An "Awesome" Hike in the Aminadav Forest

We spent the morning in the Aminadav Forest, which is just outside Jerusalem. This gem of a preserve consists of mostly replanted trees (the organization that reforested the area boasts that they've planted 230 million trees over 250,000 acres) through which there are many good trails for hiking, biking and riding 4x4 vehicles. The hike we went on passes several ancient springs, some ruins from olive presses, and hillsides covered with stone terraces. The bonus for today: in a great little picnic area, we found not only two seesaws, but about a half dozen sculptures of sheep! Totally random, I know, but the sheep pretty much made Alexander's day. He learned how to say "awesome" today, and he kept going up to the fake sheep, saying, "awesome!" Some of us like sheep sculptures; others of us like a dry sunny day and the sound of the wind blowing through the pine trees. Either way, we all found today's hike to be pretty awesome.

 

Both boys crashed for early naps right after the hike. I sat in the car with them outside our house for over an hour. By the way, this scenario, with both of them napping at the same time: it rarely happens. But every once in a while, we get lucky!

Masada and the Dead Sea

If you drive west from Jerusalem on Route 1, you head into the West Bank and towards Jordan. As soon as you leave the rim of mountains on which the city is built, you begin to descend quickly toward the Judean desert and the Dead Sea. You leave a densely covered landscape of buildings interspersed with cyprus, pine and fruit trees; within a few miles, you're driving through bald, brown hills that house little except for the occasional Bedouin camp. These camps look like they've come from another world, or at least another time, with their temporary structures made of corrugated metal and cloth, and goats wandering the dessicated landscape. When you hit sea level, you'll see a marker on the side of the highway; there, you can pull into a rest stop and pay 5 shekels (about $1.25) to sit on a tired-looking camel. Today we drove this route so we could take a look at the Dead Sea and to make our way to the top of Masada.

Masada is the site of an ancient military fortification; it is exceptional because its location, which is on top of one of the mountains that rises steeply from the western side of the Dead Sea. The top of the mountain is a massive plateau, thus it is an ideal location for a military outpost. Masada was famously rebuilt by Herod the Great, who constructed extravagant palaces and a complex that included residences, storehouses, cisterns and buildings for worship. Many years later, after the destruction of the second temple, Jewish rebels escaped to Masada. The story goes that when the Romans besieged the fortress, eventually building a ramp up which they drove a giant battering ram, they entered Masada to find that all the remaining inhabitants had committed mass suicide.

In the past century, massive archaeological digs have unearthed many of the structures that existed at Masada, including portions of Herod's impressive northern palace, which is perched precariously over the side of the cliff, facing north toward the Dead Sea. Today, Masada is Israel's number one tourist site. In addition, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) holds its nighttime swearing-in ceremonies for new soldiers on the top of Masada.

The traditional way to get to the fortress is to hike up the steep "Snake Trail," but we opted for the other route up: cable car. We'll come back and hike up with the boys when they can carry their own weight! Once up there, we enjoyed the views, and we had a good time checking out the ruins, including a giant cistern and some beautiful tile floors. In the video below, taken from the cliff on which Herod build the northern palace, you can hear jets flying in the background. Several military jets were flying low over the Dead Sea during our visit; they were loud and impressive!

 

 

Just below Masada lies the Dead Sea. At nearly 1400 feet below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth. The salty, mineral-rich waters of the Dead Sea are known for their health benefits; it's a ritual of many tourists to swim, or more accurately, "float" in the salty sea, then wash in the mud on the shores. Eric and I did both of those things on our previous visit to the Dead Sea, but we figured it was a little bit too much of an undertaking with two babies, so we just took in the beauty of the sea from the road.

The unfortunate thing is that the Dead Sea is quickly disappearing. Eric's been to Israel many times now (his first trip here was in high school) and he can clearly remember that the shores of the Sea used to be much higher than they are now. In fact, the Sea has dropped about 70 feet in the past 35 or 40 years. The level is dropping at such an alarming rate because the waters of the Jordan River, which feeds into the Dead Sea, are used heavily for agricultural purposes. So it's pretty simple: because so much water is being diverted up north to provide water to grow food for Israel and Jordan, very little water is trickling down into the Dead Sea. To add to the Sea's troubles, a huge portion of its mass has been converted into a series of dikes, canals and evaporation pans that are used by industrial companies who mine the sea for minerals like potash and magnesium. Because of the high salinity of the Sea, it doesn't support the traditional array of marine and terrestrial life that you might find near such a large body of water; perhaps for that reason some might argue the loss of the Sea is not so important. Still, the loss of the Sea would bring major changes to the region, so conservation efforts are underway in both Israel and Jordan in order to preserve the Dead Sea. However, as far as I know, the Sea's level continues to drop. It will be interesting to see what happens to this unique and beautiful place in the coming years.

Israeli Food and Sleep Deprivation

A few people have asked me to write about the food we're eating here in Israel, and my initial thinking in response to those queries is that I don't have anything interesting to write, because we really don't eat all that differently here than we do at home -- except that we probably eat a wider variety of foods at home. Still, after thinking it over, I realize that things actually are a little different in our Jerusalem kitchen, and in subtle ways our meals are influenced by what's available in the markets here.

I'm in no position to make broad statements about Israeli or Middle Eastern food (I'll have to come back here without my kids next time to get out to many more markets and restaurants before I can have any real authority on Israeli cuisine!), but I can make a few observations. I do know that due to Israel's geographic location and the fact that it is a country of immigrants from all over the world, the food here is eclectic and influenced by many cultures. As in any major city, you can get pretty much any kind of food here that you want, from sushi to pizza, Israeli-Asian fusion to McDonald's. There are several shops within walking distance of our house where we can get pretty much any American food we want, including boxed mac & cheese and organic baby food.

That said, there are a few trademark foods here in Israel. First, of course, is hummus. It's pretty much everywhere, and I don't think you'll sit down at many Israeli meals where there isn't a bowl of hummus, and probably tahini, along with a heaping basket of pita bread to dip it in. You're also likely to see olives and other assorted pickled foods, dried fruits, and tapenades and dressings. Speaking of dressings, in my opinion the best part of Israeli cuisine is the salads. For some reason, they really know how to do salads over here. From upscale restaurants to touristy dives to any domestic dinner table we've sat down at in this country, we've always found delicious, fresh salads. As far as I can tell, this comes from three things: excellent dressings (why are their dressings so much tastier than American dressings? I have no clue, but I want to bring home basically every salad dressing I try here...); simple but excellent combinations of vegetables, grains and beans; and the fact that most salad vegetables are very finely chopped (this makes for great texture and blending of flavors).

The basic Israeli salad doesn't involve lettuce; usually it's a combination of chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onion (or some onion variant like scallions or chives), lemon and salt. It's delicious eaten on its own, and fantastic put in a pita with hummus. Or stuffed into a pita with cabbage, tahini, and falafel (another great Israeli food, and Eric's favorite: basically, it's fried balls of chick peas, garlic, and spices). We make some variation of Israeli salad most days. Often, as I stated in one of my first posts, I add cracked wheat, parsley, mint, and maybe some white beans to make more of a tabbouleh salad: tabbouleh is a more substantial salad and is great as a topping for a sandwich, or a side dish at dinner. Here are the ingredients for the tabbouleh salad we had earlier this week, which we ate with zucchini fritters.

Lately, we've also been making a lot of couscous, which we eat frequently at home, but is also very popular here. Our latest couscous recipe is one I found in a vegetarian cookbook on the shelf of our house here: we've been eating it with sauteed onion, chick peas, chopped spinach, tomatoes, and whatever spices we have available (lately, a miscellaneous but delicious bag of spices we picked up at the shuk). Alexander loves to "mix" (one of his new words) the couscous together, and luckily, he loves to eat it, too!

We make tabbouleh and couscous and eat hummus and dried fruit at home; the difference here is that we eat those things more regularly, and by and large, they taste better. I'm not the most inventive cook, and here, just like at home, I prefer to cook vegetarian meals like soups, salads, quiches, stir frys and pasta dishes. We do get an occasional chicken here (which Alexander loves), but other than that, we don't eat much meat. Our kitchen is fairly well-equipped, but we don't have all the appliances we have at home, and since our oven is small and the weather is warm, we're not really doing any baking. But I'm really enjoying all the chopping and mixing we do to make our simple dinners.

Here, hummus and olives are on our table at basically every meal (and surprisingly, Alexander really loves olives!), and we buy pita bread almost every day. When it's fresh, it's soft and doughy and delicious with pretty much anything (including Nutella); we still can't figure out why you can't get decent pita bread at home. But in Jerusalem, it definitely makes a difference to get your breads and produce fresh. There are no preservatives in anything you get at the local bakeries, so after about a day, bread starts to get stale. And here, vegetables are clearly not treated the same way they are in most mainstream American supermarkets; if you walk down the produce aisles in Jerusalem, you notice that vegetables here don't have the pristine, unblemished look we're so used to seeing at home (and which, of course, requires a lot of pesticides and/or a lot of special treatment, including flash freezing and other methods of preservation). Vegetables in the grocery stores here still have some dirt on them, usually have some bumps and bruises, and don't last very long in the fridge (thus we go shopping on average two times a week). But, the thing is: vegetables here, for the most part, taste better. The tomatoes in the cous cous dish pictured above were so sweet Alexander was eating them like candy. The carrots I've eaten here are also much sweeter than anything I find in the store at home. The fruit is fantastic. And the avocados? They are huge, creamy, and delicious. Now, I have no doubt that most mainstream Israeli farmers use pesticides, so it's not as if the vegetables here are perfectly grown, but I also think the produce gets from the garden to our table a lot faster here than it does at home; you can tell the difference in the taste.

One more note on our eating habits: just because we eat mostly vegetarian fare doesn't mean we are always eating healthy! Everyone in our house has a sweet tooth, and I have to admit that most days, Eric and I follow up our healthy dinners with a pastry or two. We figure we're burning it off with all the walking we do! Here's Eric enjoying one of our favorite treats: a chocolate eclair from the bakery up on Berlin Street.

So, as it turns out, I had more to say about the food here than I originally thought. I think at the end of the day, preparing meals makes me feel like we're putting a little bit of order into our daily routine, which, with two children under two, sometimes feels very chaotic. In this past week, especially, Eric and I have been feeling pretty frayed. Both boys are going through crazy developmental stages, and neither of them is sleeping easily. Benjamin, who is getting his first teeth, trying out new foods, and getting close to rocking on all fours, wakes up at all hours wanting nourishment or nurturing, and Alexander -- I don't even know what is going on with him -- but it must be some kind of separation anxiety, because all of a sudden, getting him to bed at nap time and at night has turned into an exhausting, epic battle. (By the way, if anyone has any suggestions of how to get an almost-two-year-old to bed, we'll take any advice we can get!).

So the orderly cooking photos you see above? Eric and I were laughing as we set them up, because really, most of our meals don't really look so well-organized. About ten minutes after we took that photo of the cous cous and chicken, there was cous cous from one end of our kitchen to the other, Benjamin was spitting his carrots all over himself and me, Alexander was stealing Eric's plate and throwing cups and the floor, and.... well, anyone who's been around small kids knows the scene. Later on in the evening, Alexander knocked Eric's camera off the counter onto the tile floor. And in the past week, both boys have fallen out of their beds. It's feeling fairly crazy around here, so the least we can do is try to put a good meal on the table. And as we prepare those meals, it's fun to include as much of the local fare as we can.

A Carousel and Crazy Kids at the Science Museum

This morning we took the boys to the Bloomfield Science Museum. While many of the exhibits were clearly a little old for Alexander (and too young for us; this museum is definitely hands-on and geared toward kids), Alexander still had fun running around and exploring. For much of our stay, the place was packed with elementary-school kids on a field trip. They were running around like banshees; I don't think I've ever seen such crazy kids. Luckily, halfway through our visit their teachers gathered them up and herded them back to school, so we were able to enjoy some of the exhibits in a less frenzied environment! Here are a few photos of Alexander and Eric checking out the exhibits on tessellation (I had to look that one up), electricity and magnetic energy.

 

 

Our favorite exhibit was the carousel, which was run by the power generated by a stationary bike. Here are Eric and Alexander teaming up to demonstrate the innovative technology.

 

 

Lastly, who knew that the science museum would have some of the coolest construction equipment in town? Alexander probably would have spent the entire morning hanging out with these trucks, but of course we had to drag him inside to check out the "real" exhibits. We can't let this kid have too much fun, right??

 

 

Community Garden

I wanted to post a few photos of one of my favorite spots in our Jerusalem neighborhood. Just up the street from our house, tucked between several multi-story apartment buildings, lies a beautiful little community garden. We pass by this garden several times a week on our way to the strip of shops -- including a supermarket, bakery, health foods store and bookstore -- we often frequent on HaPalmach Street. Eric pushes the double stroller up the the steep hill, and before we head down the other side to the stores, we often pause on this plateau, where several members of the community have installed footpaths, benches, and garden beds. In this garden, people are cultivating several varieties of flowers, herbs, vegetables, and even fruit trees. I love to wander through the garden and see what's growing. It gets me excited to work on my own garden when we return home to New Jersey...

 

 

 

Haifa and Rosh Hanikra

 

This image shows the Bahai gardens in Haifa. Haifa is Israel's third-largest city, and is located on the coast, about an hour north of Tel Aviv. The Bahai religion has its world headquarters in Haifa, and these headquarters are renown for their Shrine of the Bab (the Bab is the prophet of the faith) and their elaborate gardens, both of which are pictured here. Haifa is built on a very steep hill, Mt. Carmel, and the Bahai gardens are cultivated on a series of nineteen terraces. I have never seen gardens so exquisitely maintained, or with such a variety of plant-life. They go on and on and on... it's amazing. We wish we could have spent more time here, but the gardens are not easy to traverse, particular with two young children. So we were happy to explore a few small sections during our visit to Haifa this past weekend.

The apartment we stayed in in Haifa was about halfway up Mt. Carmel (roughly parallel to the shrine pictured above), and had a great view of Haifa port and the Mediterranean. Alexander had fun watching from the porch as all sorts of tankers, tugs, cruise ships, military boats and pleasure boats slipped in and out of the harbor.

Aside from the spectacular view, perhaps the best feature of the apartment was the perfect "Benjamin-sized" sink in the bathroom.

 

One highlight of our trip was my Mother's Day swim in the Mediterranean. I had been waiting for this swim for a while, and it was fantastic!

Another highlight was our trip to Rosh Hanikra, which is the northernmost point on Israel's coast, on the border with Lebanon. Rosh Hanikra is known for its grottoes, which are caves carved into the chalky stone by the ocean's waves. A cable car took us down to the grottoes. We spent some time walking through the tunnels, listening to the waves, peeking out through the caves to see the bright ocean beyond... Here are a few images from inside the grottoes, including a video of Benjamin, who was mesmerized by the incoming water.

And here a few more shots taken outside the grottoes. I was a bit envious of the kayakers who paddled right into the caves before heading back down the coast.

 

The rock outcropping in the image below is the actual border between Rosh Hanikra, Israel, and Lebanon. There is always a feeling of intensity when you stand on a border between two countries (though it's interesting to consider how odd that is, since borders are often such arbitrary lines etched across the landscape. Standing at a border, it's hard not to consider how odd it is that military checkpoints, barbed wire, and fences prevent us from moving to a location a mere ten feet away). It's obviously much more intense to stand on a border between two countries that do not have the most easy relations, such as Israel and Lebanon. When spending a beautiful spring day in a place like Rosh Hanikra, which has such striking natural beauty, it is difficult to comprehend the layers of animosity that have motivated human beings throughout history to draw up lines across which many are not free to pass.

 

After our great days in Haifa and Rosh Hanikra, we headed out of the city, hoping to take a hike in the Carmel Hills before traveling on to Jerusalem. Unfortunately, once we finally located a promising trailhead, we ran into some heavy machinery and an Israeli soldier, who told us we couldn't continue on the trail because they were removing some sort of "radioactive" material from it. I am not kidding. For his part, Eric wasn't so sure about the radioactivity. His conspiracy theory is that they were putting up a portion of the "Iron Dome" missile defense system somewhere up on the hillside. I guess we'll never know, but either way, the military wasn't going to let us continue our hike. This is the only picture we got from that brief walk:

It was unfortunate that we missed out on a good hike, but I suppose that left us more time for lunch. On the way back, we stopped in Zichron Yaakov for what turned out to be a great meal of tacos and pasta salad. Here's Alexander sampling his first mint lemonade.

 

And after lunch, Eric went across the street to the local barber and got a new haircut!

We tried to get Alexander in the barber's chair, but he would have no part of it! At any rate, we a good trip up north, and as always, it's nice to be settling back into our routine "at home" here in Jerusalem.