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 ... (read more →)

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 ... (read more →)

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 ... (read more →)

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 ... (read more →)

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 ... (read more →)

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. ... (read more →)

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 ... (read more →)

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 ... (read more →)

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 ... (read more →)

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 ... (read more →)