Continuing Adventures Up North

Monday May 7 / 22 Iyar
The weather forecast had called for rain in the morning with clearing skies in the afternoon. The night before we decided to get a drop of a later start. Israeli hotels are different than American hotels in that most of offer breakfast (kosher) as part of your rate. There is a huge selection of various foods to choose from. This hotel did not disappoint. We loaded up our plates and started eating when the heavens opened up.

One by one we all made the bracha on thunder and lightening. The downpour was tremendous and we weren't going anywhere in it. Finally, at around 10:15, it started clearing. So we packed up, checked out, and headed on our way. Amidst much arguing, I pulled rank and said we were going to the old city of Tzafas. I had wanted to see the grave of the Arizal, who is buried there, so we stopped there first. On the way down to the grave you pass by his famed mikvah.

I said some tehillim while at his grave, as well as at the composer of Lecha Dodi, Rabbi Alkabetz.

Tami likes to start at the famous Sefad Candle factory. Last time I came to Israel, we were so rushed. I honestly don't remember seeing any of the totally mind blowing creations there.

There is a chess set loaded with symbolism, as well as the most darling Noah's ark. The tevah had such cute animals, such as Grommet, Snoopy, Winnie the Pooh, Madagascar, etc.

Sheindy and Zahava both made a twisted candle like a havdalah candle.

Now the real adventure started. Last time I was here there was a female artist who had the most stunning picture of the Rebbe. For two years, I've kicked myself for not buying it. I wanted to find her and see if she still had it. Tami showed us some other little hidden treasures along the way of my search. We saw how people weave with a loom. We were also treated to a gorgeous look out from the top of a building. I had almost given up hope of finding the artist when lo and behold, there she is! Sadly, she no longer had the picture I wanted. I spent a long time looking at her work, because I really wanted to bring something nice back, a real piece of Israel. There wasn't anything I really loved except for this huge picture. So we left in search of what else there was. Nothing really spoke to me, screaming, this is it! There were several interesting shop keepers, like the guy who yelled at us to get away; the guy who didn't seem us worthy of his attention, and the woman who walked away when I wanted to make a purchase. I didn't care, as my money walked away with me when I left their stall. It was their loss, not mine.
So I stopped back at the lady artist. When I had explained what I wanted earlier, she had remembered me. She said she normally doesn't push, but she saw how much I had wanted it, which is why she pushed that time. We went back and forth on what I liked, but I was still drawn to that huge picture. Zahava kept saying I could take it on the plane with me, but I wasn't even sure where I was going to put such a large picture. She then told me she could make me a slightly smaller one and ship it to me. So even though the end cost would be the same as purchasing the much larger one, the ease of not dealing with it on the plane totally won out.
Shockingly, it was almost 2 when we left. For a place people didn't want to go, we had spent an awfully long time. We needed to cut our agenda, so I had Tami drop a hike I was very interested in. It was pretty much my fault we had spent such a long time there.
We were going to go to Menara Cliff, but several bus loads of kids pulled up. We didn't want to wait 45 mins for a 7 minute ride, so we left.
Sheindy said she was really hungry, and we spotted a Cafe Cafe. When we pulled into the mall parking lot, we saw a kosher l'mehadrin Pizza Hut there.

So pizza it was  Again. (I never want to see pizza again, since we've had it so many times.)
With full bellies, we headed to a water hike. Israel is a land full of stunning trails, some of which are in water. This particular one is not super long, nor is it very hard. We changed into some water gear, and headed off on our adventure. The park was basically empty, with only a couple of other cars there. In truth, we didn't really see anyone else on the trail. It starts off easy enough as you mosey on down the path. Then it sorta ends in this delightful brook. Seems easy enough, right? It really isn't if you are carrying a phone to take pictures with and don't have one hand to balance and you are walking on rocks with some slime on them. I'll give you one guess who mywas the first to fall! Said person proudly held their hand high to prevent their phone from getting wet, although I can't say the same for the rest of her.

The scenery was absolutely beautiful. The leaves were a lovely spring green, and the overgrowth provided the exact amount of shade we needed. Sheindy and Zahava were really enjoying themselves. Tami and I went a little slower. Tami was slow only to make sure I didn't tumble again, since I wasn't able to balance myself so well.
At the end of the trail, we made a decision to go banana boating, since we had cut it out the day before.
We headed down to Teveria. We were in Kiryat Shemona, which is a Northernmost city in Israel. The area for banana boating is right near Aqua Kef. Sheindy wanted to go back, but it was too close to closing. So we went to the docks. The weather was a little cooler, and I really didn't want to get completely wet. There is a good chance of falling off the banana boat, so we went with a carousela boat. Tami had shown me a video the night before and it looked fun.
Zahava was concerned it would be too tame. Tami told me not to wear my shaitel, so I had my ugly bathing cap on. We climbed into this giant round inflated couch, and the speed boat pulled us out of the dock.

It seemed pretty tame until we got fat enough out into Lake Kinneret. Then the boat driver threw out the extra roap and put the boat into high gear. Three words .... Oh. My. Gosh!!!! I think a screw must have fallen out (of me) when I tumbled in the water, because this was just insane! I've gotten a little more tame over the years, but I still enjoy a good thrill. This was slightly beyond that. Zahava and Sheindy were sitting on the sides, with me in the middle. Sheindy is so light that each bounce sent her flying. The boat is zipping around in the water creating small waves, which our raft was bouncing over. Soon, it got to be too much, and Sheindy was really scared. She was bouncing pretty high. I had her move over next to me, and I held onto the strap on her other side, in affect, creating a seat belt with my arm. We took off again, bouncing and flying over the Kinneret. I do have to admit that I was more than happy when it was over. I think I'm getting too old for there things! The guy was super nice and told us we can take pictures in any of the boats.

As we were leaving, we saw these little mechanical cars. The very cars that Sheindy has been asking us to buy get for years. Since she is small, she was able to rent one. She drove up and down the pier. Tami raced her ... And won. The little car doesn't go very fast. That didn't bother her in the least, she throughly loved every second of it.

And with that last little adventure, it was time to bid farewell to Northern Israel and head back to Yerushalayim.

Belated Lag B'omer up North

Sunday May 6 / 21 Iyar
We headed up to the Northern most part of Israel with Tami from Nof Tours. She has been fantastic, from planning all of our expeditions to executing them. She is very pleasant and professional, as well as extremely easy to get along with. I very nothing from mentioning her in my blog. I just love to pass on a terrific find.
Poor Sheindy has been suffering from allergies while we were here. Our decent down from Yerushalayim was very hard on her; causing her a lot of ear pain. It Baruch Hashem went away when we leveled out.
Even though I promised not to drag Sheindy around to a bunch of graves, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to visit the Rambam's in Teveria.

We were passing right by it. We stopped to eat lunch and I snuck in a few kapitalach of tehillim.
Next we headed towards Tzafas. Sheindy had decided to skip banana boating, so we decided to visit the bunkers on Mount Bental.

We headed off to the most delicious trip, the De Karina Factory tour.

If you are a chocoholic, you will think you are in heaven! You get to see how gourmet chocolate and truffles are made. Then  ... You get to TASTE gourmet chocolates. Finally, you get to design your own special chocolates. We made 3 truffles, 2 small chocolate pieces, and your own chocolate bar. There was a nice variety of things to mix in, as well as milk, white, and dark chocolate.
From the chocolate factory we went to a sort of water park called Aqua Kef. 

If you ever watched Wipe Out, you will have a general idea of what this is. The only difference is the entire obstacle course is on water. This particular place is kind enough to offer separate hours for the frum community in the late afternoon. We went for ladies hours. I went with Zahava and Sheindy once around the course. It took me about 45 mins, and I was completely wiped out! I called it quits while the girls continued on. They loved climbing the huge wall and jumping into the Kinneret. Sheindy really really loved it, saying it was one of the best parts of the trip.
Next, since it was getting late and we wanted to get there before dark, we headed to Piki'in.

The actual cave that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was in is located there. The side of the mountain is covered with carob trees. Sheindy got a carob pod from off the ground. The whole thing is really cool.

We then headed to Meron to visit the kever of the Rashbi. The place was still hopping from Lag B'omer, with parts of it closed off and tons of people everywhere. It was really nice, since no one was pushing. A lady asked me for tzedakah on the way out and rewarded me with a lovely dvar Torah about money in the times of Moshiach. I for sure got the better end of the deal.

It was late and we were hungry and tired. We headed to our "hotel" in Tzafas. Let me just say this, of you are looking for a good experience, do NOT book on priceline. For some crazy reason, they make you enter all this information on children, then don't include them in the actual booking. So you end up paying more. Priceline is now Bookings and it's impossible to reach them if you are out of the US. Finally, I think they have bogus reviews. The "hotel" I booked would barely qualify as a B and B. The reviews and ratings were great, but this place was a complete dive. The clincher was the disgusting mold on the shower curtain. A quick text to a great travel agent we know and Voila! A booking in a real hotel.
So we zip off to grab a bite to eat and check in when we came to a complete halt. Apparently, there was a car accident ahead.

Two busses were blocking the way in front on a one way street. Being the great person that I am, I attempted to direct traffic. It's hard to be efficient when you can't speak Hebrew and no one speaks English. At that point, another guy got the whole row of cars to back out, and we had the pleasure of driving the wrong way around a one way street. I've gotta about, that was a little hair raising.

We picked up dinner from this adorable Cafe, Mendy's. Not related to the one in Crown Heights, I think. We found our new accommodations to be excellent. We were so pleased with the new hotel. After our dinner at 10 something, we finally fell into bed. It was a long but exciting, fun filled day.

Big Expectations

Shabbos May 5 / 20 Iyar
We had a very quiet but extremely pleasant shabbos. Shabbos afternoon I kept asking to either go to the shuk to see the art work or go to the Old City to see my stepfather's good friend. I ended up waiting all day and finally at 6 we left.
OK. That was a bit of a disappointment. I guess I was expecting every store gate to be painted with things and people I would recognize. However, there were only a couple I did recognize. It would be nice if there were names on it. No big deal, but I think I had higher expectations on what I would see.
Motzai shabbos was spent getting ready for our overnight up North.

Bike Race Woes

Friday May 4 / 19 Iyar
Today marks the yartzeit of my dear friend Zeldy a'h, as well as Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rimanov.
The day started off lazy once again, with me attempting to get Sheindy out the door. I finally convinced her to go to the shuk. I tried to get a cab, but the main streets were closed off for the bike race. I had heard they were letting people cross on foot, so we tried walking. We had Rikki with us in the stroller. I pushed that thing up a huge hill to find out we missed the small window for crossing by five minutes. Shauly thought I could cross by King George, so we tried to make our way over there. We found out that if we waited an hour, we could cross, but they would only allow it for a short while and then it would be closed until five. ABORT MISSION!!
We headed back to Shauly and Zahava's apartment. I spent a lazy day playing on my phone. I could do get used to not having to make shabbos and have someone do it for me. I even asked Shauly if I can move in with him. 😂

The Day That Wasn't

Thursday May 3 / Lag B'omer 🎯
The day started off nice enough, with Rikki and Huvi climbing into my bed (at 8am!). Since it was Lag B'omer, we were able to watch some music videos. Huvi really loves music. I had planned to go to some museums today, since a lot of them were free. Sheindy wasn't too excited about that idea. We got a late start, heading off to Greens so I could FINALLY have my iced coffee.

They have a ton of sugar and cream, so I wanted to make sure that I would totally enjoy it. Man plans and G-d laughs  ... I figured we both didn't eat breakfast, we should get some real food. I had a big bowl of vegetable soup and Sheindy had a bagel with tons of cream cheese. When we were done, we picked up our iced coffee and chocolate blend. And finally, we were off. We both sorta looked at our drinks and were like, uh, I'm so full!
At the Israel Museum, we walked around for about 10 seconds when Sheindy tells me her stomach hurts. ARGH! I ordered a cab for her and sent her back to Shauly's apartment (with our drinks to our in the freezer).
I wandered around for a little while, but it was boring by myself. I found the section I had wanted to see last time, the Jewish artifacts. Then I remembered that I hate this stuff! It drives me insane that these stunning religious items are trapped behind glass. Especially the items that were rescued from the Holocaust. The best revenge is to actually use them. Moshe Yess's song was stuck in my head. I did find the old jewelry interesting, since I've had some similar pieces.

Then I found myself in the art section. The pictures were pretty until I realized they had nothing to do with Jews or Israel. So I just kept walking around. I found some "great" modern art. Ladies, looks like we all have some "art" in our possession. 

Honestly, who ever paid for this is our of their mind. There was also a huge picture made out of bottle caps that wasn't even worth my time to take a picture of it. And the "sculpture" of a bed with a person sleeping in it. I see artwork like that every single day when I wake my kids up!!!! 

I was totally bored and annoyed at that point, so I left and went across the street to the Bible Lands Museum. I'm not really into this historical artifacts, so that was a fast, fly through the museum, type visit. I was extremely thankful that the museum was free.
Back at the apartment, I tried to convince Sheindy that we should go to the Jewish Music Museum, but there was no way she wanted to go. The Bloomfield Science Museum was free, but she also refused to go there. Finally at 5pm we took the girls to Ben Yehuda for pizza.

Wow! Heart be still, so much excitement, not. OK, So we ended up with a relaxing day. I got some laundry done, and Shauly and Zahava were able to get some grocery shopping done once we got the girls into bed. No huge plans for tomorrow either.

A FUN Sandwich Type of Day

Wednesday, May 2 / 17 Iyar

When you want to criticize someone, you create a sandwich, compliment, critique, compliment. That was our day - - FANTASTIC, not fun, FANTASTIC.

We had some major adventures planned for today. We got up to the northern coast of Israel a little early, so we popped into the Tunisian Shul in Acco.

This was not a stop Sheindy enjoyed too much, but OK.

Next up was a total surprise. Sheindy had no idea we were doing this. I have no idea how we managed to keep it a secret. I found this tornado boat (basically a speed boat for a bunch of people) via Trip Advisory. They go close to Rosh Hanikra. I didn't want to take Sheindy to Rosh Hanikra, but I didn't want to skip it either. This solves that dilemma.

The boat ride was beyond amazing. After we settled in, we literally took off. We were zooming in the water, bouncing on top of the waves.

We were blasting right towards a small island and at the last second the boat was turned around. We stopped to take pictures and then we were off again. The next destination was to say HELLO to an IDF boat that guards the Israeli border near Lebanon.

Then we went a little closer to Rosh Hanikra. I wish we could have gone to the grottos, but I think it has to be arranged with the IDF to make sure it's safe. We then headed off towards a view of a gorgeous beach. Of course we didn't bring bathing gear. Oh well. That beach can be added to the next trip bucket list.

(Yes, I wore a shaitel. I had to hold onto it with one hand and the bar with the other hand. That left no hands for my cell phone, so I just sat on it!!!)
After this fantastic adventure  we headed up to Keshet Cave. We weren't planning on going into the cave, just a hike over the bridge. The hike starts at the top of a mountain, and you work your way down a little bit to the arch.

There was a group of IDF soldiers who were eating lunch. I said I wanted a picture with them. Zahava and Sheindy dared me to do it. I didn't need the dare because I was going to do it anyways.

They were only too happy to take a picture with me. I made sure to bench them that Hashem should watch over them and keep them all safe.
I have to admit that I've been incredibly lazy the last few years, and I haven't been walking. Which made the hike super hard. Worst part is that this was the easy hike.

The view was gorgeous, so it was worth it. Next part was to go to this cool cave. Sheindy didn't want to do it, but I said we should. My idea of a cave is one you drive up to, walk in, look around and leave. This cave was a twenty minute hike in the hot sun over rocks on the side of a mountain.

To get into the cave, you have to crawl through a narrow opening. I was feeling light-headed and dizzy, but was pushing myself. I tried to talk Sheindy into doing it. She crawled through, saw a bug, and immediately fled back to the opening. Since I was beyond exhausted, I let her do it while everyone else continued on. My face was red as a tomato, and I had sweat dripping off me. Then we had to hike back to get to the car. I didn't enjoy this part of the trip.

Since we were so overheated, we searched for a gas station to find some more water and ice cream. Yes. You can find cholov Yisroel ice cream in most gas stations in Israel! At this point, I was ready to head back, as was Sheindy. We were supposed to go horseback riding. In the end, Sheindy decided to do it. I was going to sit it out. Once we got there, I decided to do it.

We literally rode off into the sunset.

Our guide Adam claimed he didn't know English very well. However, he did do a superb job. We had so much fun.

I had given him my cell phone to take pictures. He fell in love with it, since I have the camera set to voice activation. All you have to say is "Smile!" and it takes a picture. Once we got to the beach, he took tons of pictures of us. Then he wanted to get a shot with the three of us. Zahava's horse kept wanting to go over to Adam. So he would line the horse up, walk to take the picture, and Zahava's horse Don was walking towards him. It must have happened at least 5 times before we told him to let one of the other girls take a picture and he would be in the picture with the house. That worked. Too bad none of the pictures were good cuz he shot them into the sunset. Lol!

We then headed back to Yerushalayim. We stopped by Tommy's for dinner. Sheindy and I were supposed to go to the Migdal Dovid Light Show, but I was exhausted. I couldn't even take Sheindy out looking for bonfires. We did see one on the side of a hill on our way back, and that had to suffice. I couldn't even write my update. Just went to sleep without even changing my clothes!