Sunday 3/4 we drove up to Jerusalem for the day. It was very cold, rainy and windy so we decided to visit the Israel Museum which houses archeological, artistic and cultural treasures in a sprawling modern complex. After several hours of wandering around inside looking at the art we braved the weather outside to see the huge scale model of Jerusalem during the time of the second temple which was impressive. You really get a sense of the enormity of the temple by...

Another busy day is coming to a close. The aromas of roasting eggplant and garlic are wafting through the apartment which is set up for a big party that will start when Nili, the bride to be and her friends return from the mikvah. (The mikvah is a Jewish ritual bath for women only which is done monthly by orthodox women following menstruation so they can be purified.)In Nili's case, even though she is by no means orthodox, she is required by Israeli law to p...

I am so wound up from my busy day that I am having trouble getting to sleep. Today after being picked up at the airport we went to Paul's cousin's apartment for a short rest then out with the adult children for a trip to the open air market in Tel Aviv. Oded, Haddas Etai and Nilli are all delightful, warm and kind. They speak great English which is a big plus because my Hebrew is non-existent. The market was bustling with pre-Shabbat shoppers all bundled against ...

After 23 hours of travel from Paul's doorstep we are less than an hour from landing in Tel Aviv. We flew overnight from Newark and I attempted to sleep which was futile. After crossing the Atlantic I looked down to see the lights of England and France which glimmered interestingly below. Sunrise dawned as we were cruising 39,000 ft above snow capped peaks in Hungary. As the sun rose further we approached the Mediterranean and I was mesmerized watching the wildly ...

Packing is completed. I used my trusty zipper packing cubes from Eagle Creek and rolled everything up tightly before wedging it in the bags. It all just barely fits. The challenge was bringing clothes for a temperature range of 35-75 and figuring out what to bring for the wedding that wouldn't need to be ironed. I've been having a lot of fun playing around with the different photo apps on my iPad. My favorite app is called Snapseed and once you import a photo fro...