Hi Braham
We stayed on a vegetarian moshav – a small village called 'Amirim'. I have relatives that have lived there for almost 40 years. It is a very pretty place situated on a mountain and my cousin's bakery serves the BEST bread, etc. (even though i have to say that, thankfully it is true!). Amirim is about 20mins to Tsfat and is centrally located in the North, which allowed us to explore the entire top-end of Israel for a week using Amirim as our base. Other suggestions of places to use as a base in the north are: Tsfat, Tiberias & Rosh Pina. They are all beautiful and special in their own right. Amirim is perched on the side of one of the first major 'hills' of the Galil, so you will see from the photos that we had breathtaking shots of the Galilee, Kinneret and Teverya.
Sukkot we were in Jerusalem, and our landlord gave us a Sukkah which was excellent. (see our album pics online). I cannot impress upon you how important it is to be in Jerusalem for Sukkot. Everywhere you walk, on every street, for houses, shops, businesses, etc, there are Succot for private/public use everywhere. It is very touching. Of course the BIGGEST event of Sukkot, and one of the biggest events of our trip was Birkat Cohanim at the Kotel (on Chol HaMoed). Over 40,000 people came to the Kotel to receive the blessing from the hundreds of Cohanim. This is exactly why Sukkot (as one of the shalosh regalim) is called a 'pilgrimage' festival. Awesome, just awesome.
For tourist attractions all over Israel, i recommend you consult our "GoogleMaps Tourist Attractions" below. Prior to leaving I made a map with markers all over Israel marking with precision the exact spots (useful for my Nokia phone GPS) of the major attractions from which we chose our daily activities. The list is specifically geared towards sights more suitable for children our age.
Don't forget to get a quote from Shoshi at Eldan, and perhaps you might like to try another car rental company as a comparison for the Eldan prices. I recommend 'SixT' as a possible alternative. Don't worry about the rest honestly – a waste of time...
Also, make sure you take with you something like a Nokia phone which has a GPS. When you get to Israel, you will buy a SIM card from Cellcom (at the airport) for 150 shekels (yours to keep forever) and then get a 60 shekel per month data plan for the sim card, which will give you access to Google Maps and interacts with the GPS on your phone – an absolute necessity for travelling around Israel. Melways on steroids.
Keep the questions coming – everytime I answer I re-live the memory. Enjoy.
Regards
Paul Steinberg
Mob. 0413055718
Web photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/steinbergpicasa
Blog online: http://steinbergsinisrael.blogspot.com
GoogleMaps Tourist Attractions: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=101845790702321945414.00046ae3bb9b8c8d66f12
Skype Paul username: 'paulsteinberg'
Skype Steinberg Family username: 'prsteinberg'
From: Braham Goldberg [mailto:fbgold@aapt.net.au]
Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 9:49 PM
To: prsteinberg@optusnet.com.au
Subject: kibbutz
Hi Paul,
You told me towards the end of your trip you based on a kosher kibbutz in the north – which kibbutz was it? Was it kibbutz lavi? Also, where were you for sukkot? Other than J’m, where would you recommend to go for that time?
Thanks Paul,
Braham
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