ISRAEL

Advantages: Paradise
Disadvantages: whats that?

...I love this country. not only because i was born there but mainly because it is what the bible says it is : Paradise. for me being in london right now indoors (raining again) is like putting a lion in a box just a bit bigger then the lion and expect it to be happy. i am that lion and i miss lots of things in israel but i'll only share one trip i have done (a track) with some family members about two years ago (just before coming to london). well, i have been in the israeli army for 3 years and learned a lot from it and one of the things i took with me from being there is the love for survival skills, navigation, and the ability to be in the wierdest situations and come out alive. and so one of my biggest hobbys became nature trips (with not too much aquipment and lots of skills). this time we went to the south of israel, to the dead sea...

talconstruction 05.11.2008 (06.11.2008) · Read review
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Review of Israel: General

Outspan in Israel

Advantages: relaxing, friendly, clean, lots to do
Disadvantages: long flight, guns in view, airport politics

...We went to Eilat for our honeymoon in March 2006. I was 7 months pregnant at the time so knew I would be limited to do all activities, but this wouldn't stop my husband. I found booking the holiday hard as their are only a few operators that go to Israel, but it is getting easier to find them. I went through a travel agent to get some brouchers for pictures and ideas, and looked through the internet for more information. We eventually booked through a specialist Israel operator, and they were extreamely helpful. As we live in the East Midlands we had to travel to Luton to get a very early morning flight, as again, not that many airports fly to Israel yet. But it is getting more popular. The flight was fine, though the seats were typical airplane style... small, uncomfortable and cramped. The food was nice on the plane, but...

lynlewjustjay 18.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of Eilat (Israel)

Mini-Israel - A fun day out for all the family

Advantages: Easy to get to with a car, wheelchair & buggy accessible
Disadvantages: Gets very busy on festivals and holidays

...Mini Israel is a display of hundreds of scaled down models of buildings throughout Israel. It is easy to walk around the site, even pushing wheelchairs/buggies. The main drawback for tourists, is that if children do not recognise the buildings they are viewing, they get bored quickly. However, when we were there there was also a bouncy castle and various other activities for children which were fun. During the intermediate days of festivals/holidays it gets very busy, and in hot weather it is stifling and difficult to get round the exhibits. It is best to go early in the morning or late at night during these times. It is all open air, although there are some picnic benches with small roofs. Restaurants serve food and going into the restaurants and shops is the only way to spend time inside. In July and August it is open until 10pm...

tyardley 28.06.2006 · Read review
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Review of Mini Israel

The Ultimate Guide to Israel by Deiz

Advantages: Diverse and fascinating
Disadvantages: Can be dangerous and very hot in the Summer

...Before my incredible sojourn around Vancouver and Western Canada (see previous opinion), I cut my travelling teeth with a gap year in Israel in 1997. I really knew very little about the country before I left, but in many ways this was a good thing, as I went with no preconceptions or prejudices. I arrived in Tel-Aviv with my backpack, a handful of American Dollars, passport, credit card, toothbrush and very little else. After settling in a cheap hotel I embarked on a mission to discover the local nightlife and returned to my accommodation long after daybreak. However, after three days of partying in Tel-Aviv I decided to venture east to Jerusalem. The Arab centre of Jerusalem is a crazy mix of ethnic lifestyles, religious sanctity and modern commercialism. The sights and sounds are fantastic, but the attitude of the street bazaar...

Deiz 08.01.2001 (12.01.2001) · Read review
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Review of Gap Year in Israel & Palest. auton. territories

Guns, Sea, Sand and Shabbat

Advantages: History, beauty, climate
Disadvantages: Fear, political situation, prices

...I spent two weeks in Israel over Christmas and New Year 2004/05. I lost count of the times people thanked me for going there at a time when so many are afraid. There really isn't any need to be afraid. The last suicide bomb attack in Israeli territory was in September, and nearly all cases of violence break out in isolated areas which are easy to avoid as a traveller. A trip to Israel can take in Egypt and Jordan as day trips, although with an Israeli stamp in your passport you will be barred entry from most other Arabic countries. Apparently you can ask immigration officials to not stamp your passport, but I arrived bleary eyed and hungover at 5am and the stamp was dry before I registered that anything had happened. You will more than likely be flying El Al from the UK to Israel. Get to the airport early, be prepared to...

MissDirect 27.01.2005 (30.10.2007) · Read review
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Review of Israel: General

Sex In Israel

Advantages: The cause of all the 70's and 80's sex comedies
Disadvantages: Really dated now, but still worth a watch

...As the 70's paved their way for the 1980's something new emerged on the horizon, the graphic sex comedy. While movies like Animal House, and Porky's were the most notably known for this style of humour, their path was laid for them by a most unexpected source a small Israeli movie called Lemon Popsicle. Also known as Eskimo Limon, or Going All The Way the Lemon Popsicle movies were so popular and successful that they made nine, yes nine sequels; and even went as far to being re-made as an American movie though this bombed under pressure to be like the original movies. I guess I could be stereotypically classifying the people of Israel, but when I think about the country I think about three things, religion, war and the Jewish community. In the Lemon Popsicle movies only one of the three things is ever really present. When I first saw...

sghawken 03.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Lemon Popsicle DVD

Holy Hols

Advantages: a travel destination like no other
Disadvantages: We didn't find any that gravely disturbed us.

...drifted through the maze of twisty alleyways, there are no visible boundaries between the four quarters, until we came to an airport-like checkpoint, we had reached the entrance to the Western Wall, aka Wailing Wall. What we see nowadays is the section of the Western supporting wall of the Temple Mount which has remained intact since the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple by the Romans (70 BC). The place in front of the wall serves as a synagogue, it has been accessible for Jews only after Israel captured the Old City in 1967, at times tens of thousands of people gather there for prayer, men and women prey separately, a fence divides them. When we were there it was just an ordinary day with not too many people. We sat there for a long time taking in the atmosphere, watching orthodox Jews with curls in long black robes and black hats...

MALU 21.06.2007 · Read review
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Review of Jerusalem (Israel)

Epic Film on the Birth of Israel

Advantages: Historical drama of the first order
Disadvantages: At 3 hr, 28 min, perhaps a tad too long

...Exodus is Otto Preminger's epic movie based on Leon Uris's novel depicting the birth of the modern State of Israel. Released in 1960, while memories of the political and historical struggles surrounding this event were still fresh, Exodus has come to define the drama of Israel's War for Independence for generations of moviegoers. I'm not certain how often I've watched this film, but surely I've seen it at least 20 times during the past four-and-a-half decades. Though I was only 10 when Exodus was initially released, I still recall the excitement it created--even if I failed to understand its importance. I remember being mesmerized by Ernest Gold's musical score, particularly by the theme song itself. Forty-five years later, it still catches the imagination and moves the spirit: "This land is mine, God gave this land to me...

BawBaw 26.03.2005 · Read review
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Review of Exodus (DVD)

Don't drink the water!

Advantages: Amazing views, great fun in the mud and "sea"
Disadvantages: Quite expensive beaches at 30-60shekels

...The Dead Sea is one of those places like the Eiffel Tower, Mount Everest, Rome and New York that most people want to visit at some time or another, unlike Rome and New York, perhaps less people do so but it's certainly well worth it. Located in the West Bank (Israel), the top of the lake is just a few kilometres from the Palestinian territory of Jericho. Apart from the forever shrinking lake which is an amazing 419 meteres below sea level and continuing to drop, the surrounding area is something that surprised me. I supposed that I hadn't expected anything in particular but the deserty Sinai like landscape that surrounds it is amazingly lunar. From the Israeli/Palestinian side, you have the arid hills behind you which make Jerusalem and the Judean Mountains seem like a far away land and looking opposite across the water you have...

dangaroo 14.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Dead Sea (Israel)

Haifa: the Beautiful!

Advantages: Bahai, Carmelite, Cable-Car and more
Disadvantages: Not terribly touristy (which could be an advantage), not all that much to see

...Haifa isn't the best known city in Israel, but it is the third largest city and despite my love for Jerusalem, if I had to choose another place to live, then Haifa would be it. Besides it being built around Mount Carmel, it also touts one of the most beautiful sites that Israel has to offer - the Bahai Temple and Gardens. But there's more to Haifa than just that - unfortunately, not a whole lot, but still... let me see if I can pique your interest. From the bottom upwards: Haifa is built on a mountain on the sea, and the mountain is located on a small a peninsula near the north of the country. Being surrounded by water, it became a port city, and therefore it has a large shipping industrial area - including a large high-tech park on the western and northern sides. On the eastern side of the peninsula, there is a small bay which...

TheChocolateLady 04.05.2006 · Read review
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Review of Haifa, Israel (HFA)