Friday 28 January 2011

Train Spotting

Today was a bright but very chilly day, the temperature did not reach over 1 degree but this did not stop us from taking a walk to take a photo of one of the last Wrexham and Shropshire trains. Sadly the service which runs from Wrexham to Marylebone for the last three years has come to an end and today was the last day these silver trains trundled through the English and Welsh countryside. We had been on the train a couple of times. It was a very cheap way to travel and the trains were very comfortable. I loved the fact that I could get on the train at Chrik and sit comfortably for 3 ½ hours and arriving at Marylebone.

After our bit of train spotting, we took a drive in the countryside, it was such a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky and we took a random set of country lanes admiring the view, we even saw some lambs and I did wonder if spring is on the way, but perhaps it was a bit of wishful thinking. Our drive took us to Llangollen where we found ourselves in a café enjoying a spot of cream tea.

Tuesday 25 January 2011

Back on the boat..

We are back on the boat in rainy Wales after being away for a while. In the past month we have been in London looked after by my parents with a fantastic trip to Israel to enjoy a bit of winter sun.

Whilst I was in London, I had some rather sad news and an opening of an email has made my future rather uncertain. I am unable to go into detail as it is very delicate, however, I have been told that I am at risk of redundancy and that in 90 days time, I may not have a job to return home to. I am particularly sad as I (like my colleagues) worked hard to gain a qualification to enter a profession which helped people and made a difference in the community. Only time will tell if I maintain a position, however, my future is currently in the hands of others and out of my control, a horrible and uncertain feeling.

We are staying in Wales for a while as there are stoppages along the Llangollen Canal, I really don’t mind as I love it here. I am enjoying the fresh air and the green fields and despite it raining ever since we got back I am happy to get back to the familiar routine. Our day normally starts with a lazy breakfast and a decision of what we are to do with the day. If it is nice, then we take a trip out, however, as it has been rather miserable I am been using the time to declutter and do a bit of early spring cleaning.

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Israel

What seems a million of miles away from our boat in Chirk, we found ourselves in Tel Aviv, a coastal city in Israel. Perhaps an odd choice for a holiday, but it ticks a number of boxes. Despite being winter, the weather was warm, not hot, but t-shirt and cardigan weather, with a thin jacket in the evening, however, at the dead sea and Masada it was a lot warmer. It is next to the sea and even though I am not a beach person there is a promenade which takes you to some lovely cafes along the sea front. The flight was only 4/5 hours and Tel Aviv is only 30 minutes drive from the airport and of course Israel has loads of history and historical places to visit. So tick, tick, tick, tick and tick.

We stayed in the Crown Plaza hotel (beach) on the 15th floor with a fantastic view of Tel Aviv looking left and the beach and sea looking right. The hotel would definitely be recommended, the breakfasts were an array of bread, fruit, hot food (apart from Saturdays), cheeses and salads which can be eaten very lazily whilst looking out of the window at the beach and sea below. The rooms were modern, but and cosy. One evening we dined at the hotel which had a buffet which consisted of all types of salads, meats, rices, pastas, breads and an array of puddings.

We stayed in Tel Aviv which is a new city (1909) and has a mixture of building, some very modern and others very run down. There is even a deserted area near to the hotel, which is a empty concrete jungle of unused shops and buildings looking very much like the Brunel University campus. It is quite a busy city, lots of hustle and bustle with an array of shops, but I did not see many of the major department stores which we have at home, interesting really as somewhere like Dubai has all of them. The streets seems to be an unorganised mess of shops, offices, flats and restaurants in no particular order. We did find a shopping centre which had an array of shops and café’s . We were able to walk through the streets quite safely and unlike other middle east / northern African countries I have been to we were not hassled to buy stuff. We walked through the town to a street market which sold all sorts of goods from fruit and vegetables to shopping trolleys to carry your shopping home.

We were able to visit a number of places:

  • Jaffa a short walk out of Tel Aviv,
  • The dead sea which is 400 meters below sea level and contains 33% salt
  • Masada which has such an interesting and sad story attached.
  • Jerusalem which of course is the holy city for three religious which has a wealth of history
  • The Holocaust museum which was extremely moving

For this blog, I have decided that I wont write streams about the history of each place as Wikipedia does such a great job and instead I thought that I would post some photos.



Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400,however during the day is rises to over 1 million. It was founded in 1909 on the outskirts of Jaffa

View from hotel room:


Market:
Shopping Centre:

View of Tel Aviv from Jaffa:



Jaffa:

Jaffa is a ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa has been incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo.

Street in the newer part of Jaffa (Arab quarter) and flea market:




Street in old Jaffa:


Masada

Masada was built by King Herold in 35 BC as a three tiered winter home, but he never used it. In 73AD after Judaea became a province of the Roman Empire, it was the refuge of the last survivors of the Jewish revolt (1000 people), who chose death rather than slavery when the Roman besiegers broke through their defences. Masada is 1300 feet high.


View of Masada:


Cable car to the top of the Masada:


Footpath to the top of Masada:


View from the top of Masada:


Ruins of Masada:


View of a Roman settlement outside Masda:


View of the ramp which the Roman built from the ground to the top to break the defences which is amazingly still visible today:


The Dead Sea

A picture to show how far the Dead Sea is receding, I think the sign is where it used to be. It is receding as the water which was feeding it has been diverted as domestic water. A plan is in place to build a canal from the Red Sea to Dead Sea which is a joint venture between Isreal and Jordan, but I do not think that it has started as yet. :



The Dead Sea with the Jordan mountains in the background:


Jerusalem

View of Jerusalem:




Streets in Jerusalem:



Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (which is the holiest place in the Christian Religion) is where Jesus is said to have died and been buried.



Stone of Unction where Jesus was prepared for burial:




The Western / Wailing Wall which is the most sacred sites in Judaism:






The buildings around the Wall:


The Al-Asa Mosque next to the Western Wall:



So as the sun sets on our trip and we are back home, I would recommend a trip to Israel and I have made a mental note to visit again so that I can enjoy again a huge fresh salad
lunch over looking the sea whilst drinking ice coffee getting immersed in it's history and culture.