So Tired

I am writing this from home. The kids and I arrived late last night (David is spending 2 weeks more in England) and if it wasn't for the long flight, I would hop on a plane and return back to Israel.

We had such a great time and it's so awesome to see all the advancements and prosperity that Israel and Israelies have gained since I last visited there 20 years ago. I know it seems funny to think that a country would just remain frozen in time but I really was surprised by how much it has changed. It also might be that I am no longer a teenager living there, so my experiences and how I see the world is much different now than then.

We were really lucky to find a family to swap cars with us, so we had a minivan to use and we had wonderful people to stay with. We didn't get to see everything that we wanted (such as some great museums up North and Tel Aviv, as well as Masada, the Western Wall tunnel tours, and some other archeology sites) but what we did do was often off the beaten path and so much fun.

The kids especially love the "Dig for a Day" in which we (our family and the Bogners) spent time digging in an underground cave for remnants from the Hasmonean dynasty time period (I found an animal carving which was really cool), then we climb down and through some caves that have not been excavated, and then it was topped off by visiting a fully excavated site which had been a major place for olive pressing.

Other places that we visited which the kids also enjoyed was the Latrun Tank Museum, Jerusalem's Old City Ramparts (you are walking on top of the outer walls that surround the Old City) and the The Bullet Factory whose code name was the Ayalon Insitute, a military factory during the British Mandate, that disguised itself by operating as a Kibbutz near the town of Rechovot. Only a small group of pioneers were involved with the covert operation - everyone else who lived and work on the Kibbutz (called Giraffes) thought it was a legitimate commune. David had already left the country when we visited the most spectacular Stalactite Avshalom Cave , in Bet Shemesh as well as one of the most beautiful beaches that I've have ever visited (excluding Hawaii) - Nitzanim Beach, located on the Ashdod Dunes Preserves.

I truly can't wait to return with the family to our home away from home.