Baby Went to Amsterdam (and some other places too)

I'm so sorry I have been so horrible at updating my blog lately. It has been so hard these past couple of weeks to even get an e-mail sent out. One thing I learned on my trip is that hostels lie when they indicate on their website that they have free wifi. They don't.

We embarked upon our European adventure about 2 weeks ago. From Netanya, we headed for Amsterdam, which we deemed to be the Las Vegas of Europe. In the evenings, we would take strolls in the Red Light District. The streets are littered with narrow alleyways lined with large windows. Prostitutes stand behind the glass following you with their eyes. As the night progresses, curtains veil nearly all of the windows, indicating that the prostitute has a customer. Although we had a good time in Amsterdam, we were ready to leave after 3 days. It is a gluttonous circus town.

Unique display of decorative condoms at Condomerie, the world's first condom specialty shop (Amsterdam)

One of the highlights in Amsterdam was taking an evening canal cruise and imagining what it might be like to live in a houseboat. The only thing that could have made the cruise better was a pair of rainbow glasses.

After Amsterdam, we took the train to Paris. Paris was all about sightseeing. Since we were only there for a couple of days, we spent a whole day navigating our way around the city (via Metro) to see as much as we possibly could. We did pretty well for ourselves if I do say so myself.

Dani and I eat at a Parisian cafe for dinner; French food was a little more rich than the foods we were used to eating in Israel

Taking a dip in the fountain in the courtyard of the Louvre museum

From Paris, we took a train to the south of France, specifically Cannes. My cousin, Natasha, lives there with her family and was so nice of her to take us in and put us up for a few nights. I had never met her children, so it was very special.

The view from Natasha's balcony

Me and my new little cousin!

After Cannes, we left for Barcelona. It was a struggle to figure out how to get from Cannes to Barcelona in a timely fashion since the train from Nice to Spain was booked for two days straight. Instead, we took a train back to Paris and flew to Barcelona from there.

Out of all the places we've been this trip (besides Israel), Barcelona was my favorite stop. Even though it's a filthy, gritty city that smells like a giant toilet that hasn't been flushed in days, the energy there is incredible. It was also a lot of fun because both Dani and I can actually speak Spanish, so it was easy to get around and meet people.

And yes, Dad, we made it to Los Caracoles just for you! And here is a picture to prove it:

For dinner, we started off with gazpacho, mussels, and asparagus with mayo. For entrees, Dani had the monkfish and I had the paella (complete with mussels, crawdads, shrimp, squid, and other objects that still remain unidentifiable). It was an eating adventure!

We just got back to Netanya last night. Dani and I are both trying to recondition our eating and sleeping schedules. I was surprised that I got up before noon today. Actually, I consider it a major accomplishment. Maybe that means I'll finally get to sleep before the sun comes up for the first time in a week? Maybe.

Chasing Butterflies

The last 10 days have flown by. On June 27th, we got dropped off at LAX early in the morning, where we met our new family: 40 Jewish kids from San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County. After a 13-hour flight, we arrived in Israel the following afternoon. From the airport, we drove south to a hostel in the middle of the Negev Desert, where we stayed that night.

The following morning, we visited a farm, where we learned about Israeli agriculture. We got to pick our own fruits and vegetable right off the vine to taste. We also got to make fresh pita bread:

Elevated strawberries grow in soil enriched with coconut shells

Fresh picks

In the afternoon, we drove to Kfar Hanokdim, where we rode camels, learned about Bedouin culture, and even slept in a Bedouin tent, where I managed to trip over a rope and eat shit in the middle of the night. The next morning, we woke up at 4 in the morning to watch the sunrise over Masada. It was beautiful.

Our accommodations for the night

Sunrise over Masada

After a tour of the fortress, we took a hike in Ein Gedi, where we bathed in freshwater lakes and rinsed off under natural waterfalls. After the relatively strenuous ascent (and descent) of Masada in the morning, we were all eternally grateful for the cool-off session. After the hike, we went to the Dead Sea:

Mud-pies anyone?

After the Dead Sea, we were off to Jerusalem for the next 3 days. We toured the ancient city of David and the Jewish Quarter and visited the Kotel. I have been to Israel 3 times before and had never felt so moved. This time for some reason, was different. My eyes slowly welled up with pools of tears until my vision went entirely blurry. It was an epic cry, if I do say so myself.

Good morning, Jerusalem!

It was really special that we were able to be in Jerusalem for Shabbat. The energy of the Kotel at night was vibrant and alive. At the wall, we joined a large circle of women from all over the world who were dancing and singing Jewish songs.

One night in Jerusalem, the traveler's nightmare happened to my poor cousin: her purse got stolen (which means so did her wallet, phone, and passport). We stayed up the whole night dealing with the situation. After embracing the expression, "It is what it is", we watched the sunrise on the top floor of our hostel with the bartender, Mike. Luckily, she obtained an emergency passport from the American Embassy in Tel Aviv yesterday.

After that morning, things started getting a little blurry. I was running on empty, but pushed myself to keep going. Human bodies are very resilient things. It was also comforting to know that everyone else on the trip felt the same way. After all, we hit the ground running and didn't stop for a second.

These are just a few of the things we have done on our trip so far. As you can probably guess, I have been taking a butt-load of pictures (and videos). My camera has become an extra appendage. In the past 10 days, I have learned more about my camera than in the whole time I've had it.

The trip ended yesterday. My cousin and I said our goodbyes to our new friends and hopped in a cab bound for Netanya. Now, we are laying low for the next week in my grandparents' condominium so that we can recover, recharge, relax, and switch gears for the rest of our trip.

I have no idea what's going to happen next, but I can't wait to tell you all about it.