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Exploring Hebron Israel
Sometimes it is great travelling (on business) to another country that operates in another time zone and a different work week schedule to take a little time off and explore some new sites, sounds, food and experiences!
This week, I had an opportunity to connect with a number of Cybersecurity leaders on a visit to Tel Aviv, Israel. Got to hang out with our old neighbor in Caesarea, and I must admit I am still struggling seeing him with a brown tie…has anyone ever seen him with a brown tie before?
It was a little chilly this morning when we drove south towards Jerusalem. So it was a good excuse to get a cappuccino and warm up in the morning sun rays across the historical landscape of this famous capital…it is great when you start early and do not have to fuss with waves of tourists clogging up the roads.
Now, I wanted to do something different and visit a place that has history that I have never had the opportunity to explore before. But, like everything in life, no risk, no rewards! Some places have some challenges when you want to get in…
Took an opportunity to explore Hebron which is south of Jerusalem and full of history over the past 2000 years. As you may guess, it is a mixed Arab-Israeli city.
If interested, here was an IDF posting on Twitter the day I visited:
There numerous checkpoints, barriers, gates to entry and even all the local buses have bullet proof glass to prevent problems/injuries to riders that may get caught in conflicts.
Now, it was a little challenging to get around since there was a 5K/10K race throughout the city…it was so tempting to join and not wait around for the roads to be opened up!
Now, the most interesting/important landmark/site is the Cave and Temple of the Patriarchs which we got access to.
The temple was full of soldiers to protect visitors. We had an interesting conversation from a French immigrant to Israel which shared her experiences and stories after being assigned duty in Hebron as part of a paratrooper brigade.
It was a fun visit and met some great people that made it a rewarding. Afterwards, we were starved so we visited the BEST falafel place I have ever ate at before. WOW! OK, filled up and now on to the next site as we headed back north and out of the West Bank…
Since I am a military history buff, I wanted to go visit the Tank Museum, but since it was Friday, it was closed and not open for tours. 😦
You can see some of the Israeli tanks in the distance, but not up close.
All I got to see was an old British tank that was in the parking lot.
OK – so I needed to find something else to satisfy my military history craving…so I went to see the recently opened Ayalon Institute Museum which is found at Kibbutz Hill. Now, what is interesting is the fact this is a hidden underground site from the 1940s.
It was built during Israel’s war of independence as a secret bullet factory which was prohibited when under British rule.
Everything was underground – even a bullet/gun testing range.
Now here is the real secret that most people do not know…it was the secret meeting location for 4 years in the 1950s for the Israeli Atomic Energy Committee that planned their strategy and operations for nuclear power and weapon development that would be implemented in later years in Dimona…
As the afternoon started to close, did a little 4-wheel driving around the Neve Shalom to check out some of the historical battlefield sites, etc. in that area.
and made it back to Jaffa just in time to pick up a couple of bottles of wine to bring home before everything shut down for Shabbat for the week. Good way to end the week!
You can also check out my other entries from Israel:
Posted in International, Travel
Tagged Ayalon Institute, blog, Hebron, IDF, Israel, Jaffa, Museum, Patriarchs, Soldiers, Temple, Travel
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Running Las Vegas – Head for the Mountains!
Yes, you need to head to the mountings because of all the zombies swarming the city…
But, unless you get up REALLY early, running along the strip is hard because of all the traffics and lights.
So we found a great starting location at Acaica Park which is a 20 minute drive outside of Vegas.
And a perfect starting spot to hop on the old (paved) Union Pacific train route.
Surprisingly, not many runners here in Vegas. Only a few bikers on the perfect wide trails.
There was no snow here, but it was clearly a festive holiday season here in Vegas.
If you want snow, you have to climb to the top of the mountains, and that would be a 100-miler I think and not the half marathon we ran! Could not ask for better weather or running spot this morning to end the year on a high note!
Here is another running route I did in Las Vegas and here are many others around the world:
- Zambia
- Cuba
- Antarctica
- Greenland
- Oslo
- Vienna
- London
- Suzhou China
- Grenada
- Singapore
- Zurich
- Budapest
- Karkow
- Warsaw
- Dominican Republic
- St. Lucia
- Seville
- Madrid
- Casearea, Israel
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Hakone, Japan
- Dublin
- Haiti
A Day off in Zurich
After a day of hiking, I decided to be traditional and explore a little more of Zurich even though I had visited here a few years ago…
I decided to go check out the discount shopping district that was not far from my hotel. Lots of window shopping here to say the least…
of course, since it is December, there are the Christmas markets everywhere.
Lake Zurich is pretty, but not that enticing to hang out nearby for too long given the cool sub freezing breezes.
But if you like it that much, you can listen to the locals attempt to play Christmas tunes on the traditional long horns.
Being my traditional self, I went to check out the National Museum. It was not a huge museum that had some interesting historical artifacts.
This was the Swiss flag from their embassy in Berlin that was taken down when the Russians took over the city.
They also had the peace/trade agreement with Adolf Hitler in display that was signed before the beginning of WWII. They had many exhibit items about Switzerland’s neutrality and supplier to both sides in WWII.
And here is one thing I did not know, Albert Einstein studied here in Zurich for 4 years. Never knew that…glad I visited the museum.
Hiking in Switzerland
I had a free afternoon to explore and walk around Zurich which I captured in this blog posting.
What else do you do when you have a full free weekend day when you need to spend extra time in order to catch an affordable flight for a business trip to Zurich, Switzerland?
Go hiking!
There are many great sites to visit, many great places to eat and lots of shopping. It is easy to get around by train, unless they do not have an operating system of course…
You can of course take a train out into the countryside to do some hiking if you like.
Some amazing scenery…and when you get up high, you can start to find the snow.
It was almost tempting to try some of the icicles that were formed from the mountain springs in the sub-freezing weather temps…
Overall, the number of trails an options for hiking in Switzerland are quite amazing, Highly recommended.
I also went for a run in Zurich as well which I captured in this blog posting.
Posted in Hiking, International, Travel
Tagged blog, Hiking, Switzerland, Travel, Zurich
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Running in Zurich in Winter
This week, I was on a business trip, so in order to enjoy all the local food while eating out, I needed to make sure to sneak in some running.
Despite the very cold weather in December, there are great running and biking trails to follow.
You will certainly encounter some interesting…sites and homes along the way.
Even some entrances to former cold war bunkers.
You can get some great distance on these trails with no lights or traffic to contend with. Just remember to bring your hat and gloves!
Running around the world is always fun. Some of my other favorite spots:
Posted in International, Running, Travel
Tagged blog, River, Running, Switzerland, trail, Travel, winter, Zurich
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Journey to Center of the Earth – Iceland
Iceland may be an island, but there are so many different things to see and do. You almost need a minimum of a week to see everything.
We continued our journey around the northern part of Iceland, and what did we run into?
The I-Pod of Orca whales that like to follow the humans for gourmet food and wine. We used to see the Pacific Northwest north of Seattle was the only place to see Orca whales!
Hiking along the mountains
Our target destination was Grundarfjordur, Iceland where we wanted to explore the Snaefellsjokull glacier area.
It is full of waterfalls that pour down the mountain. So easy to access and find. Easy drives in the summer will make so many gorgeous hikes waiting for you to explore.
Our real goal was to do a little spelunking. We went to the Vatnshellir Cave in Snæfellsnes.
There are collapsed lava tubes all over Iceland. We went down about 35 meters and started checking out the lava tube that if we had more time, we could have reached the center of the earth and seen all the wonders documented by Jules Verne.
But warning…the lava tubes are VERY cold, VERY wet and FULL of sharp lava…so don’t slip or you will be sorry!
In case you missed it, here was the blog posting from the day we spent in Huvasik. Here are some of the other places we have seen in the Iceland on other days:
Posted in Arctic, Cruise, International, Running
Tagged blog, cave, Cruise, Glacier, Hiking, Iceland, International, spelunking, Travel, Vatnshellir
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Husavik Iceland
There is actually sunset in Iceland…and it actually gets dark around midnight.
What did we get to see coming into the harbor tonight around 11 PM? Some humpback whales decided they wanted to go with us to the night club in the local town a few miles away.
We landed (docked) in the northern part of Iceland that is just below the Arctic Circle. We then went touring around the northern part of the island. 95% of all houses in Iceland are heated with geothermal hot water and greenhouses are also filled with warm steam to grow plants not possible to grow in Iceland normally.
We first visited the Dettifuss waterfall.
It was amazing and a very fun place to go hiking. It is in the middle of nowhere (or to be precise, in the middle of miles and miles of lava fields.). One of the best we have seen in the world.
We then went to check out the mud pools that were in the nearby mountains. The sulfur smell was everywhere, but it was quite an experience to walk right up to these active vents and pools and take pictures. I am surprise more people do not get injured.
To top off the morning before going for some local (char) fish lunch, we did a quick walk through Dimmuborgir park that is very close to the giant volcano crater that was created in modern times in just 2 days (in the distance).
To conclude the day, we took a quick walk through the Whaling History Museum in Husavik. The museum is still evolving, but it has a very nice collection of historical objects and bones of almost every whale that lives in the Arctic Circle. Quite impressive. The blue whale is so big, it cannot fit in just one picture.
Posted in International, Travel
Tagged Arctic, blog, Cruise, Dettifuss waterfall, Dimmuborgir park, Husavik, Iceland, International, lava, Museum, Travel, whales
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Grimsey Island (North Of Iceland)
We did not want to get locked in the fjords of Greenland with ice bergs, so we headed south towards Iceland so we could do some exploring on the northern part of that island (country) that we had not been able to do in the past.
Along the way we ran into some friends and found out we were not the only ones visiting from the Northwest of the United States. A small pod of Orca whales said hi and swam along with the ship as we headed to the island for some sightseeing. Grimsey Island is a great place to visit.
What is the best way to see all the highlights of the island in the shortest period of time? Run across the island end to end along the coast using the hiking trails!
Running around the world is always fun. Some of my other favorite spots:
- Zambia
- Cuba
- Antarctica
- Greenland
- Oslo
- Vienna
- London
- Suzhou China
- Grenada
- Singapore
- Zurich
- Budapest
- Karkow
- Warsaw
- Dominican Republic
- St. Lucia
- Seville
- Madrid
- Casearea, Israel
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Hakone, Japan
- Dublin
On the south side, the lighthouse is quite unique (and important to sailors), but the sky is filled with thousands of the local birds who love to dive bomb you when you get close to their nests.
But the best part of the south side is all the Puffin nests. Can you see what is in this one’s mouth? It is multiple sand eels in just one dive.
On the north side, you can hang out with the wild goats.
Or avoid falling off the cliff to observe all the gulls nesting on the steep cliffs next to the Denmark Sea.
The coolest thing about running across this island is the fact you cross the Arctic Circle on the running trail! Check that one off the list!
And in closing…what the heck is this giant ball laying next to the trail. Solid steel and concrete ball. No clue. Let us know if you know what it is.
If interested in Iceland, check out some my other postings:
Last Day in the Greenland Fjords
Today, we went deep into the F0hnfjord to explore the Rhode Island and the numerous (huge) icebergs populated the narrow fjord.
We went ashore the explore the (very Red) Rhode Island. Hence its name. Almost hike. Much to see despite being an island in Greenland. Eggs everywhere…but somebody other than us made an omelet.
Very small hidden blueberries. Who ever thought you could go out and pick wild blueberries in Greenland?
But when you get to the top..the views were amazing. As you can see, many people go on sabbatical to escape society and sail up here to enjoy the isolation and quiet in the north.
I wish we had better connectivity to post more pictures and videos, but this one iceberg acted like an amoeba and gave birth to multiple small calves of ice where we were looking down.
I tried to capture it a little with my GoPro.
We then hopped into a Zodiac to go explore some of the icebergs and free ice throughout the fjord. It felt like we were back in Antarctica…except we were on the mirror location in the northern hemisphere. In case you missed it, here are some of the other days we spent in Greenland:
Posted in Arctic, Cruise, International, Travel
Tagged blog, calving, Cruise, F0hnfjord, Fjords, Greenland, Icebergs, International, Rhode Island, Travel, Video
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David Cross Travel Blog 