Israel Part II - A Success Story?

Picking up from last post and our experience in Nazareth, I want to first address our decision not to go to Jerusalem.

It was a tricky one. Before we even left the safety of Basel, having seen snippets in the news, we asked ourselves, if we should cancel our trip to Israel all together. We obviously decided against it. There was too much time and not to mention money invested in the planning of our tip. In addition, we were obviously not the "targets" per se and we rationalized that "things can happen anywhere" (which I still agree with.)

However, after our experience in Nazareth, we realized that the overall atmosphere in these cities was violent and tensions were high. While we still weren't "targets" per se, or a part of either side of the conflict, we decided that we could find ourselves quickly in the middle of a dangerous situation once sparked, it wouldn't matter who we were.

Do we still struggle with this decision? Yes. I mean, we were SO close! We have friends who went to Jerusalem three days later and nothing happened to them. We have friends who are there now and their experiences are wonderful and they say the vibe feels different.

If we had started our experience in Tel Aviv, as you'll see from below, where the conflict is barely visible, we probably would've still headed to Jerusalem. That being said, we in no way regret our decision. We can go back another time. We can return when there are opportunities to experience the sites with a clear head and feelings of safety.

All this being said, we were setting off for Tel Aviv!

First stop, Caesarea National Park along the Mediterranean Sea. A port city from the time of King Herod, now turned beautifully reconstructed old city / shopping, restaurant and artist tourist destination. For us, it was the perfect destination to turn around the mood of our trip.

 

 

After the most delicious lunch, that again monster man ate up every bit, including the ground lamb, we continued on our way to Tel Aviv.

We arrived at our hotel on the beach! The only issue was that we had obviously not planned for time playing on the beach. We walked into town to try to find some water gear. Little man was the only successful one. Then we were off to jump in the waves.

My favorite series: hehe. I'm not exactly certain what Matt is looking at, but it is not the wave that is coming to crush our child, who is thrilled about it. Don't worry this didn't slow us down! 

  

This was his first time in the waves on the beach and he LOVED it! He could've played in the waves and eaten the sand for hours. Now, we were truly enjoying our first time in Israel! After a delicious seafood dinner and a full night of rest, we were finally set to meet up with our friends from Duke.

They were wonderful hosts. Picking us up at our hotel and taking us to the pier. Their daughter is 4 and are due to have another in just a month. The kids loved running along the pier, playing on the carousel and climbing all over the multiple playgrounds.

We then drove to the city center for a tasty lunch. The city center felt like a mini NYC. Every street had a slightly different character with people out and about enjoying drinks in the open air bars and restaurants, etc. They showed us around different neighborhoods that we probably wouldn't have stumbled into on our own. That's always the best part about having local tour guides! We were so grateful for their hospitality and sharing their lives with us during our visit.

 

In Tel Aviv, from our experience, there is hardly any acknowledgement of the conflicts occurring just a few miles away. It's not that people don't talk about it and it's certainly not that people don't care, but it feels as though they have had to find a way to find peace and a way for their lives to go on.

In conclusion: was our trip a success?
I don't know that I had the answer before I started writing all of this. Now, that I've had a chance to reflect, I have to say yes. While we didn't see some of the highlights on our planned agenda, our goals of traveling in general are to meet new people (and we met some truly generous and wonderful people on this trip), experience new cultures, gain a greater understanding about the world around us. This normally involves us visiting beautiful sights and finding time to relax and disconnect. Our Israel experience was different, however, it was worth it to have a greater appreciation for the conflicts that are going on all around us that we just do not completely understand.

Our trip was a success. Not in the traditional way, but I'm incredibly happy we went and for the eye-opening experience. We would gladly travel to Israel again, but will probably wait a little while longer.

Headed back home