On December 12, 2013, we had the privilege of attending the wedding of two splendid people. Ohad Atia is a
rikudei-am (Israeli folk dance) instructor/leader here in Tel Aviv, and
sometimes Vicky, his bride, also teaches dances. I have been learning dances
from Ohad for over a year now and attribute a good portion of my dance knowledge
to him. Hadossa and I were thrilled to attend Ohad and Vicky's wedding, which
took place in Kiryat Haim near Haifa, and turned out to be an extremely enjoyable
experience. Not only was it the first wedding we've attended here in Israel,
but it was by far the most fun we've ever had at a wedding in our entire lives.
The food was out of this world, the ceremony was saturated with joy, and the
dancing lasted till the wee hours of the morning. I have posted some pictures
of the event below.
Then, as if December wasn't already exciting enough,
two of our friends from the states came to visit Israel for two weeks, and I
got to travel around with them and show them some of my favorite sites and
explore some new places with them. That was very fun for me and kept me very
busy, as I am also working three days a week and had to keep returning to work
between travels. I think they really enjoyed Israel and got a great
cross-section of experiences of what it is like here. I have posted a bunch of
pictures of our travels together that spanned from December 19, 2013-January,
2, 2014.
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| Monica got to meet Gadi Bitton in Tel Aviv on her first night in Israel! |
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| Ben Yehuda Street, Jerusalem |
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| The Western Wall, Jerusalem |
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| Jerusalem |
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| Sea of Galilee with Mount Hermon in the background covered in snow |
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| looking south from Rosh HaNikra, Mediterranean Sea on right, near the Lebanon border |
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| Rosh HaNikra, in the Grottos |
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| Rosh HaNikra |
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| Rosh HaNikra |
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| Akko |
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| Akko |
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| Akko |
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| Akko |
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| Akko |
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| Akko |
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| Haifa, at Hadossa's place |
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| The hyraxes at Ein Gedi are so cute! |
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| Ein Gedi |
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| Ein Gedi |
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| Ein Gedi |
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| Ein Gedi |
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| Ein Gedi |
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| Ein Gedi |
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| Ein Gedi |
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| Ein Gedi |
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| Ein Gedi |
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| Monica at the Dead Sea |
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| Dead Sea |
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| Dead Sea |
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| view of Dead Sea from top of Masada |
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| Masada |
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| Masada |
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| Masada |
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| Masada |
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| view of Red Sea from our hostel in Eilat |
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| Eilat |
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| salt-encrusted, bird-tracked mud in Eilat |
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| Eilat |
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| Eilat |
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| flamingos in Eilat |
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| Eilat |
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| Eilat |
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| Eilat |
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| Eilat |
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| Monica rode the fireball in Eilat. |
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I flew from Eilat to Tel Aviv to make it back to work one day, and got a view of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem from the airplane.
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| Flooding in the Negev; we couldn't use this road... |
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| Boker Valley Vineyards B&B in Sde Boker; nice atmosphere |
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| flooding in the Negev |
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| Mamshit, an ancient Nabatean settlement on the Spice Road |
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| Mamshit |
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| Mamshit |
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| Mamshit |
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| Flooding in the Negev; most of the time of the year there is no water here. |
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| Mamshit |
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| Mamshit |
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| Mamshit |
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| Negev Camel Ranch near Mamshit |
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| Negev Camel Ranch |
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| We took an hour-long ride into the desert. |
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| Negev camel ride |
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| breathtaking views on the edge of cliffs while sitting on the camel's back |
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| Negev camel ride |
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| Negev |
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| Jaffa Port |
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| Jaffa Port |
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| Jaffa Port |
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| Old Jaffa |
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| Old Jaffa |
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| Old Jaffa |
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| Old Jaffa |
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| We went into a shop with lots of old artifacts that cost tons of money. |
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| and we found an artist studio full of little people statues |
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| Old Jaffa |
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| Old Jaffa |
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| Old Jaffa |
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| Old Jaffa |
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| Old Jaffa |
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| Tel Aviv |
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| Jaffa |
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| restaurant in Jaffa |
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| Jaffa--street artist named Dede painted the arm |
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HaTachana in Tel Aviv
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Here's a video I made of George and Monica's trip to Israel: https://youtu.be/TdoYtZV_oXs
