Land of Milk and Honeys

Me and Em reunited in the wondreful city of Tel Aviv and promtly set about getting to know the local bars and clubs with her new Israeli pals. To my suprise the city is extremely modern and the main priority of the locals is to have fun in the sun. The Mediterranean beaches are beautiful as are the local people (some of the best in the world in my opinion) who come from all cornrs of the world as a result of the Diaspora. Most people have immigrated from Europe and the States although there are many other Jewish descendants from places like Ethiopa, Morroco and Argentina that have returned to the motherland.

We met alot of great people there despite their reputation for being stand-offish. One Canadian Jew I met described Israelis like a pineapple, "prickly on the outside and juicy sweet on the inside" which is true to some extent. Tel Aviv is not so different from any other cosmoplitan city. So we made tracks to the holy capital city of Jerusalem for the real Israeli experience. I was shocked to find that within the walls of the old city there were countless shops selling tourist junk such as t-shirts with things like "don't worry, be jewish" written on them. Despite such places the experience of being in that city was pretty special.

Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Catholocism all have their own unique "quarters" in the old city where thy have some of the most sacred places in the world. I went to a beautiful old church where they had the piece of marble that Jesus's body was put on to prepare for his burial and other such incredible pieces of history. I saw the famous "wailing wall" where the orthodox jews pray, Mary's tomb and even visited the alleged room of the Last Supper. AThese such places were incredible but the experience I will remember the most will be my visit to the Holocaust museum: Yad Vashem.

Even just the building for this place is amazing, it is shaped like a Toblerone with a slight unoticeable inclination so that when you walk through the museum and follow the story to it's conclusion (the creation of Israel) you exit to a spectacular view of the valley of Jerusalem. The exhibitions were tastefully done without anything too gruesome. They had objects like Schindler's List (the real thing), parts of the train cars used and anti-semitic propoganda. The most powerful moment for me was seeing the room were folders full of the names of the victims were and realising the extent of the tragedy. Six million is a big number but when you see a visual representation of those people it's overwhelming.

We also made a quick daytrip to the Dead Sea which was super cool despite the gaggle of loud Americans that were also there. I highly recommend getting muddy there, apparently it's great for your skin. Then it was time to return to Tel Aviv for more sun and drinking before me and Em parted ways. It was very interesting for me visiting that tiny new country and getting to know some of it's inhabitants. I find Iraeli people to be mature and responsible people (maybe because of the military service) who are also execptionally kind and hospitable. I hope to return one day for a longer time. The intense security (bag searches, metal detectors, guards, military folk) can be annoying (I had to be interviewd and searched for about an hour when crossing the border) but is necessary and just becomes a part of life.

So thank you to Em for letting me tag along and to all the great people we hung out with, I'll never forget the place or the great food.