Foto Friday – Olives take center stage
Filed under: Business, coexistence, Environment, Foto Friday, General, health, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Politics, Social Justice, Travel
The humble olive finds itself in the eye of a political storm this year with reports of violence and vandalism from all sides. (Perhaps the fairest assessment of the situation comes from a new Oxfam report which puts the blame squarely on… well… everyone, which is kind of refreshing). Meanwhile, the fruit of the Olea Europaea tree is ripening and olive-picking activities – also on all sides – are at their peak.
The annual Galilee and Golan Olive Branch Festival started last week and features two weekends of activities for tourists to Israel’s northern region. The festival, a joint initiative of the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee, the Galilee Development Authority and the Israel Olive Board is being held under the slogan “A Tribute to the Olive in Different Cultures”.
Activities include visits to olive presses, workshops, hikes, cycling tours, spas and gourmet eating. In addition, an Open House initiative offers visitors a glimpse into the lives of Galilee residents – Jews, Arabs, Druze, Circassian – including traditional food, music and crafts.
Hananya Farm is one of the country’s major producers of olive oil. Located in the Western Galilee, it is both the headquarters of the Olive Board and one of the festival’s four information centers, offering a wide range of workshops and activities.
These include picking and pressing the olives in an old-fashioned press, guided olive oil tasting, explanations about the olive harvest, an arts and crafts fair, farmers market and musical performances beneath the olive trees. Guided hikes (many with KKL-JNF guides), cycle and jeep tours are also available.
A few words about the Olive Board. A statutory body representing the interests of Israel’s olive producers, it sets standards for olive oil quality and production. In recent years it has adopted an additional aim: promoting the health benefits related to olive oil consumption. Their website contains a range of information, from the history of the olive in Mediterranean culture to the varieties of olives grown in Israel, like Barnea, which was bred specifically for modern olive and olive oil production methods. Truth be told (and it’s worth reading the Oxfam report with this in mind) stone presses are nice for promotional festivals and niche markets but that’s not really how this stuff gets made – or makes it – in the mass market.
A respite in the Golan
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Life, Travel
What do Israelis do when a brutal heatwave hits the country? Head to the water! And even though we’re in the throes of drought-like conditions with the Kinneret dropping this week below the low red line for the first time this year, there are still some fresh-water places to be found that are bursting with water.
This past weekend, we found ourselves in the North, and taking advantage of our annual ‘Matmon’ card membership to the Parks and Nature Reserves enabling free entrance to any of the more than 60 nature reserves throughout the country, we decided to spend the 100 degree day hiking at the Yehudia Forest Reserve in the Golan.
There are eleven trails listed in the Park’s brochure, including Nahal Zavitan, and the Meshushim (hexagonal basalt pillars) and some rigorous hiking – a four-hour trail involving ladders, ropes, swimming across deep water to get from one place to another.
And then there’s the hiking we chose: a pleasant 40-minute upper trail stroll that descends drastically to a beautiful waterfall and spacious natural pool.
In that heat, once we got there, we weren’t moving. And it was very easy to stay, enjoying the refreshing water, watching the adventurous types climb the rocks around the waterfall and dive down below, and observing and talking to the hundreds of fellow hikers and swimmer – including a not-so-small number of young Americans on summer trips like birthright.
They were the ones that were easy to spot – dipping their toes in the water first and yelping when they saw the fresh water fish scurrying about below. But even they overcame their queaziness and succumbed to the aquatic pleasures and beauty of Yehudia.
Desert survivalist defies the odds a second time
Filed under: A New Reality, Environment, General, Israeliness, Life, Travel
I’m not sure if he’s the tour guide I would choose for my wilderness excursion.
For the second time in nine months, famed desert survival specialist Nir Gur, went missing this week. And once again, following widespread searches, it had a happy ending of sorts. At least the circumstances were less sensational than the first disappearance.
Eight months ago the 61-year-old Gur, former director of the Ein Gedi field school and created a desert survival center, was found in the Golan, naked with a gun shot wound to his head. He barely survived and was unconscious for a month. When he awoke he had no recollection of how he came to be in that state and police have been unable to solve the case.
Gur recovered, and this week was due to attend a meeting at Seminar Hakibutzim on Tuesday but never arrived. His wife reported him missing Wednesday morning, sparking widespread media publicity and a national search. According to media reports, Gur was found on Wednesday night near Kibbutz Yagur after a massive police search which included use of a helicopter. He was reported to be in a confused state, slightly scratched but otherwise unharmed.
While he’s proven that he’s indeed a survivor, I’m not sure I’d want to follow him out into the desert – without a portable GPS system.
Vacation tips for the Passover holiday – Part 2
Yesterday, I posted some of my favorite Passover week vacation spots. Here’s part two:
Hula Lake. One of our favorite spots in the entire north of the country is the Hula Lake (Agamon Hula in Hebrew) which is just off Highway 90. The Hula is famous as one of the main swamps drained by the pioneers, many of whom died from malaria. The valley has since been re-flooded to create a more ecologically appropriate environment and is known as Israel’s premiere bird sanctuary.
You can either rent bicycles to circle the lake (a 2-hour ride) or take the lazy option – like we did – and putter about in a 4 person motorized golf cart (the price at NIS 175 was less than renting 4 bikes). That turned out to be great fun for the whole family as we let the kids each have their turn driving the cart.
Nachal Iyun. At the very tip of the country is Nachal Iyun, also known as the Tanur (the oven), a nature reserve just outside of Metulla, an 8 minute drive north from Kiryat Shemona.
The Tanur is reputedly the most beautiful walk in Israel. In order to do the hour and a half hike, you need two cars, one parked at either end. The walk itself goes through gorgeous canyons and wooded forests. There are three waterfalls along the way but depending on the rainfall that winter, in the late spring and summer the waterfalls may be “turned off.” In this case, farmers in Lebanon divert the water to use for irrigation. The walk is nevertheless quite lovely.
Manara Cliffs. This popular tourist attraction just south of Kyriat Shemona on Highway 90 includes a 10-minute cable car ride to the top of a towering mountain with stunning views of the entire area and a lovely little forest with a 400-meter circular trail. During hol ha moed there’s a jumping playground set up for kids and regular musical performances.
Our kids opted not to take the cable car ride to the top with Jody and me. Instead they spent their time at the small enclosed bungee jumping area and on a fun toboggan ride that zips down the side of the mountain at breakneck speeds. The kids did that twice for NIS 25 ($7) each ride. The ride up to the top was NIS 90 ($26) per person.
Contact info:
Hula Valley Bike and Golf Carts
http://www.parks.org.il/ParksENG/company_card.php3?CNumber=422020
+972-4-693-7069
Nachal Iyun – The Tanur
0+972-4-695-1519
Manara Cliffs
www.cliff.co.il
+972-4-690-5830
Israel chooses team for Winter Olympics
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Life, Sports, Travel
Roman and Alexandra Zaretsky
And in a case of good timing, the Olympic Committee of Israel announced this week it would be sending a three-member delegation to the Winte Olympics next month in Vancouver – Roman and Alexandra Zaretsky, a brother-and-sister skating duo, and skier Mikail Renzhin.
Renzhin will compete in the slalom and giant slalom events. The Zaretskys finished seventh in the 2010 European Championships, and are scheduled to skate to “Hava Nagila” and the theme music from the film Schindler’s List. For all three, it will be their second Olympic appearance.
Roman began skating as a 4-year-old in Belarus, while his younger sister started after the family’s aliya to Israel at the Canada Center in Metula. “He decided that he didn’t want to skate alone, so my parents looked for a partner for him,” Alexandra, now 22, told Ha’aretz. “I was supposed to be a stand-in until a suitable partner could be found.”
Their mother, Elena, sent them to Delaware to study with top professionals after they began outskating their teachers in Israel.
“We had the potential and had to make the move,” explains Roman. “Either we went to the United States to get better, or we stayed in Metula where the conditions are not suitable for breeding champions. Our mother couldn’t go with us for financial reasons.”
They both say they miss Israel and feel foreign in New Jersey, where they now live. Their apartment is always stocked with pickled cucumbers, Turkish coffee and other Israeli-made foodstuffs. “We grew up in Metula with the beautiful view of the Golan, then suddenly found ourselves here, where the people aren’t always so nice. It doesn’t feel like home. There’s nothing like Israel.”
Maybe they’ll be the ones to bring home Israel’s first medal in a winter Olympics.
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