Victoria Hotel Jerusalem

... 8217;s easy to see why fugitives would find this spot attractive.

At our first National Park, we bought a six-park entry pass that lasts for 2 weeks, which meant it expired 2 days before our arrival to Ein Gedi. But, as my mother always say, it never hurts to ask. The first nature reserve representative refused to let us use the pass so, as my mother also always says, never give up. And so we did, and we didn’t, and sure enough we found a more sympathetic ear ...

... Hebben die Joden dan toch niets geleerd..? We waren erg laat, dus moesten we erg snel door de tweede helft van het museum rennen. Toch was de laatste zaal erg indrukwekkend: een grote ronde zaal met aan de muren mappen en mappen en mappen vol met Joden die in de Holocaust gestorven zijn. Dan is 6 miljoen opeens heel en heel en heel veel.

Terug in de stad hadden we weer een bizarre ervaring. Het nieuwe centrum was afgezet voor een soort ...

... experience.

We got back to Kubbutz Ein Gedi before breakfast opened at 8am. We had an extremely fantastic breakfast of everything imaginable…except for meat. They had a great self-serve expresso, cappuccino machine too. On our way back Sarah and I wandered across the street to the zoo where we found an array of interesting animals in a rustic zoo. The animals included a crocodile, baboons, some ...

... they believed that when it is placed in the third temple that G-d will remove the other impure metals and supernaturally cause the menorah to retain its form. We learned that there were10 miracles that happened in the temple. One that the flame of the Mennorah goes horizontally not vertically, another the on and off lights on the stones of the ephod. The other eight I don’t know. Sarah was virtually possessed here in her interest. We ...

... Moschee zu zerstoeren und einen dritten Tempel zu errichten; die Muslime, von denen die zweite Intifada ausging und es seit dem Ende der Selbstmordattentate als neue Mode entdeckt haben, mit Lastwaegen in Menschenmengen zu rasen; oder die Christen, die die Stimme Gottes gehoert haben und von nun an alle Unglaeubige in Jerusalem bekehren wollen. Zu letzteren gehoeren auch die Heerscharen an Amis, die in der Stadt herumwuseln. Stellen sie schon die am meisten praesente Nationalitaet ...

... and girls on the inside. The commotion around the plaza stopped and everybody, tourists and Israelis alike, crowded around to see what was happening. It was very surreal.

Standing at the very end of one of the two smaller sides with my Chilean friend, people behind us kept speaking in hushed, hurried, and curious faces about what was going on. As the commanders prepared themselves for something, these people began to ask me about our program, where we were from, and what ...

... whereabouts. So the film isn't all about gorgeous Israeli spies standing around with mud on them.)
At any rate, the mud is in these huge wooden bins that you stand around and reach into to smear it on yourself or on each other. It's full of minerals that are supposed to be good for you, so they encourage you to smear it everywhere. You're in the full sun of the Dead Sea, so the mud dries quickly, and then you shower it off in sulfur showers. (Sulfur is a salt, and again ...

... held their procession with a large group of pilgrims. I participated, singing and praying in English along with their Latin. I found it beautiful, truly catholic, and deeply worshipful. BUT, let me tell you, once they were done, there was a Greek Orthodox monk or priest (I'm not sure which) there to move them on out and let the rest of us in. He was not the patient type, threatening to call the police and yelling at the RC pilgrims to leave. And this ...

... requires his security team to inspect every room of the huge house, but they had to cancel a few days ago. While Lori and Alan like Sara Netanyahu, Alan hates Bibi – not for his politics, but apparently he’s a rude and extremely arrogant man. It would have been great to have lunch with the probable next Prime Minister, and offer him a few questions, but we’ll have to have a relatively quiet lunch instead, as they’re only expecting 30 to 40 guests!

... where Jesus was to have healed a man in the garden area. We then went out Lion's Gate and over to the Mount of Olives. This is the site where Jesus was betrayed. There is the beautiful Church of Gethsemane with the rock where Jesus prayed inside in front of the alter. There was a group of German tourists who were having a service when we were there. Outside of the church is the garden with the very old olive trees in it ...