Girl on the loose...Travel Journal

I can’t write a last blog. There is no explaining how amazing this trip was. It has been the best thing I have ever done. But know this bloggers. I will be back!
Love you all
Dee xox

Hey bloggers.
The 2 of you have been amazing comin on this journey with me! Thank you.
Friday was a very quiet day. We all prepared for shabbes and last minute went to get an ice coffee from Aroma. Yum! Ill miss that place. Friday night was amazing!! The most fun shabbes ever. Saturday everyone came over from lunch and after that we packed and said out goodbyes. Very relaxed last 2 days and very emotional see you later. Was not too fun. Then everything at the airport was a big balagan! Was awful and rushed. Plane ride was not bad. And the stop over in Hong Kong was not fun! This may all be because I’m leaving though. Plane ride to Australia was extremely long but watched The Perks of Being A Wallflower again so all was right with the world! And then saw mama! Really bland blog but extremely exhausted!
Will do a last blog when I’m back on my feet!
Thanks bloggers or is it blogie. Lol I know it’s bloggers.
Dee xxx

We are on the last leg of our Israel trip! Booooo! But we are back with the family! It feels like home here. Our last day in Tel Aviv for beautiful. We got up at our own pace and went down for our last breakfast at the place next door that I still haven’t learnt the name of. Such yummy food there! There is this one cereal that I ate twice while at the hotel. I was explaining it to Chagit and she told me what it was called. Kariot. All they are, are square chocolate cereal with gooey chocolate inside. So not a cereal but so very yummy. And I had a yummy bagel. After breakfast we woddled back up to our room to finish packing. After checking out we left our bags at the hotel and parted ways. I went for a little walk around Ben Yahuda, got a few things I needed to pick up before leaving. It felt good. I felt confident about where I was going. Was a nice feeling. Then we met up at the beach and had a really nice sisterly moment. We had time to kill so I walked down to the sand and just stood in the water for around half an hour just reflecting on this adventure and listening too music and just thinking about life. I know deep, right?? Was really beautiful. After both reflecting we left for Bet Shemesh. I was so excited to see my family again. Perfect way to end the trip. Our taxi driver was way too funny. I think he tried to act cool but by doing so was so funny. “im a sababa taxi driver no?” Amazing! We got to Bet Shemesh and decided to have some fun while waiting for Marcia to come home. So we did what I know best… Eat! I got my packet of Bamba and we decided to see how many I could fit in my mouth. This was a good idea until half way filling up my mouth Shayndle got a call from Marcia saying she was almost home and couldn’t take a picture of me. Then Shira comes walking towards us out of nowhere. So there I am with 9 Bamba (pb) in my mouth motioning to Shayndle to take a picture with Shira wondering what the hell we were doing. Yep. Family is forever. Hahaha. Shira was on her way to the park with her gorgeous niece so Shayns and I decided to tag along. So glad we did now. Her niece is so so gorgeous. About half an hour later Marcia and Chagit arrived home at the same time. Was so good seeing them. After big big cuddles we all shlept our heavy bags up to the apartment and caught up on the 2 weeks we haven’t seen them. I came upstairs with all my bags and thought of a way to tetris is all in to the bags. Game on! I WILL win! Came back downstairs and started looking at the Bar Mitzvah photos. They look so good! Then I got super excited cause there was a knock at the door so I though Ebo was home. And I screamed out to him and then Yair walked in! Yay to coming home from the army. Was so good seeing him. We all sat and relaxed and watched the Bar Mitzvah before heading out for what we were about to find out was an epic adventure. So before leaving for Jerusalem for dinner Shira walked in the apartment. We forced her to come with us! Yay for pressure! Then Ebo finally came home and then Butch and we were ready to leave. Walked to the bus station and waited for like 25 min for a bud that comes every 15 min. Got on and saw no seats. Was actually really fun standing in a crazy Israeli filled bus! Scary but fun. Then there was a crash on the way so took double time to get there! Oy vey. By the time we got to Jerusalem we were all starving. But happy cause Elchy was on his way to eat with us. After a long discussion about where we should eat we decided on the bus station cause we could eat what we wanted. I went to the bathroom to wash up and the bathroom ate my sheck sheck. Bloody rules! Then I had a delicious slice of pizza so was happy. Was a really nice dinner and got heaps of photos to show the family. The bus ride home was less hectic. We all got to sit next to each other and enjoyed the ride home. I started to feel really yuk on the bus ride home. I think its because I don’t want to leave but I do. Its bitter sweet. Then I conked out before I could right this blog but its done now so have a good Shabbes everyone!
Dee xox

Can we all take a second to appreciate (mum you know how to pronounce it) the fact that I woke up at 6:30… 6:30!!! Anyway now that we have all closed our dropped jaws lets move on or as JLARD would say “moving forward” and start the day! I ran around getting ready so I could go to the breakfast bar and get cereal before our tour bus left. That’s right people! I said tour bus. We were off to Masada and The Dead Sea today! after scoffing down breakfast we met our tour guide. Man I love Israeli tour guides. He was so so funny and was wearing a llama jumper. Enough said. We started driving towards Jerusalem to pick up some more tourists. So we had our full bus and I got ready for the 2 hour drive. Yeah so the next thing I know we are almost there. I never fall asleep on busses or anything but I conked out. But I was awake enough to see camels! I want to ride one so so bad L boo! We also saw a goat thingy. Forgot what it was called but they were awesome! Our first stop was the Ahava outlet. So I got myself some yummy body products. When we got out of the bus we met our fellow tourists. So we didn’t learn each others names but we called each other by our country. So Shayns and I were on the bus with Finland, Ireland, Brazil, German and Israel. Then we were on our way to Masada or Mezada. On the way our tour guide told us the story of Masada. We took the easy way out and all took the cable cart up to the top of Masada. I wasn’t enjoying the sites as much as I did in Caesarea but the story was amazing. I had 2 favourite places. First was the bath house. Was very interesting learning about that. We didn’t give them enough credit for the things they came up with back in BC! The other was the Shule. It was incredible. The oldest shule in the world. So the story goes that the roman empire where going to take the Jewish people from Masada to Jerusalem and keep them as slaves. So the Jews had 2 options. Go with them and become slaves. (Btw why does it always happen to us?) or do the logical thing and kill themselves. Yeah still do get that part of the story but they went with option 2. According to Jewish law committing suicide is a no no. So what did they do? All the men killed their wives and kids first and then they got 1 guy to kill the rest so only 1 was actually committing suicide. Smart right? Anyway the point is that they had so much pride for who they were that they were ready to give it all up then give up their dignity. This to me is what a lot of people struggled with in world war II. That is another story though. Many many many years later they dug up a few parchments of an old torah. Now where the Shule still stands there is a man working on a new torah. Was absolutely incredible to watch. Such concentration! While there you could see the amazing view from Masada. So many Taglit groups there! Then we slowly made our way back to the bottom. Lol jokes we took the cable cart again and stopped at the food court! Yay food. An epic meal later and we all got back on the bus to go to the dead sea! I was so nervous and excited. This was number 44 on my list. It was way too surreal. Something you have always heard about but never thought you’d do. We got there and split up to get changed and met back up to float together. Was so AMAZING! I can’t even explain! My skin was so soft J I got out and put mud all over my body and got back in the water to float. Just such an amazing experience. Then we went to this other like steam room that had the sea water at 40 degree temp. Was the best. Then showered and got back on the bus. I really cant explain my feeling for how it felt. Just the bestest! On the way home we finally saw some green mountains. Israel fact: people live there. Reminded me of the movie babies where the family lived in the middle of nowhere. That made no sense but it was like a slum house on a mountain with lots of sheep. Then I fell back asleep and woke up in Tel Aviv. Shayns and I were starving so went next door for a very yummy and filling meal and came up stairs to turn in for the night. Very very very tiring day!
Almost home time!!
Dee xox

We started the day with a plan. Start in Tel Aviv and make our way to Jerusalem for dinner. With that in mind we wanted to see a few more things in Tel Aviv. I woke up way after Shayns yet again but headed to breakfast alone. All alone. By my self. People talk about liking to do things alone. Not me thanks. Half hour later guess who comes crawling back. That’s right bloggers. SHAYNDLE! Pfft like I was going to let her sit with me after not coming. Nahhhhhhhhh breakfast was way better when she came. Solid meal. Breakfast of champions! After breakfast we went to say bye to Bec L been so nice spending time with her. PS her boy friend gets the big thumbs up from me! Incredible person. On our way back from Bec’s we got a call from Shoshana to come in to Jerusalem earlier. So plans changed a little. Instead of strolling through the craft market we dashed through! 2 buses and a tram later and we were in the old city for the last time! After doing some stuff there (being vague cause all of today was gift getting)we walked down my fave street Mamila to meet Shoshana and Sarah for lunch/dinner. Was so so yummy!! After spending some time with them Sarah came back to Tel Aviv with us and we walked home! Very relaxing day. Just getting ready for what’s to come tomorrow!!!
Speak then,
Dee xxx

So far. This is the shortest blog in history because I am too busy reflecting on the year I have had. So I will leave you with this. I am wonderful. Shayndle is wonderful. And we are doing new years the way that we love to. Stay safe everyone and make sure everything you want in life happens because life is too short to not do what we want. Bring on the new year!
Love and peace out hometown.
Dee xox

Early wake up this morning but after a better night that was all good. We were about to embark on the best adventure ever and didn’t even know it. I don’t think there was a way I could have pre pared myself for what the day had in store. My words in this blog won’t even do any justice to the amount of laughter and scenery that occurred today. After finishing packing up we were walked to the street by Naomi and pelly and said our goodbyes as Shayndle’s boss Yugal picked us up. This is the beginning of our epic adventure to the Arava. Yugal started to tell me some of Israel’s history as we passed through Jerusalem and through the mountains. I got very excited when I saw sheep. I’ve never seen sheep looking so Moses era like. Then I saw them. The CAMELS!!! Yay I found camels to ride! This has made me so so happy. Gentlemen take note. I like camel rides. Hahahah ok scratch that! We kept driving and I saw heap and heaps of palm trees. It was like nothing I had seen before. Then Yugal started to point out a river. It was the beginning of the Dead Sea. It was absolutely beautiful! Stupid me didn’t look up too much about the Dead Sea and thought it was like a small pond. Nope. MASSIVE! Was amazing. I can’t explain how beautiful the sights were. Then we had our first stop. Off to maccas. Yugals idea by the way. That’s when I noticed he had a limp. I asked him about it and long story short his leg is fake. We had a few story exchanges and a few giggles and continued on our adventure. As we kept going I saw a factory. Then mass piles of salt. I couldn’t believe that was all from the sea. Was unbelievable. And then I got super excited as we started driving alongside the Jordan river and Jordan was just across. That never happens in aus that you see another country from where you stand. I could very easily get use to that! The we reached the Arava! We were meeting two Australian kids doing programs in the Arava. We all went for ice cream and drove the boy back to his Moshav. I was so interested in the Moshav. No idea they even existed. Then with the girl Ellie we went to Mountain Park where is you reach the top of the hill you see the sculptures down below. So going up the trail was easy enough but none of us thought about how to get down after so I very graciously got on my bum and slid down on my butt. The rest could not do so so Ellie and Shayndle climbed down really slowly but this is where Yugal’s leg started the giggles. Yugal had a bit more trouble getting down so we made a few jokes but my laughter was uncontrollable. Then we drove Ellie back to her Moshav and started our adventure back home. Wow was this a fun and tiring adventure. Yugal decided to take us on a different route home. Dad read this carefully! We went on the old route connecting Tel Aviv to Eilat. The Scorpion trail. So I just learnt about the scorpion trail. Around 1952 I think there was a terrorist attack on an Israeli bus driving on that road. During the night the Arabs hid and attacked as the bus came around. 70 people died. They have kept the road exactly the same as it was back then. It was very weird riding the same trail. The Yugal decided to take us to the small crater. This was our first mistake. We finally found the trail but had to stop driving and went by foot. Thinking we could get there and back in time before sun set was a very very big mistake! Also Yugal and rocky roads do not go down well. I at the best of times can’t walk without tripping. Yugal ended us falling and came back up right with a massive swollen knuckle. It was horrible! But we all laughed cause we knew this was just the beginning of what was to come. After a 25 min walk up we had the tinniest bit of light left to just see the crater and we emidetly walked back. This is when Yugal decided to trell us he was blind in the dark. So we had an injured Yugal, a blind Yugal and now a lost Yugal. We were laughing so so much. Shaybdle was convinced we were gonna die out there since this has been here biggest fear since wolf creek. I just couldn’t stop laughing. On the up side on the way to the crater the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. Can not even explain. On the way home we needed petrol so with a quick petrol stop we rushed back so Yugals hand could be checked out. He dropped us off in Modi’in and we were off to Tel Aviv. The hotel we are in right now is beautiful! Think im gonna make Aliyah to this hotel. Anyway we got here. I immediately unpacked and we went next door to eat. By this time we had found out that Yugal had actually broken his knuckle and finger. But he couldn’t stress enough how much fun he had with us today. Now we are absolutely buggered!
So happy new year my 2 followers! May this year bring you the best you could hope for and ill type to you all next year!
Dee xxx

What a horrible night! Shayndle and I kept waking up in turns. Not fun! But I slept till 10:30 and by then Shayndle had just come back from Shul. That meant Kiddish time which meant food and alcohol! Yay! So after a big bowl of the “healthiest” food ever (coco pops) I tried this coffee shnups liquor stuff and the morning started to shape up. After breakfast/ cake Dalia, Yair, Shayndle and I decided to play a few games of Rumi Cubes. Was that fun or what!!! With 3 very competitive people and then Shayndle. Very funny to watch. Then we all decided to rest before Shabbes. Problem for me is there was no electricity and no phone battery left. So I did the only thing a nice Jewish girl like me can do. Went to the one working outlet in the toilet and sat there charging my phone while talking to mum. Good times. Then it was lunch! Now anyone who has stayed at Hotel Fidler will know what I’m talking about here. Naomi knows what she is doing in the kitchen! Her food is amazing!!! My words don’t do it justice. A big thanks you to Naomi and David for letting us stay at theirs and feeding us and being good Israel parents! After lunch we all went to bed and slept till Shabbes came out. We then made Havdala and I learnt something. I know me learning. Scary thought followers but I did. So apparently if you hold the Havdala light as high as you want your future husband to be that is how tall he will be. Well we can all hope. So of course Shayndle held the Havdala candle. She didn’t hold it very high if you ask me. Then we had about 2 hours before we were going out and I miss make up too much so I spent a good hour and a half just pampering myself. Was amazing and paid off in the end. Well I think it did anyway haha. We left for Jerusalem city with another scary bus driver and waited for Dalia and Yair to arrive. So the plan was to go to The Lions Den. But it was full. So we walked and went in and out of different bars and then this happened… I lost my cool and screamed. Wow! Shock horror. But because of that I stomped back to The Lions Den with Yair who I screamed at by the way (SORRY) and guess what. I got us a table. HA! Trust the pretty girl! Yes I just called myself pretty. Once inside I made my peace with yair who was fine cause he had food in his hands and a shisha in the middle of the table and we all had some drinks. If only it was always that easy in the middle east. Can’t we all just have some food and beer and shisha at The Lions Den and then there would be world peace no? The music there was amazing and because of all the Taglit programs going on there were a million Americans. So the girls chatted at the table while I got up with a few strangers and danced. Sorry mum. This is where I met Esther and Bonnie. Esther is the craziest frum girl I have ever met. She would go crazy on the dance floor and the guy would all come up to high five her and she would be like “cant, im shomer.” Hilarious. She lives in this holy city. Then there was bonnie, the American taglit program girl. She was a blast and will be in Tel Aviv new years too. Again sorry mum. After all the dancing stopped I sat with a few guys at the bar watching the College basketball game Vegas vs North Carolina. Of course I went for North Carolina (one tree hill peace out) but it was such a close game that we were all screaming at the tv. Fun times. And then who walks in. Mine and Shayndles new friend from yesterday. Very quick hello but he knew we were gonna be there so very nice of him to come say hey. After The Lions Den we took a stroll down Ben Yehuda to our bus stop. The street is crazy on a Saturday night. Once at the bus stop on of the best things happened. There was a puppy!!! The cutest puppy in the world. Now I tried to get them to call HIM Devorah but they didn’t go for it. But I did get lots of cuddles!! Again for the third time sorry mum. I don’t think I have rabies but wish me luck. Then we were off back to Hotel Fidler where we had to clean up and pack for our next adventure.
So for the first time this trip Good morning all!
Speak to you later tonight.
Dee xox

“Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday” – Rebecca Black. This is very true in Israel. We started the day off not feeling too good cause neither of us got a good nights sleep but with Shabbes there is only rest . so we got out of bed and went to the shuk! Holy mother the smell was amazing. The fresh challahs and baby rogalech!! On the way from the bus stop to the shuk we ran in to Noam and Rivka. I think they may be mine and Shayndle’s all time favourite couple. Really lovely people from Canada that are cousins with our cousins. Once in the shuk I HAD to buy pomegranates. They were so delicious! One of my favourite fruits now. Thanks Israel. From the shuk we decided to go to Ben Yehuda because what else is there to do in the city of Jerusalem? So of course we started by seeing Dalia in her shop and then I walked down to the t-shirt shop to buy a few things. This is where I met another new friend. He needed help finding the right necklace for him so being a good shopper I helped him! Then Shayndle came in and met my new friend and we all walked and talked till we had to go home. This is what I know. He is 1 of 14. Lives in Canada. Is almost going the opposite way to where Shanyns is headed and loves girls. So with that in mind we left and never looked back. Nah just kidding. We will probably end up seeing him again. Once we were home we got the table ready for Shabbes and Shayndle got all ready and went off to Shul while I slept. Then got up for dinner and am now busily typing to my 2 followers.
Good Shabbes everyone and laylatov.
Dee xx