Saved by the meat
View from a window at Amirey HaGalil
Amirey HaGalil was not our first choice for a romantic weekend getaway in the north of Israel for our 22nd wedding anniversary. That would have been Bayit BaGalil. But at twice the price (and not including dinner), we opted for the more reasonable option.
Amirey HaGalil is located next to Moshav Amirim, which has been turned into a destination for vegetarian bed and breakfasts. To get to Amirey HaGalil, you drive down a steep driveway into a pastoral setting with fruit trees, hammocks and lounge chairs framing a large enclosed courtyard, which serves as the focal point of the hotel. It’s really quite lovely.
Amirey HaGalil bills itself as a spa-hotel, but the spa section is rather sparse, devoid of the usual parade of patrons in white terry cloth robes drinking fresh herbal tea prior to entering their treatment rooms. We were the only people waiting for a massage.
We opted for what was billed as a romantic “couple’s massage” but which turned out to be a drab room with two tables set next to each other. The headrest for my table was broken in such a way that each time the masseuse dug into my back, it pressed painfully into my Adam’s apple. I tried moving this way and that to no avail. My masseuse apologized but offered no rebate or discount.
Our room was similarly perfunctory. The “mini-suite” had a separate living and bedroom, but the bathroom was just a couple of steps up from a kibbutz facility. To make matters worse, the shower head – like my massage table – was broken.
Still, we enjoyed the large Jacuzzi in the living room – big enough for two, lots of bubbles – with a stunning view over the Galilee hills. The free DVDs were also a nice touch – we watched the film adaptation of David Grossman’s “Someone to Run With” – a powerful and highly recommended film.
The highlight of our stay, however, was dinner. The “chef’s restaurant” served a fabulous meal, from the freshly baked bread with some surprising tapas (including a white bean dip accompanied by fresh spiced chickpeas and onions) to our entrees. I ordered the “trio” – a meat lover’s extravaganza with mangold leaves stuffed with entrecote, lamb pieces in a chicken breast wedge, and rice stuffed with another meat whose name I didn’t catch but it was delicious. There was also a spicy pepper soup and berry sorbet between courses.
Of course, you don’t have to be a guest in the hotel to eat there, but this unexpected treat included in the total price for an average facility made it that much easier to swallow.
Foto Friday – Footprints
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, Pop Culture, Travel
Sometimes it’s good to take a moment and see Israel from a different vantage point. In summer if you look down, for instance, you’re very likely to see “balatot” — the ubiquitous light limestone floor tile — plus a variety of fun footwear that takes you from work to the beach and back again.
A trip to the Dead Sea affords another type of shoe, suited to mud baths and salt water.
Which is different to what you’d wear to snap some sidewalk graffiti while walking up and down Rothschild Boulevard at Tel Aviv’s Laila Lavan all-night street fair. (This takeoff on the Peace Now logo says “Shalit Now” in reference to captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit).
And sometimes a girl needs to take a rest from those heels at a sidewalk pub (note the Ackerstein paving blocks so typical of Tel Aviv).
A little culture never hurt.
Though these shoes might — especially the price. (Three thousand-plus shekels!)
Thank goodness, at the end of the day, there’s a place to relax on the edge of the Med.
PR woman Efrat Gurman is a consummate media professional who’s made a career out of positioning things differently. She’s a colleague and friend to photographers and in her few spare moments, snaps pictures of her own, mostly of of things that interest her – or that she makes interesting. For more of her “Footprints” series click here.
Foto Friday – Down at the Dead Sea with Shmuel Browns
Filed under: Art, Environment, Foto Friday, General, Travel
Canadian-Israeli Shmuel Browns is a licensed tour-guide and artist who uses photography to share his love of nature. A recent exhibit, From the Lowest Place on Earth presented images of the Dead Sea, a miraculous body of salt water whose name belies its true nature.
The region – 420 meters below sea level – possesses unique geographical, biological and historical characteristics, and the sea itself is rich in minerals that, coupled with its stark beauty, have made it a center for spa tourism.
So much for the good news. The bad news is that the Dead Sea is dying or, more accurately put, being killed off. It is shrinking at a rate of 1 meter per year as both Israel and Jordan divert the waters flowing into it, leaving huge mud flats with hundreds of sinkholes that lie in the sun like open wounds crusted with salt.
In his artist’s statement, Browns writes: “Even as the world is rapidly changing, as humanity encroaches, these photographs capture nature in a serene moment. The exhibit explores contrast–between wet and dry, water and desert; the contrast between rock and vegetation, and between the broad horizontal expanse of the Dead Sea and the cliffs and mountains that rise vertically above it; the contrast between nature and human industry.”
This surreal moonscape is Dead Sea Works, a subsidiary of Israel Chemicals, a multibillion dollar industry and part of the lifeblood of Israel’s economy. Shutting it down isn’t an option for the immediate future but a comprehensive integrated development plan for the entire region has been proposed by Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME).
Last summer, Browns had the opportunity to show these images of the lowest place on earth in a Katmandu gallery, in the shadow of the highest mountains on earth. The exhibit can be found online on his Facebook page.
Anyone for a snake massage?
Got an ache that just won’t go away? Well try a snake massage.
Yes, for the brave amongst us, a spa in northern Israel is now using snakes to give clients a massage they are no doubt unlikely to forget.
Ada Barak who owns the snake spa in Talmei Elazar uses a variety of California and Florida king snakes, corn snakes and milk snakes to help soothe her clients’ aches and pains, and let their troubles literally slide away.
While many – myself included – might balk at the thought of it, Barak, who has been offering snake massages for the last two years, believes that once people overcome their fears, physical contact with the reptiles can be a relaxing and stress-relieving experience.
Many regular clients claim the snakes help ease migraines and soothe sore muscles.
“Some people said that holding the snakes made them feel better, relaxed,” she announced in an article with Time Magazine reporter Tim McGirk, who was brave enough to try it out himself. “One old lady said it was soothing, like a cold compress.”
After his initial panic, McGirk seemed to like it.
The snakes, which aren’t venomous, offer a variety of massage sensations, according to Barak. The large ones offer a kneading effect which helps alleviate deep muscle tension, while the small ones have a fluttering effect.
The cost of this massage – $80.
Barak is clearly not your usual masseur. Aside from her snake spa, she owns a carnivorous plant farm, from which she derives most of her income. These plants eat anything from insects and small mammals to schnitzel.
In April this year, Barak appeared on American chat show, the Tyra Banks Show, for an episode on beauty tips from around the world. Tyra started screaming, and Barak lost a snake down her shirt.
So what’s next – black widow spider massage perhaps? Or why not throw caution to the winds and try a snake massage with the venomous kind. You can find quite a few in the hills around here.
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