Days 10 & 11- wrapping up the tour

Days 10 & 11: wrapping up the tour

Check out the pics on my Facebook page!

Yesterday morning we packed up the kibbutz cabins and loaded the buses. I could tell that everyone was starting to get a bit tired as many adults and kids pulled out the headphones and personal stereos for the 2 hour morning drive (including myself!). We stopped at the Bet She-an archaeological site featuring a full roman theater, cardo and even a latrine with stone toilet structures that of course the kids loved. The site also happened to be very close to a kosher McDonalds where many of us had lunch. Fyi- My burger was larger and fresher than any McDonalds hamburger I've had in the states.

Back on the bus for another 2.5 hr ride to our hotel, the Tal in Tel Aviv. While many of the families in our group headed for the beautiful beach and warm water, our boys declared the need for "down time" and we relaxed in the room for a couple of hours before heading to the beach for a walk prior to dinner. The only problem with this plan was that when we got to the beach almost everyone we knew had been stung by jellyfish who are apparently in high concentration for the next week. You can imagine how well this went over considering  our boys are scared of mosquito bites and houseflies. Hopefully the jellyfish will move on before we leave Tel Aviv Tuesday night because the water is warm. 

After dinner at the hotel we joined some friends for dessert and drinks on the waterfront near our hotel in the old warehouse district..a warm evening on the Mediterranean with the sun setting into the distant clouds made it a beautiful way to end the day and begin saying goodbye to the group tour. 

This morning we started at Independence Hall, where we heard a very interesting and compelling program about the establishment of the State of Israel. The guide at Independence Hall was great and it ended with a replay of David Ben Gurion's speech and a touching rendition of "Hatikvah" by the entire room. Then it was on to an interesting program at the Na Lagaat complex on the Jaffa waterfront where we felt what it was like to be blind and we were lead through an art project in a completely dark room by a blind employee of the center.  After spending a couple of hours in the old city of Jaffa for lunch, shopping and a brief tour we all met as a group for a final debrief, thank yous, slide show and finally  a closing dinner. 

Many of us were a bit emotional as we reflected back on this fantastic 9 days together as a group and a community. Big thanks go out to Rabbi Bloom and Karen for spearheading this massive undertaking from start to finish as well as the amazing Keshet tour company staff, led by the incomparable Yishay Avital- an incredible leader who we highly recommend for anyone considering a trip to Israel- Yishay is your guy with an amazing mix of historical/geographic/religious knowledge, humor, and great people skills.  I reflected on the fact that we joined the TBA community almost exactly 10 years ago, and now we've been able to experience Israel with good friends who we'll be reliving it with for many years to come. As I've mentioned before, the boys got so much more out of the trip due to the group dynamic with their friends as well as the children's programming by Keshet..and I'm confident that we'll all be back in Israel again, sooner rather than later.

The tour may be over but we're here in Tel Aviv another 5 days so the blog will continue!