Read about our trip from the bottom up...

For anyone who is reading about our trip to Israel this summer I suggest you start reading from the bottom.  The posts are (automatically) sorted in descending order with the most recent date/post at the top then proceeding to older posts.  There is no simple way to change this, so... I again invite you to read starting at the bottom - which is the BEGINNING of our trip. 


You might try this alternate view of our blog (http://mabeltravel.blogspot.com/view) which allows you to easily scroll among the posts (a quick mouse-wheel scroll to the bottom/first post).


Thanks all for your warm comments both on the blog and in person.  The blog ended up being a great family project - getting to take turns and write about our adventures then gathering 'round to listen while they were read aloud to the whole family before being posting.  


It was a truly FABULOUS trip, and we're glad that we could share a bit of it with you all.  
- [B]
:)

Great Food - anytime 24/6

[B] As you can see by the sign of the "City Market" even the 24-hr convenience stores close on Shabbat (usually Friday afternoon to Saturday after dark).

Save for this brief respite in the week, Israel is a foodie's paradise. It is a land of fresh, simple, and AMPLE foods and meals.

See below for some pics.. but here's a brief list of some of our favorite eats while here in Israel:
 - Moshiko - Felafel and Shwarma on Ben Yehuda St in Jerusalem
 - Cafe Paradiso - Jerusalem
 - Te'enim - Jerusalem (vegetarian and with a great view of the old city)
 - Emily Perlman's home-made (Shabbat) tomato soup
 - Rachel Sabath Beit Halachmi's grilled veggies and breaded cuvit (cauliflower)
 - Sea of Galilee Guest House - home-made jams with awesome breakfasts and great hosts (Yael and Roni)
 - Chocolat - Rosh Pina (Galilee)
 - Pundak Neot Semadar (Vegetarian - best olives I've tasted)
- Shakshuka - eggs in a tomoato sauce (an Andrea fav)
- ALL the fresh fruits and veggies available everywhere
 - big loaves of Challah bread (a Lila favorite)
 - Ice cream treats (available absolutely EVERYWHERE)

Sun - Jul 3 - more Lotan & Eilat

[B] Even more awesome pics from Lotan and our trip to Eilat. Starting with the mud brick I made with the initials MABEL...enjoy.

Sun - Jul 3 - Kibbutz Lotan and Eilat

[E]:  We woke up and most of us were excited.  We were going to have the tour of Kibbutz Lotan.  We went to the office and we waited everyone else to come.  Everyone came and the guide said her name was Maayan and she showed us the bus stop at Lotan.  It was interesting because it was it was made out of trash and outside of that was straw and outside of that was mud.  Then she took us to the eco village and she showed us that there are small lights that look like big mushrooms.  They are small and only light up the ground and they run on solar power.  Then she showed us what was inside one of the small houses in the village.  She said it was fireproof and earthquake-proof.  She said that every so often when it rains they would cover it with oil so that the water would run down the house and it would not turn into wet mud and fall down.  Then she showed us the ovens and said that this is a solar-powered oven.  She said there was a mirror, tin foil, and a pot inside of it and whatever was in the pot would cook.

[L]:  I played in the park.  Everything was made out of tires.  Then we saw some potties.  There weren't real flusheres there.  How you did it was a cup and straw.  After I went potty I got to use the cup - that's how you flush.  You get a big scoop of straw and then you dump it into the toilet.  Then there are tall sinks and a little sink.  And then we went back to the park and played there for a little while.  Then we went over to make bricks.  They're made out of mud with straw and they use them to build things on the kibbutz.

[E]:  In the afternoon we went to Eilat and drove to the Aquarium and Underwater Observatory.  First we went to the shark tank and they were very cool.  Then we went to see the turtles.  They were also very cool.  They we saw a tour and learned about the pirahnas and saw them and the alligators get fed.  After that we went to the underwater observatory.  It was so cool.  There were windows that showed you the coral of the Red Sea.  There were so many kinds of fish.  We went up some stairs after that, and up again.  It was very scary for some of us, but we got through of it.  We went to the top and it was very windy compared to the inside, so we only spent a few minutes there.  We could see the whole Red Sea and most of Eilat and a little bit of Jordan.