Finally managed to get some videos uploaded!
This one is of the family singing the last verse of the Jew's version of the 12 Days of Christmas. This concluded our night of festivities.
This is the Jew's version of "This is the House that Jack Built". My uncle is VERY into it.
This is my other uncle's musical addition to the evening.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Greetings from the Holy Land
I know it's been ages since I've been updated but it's been a combination of relaxation, spending time with friends and family, lots of traveling from one place to another, sketchy internet and holiday festivities that has kept me from writing. All's well in the Holy Land though and I'll quickly go through the last few days and the excitement that has ensued.
Monday: We plan to get up at 5:45. We really get up at 6:15. We call a cab who races us to the train station. We get to Paddington and take the tube to King's Cross. We become "those people" who race through the St. Pancras, forcing all others to leap out of the way. We were rockstars :). We eventually make it to Luton. We eat a bagel and drink some coffee. We board the plane and are forced to the end of the line due to poor signage. We are finally asked for our passports. We watched a lot of Supernatural on the plane. We grew extremely hungry. We landed and were met by Amir and Ofek. We ate dinner at Cousin Rotem's house and saw cutie Amit. We were satisfied. We returned to the kibbutz. We went to sleep.
Tuesday: We did nothing. It was lovely. I began my quest to determine just how many combinations you can make from eating cottage cheese, toast, tomato, cucumber and eggs for dinner and breakfast.
Wednesday: We took a bus to Jerusalem and were met by Rotem. We toured the Old City as regulars, not tourists. We ate humus, chalva and knaiffe. The first was OK, the second was oddly yummy and the third was delicious oversweet. We had some great conversations with Rotem. We saw the Old City from above, ground level, and below. We toured the tunnels behind the Kottel. We walked on streets that were around during the First Temple. We saw brand new excavations on the plaza level of the Kottel. We were dropped off at Esther's house. We saw Amit and Tami at a concert. It wasn't great. We slept.
Thursday: I took the bus to Hod HaSharon and meet up with my bestie. We played some Guitar Hero with her husband. I sucked, as usual. We went to Kfar Saba. We got falafel. We sat and talked and enjoyed ourselves. We were accosted by over-zealous makeup and perfume sellers. We wandered the mall. We laughed. I took the train to Lod. I had to ask the station master for a phone since I had none. He let me call home. I went to Rotem's. We played with Ami and ate homemade pizza. It was delicious.
Friday: Relaxed in the morning. Tried to avoid the rain. Went to a remembrance ceremony for Saba Aharon's cousin. Met some American cousins. Waited for half an hour for our lunch at the gas station restaurant. Celebrated Yom Shishi with the family. Watched Erek Nehederet (combination Daily Show and SNL) and laughed a lot.
Saturday: Watched the torrential rain pour down. Watched a lot of TV and read a lot of books. Did nothing and had a good time doing it.
Sunday: Don't actually remember what I did. Probably nothing. Went to Nitzan and Diego's at night and watched Will and Grace. I like Jack and Karen better than Will and Grace.
Monday: Chag Pesach Sameach. Relaxed on the kibbutz in the morning. Had the Seder at Amos and Karen's at night. We laughed, we fought, we drank, we sang, we ate, we celebrated. It was incredible.
Today: Did nothing. What else is new?
Here are some pictures now- the first few are from Jerusalem and then there are a few of the Seder. I'll try and put up some videos as well. I may need to do a new post. Enjoy!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
York and Durham
I left Liverpool in the early morn and took a train to the walled city of York, home once to Constantine's father, Constantine himself, the Vikings, Richard III and many other historical, literary and religious individuals. York in incredible. I spent hours wandering through the small alleyways and little shops, walking on the ramparts of the walled cities, peeking into towers and getting myself lost on a sunny day.
Of course you can't go to York without hitting up the Minster and it was another beautiful cathedral. My favorite parts are included here. First, below, there are statues largely decorated and detailed of all the kings between William the Conqueror and Henry VIII. However, if you look closely, they don't look very regal- they actually look pretty silly.
The in the Chapter House, where the monks would meet, there were little heads decorating the walls. There were about 100 altogether and so small that they could easily be looked over. If you're ever there, DON'T! Take a good look at each of them. Some are smiling, some are sticking their tongues out, one guys has three heads, another guy is making a grotesque expression, this poor fellow has his eyes pecked out by a bird. They are incredible!
I needed to circle the city after leaving the Minster so I climbed up to the walls, peeked into the Richard III Museum (more about him, read the Shakespeare play or just listen to the Reduced Shakespeare Company's song "Dem Kings") and then wandered the ramparts and looking out over the city of York both in and out of the walls.
Most of my time in York was jstu spent wandering the cities. I popped into a little church called St. Helen's, after the mother of Constantine and its small simplicity was so different from the gradeur of the Minster. There was also a beautiful little exhibit on the UN Declaration of Human Rights were 30 artists illustrated what they thought each article of the Declaration meant to them.
I also stopped at their outdoor market and bought some gloves that turn into mittens. Score.
I climbed up the last remaining tower of the old York Castle, went to the Northern Regimental Museum where the guy working there brought out two sabres for me to look at and wield (pretty awesome), meandered about the darkening streets and then sat on a bench and watched movies on my ipod until the Ghost Tour (more on that later). By the time I walked home the rain had lightly started and would be a sign for how the following day would go.
The next morning was wet, wet, wet, wet, wet! But I grabbed my handy umbrella and headed down to the train station. I walked along the Dame Judi Dench Riverwalk and was so hot by the time I arrived (I was walking quickly to make sure I didnt' miss my train) that I just HAD to get an iced coffee. The barista man was waaaayyyy too cheerful and upbeat for 8:00 AM but it was catching and I watched the British countryside drown in rain on the train ride up.
The first thing that you see when you pull into station is the huge Cathedral as well as the castle where the University of Durham is housed. The train station is up on the top of a hill on one side of the River Wear and the Cathedral/Castle is on the other side so I had to trek down to the river, cross one of the many bridges and then trek back up, stopping in some of the little shops of the various streets.
I made my way eventually up the cobbled streets to a city square with a statue of Neptune in the middle. I'm not sure of where Neptune came into play but there he was with his triton and I think he had a tail.... so maybe not Neptune. Who knows. There was also a beautiful little church called St. Nicholas which looked very old on the outside but on the inside was just like a contemporary church, with cushy chairs, carpets, a little cafe. I ended up chatting for a few minutes with a very nice man there who gave me some recommendations of what else to see in Durham.
I stopped in at Durham's version of a covered market, did not buy a single book and then headed up to the Cathedral. Bill Bryson, one of my favorite authors, "unhesitatingly gives Durham my vote for best Cathedral on earth." And he was right. It was absolutely magnificent from the outside to the inside.
From the first thing you see entering into the cathedral to the tiny little details inside, everything is incredible and super-sized. The door knocker on the front door has been around since the patron saint of Durham- St. Cuthbert- and was used when people were needing to find asylum in the church. And because St. Cuthbert had died on March 20, there was a celebration in the cathedral and I got in for free. Score!
Unfortunately there were no pictures allowed in the cathedral but I did manage to sneak one of the tomb of the Venerable Bede. I walked through the Cloisters, visited the Monk's Dorms which is now a library (a long, wooden floor room elevated up from the ground) and spent a long time wandering through the nooks and crannies of the Cathedral. There were many little chapels each dedicated to a special sort of prayer or to a certain saint, there were a lot of really interesting wooden sculptures and of course, the glorious stained-glass windows (including the large flower window at the front of the church) and the high arching ceilings. I dont' know why it was but Durham just seemed to have this magnificent and hugeness to it and despite York Minster being larger, Durham had a more profound presence.
Upon leaving the Cathedral, I walked around town for a little while longer, helped a guy carry his three huge suitcases up all the stairs to the train station (my good deed of the day), headed back to York, wandered through town, went to the art museum for a bit and then trekked to the hostel and back to gather my things. The train ride home was long... almost four and a half hours and two of those were spent sitting in front of loud, drunk, obnoxious sports fans who kept singing Elvis tunes for some reason. Back at Oxford, I was hoping for some clear skies but it was just as rainy as up north but I made it home by ten and all in all, was in good spirits!
Of course you can't go to York without hitting up the Minster and it was another beautiful cathedral. My favorite parts are included here. First, below, there are statues largely decorated and detailed of all the kings between William the Conqueror and Henry VIII. However, if you look closely, they don't look very regal- they actually look pretty silly.
The in the Chapter House, where the monks would meet, there were little heads decorating the walls. There were about 100 altogether and so small that they could easily be looked over. If you're ever there, DON'T! Take a good look at each of them. Some are smiling, some are sticking their tongues out, one guys has three heads, another guy is making a grotesque expression, this poor fellow has his eyes pecked out by a bird. They are incredible!
I needed to circle the city after leaving the Minster so I climbed up to the walls, peeked into the Richard III Museum (more about him, read the Shakespeare play or just listen to the Reduced Shakespeare Company's song "Dem Kings") and then wandered the ramparts and looking out over the city of York both in and out of the walls.
Most of my time in York was jstu spent wandering the cities. I popped into a little church called St. Helen's, after the mother of Constantine and its small simplicity was so different from the gradeur of the Minster. There was also a beautiful little exhibit on the UN Declaration of Human Rights were 30 artists illustrated what they thought each article of the Declaration meant to them.
I also stopped at their outdoor market and bought some gloves that turn into mittens. Score.
I climbed up the last remaining tower of the old York Castle, went to the Northern Regimental Museum where the guy working there brought out two sabres for me to look at and wield (pretty awesome), meandered about the darkening streets and then sat on a bench and watched movies on my ipod until the Ghost Tour (more on that later). By the time I walked home the rain had lightly started and would be a sign for how the following day would go.
The next morning was wet, wet, wet, wet, wet! But I grabbed my handy umbrella and headed down to the train station. I walked along the Dame Judi Dench Riverwalk and was so hot by the time I arrived (I was walking quickly to make sure I didnt' miss my train) that I just HAD to get an iced coffee. The barista man was waaaayyyy too cheerful and upbeat for 8:00 AM but it was catching and I watched the British countryside drown in rain on the train ride up.
The first thing that you see when you pull into station is the huge Cathedral as well as the castle where the University of Durham is housed. The train station is up on the top of a hill on one side of the River Wear and the Cathedral/Castle is on the other side so I had to trek down to the river, cross one of the many bridges and then trek back up, stopping in some of the little shops of the various streets.
I made my way eventually up the cobbled streets to a city square with a statue of Neptune in the middle. I'm not sure of where Neptune came into play but there he was with his triton and I think he had a tail.... so maybe not Neptune. Who knows. There was also a beautiful little church called St. Nicholas which looked very old on the outside but on the inside was just like a contemporary church, with cushy chairs, carpets, a little cafe. I ended up chatting for a few minutes with a very nice man there who gave me some recommendations of what else to see in Durham.
I stopped in at Durham's version of a covered market, did not buy a single book and then headed up to the Cathedral. Bill Bryson, one of my favorite authors, "unhesitatingly gives Durham my vote for best Cathedral on earth." And he was right. It was absolutely magnificent from the outside to the inside.
From the first thing you see entering into the cathedral to the tiny little details inside, everything is incredible and super-sized. The door knocker on the front door has been around since the patron saint of Durham- St. Cuthbert- and was used when people were needing to find asylum in the church. And because St. Cuthbert had died on March 20, there was a celebration in the cathedral and I got in for free. Score!
Unfortunately there were no pictures allowed in the cathedral but I did manage to sneak one of the tomb of the Venerable Bede. I walked through the Cloisters, visited the Monk's Dorms which is now a library (a long, wooden floor room elevated up from the ground) and spent a long time wandering through the nooks and crannies of the Cathedral. There were many little chapels each dedicated to a special sort of prayer or to a certain saint, there were a lot of really interesting wooden sculptures and of course, the glorious stained-glass windows (including the large flower window at the front of the church) and the high arching ceilings. I dont' know why it was but Durham just seemed to have this magnificent and hugeness to it and despite York Minster being larger, Durham had a more profound presence.
Upon leaving the Cathedral, I walked around town for a little while longer, helped a guy carry his three huge suitcases up all the stairs to the train station (my good deed of the day), headed back to York, wandered through town, went to the art museum for a bit and then trekked to the hostel and back to gather my things. The train ride home was long... almost four and a half hours and two of those were spent sitting in front of loud, drunk, obnoxious sports fans who kept singing Elvis tunes for some reason. Back at Oxford, I was hoping for some clear skies but it was just as rainy as up north but I made it home by ten and all in all, was in good spirits!
In the Pool
Liverpool, that is.
We didn't have too many issues leaving Dublin (although it sucked to wake up so early and we weren't 100% sure where to drop the car off- at least we didn't damage our car like the other Americans dropping off their car did) and made it out to Liverpool. I had never really driven into Liverpool in the light because I had always night-bussed it so to drive through the Albert Docks in the daylight was a treat. I recognized a lot of the downtown areas and it certainly didn't feel like an unfamiliar city.We had a little trouble getting to the hostel but once we arrived, it was so lovely to have free internet, sink down into some cushy couches and just relax. I had these loftly plans to walk all the day down to the Queens Docks but on my way past the Liverpool Cathedral I got distracted and spent my two hours there instead.
The Liverpool Cathedral is huge and much more contemporary than any of the recent cathedrals I have been in. It was started in 1904 and completed in the early 1950s. Despite it being built in a combination of Gothic and Romanesque styles, there is something very contemporary about it, starting with the odd statue over the front door. There are the usual high arched ceilings, loud echoing naves and beautiful stained glass but there is still an air of modernity. There are some very modern sculptures and paintings and at the back of the one of the chapels is a pink neon sign.
And of course, you can't have a cathedral in Liverpool without the inclusion of the Liverbird.
Directly next to the cathedral in surrounding it is St. James's cemetery. The cemetery is sunk way down in the ground while the cathedral is built much higher so the picture below is looking down into the cemetery. I loved wandering through the tunnel to get down ot the bottom and then walking through the old headstones next to the path.
It was weird to be in Liverpool and not go down to the Albert Docks to see the museums and the Mersey and the Beatles' Museum and to walk down through City Centre but we had a match to see. We took a bus down to Anfield and joined the masses.
We had great seats, right on the corner above where the kicks would be taken and about 18 rows up from the field (although it seemed much closer). Incidentally, we were surrounded by a few Lille fans (like the fellow in the picutre below who was very nice and comes over to England for concerts, matches and shopping and told me I was cute and who I felt bad for because Lille ened up losing) but we were still able to particpate in all the chants.
The Kop End was in fine form, singing "You'll Never Walk Alone", chanting things like "All Aroudn the Field of Anfield Road" and "Fernando Torres, Liverpool's Number Nine" and "Rafa, Rafael, Rafa, Rafael, Rafael Benitez" and other great and classic Liverpool chants.
A great shot of Fern :)
I love this picture because it looks like Jamie (no. 23) is scolding Fern and let's be real.... he probably is!
Captain Stevie G!
Right before the second goal
Third goal celebration
Final score! Great match all around and a hillarious bus ride home (including the greatest quote of the night from the bus driver who was angry at people crossing the street and not paying attention when he said "bloody hell, should've gone to Spec-Savers....)
Onto the old cities of York and Durham!
We didn't have too many issues leaving Dublin (although it sucked to wake up so early and we weren't 100% sure where to drop the car off- at least we didn't damage our car like the other Americans dropping off their car did) and made it out to Liverpool. I had never really driven into Liverpool in the light because I had always night-bussed it so to drive through the Albert Docks in the daylight was a treat. I recognized a lot of the downtown areas and it certainly didn't feel like an unfamiliar city.We had a little trouble getting to the hostel but once we arrived, it was so lovely to have free internet, sink down into some cushy couches and just relax. I had these loftly plans to walk all the day down to the Queens Docks but on my way past the Liverpool Cathedral I got distracted and spent my two hours there instead.
The Liverpool Cathedral is huge and much more contemporary than any of the recent cathedrals I have been in. It was started in 1904 and completed in the early 1950s. Despite it being built in a combination of Gothic and Romanesque styles, there is something very contemporary about it, starting with the odd statue over the front door. There are the usual high arched ceilings, loud echoing naves and beautiful stained glass but there is still an air of modernity. There are some very modern sculptures and paintings and at the back of the one of the chapels is a pink neon sign.
And of course, you can't have a cathedral in Liverpool without the inclusion of the Liverbird.
Directly next to the cathedral in surrounding it is St. James's cemetery. The cemetery is sunk way down in the ground while the cathedral is built much higher so the picture below is looking down into the cemetery. I loved wandering through the tunnel to get down ot the bottom and then walking through the old headstones next to the path.
It was weird to be in Liverpool and not go down to the Albert Docks to see the museums and the Mersey and the Beatles' Museum and to walk down through City Centre but we had a match to see. We took a bus down to Anfield and joined the masses.
We had great seats, right on the corner above where the kicks would be taken and about 18 rows up from the field (although it seemed much closer). Incidentally, we were surrounded by a few Lille fans (like the fellow in the picutre below who was very nice and comes over to England for concerts, matches and shopping and told me I was cute and who I felt bad for because Lille ened up losing) but we were still able to particpate in all the chants.
The Kop End was in fine form, singing "You'll Never Walk Alone", chanting things like "All Aroudn the Field of Anfield Road" and "Fernando Torres, Liverpool's Number Nine" and "Rafa, Rafael, Rafa, Rafael, Rafael Benitez" and other great and classic Liverpool chants.
A great shot of Fern :)
I love this picture because it looks like Jamie (no. 23) is scolding Fern and let's be real.... he probably is!
Captain Stevie G!
Right before the second goal
Third goal celebration
Final score! Great match all around and a hillarious bus ride home (including the greatest quote of the night from the bus driver who was angry at people crossing the street and not paying attention when he said "bloody hell, should've gone to Spec-Savers....)
Onto the old cities of York and Durham!
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