Israel in Five Days

We stayed at this hotel during our one evening in Eilat. For the most part, the hotels near the beach are giant resorts. The Four Points Hotel was a garden-variety, mid-range hotel. Nothing fancy. It's exactly what you'd expect at a Sheraton anywhere. There was about three different pools to swim in, which was nice. This hotel is cheaper than others because it is a 5 minute walk to the beach.

Tucked behind a parking lot on one side of a busy road, this restaurant has a small courtyard and a rustic Italian feel. The tomato and mozzarella appetizer are delicious, as are the pastas. The restaurant provides an excellent alternative to traditional Israeli and Middle Eastern cuisine. If you've got a pasta craving, drop by.

A bright, very casual café offering tasty kebabs. You’ll get freshly made bread with your meal. The perfect stop for a quick sit-down bite. What else can I say? The quintessential Middle Eastern cafe, if there is such a thing. If there isn't, I recommend that such a thing be created, simply so that this restaurant may be it.

This museum has exhibits that range from pre-historic archeology to contemporary art. Here, you’ll also find the Dead Sea Scrolls and many other artifacts from ancient times. There’s also a sculpture garden, from which you get a great view of the city. Regularly scheduled, free guided tours (in both Hebrew and English) leave from the Information Desk.

Very commercialized, but you can see Aquaba from the beach, and recall when Peter O’Toole was on its shores in Lawrence of Arabia. Also, there is a big coral reef you can go out to and explore either by boat or scuba diving. On the whole, though, the beaches are not very wide, and most of the natural habitat has been taken over by resorts and hotels.

Walking through narrow, winding corridors, shopping. The market can seem to close over you, and you can get claustrophobic here, but even if you resist at first, you’ll end up buying every piece of junk there is after a while. Half the fun is in haggling with the vendors; they expect to bargain with you over prices.

One of several outlet shops for the main producer of bath and beauty products made from Dead Sea materials, this store is the mother lode. We just about bought them out. Lotions, creams, gels, scrubs, rinses...all that stuff from one little inland sea. After you buy all the skin care products you'll ever need, you can check out the hot springs, though I did not.

A lot of history and a lot of shopping. The city is split into four quarters: Armenian, Christian, Muslim and Jewish. You can still see some columns and the old foundations of buildings. If some areas where they’re preserved. Where else can you see the three holiest places of three major religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) in one day?

Utterly fascinating. You can still see the frescos and plaster on the walls and floors of this ancient city where the people committed suicide rather than be taken captive by the Romans. The mesa also offers stunning views, both of the Dead Sea and Jordan River just to the east and of the Roman military positions surrounding the mountain's base.

One of the holiest sites in the entire Muslim world. The building, with all its intricate mosaics and golden domed roof, is really what’s spectacular. The rock itself is just a rock, except there’s a room that’s been cut into it where people can pray. Interesting that the site sits right next to the Wailing Wall, one of the holiest sites in the Jewish faith.

Okay, you really can sit down and float in the water. Just be careful not to cut your feet on the salt deposits on the bottom of the sea. And do slather mud all over yourself in the designated area near the sea. Besides, you just bought all those cosmetics made from Dead Sea mud at Ahava, didn't you?

This isn’t a shopping mall. It’s a promenade-—the center of Jerusalem’s nightlife and a major tourist trap. But you can’t not go. I can't decide whether all the off-duty soldiers carrying automatic weapons around makes me feel safer or less safe. In any case, it's a good place to get some trinkets, dessert, or just to people watch.

This large marketplace boasts Israel’s fine homegrown fruits and vegetables, as well as meat and other groceries. There are some great bakeries here, too. Pretty much, it's your one-stop local food shopping place. Pick something up to prepare if you don't feel like going out to eat (assuming you've got some place to prepare it).

Our 'tour guide' was very well informed about the history of Masada, which made an otherwise interesting trip truly rewarding. The bus was clean and comfortable, and we had plenty of time to dip into the Dead Sea and take advantage of the therapeutic mud. Definitely a good way to see all the major sites.

The tower itself is impressively preserved. You can walk around the Tower and look out at Jerusalem through the tiny slit windows. When we Went, the Chihully exhibit was still up, and the glass was truly amazing, especially at night. The Tower really helps provide a sense of just how full of history Jerusalem is.

Since we stayed with friends in Jerusalem, we didn't really get to see what the hotels are like there. Our friends did point out, however, that the Hilton is the best hotel in the city. We got a real taste of what it's like to actually live in Jersusalem by staying with our friends, a Rabbi-to-be and his wife, though. We had to learn which sponge was for meat and which was for dairy when we offered to do the dishes. We also had to remember to leave the bathroom light on all Friday evening. It really felt like we were being taken into the culture, and that was great. Israel would have seemed much more like just another country we were visiting if we didn't stay with our friends. They really taught us about the customs of religious Israeli Jews. There seems to be plenty of good, reasonably priced restuarants in Jerusalem. We mainly wandered around near the downtown mall area, and near Herzog Street, where our friends live. Falafels may be emblematic of Israel, but it's really the fresh juice stands that pop up in my mind when I think back. You can get any combination of about 20 different juices you want, and you can have the juice poured into a bottle instead of a cup, so you can take it with you. We wouldn't have had a single bad meal our whole trip if we hadn't popped into KFC on a whim for dinner. The lines were long, the service slow and the chicken, greasy and soggy. Other than that, we ate at a kebab place downtown our first night in Jerusalem, then we had two homecooked meals with our friends. Our night in Eilat, we ate at the hotel. And on our last night in Jerusalem, we went to an Italian restaurant. Folks who are not used to seeing food out in the open may be taken aback by the way food is usually handled (no plastic gloves) and displayed (on trays, uncovered). You'll get used to it. We never got sick. Not even from stuff we ate from dives serving falafels and such. Be prepared to do a lot of walking in Jerusalem. You could take a bus, but we discovered that things aren't really that far away from each other. Perhaps it was just that our friends' place was centrally located, but we ended up walking to the Old City two times, and walking to the Israel Museum. We even walked to the Sukot market, though we did take a bus back to Herzog Street because of the grocery bags we were returning home with. Reading up on the history of the Old City before you actually go helps you contextualize the history and significance of Israel's sights a lot. Once there, check on when the Dome of the Rock opens that day. It opens only for a short period of time everyday, so you should check first to be sure you don't miss it. From the Old City, facing the Wailing Wall, you'll see a hill with lots of white slabs on it. Those are tombstones and the hill is the Mount of Olives. Besides the Old City, you should go to the Israel Museum to see the Deas Sea Scrolls. And whatever you do, don't leave without a visit to Masada and the Dead Sea. Tel Aviv is only an hour away, but we didn't have the time to go there. It is, we're told, basically a modern city. Cesaria is another town we didn't go to but would have liked to see. It is apparently an old Roman city, with a lot of ruins and ancient architecture. Just remember that everything shuts down from Friday night to Saturday at sundown. It’s best to schedule your trip to the Israel Museum for Saturday; the museum is open, but None of the cafes are. Also, you can go to the Old City then, but you’ll have to take a cab since no buses run. One thing we didn’t get to do was go to the Galilee, which is suppose to Be lush and beautiful—put it on your list if you have the time. Oh, and try to ignore the staring and the cell phones.