On to Jerusalem

West Bank

This morning we faced the challenge of how to get across the country without public transportation because of the holiday. We had already done everything we wanted to do in Tiberias but the buses weren't going to start running again until 4.

We got together with a German hostel-mate who was also looking for a way to Jerusalem and decided to split a taxi ride. It definitely cost more than we wanted to pay but it was worth it to get to Jerusalem by lunchtime.

The taxi driver took us across the West Bank, a Palestinian Territory, to Jerusalem. The highway ran parallel to the Jordan River. Because there are so few trees, we could see for many miles, including the mountains of Jordan beyond the River.

There are three categories of control in the West Bank - total Israeli control, total Palestinian control, or a combination of the two. The majority of of the West Bank is under total Israeli control so for the most part, Israelis can move about freely while Palestinians are more severely restricted. A few areas, including Bethlehem, are under Palestinian civil and military control and no one with an Israeli passport can enter.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal by the UN and the United States. Our taxi driver didn't speak much English but would point to towns as we passed and say "Jewish" or "Arab".

Jerusalem Street

Jerusalem is a very interesting city. It is surrounded by walls and the only way to get in or out is to pass through one of the gates around the perimeter. It has a Christian Quarter, a Jewish Quarter, and a Muslim Quarter. The narrow stone streets are crowded with Muslim women, Orthodox Jewish men, and everything in between.

Temple Mount

The city is crammed with history and is very significant to Jews, Muslims, and Christians. We went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which stands at the place where Jesus was though to be crucified. Everything seems to be symbolic - the site of King David's tomb, the site where the Virgin Mary was thought to have been born, and the list goes on.

We're always at our best when eating a falafel sandwich.

Jerusalem offers wonderful culinary opportunities including falafel, shawarma, baklava. Since we love Middle Eastern food, we're in food heaven.

The Israeli Adventure Begins

After a long flight from Atlanta, we arrived in Tel Aviv on Monday evening around 5 p.m. Originally we had planned to spend our first night in Tel Aviv, but since we agreed that our first stop would be Tiberias, we immediately boarded a bus to get the 3 hour journey out of the way.

"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and disease among the people." - Matthew 4:23

We awoke this morning very refreshed and well rested. Tiberias is a city on the coast of the Sea of Galilee in northeastern Israel. The Sea (lake is more appropriate) of Galilee is where Jesus walked on water, fed the 5000, and other noteworthy biblical events. We rented bikes and rode to the northwestern coast of the Sea of Galilee to see some of the land and historical sights.

Our first stop was at a museum to see a 2000 year old boat that was discovered in 1986. We suppose an old boat in another place might not be so significant, but this one has been carefully preserved and is on display for a hefty admission fee because, who knows, it just might have come in contact with Jesus himself.

Mount of Beatitudes

Next we went to the Mount of Beatitudes, which has been commemorated as the location of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (although the actual location is not certain). The road was long, steep, and windy to the top of the mountain, and not at all conducive to ametuer bikers with poorly shifting gears. We spotted a side trail which was completely overgroan with tall grass, but seemed to cut off a lot of the paved route. We had to walk our bikes uphill through the tall grass, sweating and grunting the whole time. When we finally got to the top, it was closed for lunch! We talked to the guard and told him we had biked all this way, and he was nice enough to let us in. The top of the mountain had well-landscaped grounds with nice views and a chapel.

We biked to Tabgha, a Byzantine Monastery built at the site where Jesus multiplied a small meal to feed 5000 people, and then on to Capernaum. In Capernaum, we saw the ruins of the old Roman town mentioned in the Bible, including the remains of a synagogue where Jesus taught and the remains of Peter's house.

After Capernaum we were so exhausted and decided to start the long bike ride back to Tiberias. We were far to tired to continue on to Bethsaida and the Jordan River. While walking the bikes up one particularly steep hill, a taxi van stopped and offered a ride. We were so worn out, that we accepted it.

When we got back, pretty much everything was closed because Moses received the 10 commandments today several thousands years ago...making it a big Jewish Holiday. No work from 4 pm today until 4 pm tomorrow. That includes the bus driver to Jerusalem...our next stop. The sunset over the Sea (Lake) of Galilee was beautiful though.

Joy in the City

Standing on the Brooklyn Bridge with the NYC skyline in the background.

Randy's mom, Joy, came to visit us in April. Andrea was working for most of her visit, but Joy and Randy had a great time visiting Central Park, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, and going to the World Trade Center Site. They lucked out with beautiful sunny weather for almost the whole time.

The three of us had a wonderful evening eating lamb kebabs at an Afghan restaurant and watching Phantom of the Opera, where Joy reminisced about her singing days.

Our other food adventures including picnicing in Bryant Park and eating pizza at Lombardi's.

Joy also brought us much needed bedroom curtains! They're blue to match our bedspread and homemade, just like the delicious pound cake she also brought.

Sunset and Strawberries

This just goes to show you that you do not have to go far from home to have a good time.

Last night we ventured down to Lower Manhattan and walked along the Esplanade - a peaceful path along the waterfront of the Hudson River with great views of the skyline of Jersey City, NJ.

We packed up a dinner of fruit, bread, and cheese, and of course our favorite drink - Trader Joe's sparking blueberry juice. We picnic-ed on top of a wall with a great view of the Statue of Liberty and the setting sun. Check out the color of that strawberry!



Randy theorizes that Jersey City was built for the sole purpose of giving those who live in Manhattan something nice to look at.

Bulls in the Big City

New York City is definitely the last place we ever expected to attend our first rodeo. Our friend Rachael offered us a good time we couldn't refuse - free 3rd row tickets to see the Professional Bull Riders at Madison Square Garden.

The rodeo was enormously entertaining. A non-technical description is that a pissed-off bull bucks and kicks while the cowboy on top holds on for dear life. Once the cowboy gets thrown off, usually in a perilous but amusing manner, the bull calms down considerably and runs back to the corral.

There are lots of cowboys and lots of bulls and they go one after the other. There are plenty of cowboys standing around to make sure things don't get out of control plus one on a horse that got a real kick out of lassoing the most feisty bulls.

It looks like looks like a mean thing to do on the back and neck, but entertaining nevertheless.

Here is a funny video we took. Just for the record, Andrea is NOT the screaming girl in the background.

White Out

We finally had our first big winter storm since moving to New York over 2 years ago. After mother nature dumped about a foot of snow on us, we did what any true southerners would do - ran around like kids and took pictures.

The snowfall provided a valuable learning experience that taught us a thing or two about living in the northeast.

Winter lesson #1 - If the streets have been cleared and the sidewalks haven't, it's okay to walk down the middle of the road. Everybody does it actually because it's the only way to travel.



Winter lesson #2 - There's more than one good argument against having a car in New York City.


Winter lesson #3 - Jeans are not the best attire for making snow angels. Not that Randy wouldn't do it again anyway...

Beef, Tango, and Eva Peron

We decided to make use of the whole week of Thanksgiving and took a pre-holiday trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina before going to see the family in Georgia.

Plaza de Congreso - the music was live

We picked Buenos Aires because we wanted to go somewhere warm (as usual) and we had never been to South America before. It was a great opportunity for us to brush up on our extremely rusty Spanish skills, too.

They say BA is much more European-feeling than the rest of the continent. It reminded us of Spain the most. They start and end their days late and there are cafes everywhere.

Casa Rosada

The Casa Rosada is where the President works. This lucky president has a pink house instead of a white house. We went on a tour and saw the offices of the president. There was hardly any security which was really surprising.

Since the tour was in Spanish, we missed a lot, but we got to see the balcony from where Eva Peron famously rallied the working class citizens. Argentine presidents and even Pope John Paul II have also stood on this balcony. And so did we...

On that famous balcony with Plaza de Mayo behind us.

The food was pretty cheap and we ate a lot of it. Our most memorable meal was at an unlimited meat restaurant (similar to the Brazilian Steakhouses in the U.S.). Argentina is known for having good beef. We ate all we could of steak and ribs and passed on the chicken. Just as impressive as the meat was the extensive bar with salad, vegetables, pasta, and much more. And of course we couldn't resist dessert.

Buenos Aires is the birthplace of Tango. The fancy footwork and lifts make it extra fun to watch.

Andrea's usual knack for getting pulled out of a crowd found her in the arms of a zealous tango partner.

We were innocently watching a tango show while dining at an outdoor cafe when this happened. Previous experience and proper attire were not required, although they would have helped.


Later we went to a show to watch the professionals. Here's how it's really done...