Election night

Will post more (with photos), but have just returned from the Nevada Republican Party's VIP election-night party.  All thanks to M's EF-colleague Paula.  An amazing evening.  Met some nice Republicans, drank some excellent scotch and ate well, sat in the roped-off area and met major donors to the party, watched many excited volunteers, got some great photos, and watched the election results roll in.  Notwithstanding that I was having a great time, the party felt a little flat given that Sharron Angle lost her Senate bid but a pretty great time was had by an Australian political junkie.

Grand Canyon

Am presently in the Grand Canyon, at the beginning of Epic Voyage II of 2010.

After an amazing Cutler & Co lunch on Friday, I had a fairly interrupted night's sleep.  I gave up sleeping altogether by 5ish, and made final preparations for my trip. 

Saturday morning flew Melbourne - LA, miraculously made my LA - Phoenix flight (with time for a mexican breakfast burrito) and met M at the luggage carousel in Phoenix a few minutes early (about 20 hours after leaving home).  Logistics worked incredibly well.  Watched Kick Ass and Get Him To The Greek on the plane, plus read The Age, The Australian, the AFR, the LA Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Was great to meet up with M after a month or so apart.  She's getting really big.

Picked up our red four wheel drive and got on the road - didn't see any of Phoenix.  Stopped in Sedona for lunch - a really pretty town and a good opportunity to get back into the swing of American-sized food portions.  Amazing vistas from the road, and fascinating huge red rocks - slightly reminiscent of The Kimberley.  Discovered that our 4WD had satellite radio, and annoyed M with the numerous hip-hop stations.  Then listened to Howard Stern for a while.  A good way to stay awake after my long travels.

Eventually arrived in the Grand Canyon (about 4 1/2 hours drive from Phoenix).  Staying at Maswik Lodge.  It is ok.  Met some of M's fellow-fellowshippers.  A good group from all over the world, with amazing and diverse experiences.  Went for a walk - it is SO COLD at night.  Below freezing.  Had a drink at one of the other lodges, then eventually bedtime at the end of an exceptionally long Saturday.

Sunday toured the Grand Canyon by bus in the morning with the group, after a fairly excrutiating canteen-style breakfast (though better than the lunch to come).  It really is very beautiful and basically impossible to describe.  Lunch was also impossible to describe.  Following lunch, many of us (but not M!!) took a 50 minute helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon.  It was, again, fairly indescribable.  It was a perfect, clear day with no wind - the conditions really helped the experience. 

A group dinner.  M had somehow decided it was a Halloween-themed dinner and dressed as a pumpkin.  No-one else dressed up. 

This morning got up really early and drove to a lookout point to watch the sun rise over the Grand Canyon.  Then 3 of us (one Fellowship staffer, an Indonesian lawyer and me) hiked into the canyon for about 3 hours.  1 hour down, and 2 up.  The path was VERY steep.  And, again, very beautiful.   Amazing watching the extremely sure-footed mules on the path.  Oh and yesterday I saw a huge deer, which was very placid.

We are definitely the cool kids of the group having our own car-  everyone else is stuck as they came by bus.  Having lots of interesting conversations with very impressive women from around the world in M's fellowship group.

Tomorrow to Vegas.

Dinner

A cold, rainy day in Melbourne.

Dinner.
Tasty burgers from South Melbourne market with
olive dip
home-grown sliced, boiled beetroot
home-grown onion
home-grown silverbeet, with beetroot leaves

Birmingham

An unavoidable visit to Birmingham, Alabama coming up.

Looked on Lonely Planet's website and the #1 attraction is the local franchise of a chain of rib restaurants.

Worth re-posting - best blog correction ever

Courtesy of popbitch see:

http://www.tbd.com/blogs/amanda-hess/2010/10/hiv-positive-black-gay-men-to-get-the-bayard-rustin-project-a-district-campaign-against-aids-2873.html

From the blog -

Amanda Hess: sex and gender at work, in bed and on the street

This blog post originally stated that one in three black men who have sex with me is HIV positive. In fact, the statistic applies to black men who have sex with men. Also, the photo caption incorrectly attributed Bayard Rustin's photo to "Wikipedia Commons." The correct title is "Wikimedia Commons."

HIV/AIDS-positive black gay men to get the Bayard Rustin Project, a District campaign against AIDS
October 8, 2010 - 02:00 PM

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control released new figures charting the HIV epidemic among black, gay men in D.C. The figures are grim: One in three black men who have sex with men in the District is HIV-positive, and infections among young black men are higher than any other group.

The Australian election - the apparent election of a DLP senator from Victoria

It appears that the DLP (ie. the decades-old Catholic breakaway from the Labor party) have claimed the 6th Victorian Senate seat, despite polling just under 2 1/4 percent of the vote. 

The DLP have 'stolen' what would otherwise have been Julian McGauran's seat (or, possibly, a fourth ALP seat) through preferences from (amongst others) One Nation, the Christian Democrats, Family First, the Liberal Democrats, the Shooters & Fishers and the Liberal party.

Fascinating stuff...

Friday - Monaco and Villefranche-sur-mer

Today up early and on the road to Monaco.  Very happy with our house in St Antonin-du-Var in many ways, but it is quite a long and stressful drive to the motorway - which we have found ourselves on most days this week.

Monaco.  1.75km square.  3 brand new Rolls Royces in a row outside the casino, making the multiple new Ferraris seem tame.  Immaculate public parks.  Weird uniforms on parking inspectors.  I turned right instead of left and momentarily re-entered France.  Plausible coffee.  Dated architecture.  Some beautiful buildings.  Russians with way too much makeup.  Loafers and boat shoes everywhere.  Short skirts everywhere.  Nannies walking children and dogs.  Vaguely surprised not to see a Bugatti Veyron or a Maclaren F1.    A pamplemousse crepe. 
And so much more.

Lunch at La Mere Germaine in Villafranche-sur-mer.  Awesome meal and great service.  Smoked salmon, followed by veal, followed by icecream, with rose, perrier and coffee.  Sat right on the waterfront.  Literally 3 metres from the sea, watching the yachts in the harbour.  An amazing location, watching tourists and locals.

Arrived back at the house for a late afternoon swim and relax, then a BBQ dinner.  Tomorrow we begin our long journey home.

The view from our house in St Antonin-du-Var

A street in Grimaud, near St Tropez

Chateau, Chateauneuf du Papes

St Tropez

M & I, off St Tropez

Me, New Coco Beach Club, St Tropez

A and I, Lorgues market

Chateau, Entrecasteaux

M, Cascade-de-Sillans

The view from our house, St Antonin-du-Var

Outside our house, St Antonin-du-Var

Looking out from Ile Sainte Marguerite, off Cannes - Bastille Day

St Antonin-du-Var

Our rented house in St Antonin-du-Var is great - plenty of space inside and out and a really great pool.  The only negative is that it is up a very windy little road with multiple blind turns and the drive to the coast is fairly long and stressful.

Saturday evening a swim in the pool, then a bbq.  Very relaxing.

Sunday we sadly said goodbye to R and S, and M and J1 went for a day-trip to Nice.  A and J2 joined us in the afternoon - time for another swim.  While waiting for them we went to the local antique/junk market in Carces and picked up some incredibly cheap stuff.  If found at a Victorian antique market it would all be price at multiples of the prices (in some cases at least 25-50 times!!).  Now our challenge is to get it home.  I guess I didn't really need those shoes.

Sunday night we drove in to Lorgues for dinner at Le Bistro Gourmet in Lorgues.  A really good meal and good value.

Monday in St Tropez - wandered through the old port, a tour by boat around the region, then dropped A and J2 off at New Coco Beach Club and stayed for a drink, then M and I drove around and checked out the surrounding towns - particularly La Croix-Valmer and Gassin - both looked like they would make great places to stay.  A long, slow drive home in traffic.

Tuesday spent touring the region.  Entrecasteux, Salernes and Sillans-la-Cascade.  Entrecasteux was very cute, with an imposing castle.  Salernes was mostly shut when we were there.  Sillans-la-Cascade had a beautiful waterfall about 1km from town, and a natural pool with amazing light-blue water.  Lunch at a little place (the only little place) in the centre of town.  We shared the outdoor dining area with various local dogs, and with staff who between them had most of a good set of teeth.  Luckily the food was pretty good, inexpensive and the 3-course menu included wine.

Wednesday visited Cannes and Sainte Marguerite - to be the subject of a separate post.

Today visited Grasse - also to be the subject of a separate post.

This evening enjoyed sunset at the house in the pool and while snacking.

Johnny

Bought an early Johnny Hallyday album (on CD) at the supermarket earlier today.

After hearing half the first song, M announced that it was the worst 5 Euros we'd spent since we arrived.

moi, je suis en desaccord

Finishing up in the Cote du Rhone

Friday morning the first of our visitors arrived.  M and J1 flew over from London and arrived shortly before lunchtime.  We gave them a couple of minutes to settle in, then marched them up the hill towards Seguret for lunch. 
As I may have mentioned, Seguret is the next village over and just a few kilometres away (uphill).  It is very beautiful and about the same size as Sablet.
It is just incredibly hot in the middle of the day, and the very pleasant 3 - 4 km was hot and sweaty worked.  We arrived at La Table du Comtat at the top of Seguret dripping and looking forward to our lunch.  As with our previous lunch there, we weren't disappointed.  Fantastic food in beautiful surroundings. 
A wander back through the vineyards and we were in Sablet.  R and S arrived from London a little later - great to see them.
A few hours later headed to Le Grand Pres in Roaix for dinner - my first Michelin-starred restaurant.  An amazing meal.  Multiple fantastic amuse-bouche,  a salmon entree, a great fish main, a very good cheese course and a mind-blowing desert with multiple raspberry-based concoctions.  And very good service.  Very highly recommended. 
M ferried us there in two trips, as we couldn't all fit in one car and she wasn't up for drinking - very nice of her!
The next morning we packed and left Sablet, stopping in Chateauneuf du Papes - a town at the centre of a famous wine region of the same name.  A cute little town with many places to try (and buy) the local wines. 
Then headed on towards St Antonin-du-Var.

More of me in Sablet and surrounds

Today was market day for M and I.  As soon as we got up we headed to Vacqueyras, to what proved to be a pretty small market with very few people.  Settled for a coffee.  The guy working at the cafe was chatty but dismissive until he realised we were neither English nor American, but Australian.  He was immediately animated and curious and stretching his English.
Next to Cairanne, a few kilometres away.  It had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it market, but a very cute old town high up on the hill.
Then on to Orange.  A much bigger town (almost 30,000 people) with a huge market selling fruit and vegetables, clothes, handiworks, meats, cheeses and more.  The meat and cheeses were cooking before our eyes in the close-to-40-degrees weather with no refrigeration.  A really fun market to wander through and look at and smell and people-watch.
Went to the Ancient Theatre in Orange - a 2,000 year old Roman theatre in extremely good condition, with a bizarre audio-visual display recreating various performances in very well-preserved spaces under the seats (built into a hillside).  Very impressive.  Checked out the smallish Orange museum (including an interesting display of photos of Roman ampitheatres around the world - a few of which I've seen and many of which I haven't).
Lunch at A La Maison in Orange.  Great service and food, well-priced, great atmosphere sitting outside in the square.  Very very hot, even under an umbrella.
Headed home to get out of the sun for a while, then a long walk when it started cooling down.

Provence

Looking out from our terrace garden, Sablet

Our front door, Sablet

Me in Rochegut

M in Rochegut

Rochegut

Sablet

Me in Seguret

Looking at Sablet through vineyards - en route to Seguret

Sablet from just outside our house

Sablet

Sablet et cie

Saturday morning up early and M and I went for a long walk around Paris.  The Luxembourg Gardens and the fourth, fifth and sixth arrondissements.  Very beautiful.  The weather was ominous and burst into a huge electrical storm as we sat down for a crepe.  Then back to the (very cute) Hotel Le Petit Paris to finish packing and taxi to Paris-Gare de Lyon to catch a train to Avignon. 

The train was great - very fast and efficient - less than 3 hours from Paris to Avignon.  Picked up our car without queuing (BMW 118D) and headed towards Sablet.  About a 40 min drive.  A few nervous minutes getting used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road, then it was totally fine. 

Sablet is a very very cute walled village of maybe a few hundred people.  It has existed for many hundreds of years and has - only in recent centuries - expanded beyond the ramparts.  Our little house is set into the ramparts, and the outer walls are multiple-metres-thick stone.  We are fairly safe from an arrow or cannonball attack, regardless of the ferocity.  It is two bedrooms and two bathrooms, with a kitchen a living room and a terraced garden set over 3 little floors.  Nicely fitted-out and well-restored from what was presumably a run-down shell not all that many years ago.

After arriving we settled in, then M and I went for a walk around the village - narrow cobblestoned streets, little houses set into stone walls, a few shops - very quiet and very beautiful.  Amazing views of the surrounding countryside at every turn.  Dinner at home (great to have a home-cooked meal after a couple of weeks of restaurant meals!).

Sunday morning we left H in Sablet and M and I drove to Lyon - about a 2 1/2 hour drive.  Stopped on the way in Rochegut, an almost supernaturally cute little town.  Everywhere I looked was worthy of (many) photos.  One of the prettiest places I have ever seen and a very sleeply little place.  Continued on to Lyon to meet M's old friend Emmanuelle and her family at the Botanical Gardens.  Finding the right gate and parking were incredibly stressful and we were very late.  Eventually found Emmanuelle and her husband and beautiful kids Jeanne and Louis.  Good to meet them and we had a really great picnic in the gardens and then played petanque with the kids.  Wandered around the park and the free zoo in the centre of the gardens (elephants, lions, tigers, monkeys - and more!). 
Headed home.  A long day - ended up being 6 1/2 + hours of driving.
Dinner in Sablet - a fairly average pizza place.

Monday M and I walked to Seguret, the next village.  A very beautiful village high on a hill.  The walk through vineyards was incredible - although we got totally lost and ended up retracing our steps and walking along the road.  A few kilometres each way.  Then M, H and I had fantastic breads from the local boulangerie for breakfast, relaxed, then headed back to Seguret for lunch at La Table du Comtat.  Amazing.  Well-priced, incredible food.  Ate the menu of the day - no choices, they simply bring you an entree, main and desert (plus a couple of tastes in-between).  Sat in the courtyard under a huge oak tree - a very relaxing way to spend a few hours.  The owner/waiter was emblematic of many of my encounters to date in France - he was so distressed by my attempts at French he appeared to by in physical pain. 
A short drive and a wander around Roiax, a small village.
A nap.

Tuesday we headed off to Avignon.  The home of the Popes for a period in the fourteenth (?) century and the proud owner of a fairly impressive papal palace.  Toured the palace - impressive but the experience was somehow uninvolving - then headed to Saint Benezet's Bridge.  Apparently there is a children's nursury rhyme about the bridge and M insisted on dancing around in a circle.
Drove H to Avignon TGV station for her train to Paris - the end of her holiday.  Waited with her for her train, then headed back into Avignon for a wander around.  Saw some very cute and interesting parts of the city, and stumbled on the old synagogue.  We went in and really enjoyed it - a beautiful, small circular room with many colums and quite unlike any other synagogue I've seen.
Eventually drove home to Sablet the (very) long way around.  We managed to get quite significantly lost on a relatively simply drive and it took us about 2 hours for a 40 minute trip.
Eventually arrived home and then headed out to dinner at Dolium in Beaumes de Venise.  Fantastic food - a tomato entree, followed by a really great duck dish and then a lime pannacotta-style desert.  The meal was enjoyed with great local wine (Gigondas AOC) then muscat, the local speciality, came with desert.

Today a long walk to Seguret via a different and even more spectacularly-beautiful walking path.  Then a breakfast comprising ever-more incredible breads from the local boulangerie.  Relax time.  This afternoon headed out to Vaison la Romaine (a town rich with Roman and medieval history and built on an incredibly steep hill.  Also with really good shopping).  Then drove to Carpentras.  Slightly run-down, but a fun place to sit in the main square drinking coffee and people-watching.  Headed back to Sablet, then an enjoyable dinner in Gigondas at Du Verre a l'Assiette.  The waiters again suffered through my French, mostly without complaint.  Gigondas is well-known for its wine and is another pretty little town.

The Cote du Rhone is proving to be incredibly beautiful, with great food and wine.  Who would have guessed?

Paris

A busy few days...

Wednesday visited the Western Wall - an emotional experience. 

Then the Jerusalem Archeological Park and Davidson Centre - absolutely fantastic, I can't believe I didn't go last time I was in Jerusalem.  The ruins are extremely impressive and in particular the remains of the 'street' right next to the Western Wall (ie. the retaining wall around the temple mount) comes to life as a bustling marketplace and thoroughfare.

After a felafel break in the Jewish Quarter, the Western Wall Tunnels.  Even better than I remembered it.  A travel experience no-one should miss.  It is so incredibly fascinating to be under the Old City and seeing Jerusalem 2,000 years ago - and the foundations of the Western Wall laid in King Herod's time (ie. the first century BC).

Thursday a very early flight to Paris.  A fairly ugly Air France experience which is probably best left undiscussed.  Ultimately arrived at Hotel Le Petit Paris in the Latin Quarter - possibly my favourite of all the boutique hotels I've stayed in.  Love it. 

A quick change then off to the Louvre.  Only had a couple of hours before it closed, so I limited myself to the stuff I couldn't miss - the thirteenth to sixteenth century French, Dutch, German and Italian paintings, and the Greek and Roman statues.  A phenomenal collection in a very beautiful building.   Obviously very much more time is needed to see it properly.

Dinner at Bistroy Les Papilles.  An absolutely fantastic meal.  The only option is the Menu - one choice for each course.  A really great mint and cucumber gazpacho, a chicken dish with pesto, a cheese course then a really good panna cotta.

This morning M arrived - yay.  Very happy to see her.  A quick breakfast, then walked around Paris for hours.  Notre Dame - amazing.  Ended up on a boat tour on the Seine for an hour for a break from walking.  Then the Musee d'Orsay.  Lunch there in the very attractive restaurant then a look at the phenomenal collection of impressionists and etc. 

Paris is extremely hot at present.

Monday in Jerusalem

Spent much of today in the Old City.

Entered the Jaffa Gate and wandered around the Muslim Quarter, then the Jewish, Christian and Armenian Quarters to give Helen a taste of the city. 

Delivery by hand-cart

Went to the Burnt House Museum, which was great - it is the remains of a house which was burnt during the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 (at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple).

The Dome of the Rock

I haven't seen anything else like the Old City of Jerusalem - streets which appear largely unchanged for thousands of years.  Narrow streets paved with Jerusalem stone and slippery as they have been worn smooth by thousands of years of feet.  Little shops selling goods of every description - from Christian, Muslim and Jewish souvenirs to meat, incense, sweets, historical artefacts and so much more.  Store owners using their extremely limited English to seek custom and trying every trick in the book.  Ultra orthodox Jews buying fruit from Muslim men dressed in traditional desert garb.  A little arab girl walking through the Jewish Quarter in a Palestine t-shirt.  Greek Orthodox priests in heavy black robes.  Lots of soldiers with semi-automatic weapons (and with their fingers very definitely on the trigger), particularly in the Muslim Quarter.  Civilians (or at least people not in arms uniform) with guns tucked into their waistband.  Large families.  Extremely modestly dressed women.  So much more.

In the Jewish Quarter

Girls, mobile phones and guns in the Jewish Quarter

Got very substantially lost looking for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (purportedly Jesus' burial site).  Spent so much time wandering through the Christian Quarter that I am now on close personal terms with the elders of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate.

Eventually came across the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and spent some time there.  It is ia bizarre and labyrinthine building absolutely packed full of pilgrims and full of smells of incense and chanting.

In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

 

In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Then decided to find a different way out of the Old City.  Looked for the New Gate, but ended up walking all the way through the Muslim Quarter and exiting through the Damascus Gate into East Jerusalem.  Jumped into a cab as quickly as possible and headed back for lunch at the King David Hotel before a relaxing afternoon.

The Muslim Quarter is fascinating.  Lots of sights and smells and people and pushing and shoving and hand-held push carts and incredible piles of sweets and rows of old men smoking hookahs and more.

Enough typing - back to watching the World Cup in Hebrew.

Upper Galilee to Jerusalem

The concise version:
- dinner last night at a fish restaurant on the Sea of Galilee with our guide and his daughter, her husband and their 12 year old daughter.  Lilach, our guide's daughter, lives in a moshav (village) in the Golan Heights, which she and her husband helped found more than 20 years ago.  Their children have spent all their lives in the Golan.  A fascinating evening for various reasons and particularly interesting to hear their sincere desire for a lasting peace and the high personal price they would be prepared to pay for it. 
- today visited Beit She'an, an archeological site in the galilee.  Hot.  Well-preserved Roman and Byzantine ruins.
-  also visited Beit Alpha, an extremely well-preserved mosaic floor of a synagogue from the first centuries AD.
- next a natural swimming hole mostly frequented by the Israeli Arab community.
- Drove for an hour or so through the West Bank towards Jerusalem.  The Palestinian villages in the West Bank look to have far lower living standards than Israeli towns (or for that matter, Israeli settlements in the West Bank). 
- I'm becoming fairly used to military checkpoints manned by teenagers with heavy weaponry.
- The Mount of Olives - an incredible view of Jerusalem's old city and of the principal burial site for Jews.  Slightly scary.
- Driving through East Jerusalem.  Interesting.  I felt fairly unwelcome.
- 2000 year old olive trees at Gethsamene.
- Driving through a Haredi (ultra-orthodox) Jerusalem neighbourhood.  Fascinating but a little scary.
- A walk through Yemin Moshe, a beautiful neighbourhood made of Jerusalem stone.
- Dinner tonight in an Italian restaurant in the German Colony neighbourhood of Jerusalem.  I think they put dessicated coconut in my risotto.
- Walking back from dinner I saw my doppelganger working in a shop in the German Colony.  I've never seen anyone who looked like me before.  A weird feeling.

Photos!

Mosque in the old city of Akko

Old city of Akko

Old city of Akko

Rosh Hanikrah immediately before I was soaked by a huge wave

H and I at Rosh Hanikrah

Looking over into Syria, Golan Heights

At an old Israeli outpost in the Golan Heights with Syria behind me

Looking over into Jordan, Upper Galilee

The Golan Heights

Earlier this afternoon at an Israeli bunker / memorial in the Golan Heights, with no-one else in sight:

Me: where do you think the Syrian border is from here?

Guide: I'm not sure - close I think.  (pause... points to a ditch no more than 50-75 metres away) I think it's at that ditch.

We spent the day in the Golan Heights - which was absolutely fascinating and a region I strongly recommend for a visit.  We've now spent large parts of the past couple of days on or very near the Lebanese border, Syrian border and Lebanese border.  Actually, the kibbutz hotel at which we're staying is pretty near both the Syrian border and the Jordanian border.  My mobile phone switched over to a Jordanian network before and I got various welcome messages in English and Arabic. 

The Golan is beautiful and the land is very productive.  Apart from the land not yet cleared of land mines, much of the land is given over to impressive-looking production of fruit, vegetables and cows.  We visited a couple of kibbutzes and numerous monuments to the bravery of Israeli soldiers in the 1973 war.  And lunch at a tiny falafel shop in a Druze village right up in the far north of the country (the village where, famously, residents have yelled conversations with relatives in villages on the Syrian side of the border).

This afternoon we wound down a road with lots of twists and turns near the Jordanian border (Israel's land stops at the bottom of a gorge and Jordan has the opposite side of the gorge).  Jordanian villages so close it felt you could touch them.  The scenery was just incredibly beautiful.

Now back at the Kibbutz hotel on the Sea of Galilee.  Tomorrow we make our way to Jerusalem.

More later.....

Haifa to the Sea of Galilee

Stayed last night in the Colony Hotel in the German colony – an old part of Haifa which was formerly (until WWII) a German community. A hundred year old building – originally built as a hotel and now restored. A very nice old building, but not perfect as a hotel.


Last night wandered around Haifa – a mix of Jewish, Christian and Muslim. A substantial Arab population, many of whom it appears are Christian.  Lots of cafes and street life.

First up this morning headed to Akko. An ancient port, now a mixed city of arabs and jews. It has the best-preserved crusader ruins. It is a walled city and was the crusader base back around the 12th century. It fell to the Muslims, who successfully defended it against Napoleon. It was an admistrative base for the Ottoman empire and a citadel was built over the crusader fort. The fort was only uncovered in the past 60 years, underneath more modern (ie. last few century) buildings.  There have been security issues over the years, but it is presently peaceful.

Walked through amazing ancient tunnels, dug by the crusaders to provide an avenue for escape.   Saw the huge and impressive crusader fort.  It hasn't changed much since I was here a few years ago - but nevertheless an amazing sight.

Visited a mosque – my first – in the old city of Akko. A very attractive old building. Some people were praying, but it was ok to visit as long as I did not step onto the prayer mat.

Watched a very amusing – and informative – audio/video presentation about Akko’s Turkish bathhouse.

Next drove to Rosh Hankirah. Beautiful caves and a massive white rock on the Lebanese border.

A cable car down to the caves. Another good informative video then inside. The caves have been formed over millennia by the water meeting the rock. We were standing at a low observation point watching the incredibly blue water and the waves washing against the rocks when a particularly enthusiastic wave came up and washed right over us. We were soaked! It was really fun (though totally unexpected – I had thought from my last time here that I would get no more than a few drops of water).

Walked up to the border – no photos allowed. Peered through the gates towards the UN stationed between the Israeli side and the Lebanese side. Our guide, who has fought in 5 wars for Israel, held a senior logistics role at the time of the first Lebanese war (ie. the early 80s) and passed through this border crossing many times. The only traffic now is UN officials. And apparently it was used to return the bodies of 3 soldiers captured and killed by Hezbollah.

Drove along the Northern Border Road towards Tsfat. The road follows the border, a little way inside Israel. From parts of the road one can see into Lebanon. There are many villages along the way – these are the villages and towns which have been subject to rocket attacks from Lebanon. The rockets can reach all the way to Haifa (where we spent last night) though more commonly they are directed at the towns closer to the border.

Arrived in Tsfat and had an awesome felafel pocket for lunch at a local felafel joint recommended by a taxi driver. Then headed to the old part of the city hoping to view some synagogues and etc; but unfortunately it was a Friday afternoon and everything was closing / closed up for the start of Shabbat.

Drove to Kibbutz Maagan, which has a holiday village/hotel where we are staying for the next couple of nights. The kibbutz is right on the Sea of Galilee and has many Israelis (of all religions staying). The poolside action was fascinating.

Tel Aviv - Haifa

This morning met our guide - Itamar - and headed towards Ceasarea.  I was there a few years ago with M, but it was amazing to see again.  It is a city and port built by Herod The Great in about 20BC, then extended a few hundred years later and modified again by the crusaders a thousand or so years later.  It was ransacked and mostly destroyed by the Muslims who defeated the crusaders and has been partly excavated over the last 50 years.  Absolutely incredible - a place everyone should see.  You can still see the large Roman city it would have been, complete with an amazing public bathhouse, a hippodrome and a restored ampitheatre (now used for concerts).

Then stopped in Zichron Ya'acov - one of the earliest Jewish towns in Israel, settled in 1882.  It is a very pretty town of 9,000 people and a really nice place to visit.  We visited a fascinating little museum about a group of jews who were valuable sources of intelligence to the British in their defeat of the Ottomon empire (ie. the Turks) in Palestine during WW1 - many of the group died for their efforts. 

Then lunch in a Druze village - an amazing selection of middle-eastern salads followed by meat.  Way too much food, but some of the tastiest I've ever eaten.  An amazing meal.  The Druze are a thousand-year-old spin-off of Islam - I have no understanding of their beliefs.

Then to Haifa.  A major port and Israel's 3rd city.  We did the obligatory stop for photos looking out over the Baha'i Gardens - very beautiful and immaculately kept gardens at the headquarters of the Baha'i religion (Baha'i is another religion whose beliefs I don't really understand).  See photos below, including a photo of the ship Israel recently confiscated from the protesters trying to breach the Gaza blockade.

Staying in Haifa tonight.  Wandered around the German Colony (we're staying in the heart of it at the Colony Hotel) and ate more hummus.

Masada and the Dead Sea

A (long) day at Masada and the Dead Sea, driven by Shimon (thanks to D). Incredibly hot again, though probably a little cooler than the last two days.

The drive to Jerusalem was interesting - instead of Highway One we took another road which took us close to Modi'in (an attractive newish Israeli town half-way between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) and Ramallah, the capital of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. 

Then we passed through Jerusalem and past a large and well-established Jewish settlement in the West Bank (built in an incredible location on top of a ridge - with amazing views) - I'm pretty sure it was called Ma'ale Adumim.  After passing through East Jerusalem I had my first sighting of the security fence (ie. the fence between the west bank and Israel).

Passing through various check points (almost invariably staffed by hot twenty-something girls wearing machine guns - and who if they weren't manning a security checkpoint would fit right in at a Mount Scopus Memorial College 5 year reunion) we made our way towards Masada.  The highway is (mostly) shared between Israeli and Palestinian traffic.

The views as we came towards the Dead Sea were spectacular.  A desert landscape with the blue sea below and Jordan beyond.  And Masada has a distinctive shape.  Masada was very hot, with lots of walking and climbing in oppressive heat.  H coped really well, although we did get lost and climbed down an unnecessarily large number of stairs down to a viewing platform below the Northern Palace.  And then back up again as there was no alternative.  I have been before, but it is very well worth a second visit.  The story of Masada is amazing (and well-known) and the unlikelihood of a substantial palace being built at the top of a mountain in the desert makes it a unique experience. 

After Masada we swam in the Dead Sea.  Much more fun than I remember it.  Great fun floating and quite peaceful once a bit further out.  My skin tingled and I felt totally rejuvanated.  Amazing to float in the Dead Sea and watch the desert and rock cliffs on one side and Jordan on the other side of the sea a few kilometres away.  Unfortunately H hated the Dead Sea floating experience - she felt out of control and couldn't get into it.

Then we drove back towards Tel Aviv and had a very late (and good) lunch at a Lebanese restaurant in an Arab village just on the Tel Aviv side of Jerusalem.  Eventually made it back to the hotel.  A rest, then dinner at a cute cafe on Dizengof, a frozen yoghurt and pretty much ready for bed.

Tel Aviv II

It is now early evening Tuesday in Tel Aviv.

 

Last night dinner in Jaffa at Dr Shakshuka (http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/middle-east/israel/tel-aviv/59261/dr-shakshuka/restaurant-detail.html).  Although only a few kilometres away, Jaffa has a totally different feel to Tel Aviv.  Possibly because it is a biblical town as opposed to a city created out of nothing in the past 120 years.  Old Jaffa's port is beautiful and dramatic and its winding side-streets filled with restaurants and hookah-smoking joints are fascinating.  A great place to be at dusk in summer.  Dr Shakshuka (which M and I visited 3-4 years ago) is totally unchanged - and it is probably unchanged for many decades.  Huge bowls of cous cous and meat and vegetables - Libyan style.  And obviously shakshukas (baked eggs, tomatoes, onions, spices).

 

Today another epic breakfast, which included a different type of halva, fruits which I cannot name, new and exciting white and yellow cheeses and too much more to mention.  Then we headed to the Museum of the Diaspora.  The museum is on the campus of Tel Aviv University and absolutely blew me away last time and left me feeling very drained and emotional - and not just because M somehow lost my prescription sunglasses there, leaving me to enjoy the remaining 7 1/2 weeks of our 2 month summer holiday without sunglasses (until I bought a pair which I wore over my normal glasses, making me look like a tool).  The museum is pathetically dated and low-tech (stuck in the 1970s) but it nevertheless has amazing emotional resonance.  The highlight is the miniatures of 20 synagogues from around the world, together with stories and pictures which bring to life Jewish communities all over the world.  It is an amazing place and highly recommended.

 

Then the Eretz Israel Museum (the land of Israel museum).  Amazing exhibits of pottery, glassware, coins etc through history.  The ceramics were incredible - dating back up to 5,000 years.  The glassware was also amazing. 

 

Also this morning a walk along Tel Aviv beach and a swim in the sea.  The water was cool due to the breeze over the water - much needed given it was 33 degrees celcius at 8:30am.

 

Tonight dinner with a family friend.

 

Tomorrow Masada and the Dead Sea.

 

Very much enjoying Israel and the people and the atmosphere.

Melbourne to Tel Aviv

It is early evening Monday in Tel Aviv.

 

Left Melbourne on Saturday evening - by bizarre coincidence D, K and E arrived at the airport to move to Australia as H and I were leaving, so we had a chance to say hello.  E is very cute.

 

Qantas economy to Hong Kong.  I subsisted for 9 fairly painful hours.  The idiot in front put his seat as far back as possible as soon as possible, then left it there as long as possible.  Lots of fun with a sore lower back and broken shoulder.  I slept a little and the nice girl next to me helpfully let me know that I snored as I slept.

 

5 hours in Hong Kong airport.  A few of them spent organising AirFrance boarding pass, then I ate a fairly good bowl of congee for breakfast.

 

12 hours from Hong Kong to Paris on AirFrance.  Premium Economy.  Plenty of room and moderately comfortable seats.  Easily the least attentive service I've experienced on a plane - totally ignored for many hours in a row.  They served cognac after dinner which was a bonus.  The meals contained pork and seafood in abundance.

 

Almost 2 hours at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.  Tight security for an Israel flight.  H had a fairly intensive pat-down, with particular attention paid to her groin.  I had to totally empty and repack my hand luggage.  Feeling fairly light-headed by this time.

 

5 hours from Paris to Tel Aviv, arriving at 12:30am local time after 33+ hours of travel.  Amazingly our luggage was successfully checked through all the way from Melbourne.  Immigration was stress-free.  Shimon, the taxi driver recommended by D, met us at the airport and we made it to our hotel by 1:30ish.

 

Sleep.

 

Today started with an Israeli breakfast buffet at the hotel.  So much to choose from. 

5 types of white cheese.  Various yellow cheeses.  Multiple kinds of eggs.  Numerous salads.  Two types of cheesecake. Halva.   Fruit.  Yoghurt.  More.

 

Then a walk towards Jaffa along the boardwalk.  So good to feel the sun and see the beautiful beach.  H rested and I walked almost to Jaffa.  Incredibly hot - a taxi driver told us it was 43 degrees.  Not sure if he was exaggerating.

 

After a rest lunch at a cafe on Dizengof and then the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.  The art museum was great.  A smallish but really good collection of art from the last few centuries (stopping at around the 1930s, other than some really good contemporary Israeli art).  Impressionists, post-impressionists, German expressionists - lots of good stuff and some particularly good sculptures.  Eventually we stumbled on their old masters section - the overtly christian art was not exactly highlighted - it was in the basement and could only be reached via an unmarked set of curtains through a loud Israeli installation piece about a burial ground.  Some beautiful Dutch masters, a pretty good Pieta.  Again a fairly small collection but some nice 16th and 16th century works.

 

A swim in the Sheraton pool overlooking the sea.  Watching the teenagers circle each other until evenetually a conversation was started.

 

Now off to dinner in Jaffa.

Taylor v Gosling

UPDATE: GOSLING IS NOW BANKRUPT

From The Age and SMH

Mentor to pay for 'misleading' couple LEONIE WOOD
March 19, 2010

RETIRED Melbourne couple, Neil and Adele Taylor, can recall the despair of seven years ago when they realised the $245,000 they had invested in a ''no risk'' term loan had vanished.

''I just cried all the way home from work one day,'' Mrs Taylor told The Age this week. ''You wake up in the middle of the night and say, 'Why did we do this?'

''We went through a lot of time blaming ourselves, when what we should have done was blame the people that convinced us to put money in.''

One of those people, the high-profile Victorian business mentor Garry Gosling, was ordered this week to pay more than $340,000 to the couple who mortgaged their fully paid home in mid-2002 after soaking up his misleading spiel about ''no-risk'' investments.

The businessman also was criticised by a Victorian Supreme Court judge who said Mr Gosling falsely denied certain evidence in court, and that his decision to take on a directorship of a company to help business associate, Gabrial Neil Pennicott, hide his involvement ''reflects poorly upon his commercial morality and upon his credibility as a witness''.

Mr Gosling has been since 2006 one of the small business mentors available through the non-profit mentoring network, Small Business Mentoring Service (SBMS), which receives funding support from the Victorian government.

SBMS chief executive David Gregory said Mr Gosling contacted the organisation after the decision was released earlier this week and resigned as a mentor.

Mr Gosling's involvement in promoting the investment was not related to his mentoring role at SBMS.

Justice Kim Hargrave heard the Taylors were close to retirement in mid-2002 when they mortgaged their $300,000 Burwood East home so they could invest $245,873 with IBP Capital, a company owned by Pennicott and Jan Li but whose sole director was Mr Gosling.

''Absolutely we trusted him [Mr Gosling],'' Mr Taylor told The Age. ''He was a guy who had a lot of investment experience.''

Mr Taylor said it was only with help from lawyer Simon Abraham of Tisher Liner & Co that the couple stopped blaming themselves for the shoddy investments ''and understood how good these people really were at what they did''. The Taylors sued Mr Gosling.

The Taylors initially expected to invest in a Phillip Island property development promoted by IBP Capital. But Mr Gosling told them in July 2002 that the project had been delayed, and he suggested they instead park their funds in two short-term loans with IBP.

The Taylors told the court that Mr Gosling assured them there was ''no risk'' and that IBP Capital was backed by more than $4 million of property holdings.

The Taylors received some interest on the loans plus a single payment of $10,000. But when the investment matured in February 2003 and the couple demanded their funds, they were met with what the judge described as ''extreme delaying tactics and obfuscation'' by Pennicott and Li.

In the end, the Taylors got nothing. IBP Capital and its associated company, Urban Investment Services, have collapsed owing millions, Li is bankrupt, and the court heard Pennicott probably will not be able to pay his creditors.

''I have no doubt that they [Pennicott and Li] lied to the Taylors repeatedly,'' the judge said in a decision published this week.

Pennicott and Li are facing many criminal charges relating to the collapse of property development schemes and their roles in enticing people to invest. Their trial is due to begin in the County Court in late July.

Mr Gosling spruiked investments for IBP and Urban Investment Services during seminars at Caulfield Town Hall in early 2002.

The court heard he agreed to be a director of IBP Capital so that Pennicott could disguise his involvement from his former employer, the disgraced property spruiker Henry Kaye. Justice Hargrave said Mr Gosling falsely denied this under cross-examination.

''Mr Gosling took no steps to inform proposed investors in IBP that, although he was its only director, he was acting under the instructions of Mr Pennicott and Ms Li at all times,'' the judge said.

Mr and Mrs Taylor said their contact with IBP was almost solely through Mr Gosling, but in December 2002 they learnt Mr Gosling had resigned as IBP's director four months earlier.

Justice Hargrave found that the main reason the Taylors invested with IBP Capital was ''the misleading statement made by Mr Gosling at the 30 July [2002] presentation, that the short-term loans would carry no risk''.

The court has ordered Mr Gosling to pay the Taylors $200,000 owed from one of the loans, plus interest and costs - a sum that so far exceeds $340,000. Mr Gosling declined to comment.