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Has Anyone Been To Israel?
- Thread starter Aimster
- Start date
I liked it. It was a very different lifestyle. My favorite part was you could get falafel anywhere for 5 shekelim (which was $1.25 back then). I don't know that I could live there but there is a ton of history everywhere you go so it is a great place for you to visit when safety is not a concern.
Schadenfroh
Elite Member
I will not be going there...... I am an American that looks like a German.
I do not think the people there will like me that well...........
I do not think the people there will like me that well...........
Well here is the thing...
My parents are both from Iran... but I have never been to Iran. I was born in the U.S.
I heard Israel has a large Persian population anyways so I probably wouldn't stick out? When I look at the pictures.. people look M.E. I can't tell the difference from a Palestinian and an Israeli really.
one side of my family is Jewish but I don't think that matters unless I was 100% Jewish then I guess I could basically live there and be a citizen instantly?
My parents are both from Iran... but I have never been to Iran. I was born in the U.S.
I heard Israel has a large Persian population anyways so I probably wouldn't stick out? When I look at the pictures.. people look M.E. I can't tell the difference from a Palestinian and an Israeli really.
one side of my family is Jewish but I don't think that matters unless I was 100% Jewish then I guess I could basically live there and be a citizen instantly?
If you go, just don't announce you're Iranian. You won't be welcomed there, especially considering what the President (or is it PM) of Iran has been saying about Israel.
EDIT: Forgot to answer the OP. I went a couple years ago to Jeruselum and Tel Aviv, and it was a great trip. The people are very friendly, and it's a beautiful country. Though I was a bit concerned about safety, it really isn't too bad.
Goosemaster
Lifer
except for the suicide bombers at your local starbucks equivalent
I guess you just want a travelogue so, here's a ton of words for you:
Yes, I go there sometimes on business.
Endure a real serious going-over by Customs upon arrival. Unlike Customs anywhere else I've seen. Don't quip jokes to those serious guys.
I stay in Tel Aviv right across street from beach, go drink beer & eat flafel on Dizengoff Street & see the pretty girls. Babes are not so plentiful as in Southern California or Sweden, but still lots more of them in Israel than in most places. She may have a rifle slung over her shoulder.
Climate and terraine are very similar to Orange County in Southern California; a fairly flat coastal plain with orange groves a little ways inland, and a backdrop of hills still further inland.
I've been at a company where they had uzis instead of fire extinguishers on the wall - just break the glass, grab & spray lead.
Tel Aviv is an interesting mix of modern where I stay, & ancient on the south end in Jaffa.
Reastaurants observe the annoying-to-me Jewish custom of not serving certain things together on one dining table.
Carry your own soap from home, all the hotel soap there stinks of animal fat & makes you reek all day.
In the old walled city of Jerusalem, the Jewish quarter seems to me focused on historical interests, then in the Christian quarter near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the stalls along the lanes brim over with crazed commercialism, and the Moslem quarter is pervaded by a filthy stench of urine & rotting garbage piled in the streets. Toward the center are lots of hospices. Then the Wailing Wall is a big attraction to visit.
On one of my visits I passed a few hours in Nazareth sitting in a Christian church/ monastery/ school praying till a monk kicked me out. I'd gotten into a church that was supposed to have been locked shut. Not much is happening there re: showcasing the historical Jesus. Nazareth & eastward to Tiberias at Sea of Galilee is hill country.
Driving south from Galilee to Jericho along the west side of the Jordan river was horrific to me. No social welfare or help are visible for all the little orphan kids with an arm or leg blown off, surviving as the can on begging from passers by. Huge caliber bullet holes riddle the adobe walls of former residences everywhere.
Jericho / Dead Sea area is desert, with extremely ancient ruins. I think the famous Dead Sea Scrolls came out of caves around there, where desert cliffs rise up on the west side of the Dead Sea. Maybe Qu. I never went down to Masada, a key site for Jewish history, but I've never had time from work.
The ruins at the old Roman seaport of Cesaria is worth a visit, especially if you read up on it first. The main ruin to see there is a stone amphitheater.
ANECDOTAL DETOUR BEGINS:
In old walled Jerusalem I talked with an American expatriot all egotistical & bragging on himself because he was learning Hebrew there. So, English + Hebrew.
But I went to an Italian Pizza restaurant in Tel Aviv run by Chinese guys who took customers' orders in any of several languages, then stood in place beside customers' tables and loudly yelled the orders in Chinese to the kitchen. Right over the heads of all the customers. So the humble untutored young Chinese waiters spoke & wrote English, Hebrew, Arabic, & their Chinese, all at a mile a minute.
Big contrast to that guy in Jerusalem. ANECDOTE ENDPOINT THANK GOD
Money hyperinflation is so rapid that you'll see ten of the same item on a store shelf, each tagged with a different price.
Lots of good high tech infrastructure gathering & building in Israel. English works almost everywhere. Overall the population is young. Take your camera, and read up on local history before you go. Can be hotter 'n hell in summer.
Not too cool to fly directly from Israel to the pyramids in Egypt. I've done that & had a hard time entering Egypt Things like detainment by Custioms for a long while without any cause other than because my flight originated from Israel, etc.
Also, see this.
Yes, I go there sometimes on business.
Endure a real serious going-over by Customs upon arrival. Unlike Customs anywhere else I've seen. Don't quip jokes to those serious guys.
I stay in Tel Aviv right across street from beach, go drink beer & eat flafel on Dizengoff Street & see the pretty girls. Babes are not so plentiful as in Southern California or Sweden, but still lots more of them in Israel than in most places. She may have a rifle slung over her shoulder.
Climate and terraine are very similar to Orange County in Southern California; a fairly flat coastal plain with orange groves a little ways inland, and a backdrop of hills still further inland.
I've been at a company where they had uzis instead of fire extinguishers on the wall - just break the glass, grab & spray lead.
Tel Aviv is an interesting mix of modern where I stay, & ancient on the south end in Jaffa.
Reastaurants observe the annoying-to-me Jewish custom of not serving certain things together on one dining table.
Carry your own soap from home, all the hotel soap there stinks of animal fat & makes you reek all day.
In the old walled city of Jerusalem, the Jewish quarter seems to me focused on historical interests, then in the Christian quarter near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the stalls along the lanes brim over with crazed commercialism, and the Moslem quarter is pervaded by a filthy stench of urine & rotting garbage piled in the streets. Toward the center are lots of hospices. Then the Wailing Wall is a big attraction to visit.
On one of my visits I passed a few hours in Nazareth sitting in a Christian church/ monastery/ school praying till a monk kicked me out. I'd gotten into a church that was supposed to have been locked shut. Not much is happening there re: showcasing the historical Jesus. Nazareth & eastward to Tiberias at Sea of Galilee is hill country.
Driving south from Galilee to Jericho along the west side of the Jordan river was horrific to me. No social welfare or help are visible for all the little orphan kids with an arm or leg blown off, surviving as the can on begging from passers by. Huge caliber bullet holes riddle the adobe walls of former residences everywhere.
Jericho / Dead Sea area is desert, with extremely ancient ruins. I think the famous Dead Sea Scrolls came out of caves around there, where desert cliffs rise up on the west side of the Dead Sea. Maybe Qu. I never went down to Masada, a key site for Jewish history, but I've never had time from work.
The ruins at the old Roman seaport of Cesaria is worth a visit, especially if you read up on it first. The main ruin to see there is a stone amphitheater.
ANECDOTAL DETOUR BEGINS:
In old walled Jerusalem I talked with an American expatriot all egotistical & bragging on himself because he was learning Hebrew there. So, English + Hebrew.
But I went to an Italian Pizza restaurant in Tel Aviv run by Chinese guys who took customers' orders in any of several languages, then stood in place beside customers' tables and loudly yelled the orders in Chinese to the kitchen. Right over the heads of all the customers. So the humble untutored young Chinese waiters spoke & wrote English, Hebrew, Arabic, & their Chinese, all at a mile a minute.
Big contrast to that guy in Jerusalem. ANECDOTE ENDPOINT THANK GOD
Money hyperinflation is so rapid that you'll see ten of the same item on a store shelf, each tagged with a different price.
Lots of good high tech infrastructure gathering & building in Israel. English works almost everywhere. Overall the population is young. Take your camera, and read up on local history before you go. Can be hotter 'n hell in summer.
Not too cool to fly directly from Israel to the pyramids in Egypt. I've done that & had a hard time entering Egypt Things like detainment by Custioms for a long while without any cause other than because my flight originated from Israel, etc.
Also, see this.
zanieladie
Diamond Member
:thumbsup:
I would love to go...but there is just too much unrest. I don't think it would be safe no matter what country you are traveling from...
zanieladie
Diamond Member
Thanks Scott for the very interesting post. (I didn't want to quote it and use up a lot of space).
🙂
🙂
ThePresence
Elite Member
I lived there for a few years, visit often and may move back again.
Israel is a great place to visit.
As a US citizen you should not have problems at the airport unless you meet some kind of profile or your papers are not in order. If that's the case you will go through hell.
Security is tight at all public areas, so be prepared to have your bags searched through and a patdown to go to the mall or a tourist attraction.
Feel free to PM me with any questions you may have.
Israel is a great place to visit.
As a US citizen you should not have problems at the airport unless you meet some kind of profile or your papers are not in order. If that's the case you will go through hell.
Security is tight at all public areas, so be prepared to have your bags searched through and a patdown to go to the mall or a tourist attraction.
Feel free to PM me with any questions you may have.
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