Shalom!

A blog update on Israel doesn't do our rapid 6-day tour justice ... which is why writing has been a struggle. Here's the deal, it's a beautiful country, with enough history, religion, culture and politics to make your brain beg you for a break. For those of you thinking we were crazy for taking a holiday in the Middle East, yes, it wasn't the most relaxing trip, but aside from a 90-minute drive through the West Bank where Geno wouldn't let me stop for a bathroom break, and the gunshots during the Palestinians walk toward the Jewish Quarter to commemorate "the day of tragedy" (i.e., the end of the six day war) - we felt safe. Or perhaps that was a result of
Bush staying in the hotel across the street from us in Jerusalem with the entire Israeli army and US secret service protecting him. We had to crawl on our stomachs to our room, but when else can you say you slept next door to the President?

Rather than fill a whole page with info, we've done detailed captions on the photos, mainly for our benefit so that 10 years from now we remember what we saw. Here's a quick recap of the regions we hit to give you a flavor of our adventure:

1) Tel Aviv - Israeli capitol and thanks to my co-worker hooking us up, we stayed along the local strip, eating delicious fresh fruits and fresh hummus while enjoying the Mediterranean beaches and touring the old city of Jaffe.

2) Sea of Galilee - Along the way, we stopped in Nazareth, Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Jordan River and actually got to walk in Sea of Galilee, near the site where Jesus fed the thousands and walked on water.

3) Jerusalem - Brilliant decision by Geno to hire a local tour guide ... without him, we would've walked in circles. We started at Mount of Olives, continued down to Garden of Gethsemane, tunnel tour through City of David, Western / Wailing Wall, walked Via Dolorosa in the old city leading to Jesus' empty tomb. We also saw the Yad Vashem holocaust museum. An unforgettable day to say the least.

4) Masada / Dead Sea - Headed south where we hopped on a camel, then hiked up Masada and toured the city on a hill, followed by a dip in the waterfall at Ein Gedi. Finally, made the trip complete with a float in the Dead Sea.

Click here for pics!

VIDEO! Geno got a new toy ...a Flip camera ...it hold small videos, bit shaky, but you'll get the idea, click here.

New Digs and a Swiss Wedding

Thanks to our friend's hooking us up, we moved into a new apartment, and it's way cooler than we are. Pic of living room on left....with views of canal. Too much.

We then took in our first European wedding in Switzerland. Even better, my folks joined us for the celebration to see the bride, Annette (who lived with our family in CA as a foreign exchange student for a year) marry groom, Marc. Swiss weddings are 100% planned by the best man/maid of honor and have an onslaught of activities and games scattered throughout the day. Good thing because Swiss German is a language we've yet to perfect. It was a great weekend, and a beautiful wedding...we were honored to represent the good 'ol United States. Click here for pics.