How to hike in the summer

August 24, 2010 - 2:31 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Travel 

Sunset on the Neve Ilan trail

Summer vacation is almost over but the heat remains. Whether it’s a result of global warming or just bad luck, this has been one of the hottest summers in memory in Israel. But don’t let that stop you from getting out into nature. Even with temperatures in the mid to high 90s (33 and up in Celsius) you can still tiyul around the country.

Here’s the trick: hike in the late afternoon. The risk: it gets dark before you’re done.

As a result, the whole process is highly scientific: pull out the map, count the squares (each one marks a kilometer), add some time for hills, and factor in a comfortable snack break or two.

We recently tried this method on a hike to the wadi (valley) just north of the moshav of Neve Ilan. It’s called Nahal Ital and it’s off the road from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. You can park your car in one place – you end up where you started.

This hike is particularly breathtaking, with compelling vistas from both high atop the hills and down in the valley. But, as our son Aviv – who is keeping a blog about his hikes in Israel – noted, “once you go down you must come up…and oh boy oh boy oh boy! Let me tell you, that climb is the steepest climb I ever did.”

He was right. From bottom to top on this hike is a good half hour straight up with only a single brief level patch of ground; just enough to numb you into thinking the worst is over.

But here’s where the scientific planning comes in handy: when we got near the top, the sun was starting to set. That’s always a pleasure, but ours was doubled because, since we were still climbing, the sun seemed to stay put, extending the time until it dipped below the furthest range of mountains.

Of course when the sun did disappear, it started to get dark. The sweat which we’d previously accumulated so prodigiously began to cool, and our destination was nowhere in sight. But the trail at that point was a straight shot with no tricky turn off’s to consider. We eventually arrived back to our car without having to turn on our flashlights (which we had packed to be on the safe side), just in time to shuffle our sweaty selves past a wedding party celebrating at the Neve Ilan events hall.

To get to Nahal Ital, drive to the far end of Neve Ilan and head down the black jeep trail. Make sure you have the Israel trails map #9 (which covers the greater Jerusalem area) and loop your way around. The hike takes just under 4 hours (there’s an extension that brings it up to 5 hours, but we didn’t take it).

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Walking with the King – Israeli style

November 1, 2009 - 8:37 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, design, Food, General, Israeliness, Music, Pop Culture 

Even my wife can't resist the magnetism of the King.

Even my wife can't resist the magnetism of the King.

I know that Israelity has written about it in the past, but after a visit to the Elvis Inn for a friend’s 60th birthday party, it’s impossible to resist commenting about it.

An oasis of kitsch from the King right off the Neve Ilan turnoff on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway, the Elvis Inn is now an Israeli landmark that should not be missed – especially if you want to go home with an Elvis portable alarm clock or a postcard of Elvis as the baby Jesus, or a Bedouin nomad. It’s the kind of place that John Waters or David Lynch would have thought up for a scene for one of their movies.

The Elvis Inn is actually a restaurant – a garish, American-deco diner at that. You can’t miss the place, with the huge Jurassic Park-like statue of Elvis outside. But rather than serving the traditional cheeseburger and fries – after all, this is Israel – you can get your fries with pargiyot, kebab and any number of grilled Middle Eastern delicacies.

elvis pinch[The music is a taped loop of greatest hits by the King, which I'm sure the staff must be sick of hearing by now. The gift shop is chock full of the Elvis memerobilia described earlier, and the wall and ceilings are jam-filled with photos of 50s Elvis, pre-army Elvis, movie-star Elvis, Las Vegas Elvis, and wall murals of the King's numerous movie rolls. Then there are the statues and figurines throughout the restaurant - magnets for photographs. We went home with an Elvis Inn mug, and a few pilfered Elvis sugar packets.

A visit to the Elvis Inn shouldn't be missed - for a combination of Israeli and American pop culture excess at its most peculiar. Even better if you can make it on the annual commemoration of Elvis's death, when the cadre of Israeli Elvis impersonators converge for an evening of sneering and attempts at Israeli accented "Jailhouse Rocks."

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Remembering Elvis in Israel

August 17, 2009 - 12:25 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Food, General, Israeliness, Life, Music, Pop Culture 

Elvis Presley impersonators (from L to R) Herzl Shimoni, Eran Levron and Dvir Viedenbaum at the Elvis Inn (Reuters)

Elvis Presley impersonators (from L to R) Herzl Shimoni, Eran Levron and Dvir Viedenbaum at the Elvis Inn (Reuters)

The Elvis Inn, off the highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv at the Neve Ilan exit, has been around for a couple decades. And it remains one of the quirky landmarks on the Israeli landscape.

The 50s-style diner boasts Middle Eastern cuisine and tons of Elvis memorabilia, including a garish statue outside, and dozens of framed posters, pens, and postcards inside.

And on the anniversary of Elvis’s death, the Israel Elvis impersonators come out in full force. August 16th marked the 32nd anniversary of the King’s passing, and the usual suspects gathered at the Elvis Inn to mark the event with good cheer and bad impersonations.

‘I (have been) imitating Elvis Presley (for) about 29 years and I love him. Today we’re singing for Elvis, for his memory. We’re going to celebrate his death, his life, his legacy,’ Eran Lev-Ron, an Israeli Elvis impersonator told Sky News.

American Jewish Life magazine had the following description that sums up the weirdness of visiting the Elvis Inn.

Set a bit off the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, near the Kibbutz Neveh Ilan Guest House, is the shrine of shlock, the ultra in kitsch: the Elvis Inn gas station, restaurant, bar and grill and tourist trap, run by owners and brothers Amnon and Uri, along with Uri’s son, Amir, and several staffers.

While it’s certainly not Graceland, the neo-50s and 60s décor does get you in the mood, with a 16-foot-high golden statue of Elvis in the parking lot alongside the entrance, and a second even larger one nearby, with one arm raised, seemingly waving towards Jerusalem.

There are more than 1,000 pictures, posters, and postcards covering nearly every flat surface, sent by fans and like-minded Elvis lovers worldwide. There are also four life-sized Elvis statues scattered around the premises in various poses, sitting at a table, strumming a guitar, and, in general watching over the place.

Inside, artist Uri Ard painted and constructed the show stopping Sistine Chapel-esque ceiling a decade ago, featuring illustrated highlights of Elvis’ life and times dramatically outlined in glowing orange neon.

If you have a chance, even if it’s not on the anniversary of Elvis’s death, don’t miss a visit to the Elvis Inn.

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