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Knowing that I had promised my husband, who is Jewish, that we would one day travel to Israel, my morning walking buddy asked if I had heard of “Easy Israel”. So, I went online and read the whole website. I was intrigued with the Jewish Tour, because growing up “Christian” and knowing all the New Testament pretty well, I thought I’d learn the “other” side of the story. So began the adventure. I contacted Trish, who sent me all the pertinent information right away and over the following days, answered all my questions promptly. As a seasoned traveller, I knew there would be paperwork, funds transfers and all the minutiae involved in international travel. Trish made it easy, with detailed instructions as to how to do it all. Neither of us has ever joined a “tour” before, so we had some misgivings as to whether we’d enjoy being herded around a strange country with a bunch of strangers– but believe me, in retrospect, I wouldn’t have done it any other way. Every detail was handled with speed and accuracy. Even when all our four bags were mis-directed by the Galilee hotel onto the wrong bus instead of to our Jerusalem hotel. Dafna, (Trish’s local agent) tracked them down and got them back to us before we went to sleep that night. So, we had our toothbrushes – not to mention every other item we needed. If I’d have had to sort it out myself, I would have missed a night’s sleep and a whole lot of angst. The group consisted mainly of Americans, and most from the East Coast. After a couple of days, we didn’t need name tags any more, and people were bonding over common interests. We are still in touch via WhatsApp, and I think we’ll stay in touch. We all invited the others to visit our various homes in the future. Everyone was cooperative and duly thankful that we chose Easy Israel. Then there was Gidi (Gideon), our Israeli Guide. What a character he is! He is steeped in the historical knowledge of his country and led us into places that we would never have done on our own. There was a rocket attack from Gaza on our first morning near the hotel in Tel Aviv, and Gidi, along with all the staff at the hotel handled the whole affair with charm and humour. I heard a local saying that day – "They tried to kill us. They didn’t succeed. Let’s eat”. Gidi was able to take us to places that are not commonly on tour routes. For example, we planted trees in the Golan Heights and then went up to a memorial to the various wars that have happened since Israeli Independence. We passed old minefields and burned-out tanks, tank barriers and barbed wire. Also, we were privileged to attend a meeting of the Knesset the day before Netanyahu was indicted. We saw a young woman, a new member of the Knesset, giving her maiden speech. We also met with a former Mossad agent, an old friend and mentor of Gidi. He was fascinating. And speaking of EATING. OMG!! The food is outstanding. The variety of fresh fruits and vegetables available throughout the trip was incredible! And so healthy… I even lost 5 pounds over the two weeks. Of course, some of that might be due to pushing my husband up and down the cobbled streets of Old Jerusalem in a wheelchair. On the subject of wheelchairs. My husband has MS, and can walk for short periods, but not on uneven surfaces. Trish and Gidi and Bill-Al (our driver throughout the trip) had wheelchairs available and waiting at every stop and sight-seeing area. They also made sure his walker (which isn’t the easiest thing to fold) was out of the bus before we even disembarked. Bill-Al is astounding. He managed to navigate our bus through the narrow streets and parking lots like a greased sheep (no pigs in Israel) in a barrel. The hotels we stayed in were great. The Alexander in Tel Aviv was a “boutique” hotel right on the beach. Very modern, very comfortable, with a wonderful bathroom. The breakfasts were primo. The Hod Hotel at the Dead Sea was, again, right on the water, with a great view of the beach and an incredible buffet. In the Kinar Hotel, on the shores of Galilee, which I believe is a Kibbutz, we were surrounded with groups from all over the world, from Japan to Russia, and again, the buffet was amazing. I am so glad we chose Easy Israel. It lived up to everything I read about and more. Trish is a wonderful organiser and advocate for the less-able folks like my husband. She’s quite fierce when stopping the crowds from pushing and shoving us around. Not like England and the US, where queuing is the norm, people tend to rush to be first in Israel. She’d make a good member of an Australian Rules rugby team! I must say that a couple of things came as a surprise. One... the Sea of Galilee is a lot bigger than I had imagined. Two ... Seeing pimpled teenagers, laughing and chattering while carrying lethal looking machine guns through the street of Jerusalem was at first shocking. Then I realised how much safer I felt the whole time I was in Israel, than I feel on the streets of San Francisco. And Three ... The Dead Sea feels weird. Wonderful, but weird. You have to experience it to understand. I loved it.
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