the lucky ones. Before I became a guide, I taught high school here. There’s an old saying, “the two best things about teaching are July and August.”

The real reason I love what I do is meeting all the truly wonderful people with whom I cross paths.

Recently, I had a pastor from Indiana and his family. We were together for nine very intensive days of touring from the Golan Heights all the way to snorkeling in Eilat.

We had a ball!

So thank you dear friends, past and future, for enriching my life.

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Hi everybody.
This coming Sunday (Sep. 17th) evening, the Jewish New Year of 5773 will commence.
In Israel, schools and workplaces close, and families get together for a festive meal that begins with blessings over certain foods (the most well-known is the blessing over the pomegranate, a fruit loading with not just great-tasting and healthy seeds, but Jewish symbolism).
A week after the holiday ends (it lasts 2 1/2 days) Yom Kippur, the day of atonement begins. Israel literally closes down and a good many Israelis fast this day (yours truly included).
Four days after that, the festival of Succot (Booths of Tabernacles) begins. It lasts a week and ends with another (yes, one more) holiday, Simchat Torah, where the Jewish people celebrate God’s giving Moses the Law (Torah in Hebrew).

During these days, hotels are jammed as are roads and tourist sites such as Masada, the Old City of Jerusalem, etc. If you’re planning a visit to Israel at this time, my advise is to put if off after October 9th, when the holidays will be behind us and sanity once more will reign.

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The Nachal Hame’arot Nature Reserve has been recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
There are already seven World Heritage sites already in Israel. Masada National Park, the Old City of Jerusalem, the Old City of Acre (Acco), the Baha’i Gardens in Haifa/Acre; White City of Tel Aviv (for it’s Bauhaus architecture), the Biblical Cities of Beer Sheva, Tel Megiddo (Armageddon) and Tel Hazor – all national parks, and the Incense Route – Desert Cities in the Negev (of which Avdat and Mamsheet, also national parks, are the most worthwhile to visit).
What makes the new park so special is that it shows human settlement for over one million years.
The park is easily accessible (it’s less than half an hour’s drive south of Haifa) and is a wonderful experience for all ages.
Mazel Tov Israel and the National Parks Authority!

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