creative jewish mom

Rain Clouds Over The Mediterranean In Northern Israel

My two teenage sons, 15 and 13 are attending a sleep-away Yeshiva about an hour's drive from home, and we miss them dearly! They do come home every-other shabbat, and we try to visit now and then on weeks when they won't be coming home. This week my 15 year old really sounded like he needed us to visit, which is rare, so I re-organized my schedule in order to visit them this afternoon. I was somewhat worried about driving in stormy weather, as visibility around our mountaintop city can be very low during rain, but fortunately there was a respite from all the wet weather we've been having, and the drive, one hour each way, went smoothly.  And, as a reward for our efforts we got to witness the stormy winter Mediterranean with dark grey rain clouds overhead, so very beautiful indeed! After I finish 100 flower paintings, I'm planning on giving clouds a try, so I will surely refer to these photos as reference, though once painted no one will actually believe clouds can look like this! Enjoy my stormy sea photos taken from the pier on the Nahariya boardwalk.......

A Visit To The Nahariya Boardwalk In The Winter!

Now that my 14 year old son is in sleep-away yeshiva high school in Nahariya he only comes home every other shabbat, which means that every other week we go to visit him. And I have to say I am certainly not complaining as it forces us to visit the Mediterranean Sea, and the drive across the North of the country heading west is indeed quite lovely. Yes it is true it is an hour there and an hour back, but staying connected with our son is of the utmost importance, and at times I feel so very fortunate that his yeshiva is located just ten minutes or so from my favorite stretch of Israeli Mediterranean coastline!

A few weeks ago we decided to check out the boardwalk in the center of Nahariya, a very lively place in the summer, and a very quiet place in the winter! I have to say, I always appreciate beaches much more when they are devoid of crowds, so just enjoying the stretches of sand and the hues of blue in the ocean was truly a treat. Wont you join me?

A Visit To Rosh HaNikra, Israel On The Mediterranean Coast

Once every two weeks or so, my husband and I drive about an hour west to visit our 14 year old son who is in sleep-away Yeshiva in Nahariya. Fortunately Nahariya happens to be on the Mediterranean, and so after years of being starved of the ocean views that I crave, I am now happy as can be, as each visit we generally go for a drive and visit a site somewhere in the vicinity. This time we decided to visti Rosh HaNikra, which is less than a 15 minute drive (10km/6 miles) from the Yeshiva, and one of my very favorite places in Israel.

Rosh HaNikra, "head of the grottos" is on the border between Israel and Lebanon, located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a white chalk cliff face which opens up into spectacular grottos which are accessible by a tram. i have actually never been on the Rosh HaNikra tram, known as a cable car to some, and hopefully we'll have the chance to do it in the future. This visit we just enjoyed the view and inspected the border, and with lovely cool and sunny weather it was a perfect little outing. Come join me for a little visit.......

Low Tide At Achziv On The Israeli Meditteranean Coast

We are very very busy preparing for the seven day holiday of Succot, (followed by another holiday called Simchat Torah) but I'm just popping in to share with you some recent photos of one of my most beloved spots in Israel: the rocky yet accesible coastline just above the city of Nahariya in a place called Achziv. As it turns out my fourteen year old son is now going to high school/Yeshiva in Nahariya, so while we miss him terribly, as least when we visit (on the weeks he does not come home for shabbat) this lovely spot is just about a ten minute drive from his yeshiva.

So, while I was very mixed about sending my son away for school, we do get to visit him and see the ocean together, something that I'm always missing! On our last visit we just sat in this spot and put our legs in the warm water.......a nice break for him from all the intense studying, and a wonderful way to spend a little time together.

A Tzimmer Near The Sea! (A Quaint Cabin North Of Nahariya)

 

Tzimmer means room in Yiddish, but in vernacular Hebrew it's more like a bed and breakfast, often without the breakfast. Northern Israel is ideal for those seeking to "get away" and there are many many tzimmers dotting the gorgeous rolling hills. On our trip to Nahariya (here) which I told you about last week, we stayed in a rustic tzimmer on a the Lemen yeshuv (farming community) just north of Nahariya. I though you might like a little glimpse of our tropical/woodsy getaway, envision Hawaii meets Bavaria!

Vases filled with fresh cut roses from the garden! (I'm dreaming of my own cutting garden....alack, alas)

Glass bells.......

Outdoor dining, amidst banana trees.......

Hibiscus growing on bushes.....Jacaranda in bloom......

Wood scrap craft and authentic farm equipment.....

More Jacaranda in bloom, I just love Jacaranda can you tell? And passion fruit growing wild on hedges.
And lots and lots of bananas, and more bananas, everywhere. Apparently they do well in this lovely spot by the sea. I think I could do quite well here too!

A Visit To Nahariya, A Beach Town In the Far North of Israel!

Where in the world is this? It could be so many places, Florida? Los Angeles? Nice? Wrong, it's Nahariya, a clean beachy town on the Northern coast of Israel. My husband and I took an overnight trip to visit some friends and see some water! Ahhhh! Nahariya is just down the coast from Rosh HaNikra, a beautiful spot that I visited a few months back, here.