After three months in separate countries, Roz and I clearly needed a reuniting holiday, and we found it: less than 5 hours away, sunny weather, and great hiking, culture, history and food. Only two things stood between us and a glorious week in Israel: Donald Trump and the flu.
Mr Trump controversially declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel just days before we were due to arrive there, and the papers started to headline our intended holiday destination with words like 'unrest' and 'death'. The Foreign Office guidelines were specific: avoid all the areas we were planning to visit until 6am on Saturday morning. But we weren't arriving til Saturday evening. We could only hope the protestors would keep to a strict rioting schedule to facilitate our sightseeing... And as for the flu, Roz had already been extravagantly sick for days and had recently given it to me as a charming pre-Christmas gift. Frankly I don't recall having had a worse virus. I felt revolting. It did not make either of us the most beloved of aeroplane seat neighbours...
We arrived late into Jerususalem and had misguidedly booked a hotel near nothing. So we embarked on a mile-long dinner quest, wheezing and hacking-coughing our way along a pleasant street til we finally found a cool neighbourhood restaurant. We combatted our nausea with a pizza and salad (and free desserts!). Roz sampled her first Israeli wine. And then, shivering and coughing and sneezing, we made our way back to the hotel, musing that it may have been more sensible to stay at home, tucked up in bed. But we do love holidays, so that would have been no fun.
The next day, after a nice sleepless night, the sun was shining and it was time to head into the Old City. After checking the FCO advice, we entered cheerily and had a pleasant breakfast just inside Jaffa Gate before joining a Sandemans free walking tour. It was very cool - the Old City is all winding alleys and ancient streets and limestone buildings and bursting with atmosphere. We even got to see the wailing wall, aka Western Wall, and I had a shameful flashback to my trip here 17 years ago when I was taken to this wall and didn't know what it was.
After vIsiting the Armemian, Jewish and Muslim quarters (and taking every opportunity to sit/lie/semi-collapse with flu-ey exhaustion), we retired to a nice cafe for lunch. I managed a soup and was proud. Afterwards we bought tickets for the Old City Wall ramparts - we walked all the way along the top of the north wall which was brilliant and gave a beautiful view of the city. And it was only slightly challenging to climb up all these stairs with what felt like my last breaths...
We eventually got off the wall and walked to Damascus Gate to get a train back to our hotel with my memory of the FCO website saying 'whatever you do, avoid Damascus Gate', but all was fine and soon we were back and Roz made them give me some hot water for my Lemsip. Then it was a mere 20 min walk up a hill with a suitcase to Central Bus Station and we were off to the next stage of our Israel adventure: Ein Gedi. All sorts of adventure awaited at this Dead Sea oasis.
As the bus wove through streets in the dark, I noticed illumimated signs for all the FCO no-go areas. I checked our location on Google Maps. We were literally driving all the way through the West Bank. Oops. But all was fine other than some inevitable unwellness, and we were safely deposited at Ein Gedi Kibbutz Hotel, where we had a very satisfactory hummous, falafel etc dinner and headed off to bed for a nice night of sneezing and wheezing.
Which set us up well for an energetic day of fun. After breakfast we caught a bus to Masada, a famous hilltop fortress and the last Jewish holdout against the Romans. Luckily we were able to take a cablecar to the top. Then we walked around all the Roman ruins which were very cool and interesting, admired the brilliant views of the desert, the Dead Sea, and across to Jordan, and spent some time lying down on a bench... Before summoning all our remaining energy and hiking down the mountain along the 'snake path'. Which was beautiful and scenic and delightful, and we had it all mostly to ourselves.
We took a bus back to the hotel, grabbed our swimsuits, and then we were off to the Ein Gedi spa, aka swimming in the Dead Sea! In retrospect, my flu didn't really want me to strip down to a swimsuit, as it is still technically winter here, even if it is sunny and nice. Nor did it want me to hike a mile in said swimsuit to the Dead Sea and promptly get in, despite it being decidedly chilly. But I found myself on that trajectory anyway. When in Ein Gedi... The Dead Sea was brilliant. Far, far more salty than our Jordan experience (inexplicably!). And astoundingly beautiful scenery. We floated and Roz lent me her water shoes like a hero so I didn't have to hurt my feet on the salt crystals (as she then did). Of note: touching a very sore, flu-ey nose with salt water is not to be recommended.
After our float, we hopped on a weird shuttle bus/truck thing and were conveyed back to reception, and we spent the rest of our 'spa' experience in an alarmingly black but comfortingly warm sulphur bath.
Back at the hotel, we played Scrabble (I won), walked/sneezed through an exploration of the the Kibbutz and botanical gardens and many cats, had a rest, then had dinner and three thousand games of rummy (Roz won almost all) before we persuaded ourselves it was acceptable to go to bed. Thank goodness!
Our alarm was set for 6:45am today, a nice long lie for us holidaymakers. I awoke feeling marginally less awful than yesterday: hooray! Which was just as well as we were about to embark on five hours of hiking in the Ein Gedi reserve. Which is glorious. First we set out on a tour of Wadi David with a charming old man who has lived at the Kibbutz since the 60s. Then after winding our way through lots of lovely waterfalls, and seeing ibex and mountain rabbits, and soaring orange and white cliffs and lots of greenery, we left the group and headed off by ourselves, up and over a mountain, wheezing all the way. It was lovely. After eventually descending to the road, we'd planned to head back to the hotel but then I got cocky - I wasn't actually lying on the ground in a wheezing coughing mess. Thus maybe we should head to Wadi Arubot and do another 2 hour hike. It was completely amazing. Part of the hiking path was inside a river! It involved rock climbing up little waterfalls and knee-deep wading, again surrounded by soaring mountains and beautiful creek-side vegetation. It was beautiful and glorious and exciting. Though gorge walking was, in retrospect, not necessarily what the doctor ordered...
Eventually we got a taxi back to the hotel to dry off and have lunch, then caught a bus back to Jerusalem. Instead of the uninspiring hotel of a few days ago, we checked into the really delightful, arty Bezalel Hotel in the centre of town. After partaking of their excellent happy hour drinks and snacks and lighting of the first candle of Hanukkah, we spent the evening wandering in the lively market (more hipster than expected), and wide, jolly pedestrian streets lined with shops and restaurants. We finished up in Nocturne, a convivial restaurant near our hotel where we had a little dinner before heading home to bed. So far we are loving our Israel holiday. And it may be that our illness is turning a corner... For now, pass the decongestant tablets. I'm ready for our next adventures!
Mr Trump controversially declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel just days before we were due to arrive there, and the papers started to headline our intended holiday destination with words like 'unrest' and 'death'. The Foreign Office guidelines were specific: avoid all the areas we were planning to visit until 6am on Saturday morning. But we weren't arriving til Saturday evening. We could only hope the protestors would keep to a strict rioting schedule to facilitate our sightseeing... And as for the flu, Roz had already been extravagantly sick for days and had recently given it to me as a charming pre-Christmas gift. Frankly I don't recall having had a worse virus. I felt revolting. It did not make either of us the most beloved of aeroplane seat neighbours...
We arrived late into Jerususalem and had misguidedly booked a hotel near nothing. So we embarked on a mile-long dinner quest, wheezing and hacking-coughing our way along a pleasant street til we finally found a cool neighbourhood restaurant. We combatted our nausea with a pizza and salad (and free desserts!). Roz sampled her first Israeli wine. And then, shivering and coughing and sneezing, we made our way back to the hotel, musing that it may have been more sensible to stay at home, tucked up in bed. But we do love holidays, so that would have been no fun.
The next day, after a nice sleepless night, the sun was shining and it was time to head into the Old City. After checking the FCO advice, we entered cheerily and had a pleasant breakfast just inside Jaffa Gate before joining a Sandemans free walking tour. It was very cool - the Old City is all winding alleys and ancient streets and limestone buildings and bursting with atmosphere. We even got to see the wailing wall, aka Western Wall, and I had a shameful flashback to my trip here 17 years ago when I was taken to this wall and didn't know what it was.
After vIsiting the Armemian, Jewish and Muslim quarters (and taking every opportunity to sit/lie/semi-collapse with flu-ey exhaustion), we retired to a nice cafe for lunch. I managed a soup and was proud. Afterwards we bought tickets for the Old City Wall ramparts - we walked all the way along the top of the north wall which was brilliant and gave a beautiful view of the city. And it was only slightly challenging to climb up all these stairs with what felt like my last breaths...
We eventually got off the wall and walked to Damascus Gate to get a train back to our hotel with my memory of the FCO website saying 'whatever you do, avoid Damascus Gate', but all was fine and soon we were back and Roz made them give me some hot water for my Lemsip. Then it was a mere 20 min walk up a hill with a suitcase to Central Bus Station and we were off to the next stage of our Israel adventure: Ein Gedi. All sorts of adventure awaited at this Dead Sea oasis.
As the bus wove through streets in the dark, I noticed illumimated signs for all the FCO no-go areas. I checked our location on Google Maps. We were literally driving all the way through the West Bank. Oops. But all was fine other than some inevitable unwellness, and we were safely deposited at Ein Gedi Kibbutz Hotel, where we had a very satisfactory hummous, falafel etc dinner and headed off to bed for a nice night of sneezing and wheezing.
Which set us up well for an energetic day of fun. After breakfast we caught a bus to Masada, a famous hilltop fortress and the last Jewish holdout against the Romans. Luckily we were able to take a cablecar to the top. Then we walked around all the Roman ruins which were very cool and interesting, admired the brilliant views of the desert, the Dead Sea, and across to Jordan, and spent some time lying down on a bench... Before summoning all our remaining energy and hiking down the mountain along the 'snake path'. Which was beautiful and scenic and delightful, and we had it all mostly to ourselves.
We took a bus back to the hotel, grabbed our swimsuits, and then we were off to the Ein Gedi spa, aka swimming in the Dead Sea! In retrospect, my flu didn't really want me to strip down to a swimsuit, as it is still technically winter here, even if it is sunny and nice. Nor did it want me to hike a mile in said swimsuit to the Dead Sea and promptly get in, despite it being decidedly chilly. But I found myself on that trajectory anyway. When in Ein Gedi... The Dead Sea was brilliant. Far, far more salty than our Jordan experience (inexplicably!). And astoundingly beautiful scenery. We floated and Roz lent me her water shoes like a hero so I didn't have to hurt my feet on the salt crystals (as she then did). Of note: touching a very sore, flu-ey nose with salt water is not to be recommended.
After our float, we hopped on a weird shuttle bus/truck thing and were conveyed back to reception, and we spent the rest of our 'spa' experience in an alarmingly black but comfortingly warm sulphur bath.
Back at the hotel, we played Scrabble (I won), walked/sneezed through an exploration of the the Kibbutz and botanical gardens and many cats, had a rest, then had dinner and three thousand games of rummy (Roz won almost all) before we persuaded ourselves it was acceptable to go to bed. Thank goodness!
Our alarm was set for 6:45am today, a nice long lie for us holidaymakers. I awoke feeling marginally less awful than yesterday: hooray! Which was just as well as we were about to embark on five hours of hiking in the Ein Gedi reserve. Which is glorious. First we set out on a tour of Wadi David with a charming old man who has lived at the Kibbutz since the 60s. Then after winding our way through lots of lovely waterfalls, and seeing ibex and mountain rabbits, and soaring orange and white cliffs and lots of greenery, we left the group and headed off by ourselves, up and over a mountain, wheezing all the way. It was lovely. After eventually descending to the road, we'd planned to head back to the hotel but then I got cocky - I wasn't actually lying on the ground in a wheezing coughing mess. Thus maybe we should head to Wadi Arubot and do another 2 hour hike. It was completely amazing. Part of the hiking path was inside a river! It involved rock climbing up little waterfalls and knee-deep wading, again surrounded by soaring mountains and beautiful creek-side vegetation. It was beautiful and glorious and exciting. Though gorge walking was, in retrospect, not necessarily what the doctor ordered...
Eventually we got a taxi back to the hotel to dry off and have lunch, then caught a bus back to Jerusalem. Instead of the uninspiring hotel of a few days ago, we checked into the really delightful, arty Bezalel Hotel in the centre of town. After partaking of their excellent happy hour drinks and snacks and lighting of the first candle of Hanukkah, we spent the evening wandering in the lively market (more hipster than expected), and wide, jolly pedestrian streets lined with shops and restaurants. We finished up in Nocturne, a convivial restaurant near our hotel where we had a little dinner before heading home to bed. So far we are loving our Israel holiday. And it may be that our illness is turning a corner... For now, pass the decongestant tablets. I'm ready for our next adventures!
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