Tel Aviv, Israel

Hi Everybody! We finally have our blog up to date and are writing this blog as it happens, not with a week delay like usually. Tel Aviv was a cool breath of fresh air. It was nice to have a chance to relax, put our feet up, and enjoy a white sand beach. The beach front is a whirlwind of entertainment with numerous beach volleyball courts, surfing, sailing, weight lifting equipment (yes, it's true, you can work out on the beach), biking, racquet sports, markets, shops, restaurants, cafes, and you can even join the spontaneous dance-a-thon that happens frequently. See video below. Last night, we found a little Jewish restaurant off the strip and sat down to enjoy our first kosher meal where Jeff's knowledge of cultural foods shone through. When Anelia asked what came in the chicken soup the waitress replied, "matzah balls". Anelia gave a quizzical look and just as the waitress was about to explain further, Jeff piped up, "You know, like a cheese ball". The waitress kindly reminded Jeff that they probably would not put cheese in chicken soup. For those of you who don't know, Jewish people do not mix dairy and meat in the same meal (that also means you can't laugh at Jeff's mistake). In Jeff's defence, he did not know at the time that it was a Jewish restaurant. The soup was delicious and when the main course arrived, Jeff and Anelia's eyes widened to an unexpected surprise. There on the plate, beside the beef and bean stew (we forget actual Jewish name of dish), lay 2 bloated looking coils of cow's intestine. Jeff and Anelia ate half of the meal before even poking at the intestine. Then Jeff manned up, cut himself a piece of intestine and munched it down, and decided it was not so bad after all. He did however wash it down with a quick drink of water. Unable to convince Anelia to try it Jeff ate a second piece. Still unconvinced, she opted to try the mashed potato stuffing instead that oozed out of the tripe. That was good enough for her. Anelia says this was the worst meal of our entire trip and Jeff concurs. Even though Tel Aviv is a little piece of paradise, there are reminders of the troubles that exist here. When entering the flea market on the boardwalk, security grabbed Jeff by the elbow and asked, "do you have a gun?" Jeff and Anelia couldn't help but laugh and answered, "no". We enjoyed our time here but are off tomorrow for more adventure!

Pictures:
1- Our first Jewish meal
2- Workout equipment, beach volleyball, and dancing on boardwalk
3- Anelia on beach
4- Beautiful architecture
5- Anelia on beach (again)
6- Sunset a few hours ago
The video is of dancing on the boardwalk. free for anyone to join in. we refrained.

Bethlehem, Palestine

No trip to Israel would be complete without passing through the checkpoints in the giant metal wall (twice as high as the Berlin wall and 45km long) which surrounds Palestine. So, we ventured through the metal detectors and passed the armed guards and headed to Bethlehem as a day trip from Jerusalem. It may sound crazy to some but we never felt in danger. The town of Bethlehem is far different from it's neighbouring city of Jerusalem, which lies only 15km away. In stark contrast of Jerusalem the modern buildings, bustling shops, pristine streets and green parks give way to simple brick buildings, dry desert and many closed shops. Life in Bethlehem is not like Jerusalem but the costs are the same as we are told by our taxi driver friend who begged us to take a tour with him so he could pay the bills. It was a heart wrenching sight to see a smart, university graduate with a family driving a cab and having to make ends meet by begging tourists to spend a little extra money and take a tour. Since the wall has gone up, tourism in Bethlehem has dropped considerably and the unemployment rate soared to 50%. Louey lives with his family of three, mom and dad, and 5 siblings in a single house. He is the only one bringing in any income these days and like many others is having a hard time making ends meet. After talking us in to taking a tour up to the Herodion (a palace of King Herod) he took us to visit his family and 5 month old son. We had tea and talked a little about life in Palestine. He holds no anomosity towards anyone, he just wants peace and freedom he says. After tea we returned to Bethlehem to visit the birthplace of Jesus. A huge church stands over the sight and if you patiently wait in line you can visit first hand the spot where Jesus was laid in a manger. How they know this we don't know and didn't ask! Another interesting thing about Bethlehem was the shops that sell Christmas decorations all year round. A short tour of the town and some of the shops and we were heading back to the checkpoint. We bid good-bye to Louey and wished him all the best. Thus ended our brief tour to Palestine.

Pictures:
1- City of Bethlehem
2- Spot were Jesus was laid in manger
3- Ornate olive wood carving
4- Beautifying the wall with artwork
5- More art on wall
6- The wall

Jerusalem, Israel

With still nine days left before our friends arrive to meet us in Egypt, we had no where to go and decided to head westward to Israel. After 4.5 hours at the border crossing and an intense interrogation by Israeli border patrol, we were happy when we were called to receive our stamped passports. We caught the first available bus to Jerusalem from the border and as crested the Mount of Olives we were surprised to see a much different middle east than we had so far experienced. Jerusalem is a beautiful city. The fully walled old city is surrounded by modern architecture, lush gardens and a wonderful "new city" which is newly built yet holds to the style and tradition of the old stone walled Jerusalem. It's a fantastic blend of modern and antiquity. We headed into the old city via the Damascus gate on the north side of the city. The gate opens into the Muslim quarter of the city and we immediately found ourselves in a fantastic marketplace with narrow streets snaking off in all directions. We managed to navigate our way through the streets to the tourist office in search of a place to store our bags for the day. We had found a fellow traveler on couchsurfing.com who was willing to put us up for a couple nights (seeing as Israel is very expensive! More so than Canada) but had to wait till he was home from University at 9:30pm. We found a hostel willing to keep our bags for the day and decided to catch the "free tour" of the old city. It turned out to be a very good idea. Jerusalem is a city with so much history hidden in every corner and every stone that to walk the old city without some guidance would mean missing some of the best stuff. The old town is separated into 4 quarters. The Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Armenian quarter. Each quarter is very unique to its people and is filled with all sorts of important religious and historically significant sights. From the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre constructed on the site of Jesus's crucifixion and tomb, to the Dome of the Rock in the Muslim quarter where Mohammed ascended into heaven, to the Coenaculum just outside the Armenian quarter and the site of the last supper, followed by the Wailing Wall in the Jewish quarter where the faithful still come to offer prayers and mourn the fall of the second temple. Jerusalem truly is the city of God, or at least the city of religion. Each church, tomb, mosque, and synagogue is constructed with elaborate architecture and fabulously decorated with mosaics, gold leaf and beautiful paintings. There was so much to see it is impossible to name it all. We spent two wonderful days touring the old town and walking up into the trendy new town for supper and a visit to the central market. In the evening we caught the sound and light show about the history of the city at the Crusader's Citadel. The show was spectacular!
The only thing to put a damper on the days was our lack of knowledge about all the sights. In the church of the Sepulchre, (which is a massive building containing 4 different churches the catholic, greek orthodox, Armenian and the Coptic church) we spent almost an hour looking at and taking photos of the different areas of the church where people stopped to take photographs and say prayers. The only difference between us and these other tourists were we had no idea what we were taking a photograph of. Most of the time was spent trying to listen in to the tour guides as they passed by with their groups of tourists in tow. At one point Jeff turned around to find Anelia standing in line to an ornately decorated room. "Watcha doin?" Jeff asked. "Standing in line" said Anelia.
"For what" asked Jeff.
"I don't know" said Anelia feeling a bit sheepish.
"Neither do I" said the lady behind her, instantly making us feel less like impostors.
"I believe it's the site of the tomb of Jesus" the lady in front informed us.
" Oh good," said Jeff, stepping in to line. Well seriously, you'd think they'd put a big neon sign or something to let you know what you looking at!
Anyways, for not being very religious ourselves and feeling a little unsure about what to expect we had a lot of fun and really enjoyed out time in the delightful city of Jerusalem.

Pictures:
1- Havla in the market place. Yummy!
2- Old city street
3- Stage 9 on Via Delorosa (The path of Jesus carrying cross)
4- Russian Orthodox Monastery
5- Dome of the Rock
6- Crusader's citadel
7- Jewish men discussing the Torah
8- Anelia in Sepulchre

Aleppo, Syria

First of all, we would just like to say thank you for all the little comments we get on the blog and in emails. We really love reading them. Its great to know that people at home are reading and enjoying the blog!

What a Madhouse! We arrived in Allepo during Eid, a Muslim holiday which marks the beginning of the Huj (the name for making the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca). In honour of the festivities and to give Turkish Muslims access to important Muslim sights, the borders between Syria and Turkey are made free to cross for all Turks and Syrians. As a result, the souq’s of Allepo are flooded with Turkish tourists and pilgrims, all stockpiling up on tea, sugar, fabrics, soaps and other goods that are much cheaper in Syria than in Turkey. Our first day in the Souq’s was an eye opener. We had been in Souq’s before but not quite like this. Far larger than the Damascus souq’s, the covered streets and shops were like a giant labyrinth full of thousands of sights and smells. One of the worst smell being dozens of lambs being slaughtered and skinned right there in the marketplace for the feasts during Eid. The smell was appalling and blood ran down the gutters. Literally. We were walking along in the souq and noticed the water in the gutters becoming red tinged. Suddenly the water got a lot thicker and a lot redder. Pretty soon we were covering our faces and charging our way past countless butcher shops, gutting sheep and letting their entrails fall into the streets. The cobblestones were slick with blood, bile and other fluids that come out of sheep when their hung and gutted. Gag! We did our best in the souq’s to become good barterers, haggling and comparing costs from shop to shop. We still think we could robbed on the few items we bought so I guess we still need some practice. On day two we made a tour out to Qala'at Samaan.

Qala'at Samaan was first a great church, the Basilica of St. Simeon, and was made famous by St. Simeon himself who sought piousness above all else. He was the son of a shepherd who, after finding life in a monastery not to his liking, retreated up into the hills to live in a cave under a regimen of self-imposed severity. Word spread of this pious man and people soon began seeking him out to receive his blessing. Annoyed by the invasion of his solitude, St. Simeon constructed a 3 m high pillar so people could not touch him. As more and more people came, St. Simeon built higher and higher pillars, the last being 18m tall. The pillar had a railing on top and St.Simeon would chain himself to a rock so he wold not roll off in his sleep. From his perch St.Simeon would yell down answers to pilgrims questions, but only if they were male. He refused to speak to women and even his own mother could not talk to him. He spent 40 years on his pillars and after his death in 459 AD a huge church was erected surrounding the most famous of his pillars. Once completed, the church was the biggest church in all the world at that time! Christians are crazy! Later on, the Basilica was forced to build walls and defenses with the arrival of Islam and the wars of the Crusades. Thus the Basilica earned its name Qala'at (meaning castle) Samaan. Although not much is left of the original pillar of St. Simeon (just a rock seen in the photo, look carefully) the ruins are a fantastic and mystic place. There was an incredible sense of peace and tranquility amoungst the decorated arches and Byzantine columns.

The Syrian people were very friendly (even if many were trying to sell you something). On our last night in Aleppo and Syria for that matter, a group of 5 youth ages 20 to 27 befriended us and took us around the old town visiting their friends and family. We stopped for tea and were offered heaping plates of fruit at each stop. We guess that its a custom to serve guests a plate of fresh fruit during Eid. Everywhere we went, a fresh plate of fruit would appear the minute we sat down. It was a great way to cap off our time in Syria. The next morning we caught an overnight bus back to Amman, Jordan to try and cross the border into Israel.


Pictures
1- Jeff with blood running in the streets
2- Busy souq
3- Lambs in souq waiting for their turn
4- Anelia in souq shop
5- Loom at work in souq shop
6- Aleppo's citadel
7- Anelia in grandparent's house. Just one stop of the many.
8- Rock of Simeon in centre
9- St. Simeon

Hama, Syria

The trip to Hama was interrupted by a short visit to Crack de Chevalier, a beautifully preserved Crusader castle that seems almost untouched by time. The castle was so well built it never fell to the Arabic armies. As it became clear the Crusades were failing and the armies began their retreat, a small garrison of 200 soldiers was left to hold the castle. The castle remained unbreachable. When it became clear that no aid was coming, the 200 soldiers abandoned the fort and in return were granted safe passage back to their lands.

We stayed in Hama for three nights and hired a car to take us to the near by sights. The first day consisted of an old palace, some bee-hive houses and an afternoon with some Bedoiuns beneath a long forgotten castle ruin. Tea with the Bedouins also turned into a bit of a fashion show as the ladies took great delight in dressing Anelia in a variety of their fine gowns and scarves and insisting she posed for pictures. Day two we traveled to the Dead cities, cities that grew up out of the rocky Limestone fields in central Syria and were abandoned for unknown reasons leaving only the ghosts of the past. The first of these cities was our favourite with enough of the structures still standing you could almost see the old city in its glory. Unfortunately we couldn’t quite capture the ambience of this place on film. We ended the day at Apamea., another Roman city of which all that remains is the well preserved 2km long colonnaded main street. The third day a young Syrian boy attached himself to us and acted as tour guide for our walk around Hama. We toured around the city of Hama visiting the souq and stopping to wonder at the magnificent water wheels. These huge wheels and a complex aqueduct system were amoung the first of their kinds dating back to 7^th century AD and were perhaps the first used in an industrial capacity. In the souq the young lad who’s name escapes us (yes the name always seems to escape us but honestly you meet at least a dozen people a day as they stop to ask you where you are from and what your name is and if you like Syria and most of them are named Mohammed, orAli or Abdul or at least a name somewhat akin to that) bought us boiled beans, lightly salted and covered in lemon, a sort of souq treat to munch on while you shop. Anelia spent most of her time trying to find the right moment to discretely drop hers in the street before finally caving in and admitting to the lad she couldn’t eat them. She felt very bad admitting it seeing as he had spent his hard earned cash on us but in her defence we had just finished eating supper at an absolutely fantastic restaurant and had once again ate so much our pants barely fit. In addition the beans were not exactly what you would call delicious. Jeff on the other hand ate every one of the damned things and spent the next 4 or 5 hours regretting it! Open a window somebody! Anyhoo, our stay in Hama was great but before we new it we were off to Allepo!

pic 1 - beans in the market pics 2 and 3 - Crack des Cheveliars castle pics 4 and 5 - tea at the Bdouin camp, Anelia plays dress up. pics 6 and 7 - water wheels in Hama pic 8 - the dead cities

pic 9 - the Roman ruins of Apamea

Palmyra, Syria

Roman ruins of Palmyra (Tamador in arabic) are incredible, consisting of an imposing fortress high on a hill overlooking what was once a great colonnaded street that ran for 2 or 3 km’s down to the Temple of Bel. Many of the pillars and archways are in impeccable condition and give indication to the wealth and power of this once great city. The city prospered considerably as one of the outpost for trade and commerce between the Roman Empire in the west and Parthians in the east. In 212 Palmyra became a Roman colony and spent lavishly, enlarging its great colonnaded street and building more temples. It was from this city that Queen Zenobia challenged the Roman Empire. After the assassination of her husband, Zenobia claimed power in the name of her son till he was of age. Suspecting foul play on the Queen’s behalf, Rome refused to acknowledge her claim and sent an army to deal with the rebel queen. Zenobia defeated the Romans and continued on to Bosra, the capital of the province of Arabia, defeating the garrison there and eventually successfully invading egypt. With all of Syria, Lebanon and part of Egypt under her control, Zenobia declared her independence from Rome and began minting her own money. The Romans were not amused. With a great show of military force they besieged the city of Palmyra, demanding her surrender. Defiant till the end, Zenobia refused to surrender and made a mad dash on a camel to the east to try and elicit aid from the Persians. Zenobia was captured where after being paraded through the streets of Rome in gold chains and imprisoned for a time she was eventually freed and got married to a Roman senator. I guess that was punishment of sorts? The fall of Palmyra began with a rebellion in 273 when the Palmyrans massacred 600 Roman troops of the garrison. In response, Emperor Aurelians sent the legions who slaughtered large numbers and put Palmyra to the torch. The great city never recovered.

After touring the ruins we stopped for a bite to eat at a restaurant which we were told served excellent camel meat in tomato sauce. We gave it a try and had to admit it was good. Kind of tasted like beef! We spent the night in a nice new little hotel for a good price. The only snag was having to spend 2 hours killing all the flies in the joint. No kidding, I think we had killed around 30! The flies were everywhere in Palmyra. The next morning we "buzzed off" to Hama.

Damascus, Syria

An unexpected trip to Syria resulted in a 5 hour wait at the border hoping to get a Visa and be allowed entry into the country. Our taxi driver. who was to take us to the next town in Syria, decided it was better off for him to leave after waiting 3 hours leaving us stranded at the Syria border crossing. Luckily for us, we were allowed entrance and found a service cab willing to take us the last 7 km. A final bus ride brought us to Damascus, 10 hours after leaving Amman, Jordan. Damascus lays claim to be title of the oldest continually inhabited city in the world. It is a charming city with boutique hotels, old pasha palaces, and vibrant marketplaces (souqs) filled with the most friendliest people we've encountered. After touring the souqs and and visiting some spectacular palaces we stopped for lunch at an archaic 17th century Damascene home turned into a restaurant. At the end of an excellent lunch and stuffed to the gills, we asked for our bill. Instead, we received a huge platter of fruit on the house. We undid our pants (don't worry, only slightly) and stuffed in a few more morsels. Just when we pushed our plates away the waiter arrived with another plate. Jeff waved his arms emphatically indicating he couldn't eat anymore fruit and Anelia groaned. The waiter replied, "this is for sweets. Our compliments". The fruit plate was whisked away and replaced with a chocolate filled crepe to which Jeff and Anelia lifted their forks once again. The crepe was gone in a matter of seconds and with a possible explosion of stomach contents, Jeff whispered for the bill again. Instead the waiter asked "tea or coffee"? Jeff rubbed his belly and said, "no room at the Inn". The waiter replied, "our compliments". Not ever passing on a free handout Jeff ordered a coffee and downed it no problem as Anelia watched in amazement. The crane was ordered in and lifted us away from the table (not literally of course) and as we packed up to leave the waiter insisted we return the next day at the same time. Sadly, we were leaving Damascus the following day but would have happily obliged. After lunch we thought we better walk it off a little and headed out to explore the mosques. The Umayyad Mosque, one of the most holiest for all Muslims, was built in 705 AD as Damascus had become the Islamic world capital. The most beautiful feature of the mosque were the golden mosaics adorning the southern wall and prayer hall. This is also the supposed resting place for John the Baptist's head which is kept in an ornately decorated, green domed shrine. Near the Umayyad mosque lies the Sayyida Ruqayya Mosque dedicated to the daughter of the martyr Hussain, son of Ali. Jeff was denied entry due to wearing shorts but Anelia was able to fully dress in traditional attire and venture in. The mosque is breathtaking in its extravagance. One of the most unforgettable sights was watching dozens of women wailing and crying while caressing the bejeweled tomb of the fabled princess. At first glance Anelia thought she witness the women throwing flowers onto the tomb but on second glance saw it was in fact barbie dolls! If you look closely at the picture you can see one of many Barbie dolls on top of the shrine. We could continue on telling many tales of our time in Damascus but this blog is getting way too long. So for the sake of your sanity we will end by saying definitely try to make a trip to Damascus in your lifetime.

pic 1- Pile of ice cream in souq
pic 2- Umayyad Mosque
pic 3- Sayyida Mosque (look for barbie doll)
pic 4- never-ending dessert at restaurant
pic 5- don't eat the bulk candy available in the souq
pic 6- spice shop in souq
pic 7- Ruins of the Roman era
pic 8- old town streets
pic 9- our hotel sitting room