“So what?” you ask. Due to the general crappiness of Office Communicator, and the fact that I use many different IM services, I have been using Miranda for a long time now.

Miranda is an open-source IM platform that supports pretty much every Instant Messaging protocol out there. I use it for Google Talk (Jabber), AIM, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, and SIP which is OCS’s communications protocol.

I used to use a program called Trillian but support for it was spotty at best and the program wasn’t nearly as flexible as Miranda. Plus, Miranda is updated much more frequently and has many more plugins available for it. One major problem I had was that whenever my laptop went into Standby mode, Trillian would not reconnect to OCS. With a few plugins such as KeepStatus, Miranda will reconnect for me.

The SIP Plugin for Miranda does not support the concept of internal and external servers which I now need. So what I did was download the source code and add it myself. The solution I came up with is to alternate between both servers when trying to connect. Since I use the KeepStatus PlugIn, Miranda will retry the connection until it finally connects. This is not the perfect solution but it was the easiest for me to implement, not knowing the plugin code well.

If this solution sounds like it will work for you, and you are interested in the plugin, let me know and I will post it here.

For us, the end was delayed when our plane was diverted twice before landing in Newark 19 hours after we took off.

The trip was so much fun for all of us. We got a chance to relax, to sight see, and to catch up with family and friends. What more can anyone ask for?

The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent in Jaffa. The old city part of town is made up of small alleys and lots of stairs. We walked around and checked out the old architecture, starting with the main square.

After walking around the square, we went up to Sumimt Hill where we had some great views of Tel Aviv in the distance.

The rest of the time was spent walking around the small alleys, towards the port.

The port was pretty run down but there was some construction going on and a sign displaying a revitalization plan. In a few years it will probably look completely different. Hopefully next time we are there it will be full of shops and restaurants.

As with many older cities, there were a lot of interesting doors in Jaffa, here is a sampling:

We did some shopping on Ben Yehuda street, trying to find a menorah, but nothing caught our eyes. B, Aba, and I went to the beach instead.

Next to our beach was a huge area with a stage for bands to play after the parade. The huge speakers were blasting techno music pretty much the whole time which made the beach experience better for me.

B didn’t like the water at all this time. He’s very particular, kind of like his dad. Ema, M, and T went to an outdoor pedestrian market and bought a few things. After the market, they went shopping on Sheinkin Street and bought lots of clothes.

When the ladies returned, we watched the concert from the balcony of the hotel for a little while.

At night, T and I took B while everyone else went to Carmela Bistro for dinner.

יפו (Jaffa) is about a 30 minute walk on the Tayelet (boardwalk) from the Renaissance hotel. We started walking towards it, along the water.

On the way we stopped at the Opera House Mall for M to try on some bathing suits since hers had gotten lost. While she was downstairs in the bathing suit store with Ema, the rest of us went to the Matim Li (ML) store to look for clothes. The saleslady there was one of the pushiest I’ve ever met. She was wearing clothes from the store with the tags still on them. On the plus side, when we wanted to show something to Ema, she let us leave the store with the clothes on and walk downstairs. That would never happen in the U.S.

Back on the Tayalet, it was very hot, but at least a little breezy to make it bearable. We ate a huge “business lunch” along the water. I ate the best tabbouleh I’ve ever had there.

We decided to save Jaffa for another day and headed back to the hotel and then the beach. B loved the sand. He would pick it up and play with it and crawl around on it. He wasn’t too happy in the water, but tolerated it if he was in my arms. I probably took too many pictures that afternoon, but I couldn’t help it - he was just so cute!

T and I went out for dinner alone that night while Ema, Aba, and M took care of B. We ate at Carmela Banachala (Bistro), which is also owned by the same owner of Uri Buri and Helena. They had the same style tasting menu where the waitress chooses the meals. The three appetizers were very good, and for the main meal we had two seafood dishes, one meat dish, and 4 desserts (little ones, on one plate). Everything was delicious except the beef dish. Again, we learned that the beef in Israel is to be avoided. We walked along the Tayelet for a bit after dinner, making it a romantic night.

The main exhibit is a triangular shaped, partially underground building that slopes upward towards the sky. At the end of the exhibit is a balcony that has amazing views of Jerusalem below.

The path snakes between exhibition rooms on each side of the building. The rooms were ordered chronologically and contained both artifacts from that period of time as well as video interviews with survivors. It starts with the beginnings of the Nazi party in Germany and ends with the formation of the State of Israel. The whole museum was extremely moving and emotional – especially as a parent.

We also visited the Eternal Flame and the Children’s Memorial. The children’s memorial was very interesting - it is a room that is completely dark except for lots of tiny memorial candles. There is a voice constantly reading out the names of the children that died in the Holocaust. The campus that the museum sits on is pretty large and contains lots of other exhibits as well.

Overall the museum was a great experience. However, there were many big tour groups there and at times it was very crowded.

After we were finished at the museum, we got picked up by Ema and Aba and drove up to Mount of Olives for views of the city. It wasn’t as picturesque as I’m sure it would have been the night before, but the views made it worth going there. At the viewpoint was a camel tied to the ground. I remember a camel being there the last time I visited as well.

The whole time in Jerusalem, we saw the Dome of the Rock from the side of the Old City. From the Mount of Olives, you can see the Dome of the Rock from the other side. The building is very impressive, but non-Muslims are not allowed in. I have read that the dome was built to be one centimeter larger than the the largest dome in Jerusalem at the time, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, to show that Islam was a greater religion. After doing some research online I’m still not sure if that is true or false.

We got lost on our drive out of Jerusalem and hit lots of traffic. After dropping by our friend’s house to pick up some things we had left there, we headed towards Tel Aviv. We checked into the Renaissance Hotel and went to dinner at Forelin Restaurant. The food was very good and so was the service. The menu contained mainly seafood and everything was cooked to perfection. I had a chocolate espresso brandy pyramid and it was one of the best desserts I have ever had!

You can see the whole city (old and new) from the top of the Citadel. There is also a museum there that explains some of the history of the city.

We walked along the ramparts of the wall from the Jaffa gate to the Zion gate and saw more of the city. There were lots of groups of tourists and children that kept passing us and it was a bit of a pain trying to squeeze by, but overall it was cool walking the ancient walls. Towards the end of the walk we had great views of the Church of Dormition, where Mary is said to have lived and died after the resurrection of Christ. The church is very large and impressive to see from the distance.

After eating Begele (a traditional Arab bread) outside of the Zions gate, we went into the Dormition Abbey. In the basement is the Crypt of the Sleeping Virgin. In the middle is a wood and ivory statue of the sleeping Virgin Mary. In the rest of the crypt there were some modern-art-looking enclaves, which I thought was very strange in such an old place.

We took the long walk back to the hotel to shower and nap. Before dinner, we wanted to drive up to הר הזיתים (Mount of Olives) for a sunset view of the city. Unfortunately the traffic was horrendous and we couldn’t find out way to get there before the sun went down. In Jerusalem, if you go the wrong way once it takes a long time to get back on track.

So we drove back to the hotel, parked, and walked to a nearby area where there were lots of restaurants. The one we wanted to go to was booked for the night. It is so popular that it didn’t even have a sign - we had to find it by address alone. We walked to another restaurant only to find that it was closed for a private party.

Finally, we found a restaurant that had a good sounding menu, called La Guta. The appetizers were good but my steak entrée was just okay. We learned that steaks aren’t that great in Israel. You’re much better off getting chicken or seafood. There was lots of happening nightlife around the restaurant area, but after dinner we just retired back to the hotel.

In the morning we started out towards ירושלים (Jerusalem). We drove on a highway that snakes up around the Dead Sea and through the West Bank. Our hotel had a tiny little parking area which was to be used only for car rental drop off an pick up - the hotel is owned by Eldan, the rental car company. The parking area was packed and the workers had to maneuver a bunch of cars around for us to worm our way through and go into the underground parking area. The parking area had a small narrow ramp and the parking was basically in a utility basement area. It was kind of creepy and the elevator up was very tiny.

Both hotel rooms had a view of the Old City, and our room had a view of the interesting-looking YMCA building. We dropped off our bags and went walking towards the Old City. There was lots of construction everywhere and traffic congestion all around. Jerusalem outside of the Old City is an ever-expanding modern city.

We entered the Old City through the Jaffa gate. After stopping at the tourist office, we walked through the market streets and bought some gifts. The street was full of vendors hawking all sorts of wares which were sometimes hanging out into the narrow path.

We ate falafel for lunch then went to the Western Wall. Security to get to the wall was very tight and we decided to see it from the distance rather than get closer. The plaza it is in was packed with people.

We walked on some underground Roman streets that were excavated below street level. It was interesting to see multiple layers of construction over the centuries of inhabitants. Each level, ever lower, represented some ancient civilization, with modern Jerusalem on the very top.

We tried to find Santa Ana Church by walking along the Via Dolorosa and saw some of the stations of the cross. This is the street that Jesus was walked down to his crucifixion. We had trouble finding the church, had to ask for directions, and then got there just as the church was closing, too late to enter.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, however, was open and we went in to see it. It is built atop the hill where Jesus was crucified, and also contains his tomb. In the entrance is a pink stone slab where Jesus’s body is said to have been prepared for burial. Up the stairs is the spot where the cross was believed to have stood. The center of the church has a small chapel surrounding the area where Jesus’s tomb is. The stone that was covering his grave is also there.

After getting ready back at the hotel, we drove to the םרכ ןיע (Ein Carem) area to meet up with some family for dinner.

I walked around, admiring the beauty of the ancient structures with the reddish glow cast upon them by the sun. After 45 minutes or so, I walked back down on the snake path to go back to the hotel.

The drive back to the hotel was also quite scenic. Getting up at 4am to see Masada and the surrounding area during the early morning was an amazing experience. Even though I don’t normally function at that time of day it was totally worth it.

I met up with everyone at breakfast. We then drove to Masada together and took the cable car up to the top. It was quite hot, even at 9am, but it was bearable. If we had come any later it would have been horribly hot. Masada has great views of the Dead Sea and surrounding mountains. There are ruins of the old palaces, bathhouses, storerooms, etc. It was all quite impressive.

Some of the mosaic tiles from the old floors were still there as well as some ancient wall frescoes.

Back at the base of the cable car, we went to the Masada Museum and learned a little about the history of Masada. The museum has an interesting way of presenting information – the rooms were all dark and filled with statues of people doing scenes from history. As we would enter a room, the hand held device we were given would start describing what the scene in the room was about.

We ate some ice cream, of course, then drove to עין בוקק (En Boqeq), an area with lots of resort hotels, to take some pictures of the Dead Sea.

The afternoon was spent at the עין גדי (Ein Gedi) spa, which was included in the cost of our hotel. The land the spa sits on is listed as being the lowest place on earth - it is about 1,378 feet below sea level. The spa includes hot springs (which emit a stinky sulfur smell), a beach, and a pool.

We started out at the pool. B crawled around the wet pool ledge and had a blast. He also had fun in the pool, kicking and splashing. We were relieved because this was his second time in a pool and the first time didn’t go so well.

Since the Dead Sea is receding, the beach is no longer by the spa. Me and T took a little train down to the water’s edge. The ground was all crusted over with salt, about 3 inches deep, and there were lots of really big salty chunks strewn about.

One older man took a dive underwater for some reason. T saw him do it and let out a gasp of shock. He was complaining about his eyes and nose hurting when someone helped him get some fresh water to flush his face. In the water there were floating logs with freshwater spouts on them for just this occasion.

Back at the hotel, I took off my bathing suit and it was stiff as a board from the salt. We showered and walked to dinner and I took some pictures of the greenery.

We drove towards the Dead Sea, stopping at many viewpoints along the way. Some of the views were of the industrial area of the Sea as well as the Jordanian mountains.

We met up with family friends at Mineral Beach. It was extremely hot and humid. B enjoyed playing with the rocks on the beach and got himself pretty dirty. Some of the posted rules were: no splashing, shower when you get out, if you swallow water get help, and don’t get the water in your eyes. The water is about 9 times saltier than an ocean. If you get even a little bit in your nose or eyes it burns like crazy.

When we went into the water, it was very rocky underfoot at first but then we started floating. Its practically impossible not to float. The water feels pretty slick, almost oily. My theory on the oiliness is that the more salt in water, the slicker it gets. This is why water softeners use some kind of salt to soften water in a house. Any bug bites or cuts that we had were “stung” by the salt in the water, but I must admit it did help heal them.