Dash cam video or it didn't happen.

That's awesome and on someone else's dime.
I would love to go.

I did a project in Israel for IMI a few years back and stayed just north of Tel Aviv in Hezliya at the Sharon Hotel. It was a good place to stay because it was easy to get around with out dealing with going straight through Tel Aviv. Driving is not bad and GPS works great.

The beaches north of the city where I stayed are awesome and the people are just amazing. And yes what they say about the girls at the beach with thier service rifles and bikinis is all true. I have never been to a place where the people are perpetually care free and happy as they are in Israel. If your stay extends to July and August then you have hit the jackpot.

There are day trip tours from Tel Aviv area for Jeruselem where they pick you up at 6 am and drop you back off at your hotel at around 6 pm. It is a crash tour but well worth it. A day trip up to Acre to see the old templar forts and tunnels is a blast. Great food everywhere. Darn wish I was going with you.

Ok I have to add the Gazebbo. This is an outdoor restaurant on the Mediterranean at the foot of the hotel I stayed at. They have unreal kabobs. Go at sunset on weekend night and it seams to be the destination for the nicest looking girls to hang out in their bikinis while the sun sets on the Med. It is surreal.

You have to try fresh pressed pomegranate juice sold right on the street. It's the best.

My BIL works for an Israeli company and he spoke highly of his first trip there. I sent him a pic of of my IWI guns to show his new bosses

Safe travels and enjoy!

quote:

Originally posted by Butch 2340:
You have to try fresh pressed pomegranate juice sold right on the street. It's the best.

I couldn't get enough of the stuff. It prompted me to plant a pomegranate tree last year. Hopefully it'll make it through the winter.

quote:

Originally posted by mrw:
And yes what they say about the girls at the beach with thier service rifles and bikinis is all true.

quote:

Originally posted by mrw:
I have never been to a place where the people are perpetually care free and happy as they are in Israel.

I would respectfully disagree to a certain extent, though I think in the end we won't be that far apart.

There are certain aspect of Israeli society that are uniquely and extraordinarily security conscious. But this is because there is no population quite so aware of the world's ability and inclination to completely wipe them out as Jews. If such a sense is justified anywhere, it's in Israel.

I did see IDF women on the beaches if Tel Aviv with rifles slung--but I would not substitute relaxed with carefree. I never saw bikinis and a rifle on the same person (not saying it doesn't happen, just that I did not see the coincidence).

The fact that IDF carry their rifles with them off-base, magazines attached (I even saw a little guy with a SAW at a bus stop outside Yad Lashiryon) gives evidence to a genuine sense of care, and duty.

It is because some carry rifles that others can wear bikinis: a lesson we would do well to remember and appreciate. On Main Street America, we remind ourselves from time time time, by word of mouth that freedom is earned and preserved by active effort. But on Main Street Israel, you can see it being earned, and preserved, in the cafes, on the beaches, in supermarkets, etc.

The cost of freedom is eternal vigilance--and that is, for the Israelis, a truth much closer to home than for many Americans.