Summer 2023- Part 1

MARVELLOUS MEDITERANEAN

This summer, we went on a cruise holiday around the East Med. This included places like the Greek Islands, Turkey, Athens, Israel and Cyprus. Overall, it was epic, but before the cruise itself, we had to go to Israel, as that's where it started. However, we decided to stay a few extra nights beforehand in Tel Aviv and Haifa, as there's so much to see and do.

The flight there was good; we flew with Virgin Atlantic, and arrived in Tel Aviv at about 3:30pm. (Note that all the destinations throughout our holiday were 2hrs ahead of England). The thing that we instantly noticed when we stepped out of the airport is that it is so hot and humid in Israel!

To shorten this a bit, here is a summary of each day in Israel.

Day 1- Landed and went to our hotel (which was right on the beachfront :). We had a walk along the promenade and then had dinner at a fast food place near the beach.

Day 2- After a buffet breakfast at the hotel, we had a walking tour of Tel Aviv old town- Jaffa (or Yafo). The city was quite unique but fun to explore, especially since we could see the whole bay area and all of Tel Aviv from the top, plus we learnt a lot about the history of Tel Aviv. We walked to a city called Florentine, famous for its graffiti walls, where we had lunch. Grabbed ice cream (yum) and headed back to the hotel. We walked to the main square in the evening, where we had dinner.

Day 3- We had breakfast at our hotel and then took the train to Jerusalem. We did a walking tour of the old town and the 4 quarters belonging to the different communities that live there (Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Armenian). We grabbed lunch and then went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where we touched the stone that Jesus' crucifix was believed to have stood on. After that, we walked around the old town marketplace, and took the train back to Tel Aviv.

Day 4- On day 4, we had a day tour scheduled so we woke up at 6 and got the coach at 630. The hotel packed us breakfast, so we ate on the coach. Our first stop was an archaeological site called 'Masada'. We took the cable car up, explored a bit. It was awesome but very hot and dry at the top. Then we took the coach to our next stop: 'Ein Gedi nature reserve'. Whilst there, we did a waterfall hike, which was awesome, as on the way, you could stand under the waterfalls and even swim in the natural rock pools :D. Our final stop was the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest place on Earth, and the salt content of the water is so high, and the water is so still, that you just float. It was pretty cool, and after a snack and drink at the 'Lowest Bar on Earth', we hopped on the coach for our 3 hour ride back to Tel Aviv. After getting back, we went to a traditional fast food place, where we had the most delicious falafel, hummus, schnitzel and pitta breads.

Day 5- This was our final full day before we boarded the cruise, so after exploring the Tel Aviv markets, we took a train to the port town of Israel called Haifa, where we stayed for the night. When we got there, after finally finding our hotel room after half an hour of confusion (lol), we took a taxi up to the promenade. We were able to see the whole of downtown from the top! We went for dinner at a traditional Mediterranean place, which served up hummus, pitta breads and a seasoned rice dish with beef. We went for drinks to a really cool bar called 'Iza', located in the main square, and then headed to our apartment.

Our stay in Israel was really fun, and check out part 2 for my blog about the Cruise

itself, and other highlights of my summer break

Thanks for reading :)

Jayden D'Souza.