We flew back from Paris yesterday afternoon.  It’s an 11 hour flight and a 9 hour time difference so you don’t actually “lose” that much time.  We got really lucky and got front row bulkhead.   Lots of legroom.

We spent the last few days in Paris.  We stayed with friends in Versailles (45 min by light rail outside of Paris) for two of the days and then stayed right in the Marais for the other three nights (less than a 10 min. walk to the Seine, the Louvre, Notre Dame etc).  We did a lot of shopping (shoes!) since we arrived for the last bit of the “soldes” (twice annual country-wide sales where the price keeps going down every week).

We also went back to the Orangerie for the first time in years (it’s been closed for 6 years for renovations).  It’s got two amazing oval rooms with 4 giant Monet water lilies in each, so you feel completely surrounded.  You can check out their virtual visit here if you’re interested: http://www.musee-orangerie.fr/homes/home_id25184_u1l2.htm

We went back to the Orsay as well – it’s the largest Impressionist art gallery in Paris – lots of Monets and Renoirs, etc.  We’ve been several times but it’s still really awesome.

We spent some time in Montmartre (artists’ area) and got our portrait drawn in chalk?  We think it’s chalk. Anyhow, it took an hour and a half, so we each had to sit still for 45 min.  Not as easy at it might seem. We also bought a painting.

We took several walks along the Seine (river that runs through Paris) and walked from the Louvre down through the Jardin de Tuileries (sculpture garden) down the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triumphe again.  Paris is still amazingly beautiful no matter how many times you’ve been there.

Our friends very kindly took us out to dinner (L’As du Falafel – our favorite restaurant in Paris) and the theatre Friday night.  We saw a comedy and it was a cool experience.

Saturday night we accidentally wound up in the middle of more theatre again.  We had walked by this vegetarian restaurant the night before and so we decided to eat there.  They were filming this tv show, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.  Yeah, well we should have found out the name of the TV show before we decided to go to dinner…  From what we understand the premise is that Chef Ramsay comes and rescues a struggling chef.  Only they hadn’t gotten to the rescue part yet.

We sat down only to be told that while there were 6 things on the menu, only 3 were available.  2 of them sounded good so we ordered.  Our waitress goes off to give the chef the order and we hear her saying “So tell me what exactly we DO have on the menu tonight!” and then she tells him that something is burning and he says something and she
tells him “How can you tell me that it’s normal that things are burning???  It’s all burnt now!”

Anyhow, she came back with the news that there were now only 2 things on the menu, so we ordered those.  They were also out of wine.  At one point the two waitresses asked the chef to leave because it would go better with them in the kitchen and Ramsay suggested that they might as well close for the night because this was the worst he’d ever seen.  Anyhow, in the end the couscous was crunchy, there didn’t seem to be any goat cheese or hazelnuts in my goat cheese and hazelnut torte and it was quite burnt.  Actually Gordon Ramsay walked by on his way out of the restaurant to talk to the cameras and the waitresses about the situation (they kept leaving in tears).  As he went by we pointed out to him that my meal was a little burnt and he responded that it wasn’t a little burnt it was a lot burnt!

It was pretty entertaining in the end.  Lots of the waitress/owner yelling at the chef that he had to be doing it on purpose cause no one could be that slow and asking him if he was doing it on purpose just to spite her.  In the end she suggested to us that maybe he’d knocked back a couple of valium, cause she’d never seen him that bad.  Now we’ll have to watch for it on TV.  [Here’s part of the Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmare’s episode where we were interviewed about our meal].

(So, since we’ve been back it turns out we were the last people on Earth to hear of Gordon Ramsay and all our foodie friends can’t believe we’d never heard of him!  Oops!)

This morning we took the guided tour of the Bahai gardens (you have to take one to visit the sight).  They’re built into the side of Mount Carmel, and probably the most beautiful gardens in the world. 

Then we took the train to Tel Aviv and went to Jaffa for the afternoon.  The narrow cobblestone streets make for a very pleasant wander.  We checked out St Peter’s Monastery (The Church of St Peter), the Wishing Bridge, with its signs of the zodiac on the handrail, and the clock tower.  The Artists Area has some great souvenir shops but unfortunately most of the stores were closed for a religious holiday. 

Then we came back to Tel Aviv and went for a swim.  Once again we stayed at the Mugraby Hostel in Tel Aviv on Allenby Street.  Yerushalayim beach is only a 5 minute walk from the hotel.  The Mediterranean is beautiful and warm.  Tomorrow morning we head to Paris.

In Haifa we stayed at the Port Inn – fantastic location, and a super clean hotel.  Yesterday we explored Akko in the morning – it’s an old city just to the north of Haifa.  It is on a peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea.  We saw the Mosque of al-Jazzar, which is the third largest mosque in Israel, built in 1781.  Then we explored the Citadel and the Templar’s Tunnel, or the Templar Crusader Tunnel. The tunnel was found by accident in 1994 when a woman complained about a blocked sewer!  Then we visited the Khan al-Umdan (Inn of Pillars). It is an old caravanserai.  We enjoyed just walking through the streets of the old city.

Then we dropped off our car and headed off on a walking tour of Haifa recommended by our hotel.  We took the Carmelit – Israel’s only subway – it goes up Mount Carmel.  We saw Elijah’s Cave, which is where the prophet Elijah is believed to have hidden from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.  We got some great views of the Bahai gardens and the ocean.  Then we walked through The Ursula Malbin sculpture garden which shows bronze statues of children at play.  We ate at Douzan Restaurant, which has very good Middle Eastern food with a great view of the Bahai Gardens and a beautiful candlelit outdoor seating area. 

Well, we wandered around the crafts market in Tel Aviv yesterday and

then stopped in Caesaria before driving up to Haifa. Caesaria was a bit of a disappointment. The location is great – the ruins are right on the ocean. But they’re a bit too ruined. And we’ve just done too many ruins for now. The drive was easy and pretty, though. 

Today we drove everywhere. We visited the Galilee and the Golan Heights. We stopped at Nazareth first and saw the Church of the Annunciation believed to stand on the site of Mary’s home where it’s believed that the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she’d have a son.  It is the largest church in the Middle East.  There are paintings decided by Christian communities around the world, with the theme being Mother and Child.  We also visited St. Joseph’s Church which is believed to stand where Joseph’s carpentry shop was.

From there we headed to Tsfat and saw what we could – most of it is closed for Shabbat (the Sabbath). The main exhibition hall for the artists’ colony was open. And then we wandered around the streets a little. Great views and narrow stone streets.

Then we drove to Tiberias, which is on the banks of the Sea of Galilee. We visited the Rambam’s tomb (famous rabbi from the 1200s).  We stopped at Yardenit  where the Jordan River leaves the Sea of Galilee. Tour groups of Christian Pilgrims line up here to get baptized in the Jordan River. This is close to the location where Jesus is believed to have been baptized.

Next we visited the remains of an early synogogue at Beit Alpha. It’s on a kibbutz – they started digging to build something and accidently uncovered a nearly perfect 1200 year-old mosaic floor from a synagogue. Pretty cool, and of course there was a multi-media presentation. In English. All National Parks have those.

Next we drove around the Golan Heights. Beautiful. Incredible views. We stopped at one viewpoint and disappointingly they didn’t have a multi-media presentation, but they did have a button you could press and it told you (in English) all about the surrounding area. It was a great drive.

Tomorrow we’re going to try to get onto a tour of the Bahai gardens and temple, and to go to Akko, which is a walled old stone city just north of here. No matter what you’ve heard Israelis are not crazy drivers. Very often Wendy had to slow down…  Okay, maybe that just says something about her driving…

Well, we’re back in Tel Aviv and getting ready to go out to the crafts market again. We flew in from Amman last night after spending the day touring three sites.  Our hotel arranged for a car and driver which we shared with another couple. 

We started out the day at Um Quais, which is a Roman ruins.  The sight is relatively small, but interesting non-the-less.  From one side there is a great view towards Syria and Israel.  They had a lovely cafe set up to take advantage of the great views and we sat down for a while to have a drink with our new friends.

Then we continued on to Ajloun (or Ajlun) which is best known for Qala’atar-Rabad, a castle built atop Mt Anuf to defend against the Crusaders.  There are beautiful views of the Jordan Valley and three wadis: Kufranjah, Rajeb, and Al-Yabes.  This made it strategically important.

We finished up with the most extensive of the Roman ruins they have at Jerash.  The entrance is through the impressive Hadrian’s Arch.  They have a Hippodrome there that they still stage chariot races in.  The site is quite big and there was a lot to see. 

It was a good last day in Jordan. This afternoon we’re renting a car and driving to Haifa. Along the way we’ll stop at Caesarea and see more Roman ruins.

Well, we went on the night tour of Petra last night and really enjoyed it.  They light thousands of candles to illuminate the the route through the Siq to the Treasury and the space in front  of it.  There is then a folk music performance which echos around the walls of the canyon.

Today we wound up hiring a car and driver and went north on the King’s Highway, stopping at several sites along the way. We started off with "Little Petra" – really little. Then we stopped at Shobak Castle – one of the Crusader forts. When they say it fell to the Mamluks they’re not kidding. Not much to see.

Then we stopped at a view point and drove through a huge valley that we can’t remember the name of right now. Beautiful. Next we continued on to Karak Castle – biggest of the Crusader forts – less fallen down. Spent about an hour there. Great views out over the surrounding countryside.

From there we went to Mt. Nebo – where Moses went up to see the Promised Land before dying. There’s a church there with some beautiful mosaics too. Great views out over the Dead Sea and beneath the smog apparently Jerusalem.  On a clear day you can apparently see Hebron, Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, Qumran, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jericho, Nablus, and Lake Tiberias.  A bronze memorial near the lookout symbolizes the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and the serpent that Moses ‘lifted up’ in the desert.

Finally we stopped in Madaba to see some more mosaics – the Greek Orthodox Church there has a mosaic that’s some 1500 years old and is a map of the region including the Dead Sea and Jerusalem. We also went to the Archaelogical Park there which is small but has some nice mosaics too. Now we’re in Amman. We’ve changed our flight so we will be returning to Tel Aviv a day early.

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Wadi Musa just outside the gate to Petra. The location was fantastic and we paid only $50 a night.  The hotel itself  is more like a run down Holiday Inn than what a Crowne Plaza would normally be, but it has a nice clean pool with fabulous views to boot and the location just can’t be beat.  (Ok, location-wise it’s actually tied with the Movenpick, which we ate at for dessert one night.  Decor is MUCH better over there, at least in the public areas.  It was very cool.  So if it’s a tie we’d try them.  But for the price we paid, we were very happy with the Crowne Plaza).

Petra is a HUGE site, which will have you walking/hiking all day.  The walk to the Monastery, for example, is at least 6km/4 miles from the entrance and there’s a big climb, too.  Being close by and not adding on a further trek afterward was awesome to us.  Also, it made it easy to go early in the morning (when it’s cooler), do a bunch of hiking around, come back to the hotel for a nice dip in the pool in the heat of the day, and then go back out to the sights for the night event, for example.

We ate a couple of times at the Cave Bar located right next to the entrance to Petra and right next door to the Crowne Plaza (owned by them, too).  Although it was a little on the expensive side (compared to other restaurants in Wadi Musa)  when was the last time you had dinner in a 2,000 year old Nabatean Tomb?

They serve great mezze (appetizers with a variety of salads, hummus, tabbouleh, baba ganoush, olives, etc.) and lemon juice (not exactly lemonade – more like biting into a lemon).   Since the restaurant is run by the Crowne Plaza we felt safe eating fresh salads and ice there.  We had no problems and ate there 3 times.  The food was safe and delicious!

You can choose to eat indoors or outside, which is shaded, since it’s in the little side .  Eating outside on a warm starry night in such a perfect location was an awesome way to cap off a great day spent exploring the amazing ruins of Petra.

From Aqaba’s heat we went to Wadi Rum and were pleasantly surprised to find it much cooler (35C/90F). Wadi Rum is a dry river bed in the desert with spectacular scenery. We drove around some, then took a 5 hour break during which our "guide"/driver lost his tip, and then watched the sunset from our very basic camp. We slept under the stars and are still trying desperately to get the sand out of our clothes. If you choose to sleep outside in the desert choose brown clothes.

From there we took the bus to Wadi Musa (Petra). Which just won the competition and became one of the new 7 wonders of the world. It’s a 2000 year old Nabatean city where they carved the buildings into the cliff faces. The temperature here is cooler still and it’s been about 32C/high 80sF but dry. The first day we were able to see way more than we’d thought since it wasn’t nearly as hot as we were afraid it would be. We saw all the highlights and did a hike up to a high site (the Monastery). Gorgeous.

Yesterday and today we did some hiking to get some views followed by cooling off at the hotel pool. We’re staying at the Crowne Plaza which is more like a run down Holiday Inn but it does have a great location right near the park and a nice clean pool.

The park itself is huge – the walk to the Monastery for example is at least 6km/4 miles from the entrance and there’s a big climb too.

Tomorrow we are heading to Amman and we just booked a driver to take us up the King’s Highway. We will see a lot of sights along the way and we can stop for as long as we like. So that should be nice and relaxed. Tonight, since we are gluttons for punishment, we are doing a candlelit tour of Petra into the Treasury (if you’ve seen a picture of Petra it’s of this building).

Well, yesterday morning we woke up at 4 am like good little tourists and drove to Masada, where we hiked up the "snake path" 1500 feet (400ish meters) in time to see the sunrise over the Dead Sea.  Gorgeous, but also crazy.  It was 35 degrees (90F) at 4:45AM!!!  Yikes.  We hiked around the site (it’s the fortress where the last Jewish rebels finally fell to the Romans in 70ish AD.  We don’t have the guide book with us right now and we’re terrible at history. Anyhow, it has ruins and great views of the Dead Sea and the desert.  We got the cable car back down shortly after it opened at 8AM and continued south down to Timna National Park.

True to form for Israel they had a great map with a suggested driving tour, suggested hikes and coupons for a free coffee and colored sand filling bottle activity at the "lake" they’ve created in one part of the park. It’s small, but has unusual desert sandstone formations and is also the oldest known site of copper mining – dating back to 6,000 years ago. It has some Egyptian carvings too, but not enough to impress us in the heat (45C – 110F – OUCH). The car AC couldn’t even keep up. It was 35C/90F in the car. Soon we gave up on walking to the sites and just saw what we could from the car. Carefully timing opening the window so we were ready to take the photo and then close it in a hurry!  We drove down to Eilat and got a taxi to the border.

Crossing into Jordan was easy, but took a while. You have to go through multiple security checks – but they really barely look at you when you’re obviously a tourist.  Everyone was very helpful and friendly.  About an hour and a half later, we’d walked into Jordan, and took a taxi to the resort we’re at now. It’s right on the Red Sea, with a nice beach and great coral. It’s also got a lovely pool. Which for some unknown reason they kick you out of at 6pm .