Shalom!

The Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall.

Ok, so a little later than "promised" (as my mother so kindly reminded me), but hey--it's midterm season here (yes, I do go to school)!

ISRAEL WAS AMAZING.

I feel like I can't even begin to do justice to what I regard as one of the most amazing trips of my life (it's up there on my list of favorite places along with Tokyo and Florence). I'll give it a shot though...

We (Alex, Alex, Ryan, Scott, Christina, and I) headed to the airport on Wednesday nite only to be met with the MOST INTENSE security I have ever experienced. I was warned about the system, but couldn't have dreamed about what was coming. We were all led to different kiosks where we were GRILLED by security from Elal Airlines. They wanted to know why we wanted to go to Israel, what exactly we were doing there, how we all knew each other, how long we had known each other, if we knew each other's majors, why we were studying in Prague, the EXACT contents of our bags, why we were going for such a short trip...it went on and on and on (literally). Luckily we all made it through, and set off for Israel...

We were greeted at the Tel Aviv Airport at 03:00 by Alex Katz's grandfather, Menachem. His grandparents moved to Israel from Boston in the 1980s and have been living in Jerusalem ever since. Menachem had prepared quite the itinerary for us (with very little sleep involved), but we were all a bit thrown off when he asked if we wanted to do a driving tour on our way home from the airport. Alex kindly explained to him that it would probably be better if we got in a nap (read: 2 hours) before we started our whirlwind tour.

After a quick nap and breakfast out on the patio (it was already in the 80s at 09:00--AMAZING!), we headed to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. It was INCREDIBLE. Having read a lot about the Holocaust in my life (both in school and in my free time), I was very captivated and moved. I've seen various exhibits over the years (at the D.C. museum, Dachua, Terezin, etc.), but I had never seen anything quite so in-depth--we really could have spent all day there. We spent at least an hour and a half in the exhibit (a very comprehensive overview), and then explored the outside area, where we saw the Children's Memorial, the Synagogue, as well as some other memorial sites.

After the museum we made our way towards what I had been eagerly awaiting--FOOD. I could not have possibly been more pleased with the food we ate in Israel. It was HEAVENLY. I could blog a million entries just about it (but at my rate that would take years). Our first lunch was a fast food falafel stand...so so good. I thought I'd had good falafel before--no no. I would give anything for another Israeli meal right now. AND the Coca-cola really is better there.

After lunch we took a tour of the Supreme Court, and the Foreign Ministry. We met with David Saranga, the former Consul for Media and Public Affairs of Israel in the United States. VERY COOL GUY. He talked a lot about his various campaigns in the U.S. (he was the one behind the "Maxim" spread featuring the Israeli soldiers a few years ago), and about the perception of Israelis in the U.S. Plus, there was more Coca-cola involved...

After our tour we headed to the Old City. The area is divided into four quarters: the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, and the Armenian Quarter. We walked through what seemed like an endless maze of shops and food stands until we reached the gold at the end of the rainbow-HUMMUS!

The Food Tour of Israel continues...

With very full stomachs, we headed to the Church of the Holy Sepulchure, what many Christians consider to be Golgatha, where Jesus was buried. It was a BEAUTIFUL church and the richness of the history there was literally palpable. We caught a few traditional women praying while we were inside which was also very cool.

Once a deep food coma set in, we make the trek to the Western Wall. I really never have seen anything quite like it. We hit it at a bustling time; one of Alex's family friends was being sworn into the Israeli Army as a Navy Seal along with hundreds of other 18-year-olds. It felt like a big high school graduation, except at the end of the ceremony there were no diplomas, but big guns instead. Such a different world.

Scott, Alex, Christina, Katherine, Alex, Ryan

The City of David.

The madness of the ceremony.

The Western Wall up close.

After the ceremony we took a tour of the tunnels underneath the Western Wall (we were all EXHAUSTED by this point) and stopped for yet another meal (the eating tour continues). We all passed out as soon as we got home for a ...

3:30 AM WAKE-UP CALL.

Looking back, catching the sunrise on Masada made it TOTALLY worth it, but at the time...wow that was rough! We grabbed Aroma Coffees (BEST ICED COFFEE IN THE WORLD), and headed south towards the Dead Sea. Incredible doesn't even do the morning justice, so I'll let the pictures try...

Sunrise over the Dead Sea.

Ok, picture overload, but it was amazing. Oh, may I repeat that ALL of these photos were before 7:15 AM? It was already scorching. Oh, and that Katz's 80-something-year-old grandparents also did the hike? AMAZING.

After some good old Gatorade and Nature Valley Granola Bar rejuvenation we headed for the Ein Gedi Spa for some "sulfur showers, a dip in the Dead Sea, and mud." Unsure of what to expect, we threw on our bathing suits and met the boys outside. I was unaware, however, that a sulfur shower literally smells like rotten eggs. Apparently it's good for you, so we took a deep breath and "indulged."

One rotten-egg shower later, we hopped on the tractor and made our way out to the Sea. Clad in shower shoes (the salt deposits at the bottom are very sharp!), we took our first steps in. At first it feels like any other body of water, except that it almost instantly burns anything you shaved in the past days (and we thought 3 days was playing it safe!). Once I was deep enough, I plopped in, and WOW! Unlike any sensation I've ever felt. I can't being to describe the floating feeling...it is incredibly unnatural, but SO cool.

Then came the mud...

And of course...how do you get the mud off? MORE SULFUR! Delicious. Again, all before 10:30 AM. MOST PRODUCTIVE MORNING I'VE EVER HAD.

Almost totally cleansed (I still had some mud on my neck later...oops), we headed to the Jerusalem YMCA (the most beautiful Y I've ever seen) for lunch with Aaron Heller, a reporter for the Jerusalem Associated Press. Katz and I kept him busy with journalism gab, although the boys got a baseball word in before we left. We also had some...well no one knew what it was exactly, but delicious apple dessert to celebrate Scott's 21st (which was the next day; Menachem was slightly confused, but hey--free dessert for us!).

We headed across the street to the King David Hotel (the nicest hotel in Jerusalem), for drinks on the patio (beautiful) before deciding to retire for the afternoon. We spent the rest of the day sitting on the porch of their house just relaxing, playing with their Samoa puppy, and listening to Menachem's stories. We were lucky to enjoy a delicious Shabbat meal that nite, prepared by Alex's aunt and grandmother. HOMECOOKED FOOD! Never been such a thrill. After dinner we headed into the city to enjoy a mellow taste of Jerusalem's nite life at a bar.

We departed for Tel Aviv the next morning (Saturday), but not after enjoying yet another Aroma Coffee and GIANT MEAL. Every time we went out, we'd go CRAZY over the salad dishes (beets, hummus, tabouleh, salsa, pita, etc.) only to realize there were still giant helpings of meat to come. Christina and I made the doggy bags from this meal last for a full day. We parted ways with Alex's grandparents, checked into our hostel, and sniffed out the froyo place across the street within minutes.

The next 24 hours were a delightful blur of relaxing on the beach, more hummus, swimming in the Mediterranean, birthday celebrations. The slow pace of our time in Tel Aviv was a sharp contrast to our Jerusalem tour, but both wonderful in their own special ways.

Toppings? Pomegranate seeds, mango, and persimmon. YUMMZ.

This post really couldn't possibly have done the trip justice, but if you read all the way through, I hope you enjoyed. I'd love to talk about it IN PERSON (well...in December) because I could literally go on forever.

I should pack, on account of I leave on a 10-day excursion in all of 26 hours.

Friday October 29-Monday November 1: Barcelona to visit Steph and reunite with Alexandra. AYEEEE!

November 1-November 4: Florence

November 4-November 7: Rome

After a long week of midterms, I am SO looking forward to this! Shoot me an e-mail (katherine.perry@u.northwestern.edu) if you have a chance--I'll have my phone and will have some down time during travels.

SO MUCH LOVE TO ALL.

KP