A Wonderful Week Exploring

So I stayed away from here for a little longer than expected but have some great photos from my Passover travels to compensate for my lack of blogging! The Passover holiday ended last night, yet we have had a wonderful week exploring, visiting friends and generally having fun.
Our week started in a field near Rechovot, next to Kibbutz Shiller. We were there, under the supervision of Leket Israel, Israel's National Food Bank, to pick fruit and vegetables for the needy. We started with potatoes and soon moved into the orchards to pick juicy clementines from the trees. I admit to tasting one or two, and it was a terrific way for the kids to use up their excess energy and learn a little about charitable work at the same time. We look forward to doing it again someday.

The next day we travelled north to the picturesque town of Zikhron Ya'akov. There was a music festival going on and it was awfully crowded, but we enjoyed strolling down the main street, called Derekh HaYayin ("Path of the Wine"), listening to the various musicians and in my case, enjoying the boutique shops selling locally-made crafts. Afterwards we visited the formal gardens of Ramat Hanadiv, the final resting place of Baron Edmond de Rothschild and his wife Adelaide, the philanthropists who enabled the first Jewish communities of the Zionist Movement to survive and flourish. The gardens, established in 1954, boast manicured lawns, beautiful trees and flowers that were in full bloom and are surrounded by a forest-park of over 1,000 acres where the Rothschild Foundation supports research on flora, fauna and archaeology. We were pleased to have seen the park in all its glory, but with two active boys, I think that in future we will stick to parks which allow you to roll on the grass and kick a football!

The photos above give you a little taste of the some of the flowers and plants we saw there, as well as some terrific hand-pressed mulberry paper seen at the Tut Neyar Paper Mill in Zikhron.

Our next day out, aside from our first trip of the year to the beach, was to Apollonia National Park, just a 15 minute drive from Tel Aviv and less than five minutes from Herzeliya Pituach, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. People settled in this area 2,500 years ago, and in 1191 the Crusaders triumphant win at the spot established their reign in the Holy Land for another 100 years. The cliff-top park contains the remains of the Crusader city, with a well preserved moat and fortress. The boys enjoyed the fortress, yet for me the best thing about Apollonia was the spectacular view of the coast from its hovering cliffs. Looking down into the aqua coloured sea where a small natural harbour is still visible, I could have stayed for hours but the promise of a Kosher for Passover ice cream was pulling the kids away.

Today we are home, finishing off homework before school tomorrow and packing away the Passover pots and pans. We all feel refreshed after the break and I am ready to begin crafting again at my very tidy desk. I wonder how long it will stay that way?