Archives for June 2014

Day Hike in the Cinque Terre

30/06/2014 By Eric H. Doss Leave a Comment

Sometimes, less is more. In 2013, we visited Italy for about two weeks, part of the time in Verona and part of the time in the Italian Alps. One day, we drove down to the Cinque Terre to visit some family and decided to take a quick hike from Vernazza to Monterosso. Of course, the hike was a bit longer than we expected, and I probably wouldn’t recommend wearing Rainbow Sandals, but whatever. The trail between Monterosso and Vernazza is the hardest of them all, but rewards hikers with a spectacular view that is certainly worth your efforts.

If you’re interested in hiking in the Cinque Terre, you should make sure to check out the trail status before you plan your hike. The Italian government is making many updates and restorations to the trails and it’s possible that the trails between cities may be closed. I recommend checking WikiTravel’s page on hiking in the Cinque Terre, but you may want to check with the government too.

We had a great lunch in Levanto and grabbed a train in to Vernazza. The summer is the busiest time of the year, so the trains were packed. And, of course, the train station was being renovated, so there were only a few egress options. Instead of getting bent out of shape, we hung out for a bit and let the crowds die down.

Now, it’s important to know that the Cinque Terre towns are really small. They’re generally only one street, maybe a couple, but when the trains arrive, you’re dealing with crowded streets. No need to rush, everyone is going the same place, everyone is hot, and everyone wants to see everything, so just relax and enjoy the trip.

We headed down the main street in Vernazza and enjoyed a little gelato before finding the start of the trail. As with all streets in Italy, you’re going to struggle to find the start of the trail. You’ll end up heading towards the water, and then if you look to your right, you’ll see stairs that lead up to the hills. It’s easiest to keep your eyes open for people coming into Vernazza from Monterosso. The first bit of the trail has a lot of elevation gain, but it’ll level out after a bit and you’ll be rewarded with some amazing views.

The shot above was taken just as we climbed out of Vernazza, looking back to the town and the cathedral. The trailhead starts just to the left of the cathedral, between the houses.

As we continued along, we stopped frequently to look back over the amazing little town that we’d just left.

Here’s a better view of the hike out of Vernazza.

We continued on a bit and came across this guy, living La Dolce Vita at the highest point on the trail.

I love how the locals take care of this cat, making sure he has food, and a safe place to sleep that’ll keep him dry.

As we continued, the terrain changed. We got the elevation gains out of the way and enjoyed the rest of the views, the Med on our left, and a long trail in front of us. As we crested the hill and started down towards Monterosso, the path became steep again, but heading down now. As we started to see more people, we knew we were closer to Monterosso and we started to notice small farms and vineyards.

What a hard life it must be to swim in a pool overlooking the Med.

As we finished up our hike, Monterosso came into view. By this time, the day was quite hot and a bit of haze had set in, so pardon the pictures here, but I think you can understand the sheer beauty of the place, even with the bad pictures.

Though most of our trip was in different parts of Italy, we loved our day trip to the Cinque Terre. If you’re looking to visit, you can save quite a bit of money by staying outside the five towns, choosing to stay in Levanto or La Spezia. Both towns are amazing, right on the water, and much less expensive than the Cinque Terre towns. Of course, you’ll be able to get into the Cinque Terre easily, via train. I wouldn’t recommend driving in. It’s possible, sometimes, but you’re going to hate life if you bring a car.

A Quick Trip to Bainbridge Island

29/06/2014 By Eric H. Doss Leave a Comment

We’ve recently returned from a long weekend trip to Seattle. Actually, the trip was to Seattle, then to Spokane, a stopover on the way back at Lake Chelan, and then a few more days in Seattle.

One of the tricks we normally use to get some extra time when traveling for a short trip is to take the redeye home. This doesn’t always seem like the best idea when I wake up as the plane touches down in Atlanta, but redeye flights are normally less crowded, you have a better chance to upgrade, and if you’re crossing the country, a decent time to sleep. Now, none of that seemed to work out for us this trip, but that’s just a little detail. The important thing is that we had all day to explore Seattle instead of spending the day in airports.

So, to maximize our time, we grabbed the 3:45pm ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. The ferry is only $8 per person, round trip. Queuing up for the ferry is similar to boarding an Amtrak; you’re held behind a gate until just a few minutes before the ferry leaves, so there’s a mad scramble when the gates open. Here’s a tip: Head up to top deck, facing Bainbridge to get the best view. If you’re lucky enough to have a beautiful night, as we did, you can head over to the port (left) side and watch for Mt. Rainier on your way out to the island.

Leaving Seattle, heading to Bainbridge Island on the WSDOT ferry, Takoma.

When you arrive on Bainbridge, you’ll disembark and head up to the ferry terminal. Take a left out of the front door and walk around the edge of the parking lot where cars line up to get on the ferry. You’ll pass a few small businesses on your right and there’s a little incline, but keep going. You’ll come to a large intersection where you’ll see the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art in front of you. Take a left here onto Winslow Way. If you have time you can stop in to see interesting exhibits of local artists and themes from the area, including from the broader region of the Puget Sound.

Continue down Winslow Way towards town and take time to visit some of the small and interesting stores along the way. There’s a great store, The Traveler, that has great luggage, maps, clothing, and more. Keep going down Winslow Way and you’ll come to Hitchcock’s. Now, we were there in May and had a wonderful time, great service, amazing food, and a great day to sit outside. Recently, I’ve noticed a number of bad reviews on different sites, so I can’t tell you what’s going on there, but I will assure you that we had an amazing evening.

We started out with some of the Cocktail Hour oysters, only $1 each. I think we knocked out about 24 of those, then about half dozen or so of the other kinds, just to round out the oyster tasting. Pay special attention to the finishes on the oysters, one with tomato was a little strong. Though I normally defer to the chef, I really like simple oysters, so I’d stick to the mignonette sauce, or something else that allows the oyster to speak for itself. We then enjoyed a great terrine, followed by simple green salads with a rich and fatty blue cheese dressing. I chose a simple pork dish with local veggies and Heather enjoyed a perfectly cooked halibut entree. A nice sticky toffee pudding finished the night and we headed back to the ferry terminal to catch our ride back.

I’ll admit, it was a little bit of a struggle to get to the island, enjoy ourselves, have a nice relaxed dinner, get back across the water and make it to the airport in time. But, honestly, totally worth it.

Third Day in Israel–2014

12/06/2014 By Eric H. Doss Leave a Comment

So, we’ve arrived in Israel and had an afternoon of tours, then a great day visiting Masada, Ein Gedi, Qumran, and a evening drive up to Tiberias. We had a great night’s sleep at the Golan Hotel and woke up quite early for a full day of touring The Galilee area.

We started at the Mount of Beatitudes, the historically accepted site of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. In stark contrast to the wilderness around Masada, the Mount of Beatitudes is a verdant series of gardens with colorful flowers, benches among the vegetation, and beautiful views from the hill down to the Sea of Galilee. We toured the Roman Catholic church on the site. The church has mosaic tiles across the floor and images on the dome that show the Beatitudes. After quietly visiting the church, our group looked around the grounds for a nice place to have a short worship service. Settling on a shelter overlooking the Sea of Galilee, we settled in to begin our service. Almost immediately, another group arrived and announced that they had reserved the site and we needed to move along. Members of this group grumbled and shot us sideways glances, as if to imply “How dare these Protestants try to use this shelter”. I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. As I’ll discuss later, some of the biggest conflicts in the Holy Land aren’t between different religions, but between different sects of the same religion. What a boost to ecumenical relations if our Catholic friends would have invited us to share their worship.

Church, Mount of Beatitudes. Photo Credit Don Sanders

In spite of this, we continued our stroll around the grounds and found a small garden area with a few benches and paused to reflect on the Sermon on the Mount and the lessons contained therein. Leaving the Mount of Beatitudes, our group split up, with a handful of us heading down part of the Jesus Trail to the Sea of Galilee and the remaining group boarding the bus and traveling to the Tabgha, the site of two important churches: The Church of the Primacy of St. Peter and The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes.

Jesus Trail mini-hike. Photo credit Don Sanders

Following a quick visit to each site, we headed to Ali’s Restaurant, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee for a traditional lunch of St. Peter’s Fish. Ali has recently relocated from his old location because his land was seized by the Israeli government, and after a long court battle, Ali lost and his restaurant was demolished. The new location is amazing, though, with a large lawn full of tables and some inside seating. Lunch is served at long family style tables and there is an abundance of fresh salads and fresh bread for all to enjoy. Tilapia is a pretty plain fish, but the presentation of the whole fried fish is beautiful, and the hospitality you will experience here is worth stopping.

After lunch, we traveled to Capernaum, the home of Peter and where Jesus performed a number of healing acts. Capernaum is a historical and archeological treasure, with Peter’s house and one of the oldest synagogues in the world. The synagogue is actually two, with two sets of ruins in the same place, though it is clear they were built at different times.

Roman Ruins at Capernaum. Photo credit Don Sanders

While in this area, we decided to visit the Kibbutz Ginosar and see the Jesus Boat. Now, the boat has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus, save that it was likely built in the 1st Century and likely resembles the boats that the apostles would have used. I’ll admit, I did not have high hopes for a two thousand year old boat that was found buried in lake mud, but this turned out to be a great spot to visit. In addition to the boat, there are some interesting art installations on the site. While the actual boat was interesting to me, the most fascinating information, for me, was the process they used to extract, preserve, and display the Jesus Boat. Truly worth you time.

Jesus Boat. Photo credit Steve Sooy

Our next stop was downtown Tiberias, where we embarked on a cruise on the Sea of Galilee. We had a great time on this sunset cruise, enjoying the cool early evening, the calm seas, and the great company. After cruising for a bit, we slowed to a stop and learned how to dance the hora. After a quick lesson and a few attempts, we decided we might be better off fishing… The captain opened a hatch and pulled out a cast net. My eyes lit up; living in Beaufort, even for a few years, it’s important to know how to throw a cast net. My technique is pretty bad, though, and I didn’t want to embarrass myself. However, a member of our group is a true waterman, so we talked the captain into letting him try his hand. Though Bobby didn’t catch anything, I admit I was moved by the connection that water creates. Here, thousands of miles from home, in a different culture, the waterman’s tools are the same.

Dancing the Hora, Sea of Galilee. Photo credit Steve Sooy

Returning to the dock, our group broke up so people could have some downtime. A small group of us visited the Scots Hotel. Beautiful place and absolutely top notch service, though the drinks will lighten your wallet pretty quickly.

Heather had discovered, after some intense searching, a great dinner spot in downtown, so our group finished up and headed to Avi’s Restaurant. Avi’s doesn’t look like much from the street and was a little empty when we arrived outside. An employee invited us in, explaining that had just arrived at the best restaurant in Tiberias. A bit skeptical, but remembering that almost every review commented on Avi’s personality, Heather asked if he was in. The employee found Avi and he made his way to the door, with a slightly confused look. “Are we friends?”, Avi asked. “Well, not yet, but that’ll change quickly.” Avi’s eyes lit up and he started barking orders to the servers to pull together a table for the five of us. Instead of offering us a menu, Avi proposed something unique: “I’ll give you all as much food as you can eat: salads, bread, falafel and hummus, lamb, chicken, turkey…EVERYTHING! If you like it, you pay me 100NIS each. If not, you put it on this table and you don’t pay anything. How does that sound?” It took our group two seconds, tops, to decide we were exactly where we wanted to be. We agreed and Avi started barking orders in Hebrew again. Within seconds our table was covered with over a dozen salads. We had olives, tomatoes and cucumbers, tahini, tabouleh, spicy tomatoes, and more. We probably could have stopped there, but then the falafel arrived. Avi came over, opening a bottle of wine that he comped us and filled our glasses. Then some lamb patties. More fresh bread arrived as the server replenished the salads. As we finished up the salads, and a second and third order of lamb patties, the server arrived with a mixed grill of turkey and chicken. The meal probably took three hours, with small breaks to relax and enjoy our fellowship. As we started to really slow down, Avi appeared again, this time with a bottle of flavored vodka to finish the meal. He sat with us, slowly sipping his drink as we did the same. Avi’s hospitality stood out, even in a culture where hospitality is taken quite seriously. As we talked, Avi shared his story, the story of his family, of how his father fought in the IDF and how the violence and conflict pained him. He spoke about his desire for peace, about how he welcomed everyone into his restaurant, Jew, Gentile, and Muslim and how he desired a peaceful resolution that would allow him to share his hospitality with more visitors. As we finished our meal, Avi invited us to his house for dinner the next night. He was unfazed when we told him we were with a group of 28 people. Of course, he explained, his wife would be mad if he invited 28 people to dinner, but he’d done it before and she hasn’t left him yet. As much as we wanted to, we had to decline, as this was our last night in Tiberias. “Next time” Avi concluded, “next time you will be a guest in my home for dinner.” I know we are all counting the days until the “next time.”

Second Day in Israel–2014

06/06/2014 By Eric H. Doss Leave a Comment

I covered our events of the first day here, so if you haven’t read that yet, you might want to catch up a bit.

The second day in country was an early start. We met our bus and driver after an early breakfast and headed east towards the Dead Sea and Masada. Once you travel over the hills outside Jerusalem, the entire landscape changes dramatically. Although all of Israel and Palestine is desert, the western part of the country does get a bit of rain coming off the Mediterranean. But the hills east of Jerusalem prevent most weather from traveling to that part of the country, so you’re really seeing an extremely dry part of the world. As we left the Jerusalem area, we passed through a checkpoint and entered the West Bank, territory occupied by Israel since 1967. Getting into the West Bank is not terribly complicated, but returning to Israel proper is a bit harder.

As we traveled deeper into the West Bank, the terrain sloped down gently, dropping to 1,401 feet below sea level when we arrived at the Dead Sea. As you travel down the west coast of the Dead Sea, Masada becomes visible long before you get there. Although there are a number of significant hills, Masada stands out because of the flat top that’s immediately noticeable.

With such a large group, we chose to take the cable car to the top of the mountain, although a walking path is available and provides a beautiful view of the surrounding area as you hike up. Masada is known for the Siege of Masada, where Jewish rebels resisted troops from the Roman Empire. You can read more about the Siege at Wikipedia, but the Jewish stronghold was compromised by a siege ramp built by the Romans. Upon arriving at the top of the mountain, the Romans discovered that the entire population of rebels had committed suicide instead of being captured.

What was most amazing about Masada, to me at least, was the ruins of the Roman encampments, still visible from the top of the mountain.

Roman Forts, as seen from Masada. Photo Credit: Steve Sooy

Roman camps, as seen from Masada. Photo Credit: Steve Sooy

After an excellent tour of the top of Masada, we traveled back down to the visitor center and boarded the bus for our trip to the Dead Sea. It’s nearly impossible for me to describe the feeling of floating in the Dead Sea. imagine trying to hold a ping pong ball underwater with only one finger. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to float vertically in the sea, as the salinity causes you to float on your back. A word to the wise: Do not taste the water. It’s not just salty, but has a very bad metallic flavor that you just can’t shake. One thing you’ll notice as you enter the water is the salt crystals built up on the rocks. They are very sharp and can easily cut your feet and legs, so I recommend wearing water shoes to get into the water. You’ll also want to take a shower before you leave, as the salt can be very irritating.

Floating in the Dead Sea. Notice the salt crystals in the foreground. Photo Credit: Don Sanders

Our next stop was Qumran, site of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. For me, this location was not as awe-inspiring as Masada or the Dead Sea, but much more meaningful. You can read the biblical stories of the wilderness and imagine the desert that is frequently referenced therein, but until you actually see this place, it’s nearly impossible to appreciate the barren and solitary nature. As you look out over the caves where the scrolls were discovered, you feel the strong wind, whipping down the eroded hills and cliffs. You feel the sand blowing against your face, the dryness of the area noticeable in your dry lips. Looking around, the stories of solitude, of temptation, take on a new and deeper meaning.

Leaving Qumran, we traveled by bus north to Tiberias and The Galilee. While entering the West Bank is reasonably simple, returning to Israel is a bit more involved. We stopped at a simple checkpoint and waited as three armed IDF soldiers walked the aisle of the bus and checked the luggage holds. Not invasive at all, and the IDF soldiers were always professional and courteous, but a significant change from our entry into the West Bank. Our journey took us up Highway 90, which parallels the Jordan River.. As we passed the edge of the central mountains, the landscape changed a little, with more vegetation and life becoming visible as our journey continued north. Arriving at the Golan Hotel, the group disembarked, checked into our rooms, and then enjoyed a huge Middle Eastern feast at the hotel restaurant. A few of us stayed up, enjoying the cool Galilee evening and good wine and conversation as we prepared for another full day touring The Galilee.