Weekly Vlog Posts #23 & #22: My Vacation in Vlog Posts

As you may have noticed, I haven't gotten so many blog posts up yet about my recent Israel trip (only posts #1 and #2 have gone up so far).  You also may have noticed that I have been behind in vlogging - however, I am beginning to catch up (albeit in a backwards fashion (posts #21, #20, & #19 are still yet to be posted): Here are vlog posts #23 & #22.  Both of them cover my two weeks of vacation.Vlog post #23 is mainly about my wife's and my travelling about Israel:

Vlog post #22 is about my first week of vacation, where I went to a friend's wedding, attended the AJS conference, and went to Israel:

Israel Trip, Winter 2008-2009: Post #2

(Post #1)
On Sunday, we finally had nice weather (it had been chilly up until then (and raining when we arrived)), which coincided nicely with day #1 of our jaunting about Israel.
We took a train out to Tel-Aviv University (my wife's first ever train ride in Israel) to visit the Diaspora Museum, even though both of us had visited it multiple times prior to this visit. We went inside for about an hour and rushed around (since we had been there before). At the outset, the exhibits reminded me of other Jewish museums blending together. Then, in the museum's breaking up of various main diasporean communities, primarily chronologically, it seemed to me to be a refresher of Jewish history of the last two and a half millenia, spanning time and place.
We then departed the museum and hopped back on the train, to head up north to go to Binyamina, where there is a winery and nearby restaurant. We had heard of Binyamina, as their chocolate liqueur is excellent, but hadn't really known about their wine.
We arrived at the visitors' center of the winery, where we graciously were given water upon request, while we waited briefly for their daily 3pm tour in English. While waiting, we looked around at their wines and, more enticingly, at their various yummy-looking liqueurs, of which they had over a dozen. Then our tour began, with another couple besides us along with the tour guide.
We took the tour of the fourth-largest winery in Israel and it was simple and informative. We got to learn about contemporary methods of wine-making (as well as previous kinds). We found out that, although the main building and the grounds had been around since 1925, Binyamina Wines have only been around since 1992. At the end, we had a little wine tasting, with our tour guide showing us how to properly appreciate the wine when tasting it (he said it ought to involve all five senses). Although this was my first ever winery visit, I have, to a minor degree, been interested in wines since having seen Sideways with my family several years back. Even though I had liked wine prior
to seeing that movie, it catalyzed me to appreciate the different types of wine and what about them makes them them.
After the wine tasting, the other couple on the tour had to head off, but we stayed for lunch/dinner and were waited on by our tour guide. For the first course, we were served bread along with over a half dozen different salads. Then came our main entrées: my wife got entrecôte and I got the chicken dish. The meat was definitely quite good and came along with potato slices and some really great-tasting green beans (some of the best I've ever had). Also my meal came with a
complimentary glass of wine, since we had gone on the tour. We thought we were finished, but, apparently, there was still dessert, which was an apple strudel - like thing (they also usually provide coffee, but neither of us are coffee drinkers). Following our dinner, we then purchased some wines and liqueurs and hopped back on the train to Modi'in.

Israel Trip, Winter 2008-2009: Post #1: Arrival

There was so much to write about my last trip to Israel two years ago and I unfortunately neither wrote/posted about it during the trip, nor much afterwards. However, I will be writing more about this trip (in part, assisted by writing on my iPod (that my wife got me over a year ago and that also assisted me in my keeping track of our honeymoon)).

We took an Austrian Air flight from JFK airport to Vienna, then, after a brief layover, we flew to Israel (by the way, it was my first time flying to Israel on an airline other than El Al). We then got picked up by my wife's brother's wife, who drove us back to the house they are renting for the year, where we got showered up, had pizza for dinner, headed to the mall for a bit, then went back and retired for the evening.

The next day was a Friday, so, since things close on the early side in Israel on Fridays, we decided to just stay in town and walk around, exploring the mall with the older of our two nieces.Then it was shabbas and it was rather restful (I got around 16 hours of sleep, which was good (I think my body was still trying to adjust to the new timezone and to my lack of sleep throughout the flights)).

Following shabbas, my wife and I went with my wife's sister-in-law and her daughter and were around the Talpiyot mall and got pizza at Pizza HaShikmah for 27 shekels (less than $7) - definitely a great deal! Then we went back to the mall, got some pastries, and then headed back with my wife's sister-in-law to Modi'in.