Italy & Israel (2005)

Prolog

The trip to Italy started to become reality last year (2004).

As we were sailing aboard a luxury cruise ship, somewhere between Argentina and Chile the question popped up: “So, what are we going to do on our next vacation?” Tova shared her dream to visit Venice, Italy and so the answer to the question was a “no-brainer”: “Italy!”

As we arrived back from our South America trip, I started to research about the details. In February we already had a plan plus airline tickets only that we decided to extend our trip to visit Israel as well so we could be with Gary, Sharone, Ya’ara and Emly during the High Holidays and celebrate Rosh Ha-Shana with our beloved family.

My cousin, Ishai, had promised me that if we would show up for the High Holidays we will then celebrate Rosh Ha-Shana at his home and that he will arrange for a “Dromi” family reunion as well.

Around February I happened to watch a movie called: “The Assisi Underground”. This film sheds light on the role of the Catholic Church and the people of Assisi in rescuing 210 Italian Jews from the Nazis in 1943. The main character of the movie was Padre Don Brunacci. The movie was filmed on location and as I made our plans to visit Italy, I made a note that we should enter the city of Assisi.

Gary, Sharone, Ya’ara and Emly left for Israel on July 26th, 2005 and the date of our trip to Italy plus Israel was set to September 10th. We would spend 19 days in Italy and 8 days in Israel.

Around August 15th, Sharone and I were chatting, on Yahoo Messenger, when Sharone had an announcement as she and Gary had planned to visit Greece at the same time me and Tova will be in Italy. I instantly had an idea: I asked Sharone to join us in Italy, instead of Greece, for the duration of the trip (19 days). A few days later Sharone confirmed that they will join us in Italy. We decided to keep it as a secret. We wanted it to be a surprise for Tova. Gary & Sharone made reservations so they could land an hour before us in Rome and I had to make some changes regarding hotels accommodation, car rental (we now needed a bigger car!) and we were all set.

It was the biggest secret to keep as we decided that in order to secure the surprise we would not tell anyone (including Emly) until a week before the trip.

We kept imagining the minute when Tova will embrace our kids and Ya’ara at Rome airport…

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Day 1: September 10th, 2005

We woke up at 4:00 am as our flight was scheduled to leave at 7:00 am. My cousin Yoav took us to LAX airport.

As we approached the ticket counter in the airport, we noticed that the clerk was asking us too many questions. She wanted to know where our accent was from and how long we had been living in the USA, etc. When the ticket was issued we saw 3 letters on the bottom right corner: “SSS”. We learned later on that Tova & I were considered to be “Security Risks”. We were stripped and body-searched plus they emptied our carry-ons and inspected each item. It was kind of embarrassing but in a way I was glad that we have this kind of security in the airports.

The flight to Atlanta, GA was pleasant and we spent most of the time sleeping.

As we left the airplane, in Atlanta airport, we heard the loudspeaker announcing: “Mr. Oren! Please visit the Customers Service Counter”. I immediately suspected that it had something to do with our security status. However, the nice lady at the counter read from a piece of paper: “Your son called to let you know that he will be 2 hours late”. Gary called to let me know that they will arrive in Italy two hours later than scheduled. Tova looked at me and asked: “What’s the meaning of this? Are you trying to surprise me?” then she exclaimed: “I know! Odie is supposed to be coming to Atlanta to see us. right?”

I had to make a quick decision. I could keep hiding the surprise and answer with a “Yes” or maybe it was time to tell the truth. I answered: “Let’s sit down. I must tell you something.” And as we sat down on nearby chairs, Tova was trembling (big time) as I told her the whole truth. She began to cry out of excitement and after a few minutes of sobbing asked to call Israel to talk with Sharone & Gary. And we did.

In a few hours we will hug Gary, Sharone and (yes!) Ya’ara.

We had a couple of more hours to hang around the airport. We bought lunch and joined a table with a couple of GI’s, on their way to Iraq.

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Day 2: September 11th, 2005

We landed as scheduled in Rome International Airport (8:00 AM) and “killed” the next couple of hours sipping some cappuccino at the airport. Finally, the plane from Israel with our kids had landed and the crowd in the arrival lounge witnessed an exciting moment as we all finally embraced with tears mixed with laughter. Ya’ara looked at us, not understanding what the fuss was all about. She surprised me & Tova when she actually called us “Saba” and “Tavta”.

We rented a nice car (Ford C-Max), which fit all of us pretty comfortably and also had enough room for our luggage.

Our first mission was to find the apartment building where we will spend the next three nights.

Using the directions I had received earlier, plus stopping and asking for directions and with using our hands (as none of us speaks Italian) we were able to find the apartment building. The landlord’s daughter was waiting for us and we entered into this cute and cozy 2 bedroom apartment with a kitchen and dining area, located in the heart of Rome. Our first task was to find a parking spot. As it was Sunday afternoon all the Parking Lots were closed and I decided to take a chance and park the car in the street until the next morning.

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We stopped at a neighborhood restaurant to taste a delicious pizza and some pasta dishes. We learned that the Italians have some kind of “service charge” for the table cloth and napkins. They also include the tip in the check.

An hour later we all headed toward Vatican City, about a 10 minute walk from our flat.

The State of Vatican is the smallest independent state of Europe, located in the heart of Rome, with a population of fewer than 1,000. The Vatican City includes the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, Vatican Gardens, St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's Square and is located on the west side of River Tevere (Tiber). A wall seperates The Vatican from the rest of the city.

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Our first stop was the magnificent square. St Peter's Square was built by Bernini. The oval square is surrounded by a Doric colonnade and has been designed so that a huge number of people can see the pope give his blessing. We toured the square, taking many pictures and then stood in line to get into the Basilica but were turned away as we were not dressed properly.

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We decided to continue our tour of the other attractions in the city, and return tomorrow with proper clothing.

Our next stop was Piazza Navona, a large pretty oval piazza (used to be a circus), lined with beautiful buildings including a church and lots of cafes, perfect for people watching. We saw there 3 fountains, many artists & street entertainers and plenty of tourists. We stopped at each one of the beautiful fountains, Fountain of Neptune, which displays Neptune slaying a giant octopus, Fontana Dei Fiumi (Fountain of 4 rivers), and Fontana Del Moro, which displays four Tritons (sea gods) blowing shells from which jets of water exit with a central figure in the fountain showing a muscular Triton riding a dolphin. This figure was called "The Moor" (Moro) due to its facial features.

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We headed to the Pantheon, passing narrow and beautiful streets. As we arrived we sat for awhile on the steps, licking a fabulous ice cream, in front of this magnificent building for a few minutes. Once we were done we walked up to the door only to find out that it closed at 6:00, and now it was 6:03. We were sitting the whole time right in front of it and now it was too late to go in.

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We decided to head to Castle Saint Angelo or Hadrian's Mausoleum, which dates back to AD 123. It became a fortress and prison in the”Middle Ages” and then a papal residence in the 16th century. Since then it has remained under the control of the popes and there is a long passageway linking it to St Peters.

We headed to the Spanish Steps. The piazza, church, and famous Scalinata Spagna (Spanish Steps) have long provided a gathering place for foreigners. In the 18th century the most beautiful women and men of Italy gathered here, waiting to be chosen as an artist's model.

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We sat on the steps for awhile and headed to Piazza Colonna. The name of this piazza comes from Marcus Aurelius's column (still standing) where it was erected in ancient Rome. In Imperial times, there used to be a temple dedicated to the Emperor on part of what is now the piazza.

We ended our day with a visit to Fontana Di Trevi. The fountain was built by the architect Salvi and decorated by several artists of Bernini's school. It is the front of a large palace (Palazzo Poli) decorated with statues and bas-reliefs on heaps of rocks. The fountain is not only celebrated for its excellent water but for the legend that whoever drinks it or throws a coin in the fountain, will assure his return to Rome. We tossed some coins and headed back to Vatican City.

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On our way we stopped at the legendary Buffeta Pizzeria on Governo Vecchio Street. We waited 45 minutes in line just to get in but it was all worth it as we tasted the best pizza ever!!

On our way back to the apartment we saw another line of people, just outside of Vatican City, waiting to buy ice cream at Gelateria Frullati (Old Bridge). We were too exhausted to wait in line but promised ourselves to try it tomorrow.

We arrived to our rooms at 10:00 PM and retired for the day.

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Day 3: September 12th, 2005

We woke up at around 7:00 after a good night of sleep. Gary and I went to get parking tickets for our car and on our way stopped at a Cappuccino Bar. Here is where we learned that there are two prices when you order coffee: one is when you sit down and the other standing up. The latter is about half the price. We witnessed many Italian coming in, ordering their favorite coffee and in a matter of a couple of minutes they were back in the streets. Coffee in Italy is not an event as we have it here in the US but a way of life! The prices are also something else: it costs 90 cents for a cup of a delicious Cappuccino (versus $4.00 in the US). We had ours standing up and in a matter of minutes we were back in the street looking for parking tickets.

In Rome, you could park in the street for the whole day. All you need is to pay upfront, in one of their automated ticket machines, and you are all set.

Our next stop of the “morning routine” was the open market (right next to where we stayed). We bought bread, sweet rolls, cheese, vegetables, fruits, yogurt, olives and juices. We returned “home” and prepared breakfast for everyone. Let me tell you: it was one of the best breakfasts one can ask for in a foreign country!

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On our way out we stopped in (yet) another coffee shop to get some delicious espresso into our bodies.

We started our tour at St. Peter's Basilica. The Basilica with its ribbed dome stands impressively in the square, which seems to welcome all the pilgrims of the world in the embrace of the Mother Church. It was designed by the most famous architects and geniuses of the Renaissance and Baroque times.

Numerous graves of popes and emperors are here. A couple of graves to mention are those of St. Peter and of course the grave of Pope John Paul II where we watched many nuns and priests kneeling down with prayers.

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We headed to the Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani) with the many galleries and libraries. It is known everywhere because of the masterpieces, which the Roman Pontiffs have commissioned, collected and preserved during the ages.

The itineraries of the Vatican Museums include the most important and artistically significant rooms of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, such as the “Cappella Niccolina” with paintings by Beato Angelico, the “Appartamento Borgia” with decorations by Pinturicchio, the “Stanze” painted by Raphael and the Sistine Chapel with frescoes by Michelangelo as well as the most important 15th century masters from Umbria and Tuscany.

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The highlight of the tour was, of course, the Sistine Chapel, which is a small chapel in the Vatican and was originally the Palatine chapel within the old Vatican fortress. The first Mass in the Sistine Chapel was celebrated in 1483.

The Sistine Chapel has the exact same dimensions of Solomon’s Temple as described in the Old Testament and has important functions in the Vatican. When a pope dies, his body is placed at the altar beneath the fresco of The Last Judgment in the belief that his soul is being judged. The College of Cardinals holds its meetings here, when voting for a new pope. After each vote the papers are burned. If there is no decision, the papers are mixed with something to produce black smoke. If a pope is elected, white smoke is produced.

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What impressed me the most was the ceiling, even though the walls were impressive as well.

In 1508, Pope Julius II asked Michelangelo Buonarroti to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo didn’t want the job because he considered himself a sculptor, not a painter, and was already involved with sculpting grandiose funeral monument for Julius II to be placed in St. Peter’s. Michelangelo couldn’t refuse, however, and began work on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in May, 1508; he finished in October, 1512.

The focus of the ceiling is nine stories from Genesis, starting at the back above the altar: The Last Judgment: Separation of Light from Darkness, Creation of the Stars, Separation of the Land from Waters, Creation of Adam, Creation of Eve, Fall of Man, Noah’s Sacrifice, The Flood, and the Drunkenness of Noah.

On the sides of the principle scenes of the Sistine Chapel ceiling are Seers (prophets and Sibyls) who foretold the coming of a redeemer. In the spandrels and lunettes are groups of Jesus’ followers. In the corner spandrels are four biblical heroes: David, Judith, Esther, and Moses. In all Michelangelo painted more than 300 different figures on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

At the end of a four hour tour, we found ourselves in the Courtyard of the Pigna, designed by Bramante in the 16th century.

Later on, as we sat down for lunch, I realized what we had accomplished today thus far: We visited one of the most important religious site in the whole wide world!

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The Pantheon was next on our agenda.

The Pantheon is one of the great spiritual buildings of the world. It was built as a Roman temple and later consecrated as a Catholic Church. Through great bronze doors, we entered one great circular room. The interior volume is a cylinder above which raises the hemispherical dome (We kept asking ourselves: “How did they do it?”). The only natural light enters through an unglazed oculus at the center of the dome and through the bronze doors to the portico. As the sun moves, striking patterns of light illuminate the walls and floors, highlighting the granite and yellow marbles. We stood at the center of the structure and looked astonishingly at our surrounding. It was an unbelievable site.

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We continued our day and crossed the bridge over Tiber River heading toward The Trastevere Area known to be the old Jewish neighborhood of Rome. Trastevere, which translates to "across the Tiber River", was once considered the outskirts of Rome.

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We sat in a park (Plaza Santa Maria) where an old gentleman was feeding the pigeons. He offered Ya’ara some corn seeds and she had a blast looking at the birds eating the food she had provided them. The old gentleman kept complimenting my granddaughter with “Bella, Bella” (Pretty, pretty).

We continued to tour the neighborhood, which has the look and feel of a traditional small Italian town, with people shopping, chatting, drinking espresso and going about their daily business. We looked at the cheering English-speaking students at the Johns Hopkins University and stopped at an internet café.

We started heading back toward our apartment, walking alongside the Tiber River and ended up at the Vatican City. Along the way we played hide-n-seek with Ya’ara who had so much fun finding us hiding behind the wide trees of the boulevard.

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We ate at a restaurant, (where they had the nerve to charge us extra for the Oil and Vinegar) and went to sleep rather early.

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Day 4: September 13th, 2005

We woke up and had the same morning routine as yesterday: Gary & I had our cappuccino (standing up), got parking tickets, and shopped at the market. We then had another delicious breakfast and headed toward St. Peter Square area to catch the “Red Double Deck Bus”. Riding the bus was so much fun. On our way we passed through busy streets and had a glimpse at the Court House. We decided to disembark at the main train station and walk the remaining distance to the Coliseum.

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We passed Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the greatest of the Early Christian basilicas of Rome and learned that this is the largest and most important of the city's 80 churches dedicated to the Virgin.

Gary led us, via a city map, through a nice park and we ended up on a street overlooking the magnificent Coliseum.

As we arrived to the site, we were approached by “so called” tour guides who offered their services. Here is the deal: If we would have paid them 20 Euros per person, then we wouldn’t have to stand in line to go in. We decided to research and find out how long (in minutes) was the line. Gary & I walked around the coliseum and ended up where the line approaches the cash registers. We then asked some (English speaking) tourists for the amount of time they had to wait in line and the answer was the one we expected: “about 15-20 minutes”. We rushed back to the girls and waited in line. About 20 minutes later we were inside the coliseum after paying about 5 Euros each. We purchased a “Narrator Phone” for 10 more Euros and let Gary listen to the phone and telling us the highlights. He did a great job!

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Lord Byron once said: “While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand; when falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; And when Rome falls -- the world.”

The Coliseum was built during the reign of Emperor Vespasiano (about 2000 years ago) and dedicated 8 years later by his son Titus. The popular name of Coliseum came about because the immense oval stadium was situated next to a colossal statue of Nero. Although it survives only as a ruin, it still rates as one of the finest examples of Roman architecture and engineering.

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We toured for a couple of hours the many attractions of the site and continued to the Roman Forum nearby.

The Forum is a square which is surrounded by some of the most ancient Roman monuments and is also the origin of the first Latin population 2600 years ago. The Forum was the main marketplace and business center, where the ancient Romans went to do their banking, trading, shopping, and marketing. It was also a place for public speaking.

We entered the site and started our two hour long tour visiting important sites as The Temple of the Castors, The Arch of Titus (dedicated to Titus for his victory over Judea by the Senate. Inside the arch are engravings depicting the conquest of Jerusalem); The Arch of Septimius Severus; The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina and the Monument to Pagan Religions.

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After an intensive tour we then headed to Palatine Hill, where Rome first became a city about 2800 years ago. It later became a place where palaces were built by the many emperors.


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On Palatine Hill, we found mostly ruins of palaces and homes of the rich. The Circus Maximus, where chariots races took place, is located next to this site. Another impressive structure was the Stadium Of Domitian. Private hunts, games and fights were held for Domitian in this stadium. Columns run the entire length of this stadium.

We then headed to Plaza Venezia on Capitoline Hill, which was built as a memorial to the man who united Italy- King Vittorio Emanuele II. A vast central stairway leads to the Altar of the Nation (Altare della Patria) with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which contains the remains of an unnamed soldier who died fighting for the country during WWI.

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We sat for lunch at a café, bringing over baked goodies (pizza, calzone) from a bakery nearby, and purchased beer and coffee.

We walked to the nearby Basilica De San Clemente, which was constructed a thousand years ago (!). This is not one church, but three churches built one above the other, with ruins dating from the earliest Christian times.

After a short visit we headed to The Church of St Peter in Chains (San Pietro in Vincoli) to view one of the most important statues in history: Moses, by Michelangelo (1505). Moses is portrayed as wise, strong, mature and with a serious look. He holds the Torah close to his heart. From his head protrude two rays of light to illustrate his shining face when he came down Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments.

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In order to have enough light (for pictures taking) there was a machine which turned on the spotlights if a coin of one Euro was deposited into it. I “donated” one Euro and took some great pictures of the statue.

We returned to the Coliseum to catch the last double deck bus back to St. Peter’s Square and as we promised ourselves, a couple of days earlier, we bought ice cream at Gelateria Frullati. Oh man! This was too good to be true. The parlor had to offer many flavors (about 40 of them!) We bought 3 huge scoops and shared the tremendous portions amongst ourselves. Ya’ara loved every bit of it and looking at her enjoying this tasteful dessert put a huge smile on my face

On our way back to the apartment we did some windows shopping, played hide-n-seek with Ya’ara and had a buffet dinner at a local neighborhood restaurant.

We went to sleep at around 11:00 PM, after packing our luggage as tomorrow we will head north.

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Day 5: September 14th, 2005

We woke up early and after breakfast, made with the past couple of day’s leftovers, Gary and I went to pick up the car. We stopped once again at the same espresso bar for cappuccino. The servers already knew us and greeted us with “Bon Journo”. We felt as if we already were regulars here.


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Our drive began with “finding the way out of Rome” episode. It was an almost impossible job, as the Italians are not famous for the roads signs. Finally we found ourselves on the Autostrada (highway) A1 going north.

About an hour into our drive, Ya’ara threw up the entire breakfast. We stopped at the side of the road and I realized, to my amazement, that Sharone had her hands full of it. She actually kept it in her hands, waiting (patiently) for the car to stop. We cleaned the car as much as we could and continued.

We passed through many famous cities such as Firenze, Bologna, and Verona and finally we arrived to Lago Di Garda or Lake Garda, which is the largest lake in Italy (370 square kilometers) and is situated on the border between the regions of Lombardy and Veneto.


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We entered the city of Sirmione, located on a narrow peninsula that extends about 4 km into Lake Garda.

We registered ourselves in a cute 3 star hotel and headed to the town center, walking the streets. We stopped at a local pizzeria and after a delicious dinner walked the main street, which was quite empty (Siesta time). We then strolled along the lakeside heading back to our hotel. The sky was clear and the half moon shining over the lake made it an unforgettable scene.

Upon arrival we ordered local red wine and sipped the delicious contents into our throats, sitting down in the front porch of the hotel, where we met a nice couple from Austria. The husband and wife told us that they have come regularly to this hotel in the past six years.

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Day 6: September 15th, 2005

Breakfast at the hotel was delicious.

We headed toward the famous Sirmione Castle, Rocca Scaligera, about 30 minutes walk from the hotel. The path itself was amazing with colorful pretty flowers, beautiful trees, green grass and the blue water of the lake to our right.

About the castle: Italy has an enormous wealth of castles and fortifications, and it is virtually impossible to choose a winner. However, Sirmione Castle is famous for its lakeside location, beautiful design and defense characteristics.

As we entered the castle, we witnessed a beautiful and spectacular example of a fortified city with a classic medieval castle. Its location is particularly well-suited for defense, as the town of Sirmione can be found at the end of the narrow peninsula jutting into the lake.

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The castle itself has many classical defense features. Access from the mainland was only possible through two drawbridges which were protected by gate towers. The walls on these towers are peculiar and are typically Renaissance in style.

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We entered the impressive castle and toured it for about an hour. We then entered the city inside the walls of the castle and found many restaurants, espresso bars, ice cream parlors, and unique stores.

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We walked the narrow streets, crossing Maria Callas Park, and headed toward the archeological site Grottoes of Catullus, which is on the very end of the peninsula, and consists of the remains of a grandiose Roman villa, within natural surroundings of great beauty.

We had lunch at a seafood restaurant situated on the shore of the lake, and then walked back to the hotel, refreshed and drove our car to Sigurta Park (Parco Giardino Sigurta), recommended to us by the Austrian couple we had met last night. The park, they had told us, has one of the most beautiful botanic gardens in the world with more than 30,000 plants and flowers (!).

When we arrived to the park we found out that it can be visited on foot, by cycle, in golf carts, or by taking a fun train ride along the 7 km "Magic Route". We opted to take the golf cart as it would have cost us more to rent the bikes and it was already 3:00 pm. We figured we will accomplish more with the cart and even though Tova was against this decision, as she wanted us to ride the bikes, we ended up renting the cart.

We toured the park for two and half hours with Ya’ara insisting on sitting down next to the driver. It was so funny to watch her try to drive the cart by herself. We saw many beautiful flowers, interesting looking trees, ponds with golden fish and turtles, magnificent wide open areas with grass, flowers, and rocks. At one point we walked down a path to a cave where the statue of Maria was inside and many offerings were laid down next to her. We also found a little corner with animals in a gated area. Ya’ara fed them and had much fun doing so.

On our way back we found a pizzeria and ordered “to go” a large vegetarian pizza with some beers and soda. We looked for a spot where we could sit down and have our meal and ended up in the medieval city of Borghetto, where we ate our dinner alongside the Mincio River. After dinner we toured the unique village and then headed back to our hotel.

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We did get lost this time and with the help of some locals were able to get back on the highway and finally arrived at our hotel.

Once again we sat outside on the front porch, chatting with the Austrian couple while sipping red wine and smoking cigars.

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Day 7: September 16th, 2005

After yet another delicious breakfast at the hotel we checked out and headed to the city of lovers: Verona.

We said goodbyes to the couple from Austria, who told us about this unique Olive Oil Mill not far from Sirmione. We found the mill but were disappointed when we found out it was closed due to a death in the family.

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We opted to take the country roads to the city and arrived an hour later.

The first task in this lovely city was to find a parking spot. We tried our luck at one of the hotels but were turned away. However, the hotel clerk guided us to a nearby parking lot. We left the girls behind as Gary and I drove around the block to the lot.




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Our first stop was at Piazza Bra. The name derives from "Braida" which on Veronese mean "large open space". On this square we saw the Fountain of the Alps and headed to The Arena. This Roman Amphitheatre, better known as the "Arena", is the most important of the monuments for which Verona is famed, and of which the city is so proud. The load-bearing structure consists of concrete and rubble with an external facing of brick and stone quarried from the hills around the city, and this combination of materials produces an attractive color contrast. By the time, the perimeter wall fell into ruin or was deliberately destroyed over the centuries, and all that remains today is the fragment that towers above the arena, composed of three tiers with only four arches remaining on each tier. The interior of the Arena is very impressive. It served as a theatre for gladiatorial games, races, and other spectacular events. Nowadays, since 1913, the Arena is the regular setting for splendid operatic performances.

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We headed to Castelvecchio (The Old Castle) and to the nearby bridge. The castle is in a very strategically position. At the southern entrance of the town, along the roman "via postumia", it is connected to a private and fortified bridge across the River Adige. So, whichever the threat the Lords had a choice to remain inside a very fortified building, or runaway to the other side of the river, having access to the road to the north along the Adige Valley.

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We crossed the bridge and ended in Piazza dei Signori, in the heart of the city. Its perimeter is surrounded by historical buildings with wide ranges of styles, which are nevertheless characterized by great harmony.

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We had lunch in one of the many restaurants, sitting outside in the piazza and watching the hundreds of people passing by. An accordion player stood in the center of the Piazza and we listened to the beautiful music as we consumed our lunch.

We entered the square to watch the Statue of Dante, who came to Verona immediately after his exile, and returned in 1316, as a guest. The monument was erected in 1865.

We continued our tour and found Torre Dei Lamberti, which is the highest tower in Verona.



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We crossed the Ponte Pietra Bridge, located in one of the most panoramic and suggestive sites in Verona, and after taking many pictures, arrived to Teatro Romano on the other side of the river.

We did not have a clue of what we were going to find. The theater is beautiful and among the ruins, performances take place in the summer. Once we started to walk up the hill (Gary “volunteered” to watch sleepy Ya’ara), we discovered the ruins of the ancient theater and a small museum with statues, mosaiques and other objects found in the site. There is a drawing of how experts believe the theater looked like when it was built, and it amazed me. It was very impressive. From the museum we had an awesome view of Verona and the Adige River.

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We headed toward The House Of Juliet (Casa di Giulietta) crossing the Adige River at Ponte Nuovo where we had a great view of the city and the river.

Visitors to Verona today are shown the alleged Juliet's house and the balcony which Romeo climbed in order to be with his beloved. We found a small courtyard with a balcony on the first floor but there is no evidence to prove that there is any historic relationship there. We climbed the stairs and stood on the balcony (did she really stand up there?) waiving to the huge crowd down in the courtyard and then toured the museum, which holds many items from the Shakespearian’s show. When we returned to the courtyard we stood in front of Juliet’s statue. “Rub her boob and you will have good luck in love”. So, we waited in line to touch the shiny breast of Juliet's statue.

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To complete our tour in Verona we opted to find Juliet Tomb in the ancient Cappuchin Church outside the town walls. This is where Romeo went and thought that Juliet is dead, he then killed Paris, drank the poison, and when Juliet woke up, she killed herself, and died too…

We walked back to our car and started our drive toward Venice.

As we left Verona, we got into a traffic jam, due to an accident not far from us, and actually turned off the car’s engine as we waited for over an hour on the highway, until it got cleared again.

We arrived at Mestre (outside of Venice) at night. It was Friday and to find a hotel with affordable prices was an impossible mission.

At one point we entered a 3 star hotel and the night clerk offered his help and had a proposition: He will find us a hotel and we will pay him 20 Euros for his efforts. I agreed but had a condition: I will pay him the 20 Euros if he could find us a hotel for the next three nights (not just tonight). He tried but couldn’t find such a place. As I walked desperately out of the hotel, I saw Sharone & Gary running down the street screaming “We found one, we found one”. (For a minute I thought I am seeing Archimedes running the street yelling “Heureka, Heureka”, when he figured out one of the most important formulas in Physics: “The principle of buoyancy”).

The kids found a vacancy at the Villa Pdogar Hotel.

The owners of the villa were a nice couple, who also gave us some hints in regard for good food in town. They recommended trying “Columbus Restaurant” down the street from the villa.

The rooms were large and comfortable and the price was very affordable.

As it turned out, the recommendation for food was absolutely great as we enjoyed the best meal in Italy to date.

After spending few minutes in an intent café we returned to the hotel at 11:00 pm for a good night sleep.

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Day 8: September 17th, 2005

On our way to catch the Venetian bus we found a bakery where they served breakfast and had a delicious meal.

The bus took us to Piazza Rome as we started our wonderful day in Venice.

We walked the narrow streets, crossing tiny bridges over narrow canals and arrived at the beautiful Rialto Bridge. The bridge has three walkways: two along the outer railing, and a wider central walkway leading between two rows of small shops that sell jewelry, linens, Murano glass, and other items for the tourists.

A fifteen minutes walk, using narrow streets and crossing many bridges over narrow canals with local boats and touristy gondolas, we found St. Marco Square.

St. Mark's Square is really the heart of Venice, mostly because of its location on the banks of the Grand Canal, and because of the great number of beautiful, historical monuments located there. Politically and culturally, the square has always been a very important and strategically area in Venice.

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At the square

we found the two columns where the two symbols of Venice: St Mark's Lion and the statue of St Theodore (the patron saint of Venice), keep watch over the city.

In the past, this square was used for public executions. The piazza St. Marco, is the only square that is called a Piazza, the others are simply called "campo". It's much more than a simple city square, it's a symbol. The square was "covered" with tourists and its famous pigeons which are a very integral part of the site. The square is lined with the buildings called the Procuratia, which housed the offices and apartments of high placed officials in the Venetian government.

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We had so much fun feeding the pigeons. A lady in the center of the square was selling corn seeds and we covered ourselves with the seeds. The ambitious and fearless pigeons landed on every part of our bodies where corn seeds could be found. Ya’ara was scared at the beginning but when she realized how much fun her mother and grandfather were having, she wanted to participate. We walked around the square, watching the magnificent area, listening to live music coming from some restaurants with live bands and watching the many people who like us, where having so much fun.

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We decided to get to the top of Campanile di San Marco Tower, which is over 300 feet high. After standing in line for a while we took an elevator up the tower and enjoyed a spectacular view of the city. We met an Israeli tour guide (leading a tourist group from Israel), who gave us some important hints for the rest of our trip. The most important one was: “Why sleep in Naples if you could sleep in Sorrento?” which we used few days later.

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We had sandwiches for lunch and headed to Academia Bridge, which is one of the three bridges currently crossing the Grand Canal.

We boarded a “water bus” and headed to Lido, which forms the main land barrier between Venice and the open sea. Tova found a beauty salon and the rest of us walked the main street. I learned that during the first week in September the “Venice Films Festival” takes place here.

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The skies changed from “sunny” to “cloudy” in a matter of minutes as rain drops started to fall down.

We boarded the “water bus” and returned to Main Island, using once again the Grand Canal as a thunderstorm approached the city.

We rushed to Piazza Rome, after buying an umbrella and caught bus #12 back to Mestre.

As we sat down in the bus, we sang some children songs, with Ya’ara participating as the entire bus looked at us smiling.

After a hot meal in one of the local restaurants we retired and went to sleep at around 10:00.

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Day 9: September 18th, 2005

Once again we started our day at the bakery around the corner and riding the bus to Venice.

The weather was a big factor for the remaining of the day as heavy rain poured down.

As we arrived to the city we found the old Jewish Ghetto. In the museum we learned some of the history of the Jewish Ghetto:

The Jewish ghetto of Venice is the world's oldest. Until 1385, when the first Jews began to settle in Venice, Jews were only allowed to come to Venice for money-lending purposes. In 1516, the ruling council of Venice confined all Jews to a small area of the city. Where, at night, all routes leading in an out of the Ghetto were guarded and sealed by locked gates. The Jews had limitations set on their economic activities in Venice. They were only allowed to have pawn shops, trade textiles and practice medicine.

Whenever the Jews left the Ghetto area the men had to wear a yellow circle stitched on the left shoulder, while the women wore a yellow scarf (I kept wondering if the Nazi’s got this idea from the Venetians). The first Jews to settle in the ghetto of Venice were central European Ashkenazim, who constructed two synagogues: in 1528, the Scola Grande Tedesca, and later in 1532, the Scola Canton. They are still intact, and occupy the rooms above and adjacent to the Jewish museum (Museo Ebraico).

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The Jewish Museum of Venice is situated in the Campo of the Ghetto Novo, between the two most ancient Venetian synagogues. It is a little but very rich museum founded in 1953 by the Jewish Community of Venice. The precious objects shown to public, important examples of goldsmith and textile manufactures made between the 16th and the 19th centuries are a lively witnessing of the Jewish tradition.

The first room of the museum is dedicated to silver wares reminding the most important Jewish festivities starting from Shabbat and the second room is instead mostly dedicated to textile manufacture, related of course to Jewish tradition. We then climbed the upstairs to visit the original and meaningful synagogue.

As we left the museum, the rain got heavier but we decided to continue. We visited yet another Synagogue; about 5 minutes walk from the museum and then boarded “Water Bus” # 42, which took us to Murano Island.

In 1291, the Venetian Republic ordered glassmakers to move their business to Murano because the glassworks represented a fire danger in Venice, whose buildings were mostly wooden at the time. The island is located just north of Venice, and is also called “the island of glassblowers.” We watched a glassblower at work, making such diverse objects as vases, horses, dolphins, etc.

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Because of the pouring rain we were limited to what we could do on the island but still managed to buy few souvenirs and after lunch at a local seafood restaurant we headed back to the city as rain continued to pour down.

Once again we found ourselves at St Marco Square standing in line to enter the Basilica St. Marco that was begun in its original form in the end of the 1st century as an ecclesiastical structure to house and honor the remains of St. Mark that had been brought from Alexandria. It burned down a century later, but was rebuilt in the 11th century. At the time, Venice recognized Byzantium as the world's cultural Mecca and as a result, the architecture of the basilica reflects a decidedly eastern model. The interior is simply breathtaking, adorned by art by greats like Tintoretto and Titian.

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Gold seemingly glitters at every turn and the church is laid out in the shape of a Greek cross and topped by five beautiful domes. It has five arched doorways, a long terrace that are home to four bronze horses that came from the booty from the 4th crusade of the infidels, and the golden winged lion, which is at the top center, is the symbol of Venice.

As we walked the Basilica, A mass was taking place underneath us and the hallway was filled with beautiful sounds.

We exited the Basilica and walked the streets for a while getting drenched with rain.


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It was around 6:00 PM and we decided to say goodbye to the city as it was almost impossible to walk anymore.

We returned to our hotel in Mestre at around 7:00 and tried the Columbus Restaurant once again. The food was tasty and we were very hungry. A good combination for supper!

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Day 10: September 19th, 2005

We woke up rather early and while the girls were busy packing, Gary and I hit the streets of Mestre to find food for breakfast. We ended up buying fresh bread at a local bakery, cheese, olives, vegetables and juice. I think we visited four different stores to get all of the above. We sat outside in the hotel’s courtyard and enjoyed a tasty breakfast under sunny skies, surrounded by the hotel vegetable garden.

Yes! The rain was gone!!

We arrived at the city of Prato, just outside of Florence at around noon. Once there we found the St. Marcus hotel in St. Marcus Square.

Right after we checked into our rooms, we walked to the main train station (10 minutes away from the hotel) and boarded the next train to Florence.

We started our tour of the city visiting the Leather Market close to the San Lorenzo area of Florence. Here we browsed through stall after stall of handbags, leather jackets, belts, and other clothing and gifts.

We then continued and arrived at the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo), which is typical to Italian Gothic architecture. The Duomo and the Baptistry stand in a huge rectangular area and occupy two separate but communicating squares: Piazza del Duomo, which contains the basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore (the third largest cathedral in the world after St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London), and Piazza San Giovanni.

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The looks of the Cathedral’s exterior were magnificent. My camera started to get into action. I think I took a dozen or so pictures just of the exterior.

We entered the basilica to view an amazing huge room with statues, painting and other symbols. The most famous spot of the basilica is the dome. Tova, Sharone and I decided to climb the 360 or so steps to the top of the dome, while Gary watched Ya’ara.

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The passages were narrow and the stairs were steep, which made this experience rather hard to accomplish. However, the reward of reaching the top was worth it as we looked over Florence with its amazing sites. Going back to the streets was another experience as we took the same stairs down.

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We continued and passed Palazzo Vecchio, which is also called Palazzo della Signoria and considered to be the most important historic government building in Florence. On the terrace facing the Piazza are several famous examples of Renaissance sculpture: Donatello's “Judith and Holofernes”; a copy of Michelangelo's “David” (1504; the original that once stood there is now in the Accademia Museum); and “Hercules and Cacus” by Baccio Bandinelli.

We entered the Uffizi Plaza to find out the hours of operations of the gallery, and decided to return tomorrow morning and try our luck to get in. We then continued to watch an amazing site of River Arno, which runs through the center of the town. In 1966 it burst its banks, flooding Florence and damaging many priceless works of art. As we approached the famous Ponte Veccio Bridge I viewed one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen: Sunset over the Arno River. Once again our cameras got busy.

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The Ponte Vecchio is the oldest surviving bridge in Florence - it has withstood flood and war since 1345. In fact it was the only bridge in Florence to survive Nazi explosives in 1944. It is unique, as both edges of the bridge are lined with buildings. Originally these buildings housed butcher shops, but these were eventually closed down as the butchers used to throw unwanted leftovers into the river, polluting it. It is now lined with 3 dozen or so jewelry shops. In the middle of the bridge there is a gap in the shops, enabling us a great view of the river and the buildings on opposite banks.

We had dinner at a local restaurant and headed back to the train station to catch the next train to Prato.

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Day 11: September 20th, 2005

Breakfast at the hotel was amazing. They even prepare a delicious cappuccino!

We took the train to Florence and arrived at 9:05 am.

Our first stop was at the Uffizi Gallery. We joined the long line and waited two hours and forty five minutes to get into the most important gallery in the world.

The Uffizi Gallery covers an area of about 8.000 square meters and contains one of the most important collections of art of all times, including classical sculpture and paintings on canvas and wood by 13th to 18th century Italian and foreign schools. The Gallery of the Uffizi was also the first museum ever to be opened to the public. Its four centuries of history make the Uffizi Gallery the oldest museum in the world. Altered and rearranged several times over the centuries, according to the cultural tastes of the various periods, the exhibition rooms are now composed of over 45 rooms containing about 1,700 paintings, 300 sculptures, 46 tapestries and 14 pieces of furniture and/or ceramics. The Uffizi actually owns about 4,800 works, the remainder of which is either in storage or on loan to other museums.

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We rented two “Narrator Phones” and toured the gallery for the next three hours.

By the time we left the gallery it was already 3:00 pm. We all voted to find a restaurant ASAP. And we did. The restaurant was very unique with old furniture and the food itself was tasty.

As we walked outside the restaurant, I stood across the street to take a picture of the place. Next to me stood a young man, in his early twenties all dressed in white. I took the picture and we headed to the Jewish synagogue, 20 minutes away, walking in the busy streets. As we arrived to the synagogue I reached to get my wallet to pay for the entrance. My wallet was gone!

I remember my mouth getting very dry as I was in shock. I approached a policeman, part of a security force standing next to the synagogue, and explained (in English with the help of my hands) that my wallet is missing. The officer directed us to the police station.

Gary and I started to run back to the restaurant, hoping and praying that I might have lost it inside when I paid for our lunch. We arrived 10 minutes later but the wallet wasn’t there. This is when it suddenly hit me that the guy in white, next to the restaurant probably pick pocketed me when I took the picture.

We saw another policeman, outside the restaurant, who told us where the police station was. We ran to the station and once we arrived, I filled a form and also called the various credit card companies, letting them know about it.

On our way back we played with the idea that maybe the thief took the wallet just for the money and had thrown it away in the alley next to the restaurant. We arrived to the alley and searched all over. Nada!

We then ran back to the synagogue, to find the girls waiting for us, next to the synagogue. I told Tova: “The show must go on” and even though I lost my wallet we still had another resource: Without any money and no credit cards we figured we could use Sharone & Gary’s ATM cards to withdraw cash when needed and to use their credit cards to pay wherever we could.

We had a reservation to go to the Academia Museum but decided to go back to the hotel and rest as we were tired physically and more important mentally. We changed our plans and decided that tomorrow morning we will visit the museum first and only then continue with our original itinerary.

On the way to the train station we entered a leather store and purchased a new wallet for myself and a bag for Tova. The merchant who heard my story about the theft gave me the leather wallet (30 euros) at no charge and told us how he was robbed as well.

We arrived at Prato and found a local restaurant for dinner. The place was humming with locals and the food was tasty.

We went to sleep at around midnight.

It was a rough night because I kept waking up due to nightmares.

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Day 12: September 21st, 2005

We woke up very early and headed to the train station once again.

We arrived at 8:30 and headed to the Academia Museum (Galleria Dell Accademia), where a long line of people were already standing and waiting to get in. By the look of the line I figured we will spend 2-3 hours to get in.

I had an idea.

I went to the entrance and told the guard that we have reservations (Those from yesterday). The guard agreed to let us in without standing in line! I ran back to the end of the line to get the rest of the family to join me and we entered the museum. We still had to pass another station where I had to let them know the reservation number. As we approached the station, we managed to get in because we told the girl that we had a reservation from our hotel (which we actually did from the previous day) and she showed us a name. We didn’t recognize the name, but told the girl that that name was ours, and she crossed that name from her list. It was a name that never showed up in time anyway and we were in!

The museum is one of the best-known museums in Florence. Founded in 1784, it hosts a collection of sculptures and paintings. One of the most important works on display at the museum is of course “David” by Michelangelo (completed around 1504). The gallery is also home to another remarkable work by Michelangelo, the unfinished piece entitled “Slaves”, and there are large picture galleries as well as other works of sculpture.

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When I was asked, days after our trip, what was my most memorable moment of our trip I said without any hesitations: “David at the Academia Museum”

The statue shows David ready to fight the giant Goliath. It was carved from one solid block of marble 14 feet high, and it took him 3 years to complete. He had just finished the Pieta in Rome when he started this project. It's the most amazing piece of sculpture in the world and as I was watching it I couldn’t but admire the details and the beauty of this statue.

On our way back to the train station we passed once again in the Leather Market and bought lunch (sandwiches) from a deli, which we ate onboard the train.

We had checked out earlier so all we had to do now was pack the luggage and start driving west toward Pisa.

An hour later we found ourselves parking right next to the Pisa Tower Square.

We joined the hundreds of people in the square to watch one of the most popular structures in the world: La Torre Di Pisa

The Tower of Pisa is the bell tower of the Cathedral. Its construction began in 1173 and continued (with two long interruptions) for about two hundred years (!). In the past it was widely believed that the inclination of the Tower was part of the project ever since it’s beginning, but now we know that it is not so. The Tower was designed to be "vertical" and started to incline during its construction. Even if it did not lean it would still be one of the most remarkable bell towers in Europe.

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When we reached the base of the tower we noticed the difference in height of the foundation of the tower. One side was about 3 feet higher than the other. It was just simply amazing!

We toured the complex, for about an hour, and took many pictures.

The next item on our agenda for the day was to drive to Tuscany.

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A couple of hours later we arrived in Montevarchi, Tuscany. We stopped at the town’s “Tourist Information” and were greeted by a very nice girl, who was very helpful. She suggested that we spend the night at the Village of Loro Ciuffenna, in the province of Arezzo, as it was beautiful and the hotels were about half the price than those in Montevarchi. We asked her to make reservations for us and she did.

We took her advice and used the countryside roads through beautiful scenery to arrive at the village. At one point we stopped for directions and the local resident, using his hands was able to direct us to our hotel: “The Olympic Village Inn”, which was at the far end of the village next to a pretty large grapevine field. The hotel owns an Olympic size pool and a huge gym.

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We checked into our rooms, which were pretty big in size. Sharone & Gary’s room had five beds!

I was sent to check out the restaurant in the hotel. I found a man, smoking his cigarette outside and asked him if he works for the restaurant. He answered, speaking in fluent English, that he is the owner and the chef of the restaurant and continued to tell me how he buys the fresh meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables, fruits, bread, and other ingredients by himself, on a daily basis, in Montevarchi.


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Later on we entered the dining room. A table was already setup for us and the chef also was our waiter. We selected things from the menu and also ordered dishes per his recommendations.

As it turned out, this was the best dinner we had for quite awhile. We also learned that the chef, Miguel Picci, won second prize in all of Tuscany for his excellent dishes. He lived for awhile in Chicago (which explains his fluent English), saved enough money and returned to the village to own his own restaurant. The wine, by the way, had the label of the restaurant and Miguel explained to us that the grapevines, next to the hotel, belong to the hotel and the local vinery produces wine with the hotel’s label on it.

With our stomach full, Tova and I decided to walk around the city. It was a beautiful cool night to walk as a breeze and the smell of the grapevines made the air very desirable.

When we returned to our room, Sharone and Ya’ara joined us for talks and laughter as we sang along all the songs that Ya’ara knows.

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Day 13: September 22nd, 2005
We walked downstairs to the dining room for breakfast; Miguel was waiting for us already. Once again the table was already prepared and he served us a nice meal.

We checked out from the hotel and drove back to Montevarchi, the modern Tuscan town of 20,000 in a valley adjacent to the Arno river.

We visited the market, blending with hundreds of other shoppers and tourists. The colors and the smells of the market were unforgettable.

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Our next stop was at the interesting St. Lawrence's Church, built in the 12th century. A nice lady, who knew a little bit of English, told us that the church’s importance is due to the arrival in Montevarchi of a relic, theVirgin's Sacred Milk.

I found an Internet Café’, not far from the church, and while the rest of the family went to get the car, I checked the status of my accounts, in the bank plus credit cards, to make sure no foul play was taken place with my stolen credit cards and I was happy to see that things looked okay!
We started our drive toward San Gimignano, passing beautiful grapevines, green hills with villas, colorful flowers and orchards.

We arrived to this remarkable city and after looking all over for a parking spot we finally found one right next to the castle (!). We bought some bread, cheese, beer, and chips from a local grocery store and sat outside the old city, in a cute little park, for lunch.

San Gimignano rises on a tall hill dominating the Elsa Valley with its towers. Once the seat of a small Etruscan village of the Hellenistic period it began its life as a town in the 10th century taking its name from the Holy Bishop of Modena, St. Gimignano, who is said to have saved the village from the barbarian hordes. The place looks like a town plucked from a fairy tale and set into the Tuscan countryside.

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We spent the next three hours touring the city inside the walls, walking the narrow streets, browsing through the many stores and wine cellars, finding vista points with unbelievable views of the valley, and tasting the local ice cream (delicious!).

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We continued our journey, driving through the city of Sienna and arrived at Buonconveto – A city inside the walls that was originally built in the 14th Century, for an unplanned tour.

We noticed that inside the walls of the city there was a bit of action. We found out later that they were celebrating some kind of culture event. We toured a bit and even became spectators at a fashion show.

We arrived at the hill town of Montalcino by mistake. Originally we were looking for Monticiano, but instead, followed the road signs to Montalcino.

We found a one star hotel (the only one available as we tried very hard to find any vacancy) and then toured the main square looking for a place to eat. We found a nice little restaurant, owned by an American, and had a tasty meal.

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Day 14: September 23rd, 2005

We woke up rather early, and after breakfast we toured the city’s main square – Piazza del Popolo with a remarkable clock tower and its 14th century fortress, which dominates the city’s skyline.

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We drove in the countryside of Tuscany, with breathtaking views and arrived at Pienza, nicknamed as the “Unknown Renaissance Small Town” near Siena in the heart of Tuscany, famous for its Duomo and cheese.

The town owes its name to Pope Pius II, a town native, which became pope in 1458.

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Pienza is a rare example of Renaissance town design. Often described as the "ideal city", it represents one of the best planned of Renaissance towns, where a model of ideal living and government was attempted, based on the concept of a town able to satisfy the needs of peaceful and hardworking citizens.



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We visited the Cathedral, where we found beautiful paintings and a large size statue of Pius II.

We bought fresh bread, local cheese, olives and tomatoes and decided to have them for lunch at our next destination Montepulciano.

We arrived to the city at around 1:00 and found a nice park, right next to the old city’s walls to have our lunch.

Montepulciano is built along a narrow limestone ridge and, at about 2,000 feet above sea level. The town is encircled by walls. Inside the walls the streets are crammed with Renaissance-style streets and churches, but the town is chiefly known for its good local Vino Nobile wines. A long, winding street called The Corso climbs up into the main square, which crowns the summit of the hill.

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The main street is full of wine shops and of course souvenir shops.

We toured the city for about 3 hours looking for a special tower but couldn’t find it. Also the city starts at the bottom of the hill and so we walked up and up and couldn’t find the tower even after an hour. So, we decided to leave. On our way out we once again did some shopping for food in a local supermarket.

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We continued our trip, driving now on Highway A1, and passed Lake Trasimeno and the town of Perugia, in the County of Umbria, en route to the city of Assisi.

Assisi, a medieval city built on a hill, is the birthplace of Saint Francis, closely associated with the work of the Franciscan Order.

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We started our tour climbing to Rocca Maggiore (The High Peak) where we ate our snacks and then toured the area looking at the beautiful valley right underneath the castle.

We then strolled down the hills and using endless steps arrived at the city center, right by the Cathedral Of San Rufino. As well as being of significant architectural importance, the Cathedral of San Rufino has also been important throughout the history of the Franciscan movement.

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While visitng the cathedral I Remembered the movie “The Assisi Underground”, I felt as if I were here already. I wanted to see the section where the Jews were hidden and waited for the ongoing mass to end. I then approached a nun and asked her if she could show us the section and if she could give us a flavor of what had happened here during World War II. The nun replied: “Why ask me if you could get better testimony from Don Aldo Brunacci?”. I was shocked: “Is he is still alive?” I asked, and she answered: “He is now 94 years old and let me direct you to where he lives.”

We left the church and walked toward the house where he lives. We reached a bookstore and asked the manager if we could see him. He asked the rest of the family to wait downstairs as he led me to the second floor, to Don Aldo Brunacci’s office. I was introduced to an old (but very alert and with a subtle sense of humor) priest who sat at his desk. We conversed for a while and he showed me some of the awards and recognitions he had received from numerous leaders of the world. The most significant one that he received was Knight of the Great Cross. He also has a tree, with his name on it, in the Avenue of the Righteous, in Jerusalem’s Yad Va-Shem.

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With tremendous excitement, having goose bumps (big time!), I went downstairs and greeted my family. Gary was holding a book, written by Don Aldo and asked Aldo’s student if he could get an autograph from Don Aldo and he took him and Sharone upstairs.

As Gary and Sharone came back to join us, Don Aldo himself arrived, using the private elevator, located at the back of the store. He blessed all of us and asked if we could join him to see a tree in his garden. We all took the elevator to the third floor, where his garden was located, to witness a beautiful place with trees, different kind of flowers and an amazing view of the city. He then pointed out our attention to a tree and told us he had brought it as a seed 30 years ago from Jerusalem.

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We said our goodbyes to him as he left us to take his evening stroll around the city.

I will never forget this man, who helped save 210 persecuted Jews from the Nazis and even had to spend time in a Nazi prison for his deeds.

We checked into a nice hotel, right next to St. Francis Cathedral, with great views from our balconies and joined the hotel’s guests for dinner, which was very special as there was no menu and the food was cooked in the kitchen, located one floor above us, and was brought down with an elevator.

After dinner we went to the main square where a concert took place, at the steps of St. Francis Cathedral. We listened to the beautiful music among many other tourists and locals and went to sleep at around 11:00 pm

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It took me a long time to fall asleep as again and again I thought how fortunate we were today.

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Day 15: September 24th, 2005

We woke up rather early and after breakfast at the hotel we drove to Orvieto, Umbria.

From a distance we saw the city, which rises on a plateau of volcanic tuff, surrounded by an astonishing landscape of fields and vineyards. The unreachable walls appear to encircle the city rather than elevate it, as though it were a fortress rising on the flat valley floor of the River Paglia. Because of its location, because of its Etruscan roots, because of its charming medieval character, and above all because of its celebrated Cathedral which is a gem of Gothic architecture, Orvieto is one of Italy's most unique and interesting cities.

The city is situated at an elevation of 1000 feet while the valley lies at 360 feet. There are 10,000 people who live in the city itself and another 15,000 in the valley and in the surrounding hills.

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We found the Cathedral and started to look for a parking space, a mission that was just impossible as all the parking spots in the streets were already taken. As we stopped, next to the Cathedral, we saw a fleet of about 50 cars approaching the place. They all started to park around the Cathedral. As it turned out, these cars and the people in them were invited guests to a big wedding, to take place in the Cathedral.

I “jumped” on the opportunity and parked as if we were invited guests as well.

We approached to “Tourist Information” office and purchased tickets to the underground tour.

The cliff, on which the city of Orvieto stands, is riddled with an unbelievable number of artificial cavities - tunnels, galleries, underground tanks, wells, and cellars.

We took a guided tour that winded its way easily through the caves, and enabled us to fully appreciate this unique underground world. It was in a sense a journey in a timeless dimension, which narrates the story of the geology of the rock and the specific aspects of Orvieto's history.

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The tour guide told us that the micro climate to be found in the caves made it possible to preserve both solid and liquid provisions, including wine. We also learned that the locals found shelters in the caves during wars as recent as World War II and that the American bombers shelled the city during this war. For hundreds of years the pigeons used the tunnels as one huge nest and called it “home”. The locals used their meat as well as their eggs as a source for nutrition when the city was at war.

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As the tour ended, we returned to the Cathedral where we learned the following:

Orvieto's Gothic Cathedral, which is one of the most celebrated in Italy, was established in 1290 to commemorate the miracle at Bolsena, a town situated just to the southwest, where in 1263 a priest witnessed the miraculous appearance of drops of blood on a Host (the bread or wafer consecrated and eaten during the Christian ceremony of Communion) that he was declaring as a Holy place; a large silver shrine in the Cappella (chapel) del Corporale contains the Holy Corporal (linen altar cloth) from Bolsena. The cathedral's west facade, a fine monument of richly sculptured marble, is divided into three peaks with intervening pinnacles.

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The interior of the building is richly decorated with the work of a number of medieval sculptors and painters.

The wedding was still going on and we had to wait for it to finish as our car was blocked by other guests’ cars. In the meantime, we walked the narrow streets of the city, had a delicious cappuccino, and window-shopped for a while.

An hour later, the guests started to pull their cars out of the parking area and we were once again driving. This time we took Highway A1 South.

We arrived at Naples a few hours later.

We remembered the advice, given to us in Venice by the tour guide: “Why sleep in Naples if you could sleep in Sorrento?”

As we watched the city on our left we couldn’t agree more as it looked as if it was in a war zone with crumbled building, graffiti, and filth. We decided to find a hotel in Sorrento and then use the train to get to the city.

The road to Sorrento was magnificent as we drove through little towns, located above the seashores and the view was breathtaking. I made the comment that Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe of Faust, who once said: “To See Naples and Die”, probably made the comment from the same road to Sorrento.

We arrive at Piano Di Sorrento and stopped at the “Hotel Information” booth.

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Sharone and I entered the booth and were greeted by a woman, who had some bad news: “There aren’t any vacancies in the area. In a matter of fact EVERYTHING is booked up until the end of the month”. As we turned pale she continued: “However, I do know about two vacancies with a price of only 120 Euros per room”. We were used to pay around 60-70 Euros a night, including breakfast, and the price she had quoted was unexpected and overwhelming, as we planned to spend the next four nights in the area. We looked at each other and without any choice we agreed. The lady then told us: “Here is how it works: you give me 50 Euros per room now (100 Euros) and pay the balance at the hotel.” My mind went 300 miles an hour as it was obvious to me that she is going to pocket the 100 Euros and probably will get a kickback later on from the hotel, therefore the exaggerated price. I told the lady that we need to discuss the deal with the other people in the group and left her office in a hurry.

After revealing the information to the rest of the family, we decided to try our luck on our own and if we were unsuccessful, we would return and pay the ridiculous amount.

We parked the car next to a restaurant as Sharone and I went looking for a place to stay. We entered one hotel nearby but were told that it is all booked up.

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We then walked into Hotel Klein Wien, an elegant hotel on a cliff top near the beach, with a wonderful view of Sorrento Coastline, the Gulf of Naples and Mount Vesuvius (Pompeii)

The lady in the front desk told us that there are no vacancies tonight but she could book us for the other three nights for 70 (!) Euros per night, breakfast and parking included. The only problem we had now is to find a room for tonight. We were about to leave when a man (named Vito) entered the room. We asked him if he knows English and he answered: “A Little Bit” (As it turned out, those were the only three words in English he knew.)

Using our hands and a few Italian words that we knew we explained to him that we needed a room for tonight. He started to call but for no avail. I then told him: “It is okay if you can find us a room for tonight with a family… like bed and breakfast”. This phrase worked wonders as his face had a huge smile. He picked up the phone and after talking for about a minute told us that we are all set. He mentioned (in Italian) something about “religious family”. There was no end to our happiness but I still had the nerve to ask Vito to reserve the rooms, for the next three nights, overlooking the ocean. He agreed!

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We then ran back to the car, along with Vito, and drove back to the hotel, as we needed to register. Afterward, we followed Vito’s car and five minutes later found ourselves in a …. Convent!

We looked at each other and couldn’t stop laughing. We are going to spend the night with the nuns at a convent! As it turned out the place was a home for the elders and was run by the church. The rooms were huge and VERY clean.

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We brought the luggage to our adjacent rooms, on the 2nd floor, cleaned ourselves up from the long day, got dressed and drove to Sorrento main square where we found hundreds of tourists walking the streets.

We asked one of the locals for the best seafood restaurant in town and he gave us directions to Marine Grande and the world famous restaurant Trattoria da Emilia.



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We walked for about 30 minutes through the city’s center and into narrow alleys and finally used steep stairs to arrive at the marina with its beautiful night scenery.

We found the restaurant but decided to eat at Z’intonio Marre, as Emilila had no seats available except for those on the road where cars drove by.

The food at Z’intonio Marre was excellent, the location was fantastic (on the water front) but the service sucked.

We promised ourselves to return tomorrow and have a taste of Emilia.

We returned to the convent at around 11:00 and walked on our tippy toes so as not to
wake up the nuns and the old residents.

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Day 16: September 25th, 2005

We checked out from the convent pretty early, and headed to Klein Wien Hotel.

The rooms (numbers 21 and 22) had a marvelous position directly over the sea and from our balconies we had a wonderful view of the Gulf of Naples. We couldn’t ask for more.

We had breakfast at the hotel as Vito showed up. We were now “old acquaintances” and greeted each other with hugs.

We walked to the train station en route to Naples.

The trip took about an hour and a half as the train stopped quite regularly in various stations.

We arrived at the Central Station and walked out to the streets where hundreds of merchants stood along the sidewalks selling their merchandise. The air was filthy with smoke, beggars lying on the sidewalks, shopkeepers trying to solicit us, graffiti painted on the homes and the overall feeling was: “Let’s get out of here”. And we did.

We took the next train out of Naples and headed to Pompeii at around noon.

We found a cute Italian restaurant with a long front driveway surrounded with trees and had a pretty decent lunch, sitting outside at a table in the yard of the restaurant.

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After lunch, we climbed a narrow street, and arrived at the archeologically site.

Pompeii was a thriving Roman city of 20,000 people until in 79 A.D. when Mt. Vesuvius erupted, spitting half of itself as well as countless tons of volcanic ash onto the nearby Italian countryside. Pompeii, one of the most prosperous of the local cities, was quickly covered.

Pompeii itself was found during an excavation that began in 1748. From that date on, excavations at Pompeii have continued sporadically. Portions of the site remain uncovered, and excavation and research teams are still attempting to reveal this mysterious city's secrets.

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We toured the Forum, some villas, a house which belonged to two rich merchants named The Vettius House with beautiful paintings, The Tomb of Vestoria Prisco with beautiful frescoes, The Brothel, The Arena, and of course the many streets.

We spent three remarkable hours exploring the city. At one point we tagged along a group of English tourists, who were guided by an archeology professor who looked like Indiana Jones. The guide had many stories and facts to tell and was awesome.

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We caught the next train to Piano Di Sorrento and arrived at our hotel an hour later. The view from our terraces was magnificent and we took many pictures of the bay, the ships and the sunset.

As we promised to ourselves, we had dinner at Trattoria da Emilia. It was quite an experience. The delicious food was served by the owners’ kids as we sat at a table overlooking the marina.

After dinner we were looking for an internet café and ended up in a 4 star hotel. I pretended to be a guest of the hotel and used their computer to check e-mail messages and local news (from Orange County). I found out that our beloved team, The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, is at the top of the Western Division.

As I was busy on the internet, Ya’ara performed in the lobby, dancing and singing to a delightful audience of the hotel’s guests.

When we arrived back at our hotel we sat on the main terrace, sipping cocktails and watching the wonderful bay at night, as lights of the anchored boats reflected in the blue water.

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Day 17: September 26th, 2005

At around 3:00 am both I and Tova woke up when a loud voice came from our next room, where Sharone, Gary and Ya’ara slept. The noise followed by a loud cry of Ya’ara. Our poor baby fell off the bed, hitting the floor with her forehead, which left a bump on the forehead.

At breakfast the forehead had a big bump all blue and black. We tried to apply ice on it but Ya’ara wouldn’t let us, as the pain was probably unbearable. Sharone insisted that Ya’ara will be okay and that we should continue with our plans.

We drove to Sorrento’s Port and boarded a ship, which took us to The Island of Capri, with its picturesque landscape, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea.

The island of Capri, located about 5 Km off the coast of Italy in the Gulf of Naples, is one of the loveliest and most popular of all tourist destinations in Italy. Once home to the ancient Roman Emperor Tiberius, Capri has always been a favorite vacation venue for the rich and famous. The island is about 3.5 miles long and 2 miles wide, with a coastline of about 7 miles. Its coast is surrounded by steep and dramatic limestone cliffs that reach as high as 570 meters above sea level and plunge straight to the sea. The island, with its craggy cliffs, white beaches, charming villas, olive groves, fragrant lemon trees, narrow winding roads, garden terraces filled with flowers and spectacular views of the blue water of the Gulf of Naples, has often been referred to as southern Italy's finest jewel.

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Once we arrived at the island’s Marina Grande, we boarded another boat, which took us to The Blue Grotto. As we arrived we were transferred to a small dinghy controlled by an Italian man with a huge mustache.

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The Blue Grotto is an ocean cave located on the northwest side of the island. The entrance to the cave is about 4 feet tall and we were ordered to lie down on the dinghy’s surface as we entered the cave. It was an amazing site as light mysteriously entered the cave from below and illuminated the water. We were amazed at the unique refraction of the light that caused the water in the grotto to glow in a brilliant deep, bright blue - the whole cave is illuminated in an ethereal blue neon light. Even though the visit inside the cave lasted no more than five minutes, I will always remember it as one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. The driver of the boat, who knew we spoke Hebrew, started to sing some popular Hebrew songs to our surprising ears.

We opted to continue our tour at Anacapri while the rest of the tourists returned to Marina Grande with the boat.

We boarded a bus, which took us to the center of Anacapri and after lunch we used the chairlifts in Piazza Vitoria, to take us to the top of the island: Mount Solaro. A magnificent view of the Gulf Of Naples and the shore of Sorrento was just underneath us. At one vista point we watched the famous geological formations of Faraglioni.

We walked down the steep mountain and after 45 minutes arrived at the center of Anacapri. On a side note, Tova was wearing her flip flops the whole time (since she thought that the island didn’t have so many things to do) and she didn’t complain even once! Once in Anacapry, a bus took us to the center of Capri where we decided to walk the extra couple of miles (instead of taking another bus) and arrived at the marina about 30 minutes later, just in time to take the boat back to Sorrento.

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Back at the hotel we were exhausted from our long day of activities and decided to have dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. We ordered an Italian cocktail named lemonchello and had a typical Italian dinner.

During the whole day, Ya’ara even though her unfortunate fall, was great.

After dinner we walked the streets of Piano Di Sorrento.

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Day 18: September 27th, 2005

Breakfast at the hotel and then we headed to “The Road to Amalfi”.

The Amalfi Coast, (la Costiera Amalfitana) is a beautiful 50 kilometer stretch of mountainous coastline situated on the Sorrento peninsula between Sorrento and Salerno, in the region of Campania. This coastline is dotted with small picturesque villages and towns stacked precariously on steep, pale rocky cliffs plunging sheer into the Mediterranean Sea. The road is so narrow that buses and trucks can go only one way (Toward Salerno) since two heavy automobiles cannot occupy both lanes. There are mirrors at every curve, so drivers can see the upcoming traffic beyond the curves.

Our first stop was at Termini. We really just wanted some espresso when we discovered that right next to the espresso bar there is a wine cellar. We tasted some delicious melon liquor, lemonchello, and delicious jam.

Our next stop was Positano.

According to the legend, Positano was founded by a group of inhabitants from Paestum who were escaping from the attack of some pirates. The city has a very glamorous side to it, because of the famous "Positano fashion style". We walked the streets of this picturesque village and passed by the many boutiques in the city, which displayed expensive, white dresses, pants, and blouses.

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We walked in an alley which took us from the main road to Santa Maria Assunta Church, the main church of Positano. Along the way we stopped at some artist booths and vendors to inspect their goods.

We continued our day and stopped in Amalfi, which is the largest town on the stretch between Sorrento and Salerno.

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The town is famous for its glorious history as a maritime republic. It has some spectacular scenery, and great weather conditions. The white, pink and yellow cottages are surrounded by whitewashed courtyards and winding alleys that made our walking tour a pleasant experience.


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We visited three historical monuments: The Cathedral, the Old Dockyards and the Old Paper Mills where the famous paper of Amalfi was made in the past. In the main street we saw a couple of stores with dried chilly peppers hung on their front wall; one of them had a sign: “Natural Viagra”, referring to the affects of the chilly peppers.

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Many buildings in the town are surrounded by immaculately kept gardens and terraces, lemon trees, and grape and olive vines.

We saw some ships, which offered their services to Positano, Salerno and the Island of Capri.


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We continued our day and arrived at Salerno, driving through beautiful vistas and picturesque villages. At one point on our way we stopped at a traffic jam when a bus, heading to Salerno and a utility truck, heading to Amelfi, had to maneuver so they could pass each other on the narrow road.
Salerno is a place where the East and the West seem to blend together. We decided to drive through the town and not stop for any attractions as the evening had arrived and we still had a long way to return to Sorrento.

We stopped at a local espresso bar, had a delicious coffee and then took highway A3 north toward Naples.

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We exited the highway around Pompeii, and took the country roads, passing through Castellammare, located at the coast of Naples. It was evening and hundreds, if not thousands of people walked the streets of the city.

We arrived at the hotel just in time for a delicious meal.

It was our last night at Sorrento. We sat outside on the terrace, sipping lemonchello and talked about our wonderful day. Gary told us the story of Gershom and Zipora, a Jewish couple who came from Uganda to the states. Gershom, the leader of his village in Uganda, was studying at the UJ to become a Rabbi.

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Day 19: September 28th, 2005

Today was our last day in Italy.

We woke up early and after breakfast and checking out from the hotel, we said our goodbyes to Vito and headed outside of the city towards Rome.

We took highway A3 and a few hours later arrived at Rome Airport where we checked in our bags in the storage area.

We then headed toward Tivoli, which lies about 20 miles from Rome. We entered Villa D’este, with its palace and gardens, known all over the world as Tivoli Gardens.

It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.

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Once a convent, the terraced gardens of Villa d’Este are still alive with gushing fountains, waterfalls and fish ponds, something we will never forget. The gardens extend over seven acres, and it would take pages to describe the seven hundred fountains and cascades that remain.

Some of the fountains send water very high, some are water falls, and at one place 120 small fountains line a walkway. The hundreds of fountains are getting their water from Aniene River: using gravity, natural water pressure — no pumps are involved.

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We spent the next three hours exploring the gardens and taking countless pictures.

 

As we exited the castle we found a vendor with shirts. The one that caught our eyes was a child tee shirt with the logo on the front of: “Ciao Bella”. It now belongs to Ya’ara.

We found a beauty salon in the city of Tivoli and as Tova was having her hair done, we walked the main road, watching the many passersby and listening to live music from a musician who at one point stopped his music to answer his cell phone …

We returned to Rome’s airport to find a hotel for me and Tova (we should have done it earlier!) as the kids were scheduled to leave to Israel tonight and we were supposed to leave tomorrow morning. We finally found a “sleazy” hotel not far from the airport.

We brought the kids to the airport. This time the goodbyes were so much easier as we will see them tomorrow in Israel. After a delicious meal we returned to the hotel. We were so happy that we checked our luggage earlier as the elevator of the hotel was broken and we had to use the stairs to get to the third floor.

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Day 20: September 29th, 2005

We had a delicious cappuccino and headed to the airport. After returning the rental car we boarded the Alitalia flight to Tel Aviv.

Ronen & Amit were waiting for us at Ben Gurion Airport, Israel and Emly joined us a few minutes later. We were all very emotional especially Tova, who kept weeping as she embraced Emly. About an hour later Gary came over as well.

We rented a car and drove to Jerusalem. Sharone & Ya’ara were waiting for us on Tchernechovsky Street and directed us to Mahane Yehuda Market where we rejoined with the others for a delicious dinner at Rakhmo, where we had some delicious Israeli dishes.

We then shopped at the market and bought some goodies.

The smells, colors, noises, Hebrew, soldiers, and the atmosphere made me realized how much I miss Israel.

We arrived at Sharone & Gary’s house and after a few hours of talking to Emly and surfing the Internet we all went to sleep.

Ronen and Amit spent the night there as well.

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Day 21: September 30th, 2005

After a typical Israeli breakfast we headed to Emly dorms. Emly lives next to Hebrew University on Har Ha-Tzoffim. The apartment is shared with five other girls. It is spacious and comfortable.

We headed to the Jewish Sector of the Old City and after lunch arrived at the Western Wall. Scores of fully geared soldiers were at the courtyard as it was the last Friday of the Jewish calendar and the soldiers were there to secure the area off just in case riots arose from the Arabs participating at the services at Al Aqtza Mosque.

At the wall we prayed, inserted a note to God in one of the wall’s cavities and watched as many people joined together for the Mincha prayer.

We returned to Sharone and Gary’s house. Later on, Yehudit and Matan arrived and so did Stephanie and all of us sat for a great and delicious “Friday Night Dinner”.

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Day 22: October 1st, 2005

We did not have any specific plans for today.

We started the day by taking the road up north to visit our friends David & Ronnie in Sdeh Ya’akov. We spent the next three hours chatting and remembering the good old times.

Our next stop was at Zikhron Ya’akov, our old home. We visited our friend Yehudit and later on, to our surprise, Yardena and Etzion showed up as well. Once again we were busy digging up fond memories and getting updates on how everyone was.

We left Zikhron Ya’akov at 10:00 pm and headed to Tel Aviv to meet with Tova’s brother Hanan and his wife Maya. We arrived at their home, located in Bavly Neighborhood, at around 11:00 pm, had some tea with cookies and at around midnight left to Jerusalem. We arrived at around 1:00 am.

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Day 23: October 2nd, 2005

The day started at the cemetery in Netanya, where we visited Tova’s parents’ graves. After some emotional minutes, listening to Gary’s chanting of “El Maleh Rahamim”, we also were able to locate and visit Tova’s grandfather (Eliyahu Noiman) grave. While we were visiting the graves a Russian speaking woman arrived. She was weeping hysterically as she couldn’t find the grave of her husband. Along with the ground crew in the cemetery we were able to help her.

My favorite food is Humus and the best humus in Israel is found in Jaffa, at a place called: “Ali Caravan” (or “Abu Hassan”). There is a dish called Massabecha. The Massabecha is a type of chick pea dish where it is much runnier then classic humus but you still use a pita ‘le nagev’ or wipe the dish clean. The addition, lemon juice and hot pepper mixture only intensifies the experience and in about fifteen minutes we were in and out of this place.

With our tummies full we went shopping for shoes for Emly and found a cheap store of Na’ot, not far from “Ali Caravan” where Emly and Gary bought themselves shoes.

Our next stop was the Bat Yam mall. We called Sharone, who was driving from Jerusalem along with Ya’ara, to meet us there. We bought many clothes for Emly and some for Ya’ara. I bought myself about a dozen Hebrew CD’s for my collection.

Three hours later we were done shopping and drove to Ramat Chen to meet with our best friends in Israel: Mendel & Edna. We sat at a unique bakery-restaurant named “Pizza Shaked” and enjoyed fresh, tasty, and warm bread with authentic, delicious salads.

Gary, Sharone and Emly drove to Kfar Saba to pick up a car from Gad & Ester and the rest of us drove to Rishon Le-Tzion to join Ronen and Yehudit. As we were waiting for Sharone & Emly to arrive, I tried to clean Ronen’s PC from the ton of viruses it had but was not fully successful, as some of the viruses kept reproducing themselves.

Right after Sharone & Emly arrived we drove our car to Jerusalem where we arrived at 1:30 am.

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Day 24: October 3rd, 2005

After breakfast we used both of our cars to drive to Kfar Tavor. On the way we stopped at Abu Gosh for a delicious falafel and arrived to Yaffa & Ishai’s home in the early afternoon.

Ishai & Yaffa are my favorite cousins and meeting them was very emotional.

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Ronen, Yehudit, Amit, and Matan joined us in the evening, along with some of Ishai’s friends from Mody’in.

Tonight was the Jewish New Year Eve (Erev Rosh Ha-Shana) and we all sat for a formal dinner and tasted the Holiday’s traditional dishes and sang Holiday songs.

After dinner was served, we all retired to the balcony, having deserts, singing and talking until 2:00 am.

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Day 25: October 4th, 2005

We woke up at around 9:00 and after a delicious breakfast, prepared by Yaffa; Tova & I drove to Adi to see our friends Bilha and Naftali. We spent about two hours in their beautiful home in the Galilee where they have a beautiful garden with fruit trees. They even make their own jam (from their own peach and orange trees) and their own lemonchello and orangechello. They gave us a couple of jars with jam to take to the USA.

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When we returned, we found out that Ishai was in the hospital. They found a stone in his kidney and recommended for him to stay for a while in the hospital as they were running some tests.

We started to prepare the huge back yard as today we scheduled a “Dromi” family reunion.

Ishai returned home at around 3:00 just in time to set the stage for the reunion. 60 or so guests started to arrive at around 5:00 to the sounds of Israeli music in the background.

There were people I have never met before, even though they are part of my family and some I haven’t seen for many years. The whole event was very emotional, very well organized, and happy.

Ishai was the Master of Ceremony and conducted the evening very well.

The guests started to leave at around 10:00, after a delicious BBQ style dinner and after the last guest left we sat on the balcony talking and having desserts.

Once again we retired at around 1:00 am

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Day 26: October 5th, 2005

Yaffa’s brother-in-law, Eyal Yardenai along with Yael, her husband Alon and their three kids arrived at around 10:00. We scheduled a 4X4 jeep trip to the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights.

Ishai, still not feeling 100 percent decided to stay home as we started our journey.

Our first stop was at Hatzor Ha-Glillit where we saw a grave of a holly man, who according to the legend, placed himself in a middle of a circle and vowed not to leave the circle until rain will fall in the area as it was a very dry year thus far. The next day rain poured down and as it was considered a miracle, the holy man, who died years later, was buried at the same spot where he had the circle.

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We then took the tough road towards Birya Forest passing a horse ranch on the way.

We stopped to drink “Limonit” (Lemon juice and spices) and then lunch, prepared and packed earlier by Yaffa. We then continued to Rosh Pinna and to Gesher B’not Ya’akov where we planned to dip in the Jordan River but as the site was full of people we decided to try our luck at Gesher Arik where we parked our cars but couldn’t find a spot for swimming.

We continued driving through the Golan Heights and down to Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee, via Korazim.

We stopped at Chof Migdal and finally found a comfortable spot for swimming.

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We arrived back to Kfar Tavor in the late hours of the afternoon.

After yet another delicious dinner, we said our goodbyes to Yaffa & Ishai and drove back to Jerusalem, arriving just before 1:00 am.

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Day 27: October 6th, 2005

We woke up rather early and met with Motti Margalit, my long time friend from Eilat. We decided to drive to Mini Israel, a park which displays hundreds of models that are exact copies of sites, buildings and landscapes from around the country. The models are built at a scale of 1:25, which means that every real meter is scaled down to 4 cm.

The exhibited models are of architectural, historical, religious, archeological and social importance. They are surrounded by colorful flowers, miniature vegetation, bonsai trees and thousands of “Israeli” figures who are 7 cm tall. The Park is located in Latrun, just off the main highway from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.

After a couple of hours of site seeing we drove back to Jerusalem and dined at “Mis’adat Hatzot”. We had the restaurant specialty called “Me’urav Yerushalmi”

We returned home and packed as tomorrow we were scheduled to fly back to Italy to the city of Milan.

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Day 28: October 7th, 2005

The day started on a sore note as Tova had an anxiety attack. We rushed her to the emergency room where they found out that her blood pressure was 210 over 99 (!). After a couple of hours and after taking some medications, Tova felt much better and we returned home.

We said our goodbyes to our kids and Ya’ara as tears took a big part of the emotional event. Ya’ara felt that something was going on as she hugged us so tight.

With watery eyes we drove to Ben Gurion Airport. Ronen was waiting for us and after checking our entire luggage (except one carry-on) we spent the next couple of hours talking to him.

The flight to Milan, Italy was delayed and we arrived at Milan International Airport, at around 8:00 pm.

We took the train and after about an hour and a half we arrived to the city of Milan.



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Rain was pouring down as we walked to our hotel, right in the middle of the city.

We checked in and went for dinner, which was very tasty.

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Day 29: October 8th, 2005

We woke up and had a light breakfast at the hotel.

We then walked to the Milan Cathedral (Duomo), which is white marble, over a brick core, and has a cruciform plan. One of the largest cathedrals in the world (14,000 square yards!) it was designed to accommodate 40,000 (!) worshippers.

We then toured the complex around the Duomo and found a unique bakery where we ordered some pastries and (of course) a delicious cappuccino.

We then checked out of the hotel and walked to the train station to take the 10:15 train back to the airport.

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We boarded the Alitalia plane and arrived home, to Orange County, some 17 hours later.

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