On my week trip to Israel - Tel Aviv and Jerusalem - it became apparent that instead of one vacation I was getting two for the price of one. Tel Aviv and Jerusalem couldn't be more different and each really cool in their own way so I have decided to do one post each to give them the attention they deserve.
But before I do that, I thought I'd answer the question pretty much everyone asked me - "Why Israel"? Actually, it's not the first time I've been. I went in the late 90s with my aunt, uncle and grandmother and was struck by the history and significance. This time, the choice came about a little randomly. In Switzerland we get off Good Friday and Easter Monday from work so it's common to go someplace fun for an extended long weekend. My friend Kjersti and I looked at flights trying to find someplace with sun, someplace exotic and we saw that there are direct flights between Zurich and Tel Aviv and quicker than you can enter in a credit card number, our tickets were booked.
Israel is a pretty amazing place. It has 7.5 million inhabitants and is only a tiny bit larger than the state of New Jersey. Its official languages are Hebrew and Arabic and as anyone with a television can tell you, although it's a Jewish state they share their space with Arabs who have both Muslim and Christian backgrounds.
Israel has beaches, diving, deserts, great people watching, fabulous food, a Dead Sea, archaeological sites that will blow your mind, and a city with pulsing nightlife. So, really, the "Why Israel" question is easy to answer - no matter what your interests are there is something to interest you in Israel.
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