Bloom Where You're Planted: 2012

This December we'll be celebrating not one but two holidays, Christmas and Hannukah.

Christmas in Israel is definitely not any thing like Christmas in the states. It's nearly non-existent. This is not a surprise since only 2% of the Israeli population are Christians. But there is no need to be sad. And, just what I told my boys, "Christmas is here (pointing at my head) and here (pointing at my heart)." Plus 2% of Israeli's population do celebrate Christmas.You can purchase Christmas items in Christian Arab towns and in stores that cater to the expat community like Tiv Taam in Netanya and Bimbi's in Kfar Schmaryahu. And best of all (for Christians), living in Israel gives you the opportunity to be in Bethlehem, where Jesus Christ was born on Christmas day! More of "Christmas in Israel" on another post.

Santa items at Tiv Taam

Meanwhile... let's celebrate Hannukah. This year it starts on the eve of December 8. Yes we are not Jewish but we are in Israel after all. So, why not join in the celebrations? We are looking forward to spending one of the 8 nights of Hannukah with Jewish friends. It will be a night of new experiences.

Hanukkah Decorations in a shopping center

Here's my educational bit...

Hannukah (חֲנֻכָּה), also known as the festival of lights, is the celebration of the Maccabean Revolt led by Judah Maccabee around 125 BCE. The revolt was against the Seleucid Empire (Greek related) which forbade Jewish practices. It is also the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. It's not the most celebrated or important (Yom Kippur) holiday of the Jewish faith (kids are off school but parents don't get the time off) but it is the most known Jewish holiday worldwide.

unique hanukkiah, (9 branch, the possibilites are endless)

This holiday is celebrated for 8 days to signify the miracle of the oil. After the revolt, olive oil was needed to burn the menorah (7 branch) in the temple. There was only enough oil for a day but it miraculously burned for 8 days. Hence 8 candles in the menorah or hanukiah (not to be confused with the menorah, mentioned above, which is an ancient symbol of Judaism) . The 9th candle, shamash, is the lighting candle. The lit candles symbolize not the "lighting of the house within", but rather the "illumination of the house without,". This is why hanukiahs are placed by windows so passerbys are reminded of the holiday.

Israel's emblem, notice the menorah (7 branch)

Hanukkiah at the Wailing Wall

It's also customary to play Dreidels during Hannukah. Dreidels have the letters נ (Nun), ג (Gimel), ה (Hei), ש (Shin). It's an acronym for the (read left to right) נס גדול היה פה, romanized to Nes Gadol Hayah Poh which means "A Great Miracle Happened Here" in reference to the burning of the oil. Click here if you want to know how to play with Dreidels.

Dreidel made of Platinum and Diamonds

Oil, if you have not noticed, is a major symbol of this holiday and with it comes fried foods like potato latkes and the ever popular doughnuts or properly called, sufganiyots. These sufganiyots make their appearance a few weeks before Hannukah. You'll find them in every grocery store and bakery. Roladin Bakery definitely have the best looking sufganiyots, but I can't really say anything about the taste as I've only had the ones from Neeman's. Seems like a perfect time and reason for research, more sufganiyots for the holiday please.

Neeman Sufganiyot

Roladin Sufganiyot

Hanukkah Sameach!

Another good thing about living in Israel is it's proximity to Europe. This past September we took advantage of this and decided to explore Greece. Here is our story through pictures.

First stop is of course Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) in Tel Aviv. We haven't had sushi for awhile so we feasted on sushi before our flight. We boarded on a 2hr Olympic Air flight which was nice and comes with a meal.

This meal which was very sad, but they made up for it with...

Free wine!

We landed safely in Athens International Aiport Eleftherios Venizelos (phew that was a mouthful), got our passports stamped and off we went.

We took the metro to get to our AirBNB. The commute was about half an hour. There were some local kids that got on and played music for money. I ended up giving them Oreo cookies.

Just a short walk from our metro exit, we arrived at Roula's apartment and met her. She is super nice and so was the place. The decor is of good taste, modern amenities and in perfect location. We highly recommend it. Click here to see the property.

We didn't waste anytime, we explored right after settling in the apartment. A short walk from the apartment took us to Dionisiou Areopagitou, a pedestrian street. It's filled with shops, cafes and restaurants and also leads to many popular spots including Acropolis.

We walked around the area some more and hiked up to a hill with stunning 360 degree view of Athens. Pictured above is a view of the Stoa of Attalos.

The next day we woke up early for our day of island hopping in the Aegean Sea. We used and recommend Viator Tours.

We said hello to our captain.

First stop is Poros, lovely quaint island. It was a short 20 minutes stop. Just enough to walk down the street to see shops and the market.

Not something you see everyday back in Arizona.

Then it was lunch time. We were smart enough to sit close to the food...or so we thought. We were stuffed by the end of the meal.

Second stop, Hydra. Which is my favorite.

Its narrow cobbled streets, white walls and beautiful doors make for a beautiful atmosphere.

Besides on foot, the only other form of transportation are donkeys. The boys seem like they had a good time.

The last stop is Aegina Island, the largest of the three. We joined a guided tour which took us to the Temple of Aphaia (ah-faye-ah). Below is a view of Athens from the Temple.

Besides the view, the temple was also amazing. I also saw three good looking guys and

a "The Thinker."

The tour also took us to The Monastery of Agios Nektarios which is one of countless churches/chapels in the island. Monk Nektarios started this Greek Orthodox church in the early 1900s. He is known to have healing powers, which led to his cannonization in the 1960s. The church is beautiful inside and out.

It has impeccable mosaic tile work,

elaborate silver forging(part of Saint Nectarios' tomb)

impressive wood and marble carvings (peacocks with tails down symbolizes humility),

and great attention to details. This mosaic tiled work is inlaid with gold.

Afterwards we went to the market to taste the world renowned Aegina pistachios. We feasted on pistachio ice cream and purchased a few bags of which didn't even make it to TLV.

Back on the boat we did some Greek dancing and singing enroute to Piraeus port. Would've been a good laugh if we had pictures. Opa!

After a heavenly day of island hopping, it was dinner time at God's Restaurant. This God did not disappoint. All our meals were excellent! It's a shame I don't have photos from this.

The next day it was time for the main event, Acropolis. We were there for at least two hours walking, reading, thinking, exploring etc. It was definitely worth seeing. So much to say about it and not enough blog space so I won't even start. Enjoy the pics.

After Acropolis and on the way to The New Acropolis Museum, we walked by a souvenir shop and I took this picture. The island photo calendar of what looks like Santorini caught my eye.

The New Acropolis Museum is a MUST SEE if in Athens. The building itself is impressive. Soo much to see and learn!

It also has a nice restaurant/cafe with a view.

After the museum, we ventured towards the Theater of Dionysus. Here we found a friend and more ruins.

And also an entrance to the Acropolis. This could have saved us at least 45 minutes bypassing a long queue for tickets and another queue getting in with the rest of the tourists. C'est la vie.

Did I mention there was a bakery just across the street from Roula's Place? All our breakfasts were consists of fresh baked goodness! Like this scrumptious berry muffin!

On our last day we explored more places like the Parliament and watched the changing of the guards. It was entertaining to say the least. The guards are known as Evzones. You have to be at least 6.1 feet tall to be one.

We also went to the National Gardens which provided us shade in a hot sunny day.

Then we went to the Olympics!

The Panathenaic Stadium is the site of the first modern Olympic games in 1896. Originally it was used to host the Panathenaic Games in honor of Athena which dated back in 566BC! Ah-mazing!