Israel visit Passover 2023

This year Abba and Jacob went to Israel for Passover while Denise and Benjamin stayed behind.

Our flight to Tel Aviv went fine, other than Abba being stuck in the middle seat of a full flight, with a gem of an old lady next to him who wouldn't stop complaining about anything and everything... But otherwise the flight was fine, we watched lots of movies and slept a little bit (mostly Jacob).

Once in Israel Yair picked us up, in his new Trooper!!! Yes, Yair bought an old used Trooper after Saba's trooper burnt up. We got our rental car and drove to Ramat Aviv. Lots of traffic today, but we made it safely, if exhausted.

We got ourselves settled and a short rest. Afterwards we went outside to the ninja park. Saba joined us for the walk. We hung out a bit in the ninja and exercise area with Saba, and then Jacob wanted to head to the other park, with Saba joining in. I am still amazed at how well Jacob knows Ramat Aviv!
We spotted some Duchifats (Hoopoe), played with Saba and had a good time.
In the evening we had ice cream with Nachmi and went to sleep.

Throughout the whole visit, Jacob enjoyed a lot of TV time. He learned how to use Netflix and Prime on the TV (and importantly, how to switch it back to regular cable after!) and really enjoyed a lot of TV time in the evenings.

On Monday morning Anat came for a visit with Ido. Jacob and Ido got along really well! In the beginning it was hard for Jacob to figure out of to play with Ido - he is not really used to playing with toddlers, but after some prompting and help from Anat and me Ido really took to Jacob, and I think Jacob enjoyed the new position of the older kid. We made Jacob read a book to Ido (which he agreed to!) and played some matching games. By the time they left, Jacob asked if they can meet again tomorrow, and apparently Ido, when he came home, asked to meet again with Jacob!
In the afternoon we went to the local beach. The weather was too cold for me, but Jacob went in a little bit.

Tuesday morning Nachmi came over with Ido. He promised Ido they will go on a bus, so the plan was to take the bus to Ramat Aviv Gimel (a short walk away) to get ice cream... I had a plan to meet with my friend Oded, and Jacob joined Nachmi and Ido. They ended up waiting for the bus almost an hour!!! (for a 5-10 minutes ride), but had a good time, and found a fun park to play at on the way back. Nachmi took Jacob with him back home, and I picked him up from there and we went to visit Michal and help her get the place ready for Passover.
Jacob also made Matza balls and went in the pool.
We also took the Polaris (a little offroad vehicle Danny has) for a ride on the trails, which was nice. Jacob liked it more than I did...

Wednesday, Passover eve, Keren and Ronni (Shai, Itai, and Dan), as well as Shlomo and Itai came over to Saba and Savta and we all hung out in the park. Jacob and Itai were getting along really well!.
Afterwards we just rested before going for the Seder.

The Seder was a lot of fun! We were about 35 people - Danny, Michal and kids, Shlomo and kids, Yair, Carmel and kids, Tomer (Maya's husband) family came as well as Danny's parents and Hod (Danny's business partner). We read almost the whole Hagada, taking turns. Jacob read his parts really well. when he read, there was complete silence, no one was chatting, and at the end there as clapping. I think he was a bit too self-conscious, but it was nice. He really did read very well, and considering some of the Israelis were too shy to read it was huge.
Itai and Jacob found the Afikoman (with a little help from Hadar...). Itai asked for a computer game and Jacob for Heelys.
At the end we sang all the songs and the Greengrass's arrived just in time for Had-Gadya!

We had a really wonderful Seder, and Jacob got to see the different ways of reading and singing as well as feel the warmth of the large family.

Thursday we went to Anat for lunch, with all her kids as well as Carmel + Yair and kids. Jacob spent time with Ido again, and I had some time to chat with Omer which I always really enjoy. The food was of course amazing and we styed really late.

Friday we went to the Museum of Nature in Tel Aviv University. There wee a few fascinating exhibits. The first exhibit was about form and function, looking at different adaptations in animals. The other exhibits were bugs (live ones!), the human effect on the planet, global warming and human development. At the end was a presentation of the general collection which had thousands of life forms! The staff were all graduate students and they were super nice and enjoyed showing us things and telling us about their research projects.
We also did the tour in the botanical gardens, which I found disappointing as I was hoping to visit the tropical greenhouses, but it has been closed for about two years due to infectious fungus. Nevertheless, I learned a lot and Jacob took dozens of pictures of cacti and succulents.

I the evening we had Kiddush at Michals which was very pleasant. Jacob brought swim suit this time and enjoyed the pool, we sat outside and I had a chance to catch up with Tomer (Maya's Tomer).

Saturday we drove to the desert! Yey!
Since Jacob had a project about the Ramon crater, I figured we'll go over and see it. We booked a tent for the night and nothing else really. I looked up a few attractions and decided to book those as we feel in the moment.
The drive was easy and Jacob did notice the sudden change of scenery as we passed Beer-Sheva. We got a good laugh out of the "Danger - Camels crossing" signs!
We found our camp area pretty easily. It was a family owned little campground which has pre-set tents, some large "Han" tents for large groups (where people sleep together in the same space, like the Bedouin tents), space to pitch your own tent and an RV area. They also grow some grapes (for wine) and olives. We found our tent and got settled in.

After that we went to Mizpe Ramon (the town at the top of the Ramon Crater) for lunch at a restaurant recommended by the owner of the campground. The food was great, but it was crowded and slow...
From here we went to finally actually see the crater! Right next to the visitors center there is an observation deck. On the way we found some ibex, just walking around in the town. They were so cute!
When we got to the observation deck, it was the funniest thing! Jacob kept playing being incredulous of "where is the crater?!?". Apparently, he imagined being able to see a hole in the ground, like it looks from pictures. But the crater is pretty large and you can't fully see its edges. So, it was kind of funny to see him slowly grapple with it.

After we got back, we went to the craft station. The campground had a little area where they had 3 crafts - making san-filled bottles, weaving some wool, and pompom making. Jacob did the sand bottle and the pompom. He just loved it so much! The calm, relaxed atmosphere was indeed very nice and we worked on it along with the lady who was running it. I enjoyed talking to her and hearing about her journey from growing up in Mitzpe Ramon, moving to the center, and then moving back south years later with her family to get away from the dense center of Israel.
For that evening, we booked a guided star-observation (common in the area, it is a dark-sky reserve) with a dinner at a Bedouin tent. Unfortunately it was clowdy, so no stars, but we did go fr the dinner. We were hosted by a Bedouin family and the guy was telling us about their traditional ways, how they keep some of those today the challenges with integrating to the modern ways etc. It was very interesting and the food, tea and coffee were delicious! Jacob was fine, despite not being able to understand it all. I translated as much as I could. There were two other families with us as well. On the way out we visited the goats and the guy gave me a recommendation for a camel-riding company owned by a family member of him.
We got back and fell asleep pretty easily listening to some Harry Potter audio books.

The next day I had hoped to start with rappelling into the crater, followed by ahike in it. Alas, Jacobs heart was set on spending more time at the craft station. Unfortunately (or luckily for me), the lady who runs it only gets there around 10 or 12, so we drove to Mitzpe for some breakfast, at a wonderful coffee shop. Since we had time, and since the rappelling place told me we can just show up, we went there after and were lucky to be there just 5 minutes before another scheduled group. The guy squeezed us in quickly before them. It was much shorter and faster than I had anticipated, but it was a perfect first rappel experience for Jacob. He was a champ, though he was obviously helped a lot by the guide from the top.
Afterwards we went to the visitor center, which has a few A/V presentations about Ilan Ramon (the first Israeli astronaut) who died in the Columbia space shuttle disaster, as well as the formation of the Ramon crater and the life forms in the crater. It is a fascinating visitor center, highly recommended. The parts about Ilan Ramon are inspirational and emotional, the geology presentation about the formation of the crater taught me a lot about the geology, and the life in the desert one opened my eyes to many animals I never knew live in Israel.
Of course we had to visit the gift shop as well... :-)

After the visitor center we went back to the campground to do the crafts. Again, it was so peaceful and calming to simply sit under the canopy and weave with Jacob. We did another sand bottle and the weaving and it felt so simple and fulfilling at the same time.

One the way out Jacob asked me, out of the blue, about the camel riding. I called up the place and they said they have a group in half an hour. We made it easily, with time for ice cream on the way!
Once there, we met up with the owner, sitting in the Bedouin tent. There were two moms and a few kids there, chatting and having some tea. we joined them, and the host was telling us a lot about the camels, their adaptations to the desert and also some more philosophical thinking about "desert time". After a few minutes the guide came and we went to meet the camels.
Jacob was of course elated. He loves pretty much all animals! The guy told us about how to get on, and off we went. There were 3 camels in total, we were on the front one. It was nice, but the other kids were shouting a lot in fear which was quite annoying. Nevertheless, we went to the edge of the crater and saw it from another angle. Jacob was starting to appreciate it more from here.
This was a short walk, only half an hour or even less, and once we got back Jacob asked if we can go again. I said I didn't know, but when we got back there was another dad and kid waiting to see if they can go on a tour. They seem to have known the guide from before. I asked if we can join, and we did.
This round was much better. The kid was well behaved and the guide was able to explain to us a lot more about the vegetation we saw on the ay and about some of the ways the camels behave. For example, there is a plant the females eat a lot when they are pregnant, and apparently you can make medicinal tea with it. Studies have show (according to him) that the calves of camels who eat more of this plant survive better. Interesting how the animals sometime just know better...
Once we finished the second round, and I went to pay the host, he invited us to sit and have lunch. Jacob politely said he is not hungry, but I sat down. IT is the polite thing to do. I told him e can just enjoy a cup of tea. The had pittas, cheese (that they make themselves) and some Zaatar in olive oil. I asked Jacob to just try a bit, as those flavors are unique. He didn't stop eating until it was all gone! the cheese was really good!

After the Camel rides, we finally drove into the crater! I had planned to go for a little hike where the crafts lady told us we can see all the different colorful sand (and bring some home with us) and maybe find a water hole to splash in. But right along the way there was a sign for a Malabi stand, a common dessert. So we stopped and had some Malabi. And right next to it was an open area with a little water hole, and lots of colorful sand piles for people to pick! The sand was is actually brought over by the local tourism organization so people don't have to go grab it from deeper in the crater, but it was all the same for us. We found some container and filled them with different colored sand and rocks, and then went into the water. It was actually quite cold!
By the time we were done there it was getting later in the day (3 or 4pm), and we had no time for a hike (which Jacob was perfectly fine with!).
We started to head back and I remembered the Alpaca farm, which of course Jacob wanted to visit.
We arrived when they were already closing down the activities, but the animals are always out so we went in and bought some feed. The alpacas are very cute and fluffy, but they were quite aggressive when Jacob was trying to feed them and he felt bad for the ones that were being pushed aside. We also met some goats and lamas. I had hoped to have dinner there but the restaurant was closed so we said goodbye to the alpacas and started the drive home.
The drive was quiet and peaceful and went by very fast. we made one stop for dinner and coffee and that it!

What a perfect over-night getaway!

This brings us to Monday, almost time to go back home...
Danielle and Itay came over and we all went to the beach in Beit Yanai (further north than we usually go). We had an awesome time, Itay and Jacob had a blast, and we finished with a lovely dinner at a traditional meat restaurant. They served out the salads as they always do and Jacob had so much food that he skipped ordering anything else!

And that was it... we returned the car and Yair drove us to the airport.

It was a really lovely quick vacation home. Very relaxed yet emotional, homey and touristic at the same time.

Can't wait to go back...