Israel
Finally, after canceling our trip to Israel three (3) times we made it. Each time we had the flights, hotels, and AirBnBs booked and each time Israel closed its border right before our flight. This time it finally looked like we were going to make it to the Holy Land, LOL!
We booked our flight with EL-AL (Israeli Airline), which neither Leandra or I had flown before. In our prior bookings to Israel, we booked our flights with Delta and still have credit with them, however, for some unknown reason, the tickets with Delta were almost double the price than with American or EL-AL. On March 26th we came into Newark International Airport and were ready to fly. We showed up a bit earlier to the airport and were planning on spending some time in a priority lounge before our flight. From my prior travel experience to Israel during my college years, I knew that all the flights to Israel are usually subject to an additional security screening and usually are leaving from the very last gate at the end of the terminal, isolated from any other planes.
So, for now we were chilling near the EL-Al counter and then someone came by and told us that we must go to another area where we will be a subject to the El-Al security check. We showed up and soon, some EL-AL workers and security showed up, they all were Israelis that spoke Hebrew and some security personnel had guns and even a couple of shotguns. Anyway, after showing them our passports, they started to ask questions: did you pack yourself, did anyone give you anything to transport, how do we know each other? We said that we have been married for 10 years, and they asked to see some documents, and the only document that we had were our Colorado driving license which showed the same address, but that was enough. Of course, they took our bags and did an extra search and swipe, just because I guess it still looked a bit suspicious. After several minutes of waiting we were cleared and we left.
The EL-AL plane was a 787-9 Dreamliner and the experience of flying with EL-Al was great at least in my opinion. The staff of the plane was super nice and they even had a Gluten Free meal for Leandra with very good bread. The flight was uneventful and very smooth and took us about 10.5 hours.
Day 1 - (03/27/2022)
We landed at around 15:15 local time, got off the plane and proceeded to the exit. I have not been back to Israel since 2011 and did not know about all the changes that had happened since then. There were couple of differences now, we had to scan our passports at the terminal and present the border agent with the printouts which was nice. We were through security within 30 min, and collected our bags and proceeded to the COVID testing area. After that we boarded the train and took it to Haifa where my parents picked us up and took us to our Airbnb, where we would wait for the COVID test to come back and only then we could go and explore.
Days 2-3 - (03/28-29/2022)
The COVID test came back negative and we were free to go and explore. We were still dealing with jet lag so we decided to take it easy in the next couple of days. We went to the beach and relaxed, while my parents came by and chilled with us.
Day 4 - (03/30/2022)
Today we decided to go to the Bahai Gardens located in Haifa. My mother got us a tour in English for 10am. We showed up and waited for a tour guide. The tour started at the top of the gardens and we slowly walked down the gardens while the tour guide was telling us some info about the place.
The tour itself was ok, we had about 12 people in our group and the tour guide was speaking in English. This was the only English version of the tour and it took us one hour to come down all the way. The guide was in a hurry and as soon as we came all the way down, she got into a car and went somewhere. To be honest, she did not add anything to the tour, very little information about the gardens and religion, only what some people asked. She basically was there to ensure that no one would wander around. It felt very forced, like we were little kids.
The landscape architecture was incredible though. After the tour was over we were able to get back to our car and I saw the same guide taking another group for the same tour… The idea was to take as many people around and to make as much money as possible, information about the gardens was secondary… big disappointment.
Anyhow, when we came back to our Airbnb, Leandra googled all the information about the gardens and the religion, to crossmatch with the guide info. It seemed like the information that the guide told us was cherry picked and prepared. For example: the gardens were sponsored and built by the Bahai followers, all of the money was from donations; the religion is based on equality of everyone, or at least that is what we were told.
After a short session of googling, we discovered that, yes, the gardens were built from donations, but we were not told that as part of the religion, a "voluntary" wealth tax of about 19% of followers income should be made as a “donation” (from discretionary income, above essential expenses). The promise of equality was a sham, women could not serve on the high council and only men were allowed. Anyhow, this religion, like others, looked and sounded ok on the surface, but when you start reading into it, it’s the same shit, just colored differently.
The gardens were beautiful and had perfect landscaping, everything was just perfectly positioned and the architectural details were executed with precision. Later on, we have learned that its cost was somewhere north of $250,000,000, holy shit.
Day 5 - (03/31/2022)
Today we decided to go to Caesarea National Park, located about 40 min from Haifa.
Caesarea National Park is a huge site that was once the port of Caesarea, built by King Herod the Great and named in honor of Caesar Augustus, from 25-13 BCE. It served as an important center of trade, and was considered one of the most impressive deep water harbors in the world. The construction of the breakwaters was complex -- we watched a video on how they dealt with the challenges of the site -- Architects devised a grid-like water-tight form that they floated on the surface and then filled with concrete -- at which point it would sink and become the base for further construction.
The National park was very big and had many excavated areas that showcased many Roman era ruins that were well preserved. The Crusaders added their own Citadel on top of the city during a later time period and added quite a bit of interesting architecture. Then came the Mamluks, The Ottomans, etc., etc., as is common in this area of the world.
Among the Roman ruins were the Sea Port, the Roman amphitheater, as well as a Hippodrome, a bathhouse, and a lot of excavated secondary ruins with cool mosaics. After looking at all of the main area, we walked to the Aqueduct, which was a very cool engineered structure that brought water to the city.
After we were done with Caesarea National Park we decide to stop by the Ralli Museums which were located a couple of miles out from the National park. They housed the largest collection of Salvador Dali sculptures in the world, and featured other Latin American and Spanish artwork.
After this we drove back to Haifa and called it a day, I decided to go for a run and ran about 4 miles on the beach of Haifa.
I have been battling a mysterious injury and the left side of upper body was hurting every time I attempted to run, very strange pain…. I did see a huge amount of jellyfish, which seemed to be very early in season, or at least from what I remembered.
Day 6 - (04/01/2022)
When we woke up I heard something downstairs, when I looked down from the window of our Airbnb I saw wild boar. My parents told me that these guys have been populating the Haifa area especially after the COVID isolation where people were not on the streets for a couple weeks. I called it fresh bacon, I wonder if those piggies are any good?!
Breakfast served! LOL
Today we decided to take it easy and visited my parents house, where my mom made us a Russian soup “Borscht”. Basically, this soup had it all, a lot of vegetables and some pork and beets for red color. We also put some sour cream into it and this whole thing was delicious!
I also found some old photos from my early Speedo modeling including some polaroid test shots, very nostalgic and cool photos from the 2002-2003 Winter Photoshoot.
Day 7 - (04/02/2022)
We were still struggling with some jet lag and today we decided to visit the small monastery of Stella Marris. We walked on the beach about 3 miles to a cable car that took us all the way up to the top of Haifa.
The chapel was ok, and after wandering around for a couple minutes we were done and took the same car system back down.
The rest of the day we rested and went for a short run on the beach. During the day we also got some interesting weather towards the evening, called "hamsin". Basically in the spring and summer, Israel is hot, very hot, and on some days it gets even hotter. Those are days of dust-storm, a hot, dry wind that obscures the sky and horizon. The word "hamsin" is taken from Arabic. We will experience this in Egypt as well -- for now, here is what that looks like in Israel:
Day 7 - (04/03/2022)
Today we were going to the Wingate Institute, the place where I swam while I was in school and when I was in the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) and also during my College years.
Wingate was my second home away from home and I lived there since I was 15 years old and swam there. During my mid and high school years Wingate was like a boarding school, I would come there on Monday and stay there until Friday.
A typical day of mine would look as following:
06:00 am - Morning swim practice
08:00-09:00 - Get back to my room, breakfast and get to school (was nearby 10 min ride on bus, which was provided by Wingate)
09:00-13:00 - School classes
13:30-14:00 - Lunch
14:00 - 15:30 - Lunch nap / Medical recovery (naps were a MUST!)
15:30 - 17:00 - Gym / Dry-land workout
17:00 - 19:00 - Evening swimming practice
19:00 - 20:00 - Dinner
20:00 - 22:00 - Free time / Homework time
22:00 - Night night sleep...
Time management was the key...
Wingate Institute is a university for sport education, where you can get a BA in sport education and was and still is an all-inclusive sport complex where Israel is growing the next generation of Olympic athletes. Wingate has it all, sport complexes, medical facilities, food and living accommodations. Everything that an athlete needs in one place to be able to train and do the best in order to succeed and achieve the highest athletic form.
While I swam in Wingate I had the huge privilege of working with some of the best coaching and medical staff. My coach Leonid Kaufman who was coaching me since I was 15 all the way throughout my military service when I was 23, and I decided to visit him and say hello :)
It was great to see my coach and I also got to visit the new Olympic swim pool, which unfortunately I did not have a chance to swim in. The pool was scheduled to be competed in 2009, however it was not finished until 2013. By then I was not actively swimming anymore, oh well…
We also stopped by the medical center where I met my favorite doctor Dr. Luba Galitskaya, who is also an Israeli Olympic physician.
Like my coach, Dr Luba was there for me every time I needed anything at all, and I miss her very much. While we visited the medical center, I asked her if she was concerned about my strange pain in the left side of my chest that was bugging me for a couple of weeks now. She asked me a couple of questions and told me that it should be ok, but to be sure we did a quick EKG to confirm it’s nothing to do with my heart. After the EKG was completed she said “you will live “and all was good :)
After talking to Dr. Luba for a bit we decided to stop by Tel Aviv and walk a bit there, since we decided not to rent an Airbnb in Tel Aviv due to the high prices.
We walked through the port of Tel Aviv with a lot of good restaurants, and passed by my Airforce base where I served my 3 years of IDF. The base was not there anymore and was dismantled a couple years back due to the high prices of the land on which it was located. Now the plan was to build many high rises there and make it a very expensive living area.
After wandering around the port, we stopped for a short break and had some sushi.
After which we continued to the Azrieli Shopping Center.
After getting into the mall, we took a train back to Haifa to our Airbnb and called it a day.
Day 8 - (04/04/2022)
Today we went to Acre or more commonly known as Akko with my mom, we took a one-hour train ride north of Haifa to Akko.
Acre /Akko as a city has very deep history. From wikipedia:
"The city occupies an important location, sitting in a natural harbor at the extremity of Haifa Bay on the coast of the Mediterranean's Levantine Sea. Aside from coastal trading, it was also an important waypoint on the region's coastal road and the road cutting inland along the Jezreel Valley. The first settlement during the Early Bronze Age was abandoned after a few centuries but a large town was established during the Middle Bronze Age. Continuously inhabited since then, it is among the oldest continuously-inhabited settlements on Earth. It has, however, been subject to conquest and destruction several times and survived as little more than a large village for centuries at a time. Acre was an important city during the Crusades, and was the site of several battles. It was the last city held by the Crusaders in the Levant before it was captured in 1291. In present-day Israel, the population was 49,380 in 2019, made up of Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Druze.
After walking through the Crusader Citadel (which was so cool!), we walked around an area that had narrow streets and businesses, and then through a 150m long tunnel built by the Crusaders as a strategic connection between palace and port. It required stooping the whole length.
After walking around for a while, we discovered a gluten free place that had a huge selection of everything. The place was called Carmel, a "gluten-free paradise“. We all had shawarma on challah bread, which was amazing and delicious! Leandra couldn't believe it was gluten-free.
After that we walked back to the train station and went back to Haifa and called it a day :)
Day 9 - (04/05-06/2022)
Today and the next day we took it easy and stayed in Haifa, we did go to the Grand Mall in Haifa and got Black Burger which had an option for a gluten free bun and enjoyed it with my mom. The burger was very tasty and even Leandra could have it:)
Later on, we went to my parent’s house and chilled there while drinking wine and engaging about several topics, such as PHD’s and the situation in Ukraine. Both of those topics were not the most ideal topics but it was still fun :) On the 6th we left our Airbnb and went to my parent’s house for a couple of days.
Day 9-11 - (04/07-09/2022)
We drove around today and visited Haifa University and a nearby national park.
In the evening we were going to Anya and Nir's house for a couple of days in Netanya. I knew Anya and Nir since I was 15 years old and Anya and I swam together at Wingate. Anya represented Israel in two Olympic games; Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, as well as in multiple European and World Championships and multiple international meets throughout her career.
We took the train and Anya picked us up in her car with two out of three children. Last time that I saw Anya it was 10 years ago when she had only one child Itay, and today he was already 12. We stayed in Anya and Nir's apartment and had an awesome time talking about the past and catching up.
We went for a morning practice the next day.
In the evening we had a huge dinner with steaks that Nir had made and they were amazing, special thanks to Nir.
During that evening another two of my swimming friends came by Boaz and Nastia, which swam with me in Hapoel Jerusalem. It was awesome to catch up with them as well :)
Next morning my mom came and got us due to the fact that we did not have a car while visiting Israel and there was no public transportation during Shabat. Also, the Israeli railways had some maintenance that week and there were no trains back to Haifa that evening.
Day 12-19 - (04/10-17/2022)
Today we were going to Eilat, which is the southernmost city in Israel.
We took a train from Haifa to Beersheba, which took about 2 hours and then got on a bus and took it all the way down to Eilat. The bus trip to Eilat took about 3 hours and we passed through the Negev desert, which covers approximately 60 percent of the country.
When we got to Eilat we went straight to our Airbnb. After we dropped our bags we went for a short walk.
During our trip to Eilat, I started to feel not so great :( Next 5 days were interesting, and YES, we finally caught COVID!
The day we arrived to Eilat my throat was hurting and I felt a bit strange, I decided to get a COVID test and I got two lines, I was positive… Day after Leandra followed me with sore throat and day after that my mom. By the time my mom had it I was feeling almost 100%, and after 4 days I was feeling good enough to start thinking of getting back to running but waited another day.
Leandra and I both had 3 shots of COVID vaccine done in USA, and my mom had 3 shots and an additional booster shot done in Israel. Overall the experience was not as horrible as I thought it would be. As I stated I had only one day of feeling not so great, and after that I got better fast, resulting in full recovery and getting back to my running after 5 days of rest. Leandra was totally incapacitated for 24 hours and took a couple days longer to recover after that while my mom had a mild case. The cough hung around for two weeks though.
Anyhow, due to the COVID issue, we decided not to go to the Dead Sea and keep it for the next time that we will visit Israel. Here are some photos of Eilat that we took in the last 2 days after we isolated inside for 5 days and went outside only for food.
We left Eilat on 04/17/2022 and crossed into Egypt through the Taba border crossing.
The crossing was... Very, what is the word for it... "interesting” I guess, due to the timing. We crossed during the busiest time, Passover, which I knew that a lot of Israelis go to Sinai to relax and the crossing would be busy, but what we experienced was much more than that...
The Border Crossing into Egypt (deserves its own post) but here we go!
We took a taxi to the border crossing, which was not far, it took us 10 min or so to get there, and after we got out of the taxi we were faced with the picture that you see below, the time was 8am or so. I took this photo after 40 min of standing in line already and it would get even worse.
While standing in line for a couple hours, moving forward slowly, it started to get hot. Not only that, but there were Israelis that thought that the rules did not apply to them and were cutting the line in front of us. Some other people that were standing near us had noticed it and called the security guys to deal with it. People were screaming at each other and one group was trying to prove that they were here, but left and now they were in the back, that was CHAOS!
After about two and half hours we finally got into the Israeli border crossing building.
We had to pay some money for crossing and here also we had some people that constantly were cutting in front of us. I did not take any photos at this point just because I was so tired and angry :( , but trust me, this was the single most annoying experience that we endured on this trip! This was way more chaotic than our experience in the Santiago Airport with Avianca, and back then I thought that it will be impossible to top that. Stress level was getting high!
After we crossed the Israeli side of the border, the real chaos started. We were lined up outside in 90 degree weather, with no shade or water to be found. The line stretched for a while and was terminated by a small building that led into a bigger space. We were standing there for maybe 30 min, no one was moving, then little by little we made our way to a small building that had a metal detecter and a baggage screening belt. The Egyptian border patrol people were screaming and pointing in different directions...
We made it to the bigger space where there was another "line" which did not resemble anything like a line, just a huge amount of people standing and not moving anywhere. After a while we were told that we need to pay 1000 Egyptian pounds to clear this area, and they will not take USD, you have to have Egyptian money. There was an ATM, however it was broken, and there was also an exchange point, but, they ran out of Egyptian money!
At this point we were in the process of crossing for almost 7 hours, I told Leandra to go and sit nearby the window, while I was standing in "line" to exchange and wait for them to bring money.
After about 30 min. more money showed up, and after pushing and screaming a bit more I was able to get some money changed! There was another choke point where we were packed in like sardines and could not move forward or backward. If there was a panic, people would have been trampled. We stood there, unmoving for about an hour and eventually started pushing our way forward because nothing seemed to be happening. We reached the head where several agents were holding the mass back while seemingly allowing people through at random, whoever was willing to pay a few pounds. I'm not certain we paid a bribe but I 100% don't know what the fee was for. They let us through after the money changed hands.
Another 30 min, we were to the passport control point where the agent told us that Leandra did not have the visa to Egypt. We did apply for a visa online, however, Leandra's visa was declined because she did not enter her middle name into the application (they did not have a clear field for it on application) while my Visa had been approved.
After another 20 min of back and forward we were stamped and allowed to go through.
It is possible to come into the Sinai without a visa for two weeks but you cannot travel farther than to Sharm el-Sheikh. We couldn't risk re-applying online because that takes seven days and our itinerary took us to Cairo before that; so we had read that you can get a visa in the Sharm airport, which is what we planned to do. (All plans went out the window when we got there though, because EGYPT.)
Anyhow, we had spent about 9.5 hours now attempting to cross, and after our passports were stamped and we headed back outside hoping that it was over... BUT wait, there was yet another line, where you had to pay yet again and we spent another 30 min. waiting there.
Again, chaos and nothing was moving anywhere! Overall HORRIBLE experience! FINALLY -- after close to 10 hours of standing in lines, traveling a total distance of half a mile, intermittently being crushed/dehydrated/sunstroked, we were in Egypt! Here is my stress levels as were recorded by my Garmin watch, Leandra had similar readings!
Stay tuned for the Egypt post! Two and half weeks of chaos!
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