ישראל (Israel), the holy land. Having being born there, I’ve always had a connection to it. This year we took a Milow family trip there for a few weeks in May/June.

We rode to the airport in a limo, the only size car that would fit all of our stuff. This was B’s first limo ride, but I’m not sure if he really cared. We went through security at the airport quickly and with no problems. I had expected lots of security delays on this trip (in the airports anyway) but there weren’t any at all. In fact, it was one of the smoothest airport experiences I’ve ever had.

The plane ride over was 10 ½ hours. We had reserved a bassinet which meant we were behind a bulkhead on the plane. This area has a lot more room than normal seats. Our flight was the day before ל”ג בעומר (Lag BaOmer), and so the flight was packed with Hassidic Jews.

B napped for 45 minutes in the bassinet but he was very cramped in it. He was a huge ball of energy and wouldn’t sleep for a long time. The bulkhead area is right next to the bathrooms and he got distracted by all of the people walking by along with the constant opening and closing of the bathroom doors. He was a real hit with all the women on the plane and kept flirting with all of them.

Finally, T stood up while holding him, rocked him a little, and sang to him. After this star treatment, he finally fell asleep in her arms. After that he slept in the bassinet for about 3 hours. We, however, got very little sleep. At least T was able to get pretty good gluten free meals, so the airplane ride wasn’t a complete headache.

At the airport in Tel Aviv, we met up with a friend at the car rental area and he brought us gluten free bread, water bottles, and maps. The rental car, a minivan, was jam packed and we were all very uncomfortable for the 2 ½ hour ride to סאסא (Kibbutz Sasa). All of us in the back slept for most of that journey.

We ate a light lunch with our family on the kibbutz and then got settled into our rooms. The rooms were in a building that was once rented out to tourists, called “A Stay in the Clouds” since it was situated on a hill (like most of Sasa). After lunch, we walked to the petting zoo area for the bonfire and to meet some more family. The bonfire was in celebration of Lag BaOmer. B watched the sheep and lambs with interest, but cried when the donkeys suddenly started braying loudly.

We drove to הר מירון (Har Meron) restaurant in a nearby Arab village for dinner. It was our first taste of provincial food and it was great. Tabbouleh, tahini, hummus, eggplant.. all mmm mmm good. From the restaurant we saw the sunset over another village called גוש חלב (Gush Halav). There is a church there with a neon cross that stood out on the from the rest of the village.