My trip to Israel
I went to Israel to visit a friend, so I lived at her house in Tel Aviv. But we also got to the Dead Sea for 3 days, so there will already be a full travel report about this.
I must say right away that I am an Orthodox Christian by religion, so visiting the Holy Land has always been my dream. And in general, everything that I saw quite met my expectations. But in order.
I lived in Tel Aviv and took a tour of the city on an open bus. It’s very interesting what was invented there - you sit down, put on your headphones, choose the language, and when you drive up to some attraction, you hear a story about it. I liked it. Tel Aviv as a whole is quite a beautiful city with a developed infrastructure.
She also took excursions to Caesarea + Haifa, Jerusalem (Jerusalem - the city of three religions) and the Jordan River + Nazareth. You can buy all this from local tour companies (we bought from Boris Tour and I was satisfied with both the organization and the guides (Eleonora, Sergey and Yuri). You can write a separate story about each excursion and try to convey your enthusiasm in your own words, but I think it would be better read about them in magazines with pictures : ) Among the places listed, I was particularly impressed by the Bahai Gardens in Haifa, and Haifa as a city is very beautiful, and you can admire the view of it from the Bahai Gardens forever, Jerusalem (of course) is a very beautiful city, all buildings are made of white stone, it just glows in the sun! Of course, the holy places were impressed, despite the abundance of tourists, despite the fact that in this city both Muslims and Christians and Jews will find their shrines, which once in a lifetime should come to worship. There is a special aura in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, with all your heart you feel the sanctity of this place, I think if a person is not a 100% atheist, but there is still at least 1% left for doubts, then after contact with this aura, stories about what and how happened here, from the number people who come there to worship - there is every chance to gain faith and establish themselves in it, and when the service began, I just forgot about everything, how time stopped, I woke up 10 minutes later than the time appointed by the guide to gather the group at the exit (everything is fine - I caught up later : ) I also impressed the Temple of the 12 Apostles - it was built where the city of Capernaum was and made a really bright impressive place by the forces of a Moroccan priest, the red domes look great against the backdrop of the Sea of Galilee, everything is well-groomed, specially planted trees with wide crowns, there is something something like a refrigerator where in the impossible heat all visitors can drink cold water. The temple is Orthodox, inside it is very beautiful, I did not want to leave from there.
The Sea of Galilee was also impressive - the Israelis call it a sea, in fact, it’s just a big lake (there are more), + it’s fresh, but they probably have 3 seas, so they’re more accustomed to calling it a sea : )
Our weekend at the Dead Sea deserves a separate story.
We lived in the 5 * hotel Le Meridien David, on the 9th floor overlooking the sea. Meals in the morning and evening. The room is very good, the bed is huge, bed linen is changed daily, in the bathroom there is a bathtub and a shower, you can wrap yourself around several times with towels : ) the interior of the hotel is magnificent, the buffet is plentiful, several pools - everything you need for a hotel of this level.
Separately, about food - in general, if you choose, you can eat very tasty. But this does not depend on the hotel, it's just that the food in Israel is different. I absolutely did not like their cakes (although they look great - do not take yourself a big piece right away - try a small one first) - cream like grass. Meat and fish too. Pizza without meat. But a friend explained that this is due to the fact that the country is like this - the food is kosher, they don’t mix meat with milk - they don’t allow this in cooking and on the table. But pastries (that without cream) are delicious, vegetables, fruits, salads are different and wonderful, pitted watermelons. And in the mornings - an abundance of curd breakfasts - I have never seen such a quantity and quality of curds, cheese, curds, curd creams and pastes. And everything is very tasty. I really liked the cottage (I think so - salted cottage cheese in sour cream (probably) mass.
I saw the Dead Sea for the first time - it was fun for me to hang in it : ) A friend asked me not to go to Jordan (on the other side): ) ) Salt at the bottom. It warms up very much - during the day it is almost boiling water, it is not possible to enter. You can swim in the morning and in the evening, although it is also quite warm.
The hotel has its own beach, back and forth runs (I don’t even know what to call it) this type of open trailer, i. e. If you wish, you can still drive up, although it’s not far on foot.
The hotel also has a beauty salon. All procedures are based on Dead Sea cosmetics. We did a seaweed wrap (250 shekels) - it's a blast!! ! First, they rub you lightly with a washcloth so that the pores open, then they smear you with algae, wrap you in cloths and a blanket, turn on pleasant music and sleep for 20-30 minutes. Then shower, cream and fabulous skin.
By the way, I must say that from the fact that I was sour in the Dead Sea every morning + body wrap + we ourselves were covered with mud, I lost a lot of weight (even more than I wanted : ) and the skin became just beautiful - smooth, even, clean.
On the Mediterranean Sea, I also went to the beach, during my trip it was always very stormy, it was stormy, I managed to swim only a few times. On other days the waves were quite strong and dangerous. My impressions of the Mediterranean Sea in Israel are ordinary - the sea is like the sea : ) And I don’t really like sunbathing + sunbathing there is very hot and not very healthy. Be sure to use cream. + A jellyfish took pity on me - so small and seemingly harmless - I would never have thought that it could be poisonous. Be careful.
In addition, we went to an exhibition of miniatures - Mini Israel - this is somewhere beyond Tel Aviv - 15-20 minutes. to drive by car. There are different sights of Israel in miniature. The lights are beautifully made, so it's good to come in the evening. Everything is in dynamics i. e. if it’s a road, then cars drive, if it’s an airport, then the plane goes to the runway, if it’s a football stadium, then a goal will be scored right for you. We all enjoyed this exhibition very much.
From my general impressions, I want to add that the country is very international, you don’t feel the state of war, the mentality of people is such that they always have something to do with you : ) - very sociable : ) Moreover, knowing Russian and English, you can communicate with everyone without any problems. In general, I liked it - to find something or choose or suggest - they will help, tell you kindly, etc. But the attention of men is quite annoying. For girls, advice is to dress decently - shorts and skirts above the knees, something translucent, low-cut, etc. they perceive only as a provocation. Our friendly responses (I was taught not to be rude for example : ) but they take this as a preliminary consent to all their further proposals. In general, be careful.
I have separate impressions from the religious, dressed (men) in black hats and suits, constantly reading the Torah, and women wrapped up in such heat so that nothing can be seen except the hands and constantly pregnant. I don’t know if I could live in the country and accept that they are like that, they don’t work, but I work for them.
In general, I am satisfied with my trip. The climate is of course humid and hot, but the air conditioner saves. By the way, the word "mazgan" - air conditioning, is included in that very small list of Hebrew words that I managed to learn while relaxing in Israel.
