Conference taveng::bagels

Hi, Martin!  How've you been since I saw you at Commonwealth Brewery?

As for your trip, will you be traveling alone or with others?  Is this the
first trip to Israel for you?  If not, where have you been before?  How
tight is your budget?  (Is the salary freeze hurting that much already?)

As for getting together, let's arrange something closer to your trip.  Keep
in mind that for most Israelis, "long-term planning" means beyond next week.

For me, "long term planning" means the next day or so: planning a trip
six months in advance isn't my style.  I'll be travelling alone: I'm
using up a frequent flyer "Trip to Europe" ticket, and it will be my
first visit to Israel.  No real budget; except that I tend to live
inexpensively.

There are a few people I'd like to get together with: there are some
Israeli Dec Orienteers (running in the woods) with whom I share a hobby,
and my old college professor, Bob Lees, became head of the English Department
at Tel-Aviv a number of years ago.  If he's still around (he might be
retired by now), I'd like to get in touch with him.

Otherwise, I just want to wander around and see what the country's like.
(Assuming I can do this safely, of course).  And, of course, I'd like
to drop in to the Dec offices to attach faces to folks I only know from
the network.

Martin.
ps: are there breweries in Israel? (:-)

    re: -1
    
    Martin, personally I prefer Goldstar.  It is a lot like Watney's,
    in fact it was first brewed for British soldiers in Palestine.
    
    David

	Send me more details and more specific questions, 
    	and we'll try to do some "long term plannig".
    
    	yosi wiesel @ISO.

Only 2 weeks?  After all your years at Digital, Martin, you should have
more vacation than that coming to you.  What don't you come to Israel, stay
for 2 weeks, then call you boss and tell him that you're sick and stay for
a while longer?

Seriously, your biggest problem will be deciding what *not* to see.  Israel
is a very small country, but 2 weeks isn't nearly enough.  You'll have to
decide what interests you the most, and leave the rest for your next visit.

Here are some places that I think you should see.


Jerusalem
---------
I admit to being prejudiced here, but my opinion is that anyone who comes
to Israel for the first time and spends less than a week in Jerusalem should
have his head examined.  The Old City alone has any number of places that
you should not miss:  the Wall, the Temple Mount, the Church of the Holy
Sephulcre, the various carefully-preserved ruins scattered around the Jewish
Quarter.  I strongly recommend an outfit called Archeological Seminars,
located in the Jewish Quarter, who give walking tours (of roughly 2 hours
each) in English of a number of sites in the Old City.  Each tour is preceded
by a lecture and slide show, which give you the historical background of
the site.

There's also plenty to see outside the Old City.  Give yourself a day at
the Israel Musuem, to see the exhibits of archeological finds in Israel,
Jewish culture from around the world, and the Dead Sea scrolls.  There's
also Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial, of course.


Tel Aviv
--------
I would devote one day of your 2 weeks to Tel Aviv, most of that day to
be spent in the Diaspora Museum.


Haifa
-----
Haifa is a beautiful city, except for the air pollution.  You could easily
spend a few days in the musuems, and at places like the Bahai shrine.


The Galilee and Golan
---------------------
Although there are some interesting historical sites in these parts of the
country, the big attraction is the natural beauty.  You'd want to rent a
car and spend several days traveling around the area sight-seeing.


The Negev
---------
Again, the big attraction here is the sheer physical beauty, if you find
the desert as beautiful as I do.  Starting in Beersheva, head in the direction
of Mitzpe Ramon, stopping to hike into the canyon at Ein Avdat.  Then drive
through Machtesh Ramon (preferably in a rented car; the road has seen better
days), after going through the Nature Center at Mitpe Ramon that explains
the Machtesh.  Continue to Eilat, using the newer road past the Uvda air
base, rather than the road through the Arava.  The final descent from the
mountains offers a spectacular view, especially an hour or so before sunset.

Then spend a day or two in the Eilat area, seeing places like the Underwater
Observatory, Timna Park, and the Hai-Bar nature reserve.  Drive north through
the Arava, and then along the Dead Sea and back to Jerusalem.

Note:  This trip should be made in a car with air conditioning, except (maybe)
during the winter.


Re-reading what I just wrote, I see that I've skipped many interesting and
beautiful parts of the country.  I've also overrun your schedule by at least
50%.  And the recommendations reflect my own personal prejudices; there are
people who like Tel Aviv, can't stand the desert, or would tell you that
you absolutely must not skip the Shomrom or Hebron.

All of these are just general suggestions for what to see in Israel, and
could be of interest to anyone visiting.  If you want more details, Martin,
send me mail.

    re: .5
    
    I can't believe it, someone actually recommended the Arava and Eilat
    (:-).  If you do drive down there Martin, when you pass Kibbutz
    Ketura take notice of the date trees, yours truly was responsible
    for planting many of them and rearing them through their childhood.
    
    Don't forget to take #25 sunscreen!
    
    David   

Many thanks for the suggestions.  Someone else recommended taking a bus
tour.  I will plan to spend most of my time in Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv
but also want to link up with the Israeli orienteers.

I sure wish I had enough vacation time, but it just seems to dribble away.
I took a solid month off last year, so I'm squeezing hours out this year.
(Hmm, if I still worked in Sweden, I'd have at least six weeks.)

I certainly hope that a "visiting Bageler" dinner could be arrainged.

Martin.

This is as near as I can come to a schedule for my trip:

-- Arrive Tel-Aviv, Wed afternoon, Sep 6.   In/around Tel-Aviv
   through Saturday, Aug 9.  (Getting together with Dec Orienteers
   on Saturday).

-- Here and there (Eliat?) through, perhaps, Thursday, Sep 14.

-- Jerusalem Thursday through Tuesday, Sep 19.

-- Leave for Paris Sep 20 at 6:00 am.

I hope I can get together with some of the local Bagelers during the trip.

Martin.

Finally wrote up my diary.  If you're interested, feel free to copy
BOLT::USER_5:[MINOW]ISRAEL.TXT -- it's way too long to post here.

Thanks to all who gave good advice, and the the "locals" who made
my visit so pleasant.

Martin.