Israel

The first big trip I ever took alone was a 1977 excursion to Israel. Some people thought it was too dangerous. My response was that it would only get more dangerous with time, so if I ever wanted to go, this was my best opportunity.

I borrowed a friend's nice camera and took about 140 pictures (less than a tenth of what I'd take today) and had them developed as slides (something no one does in the digital age). Forty-four years later, the colors are no longer what they should be. I bought a cheap slide scanner to digitize them, and used photo editing software to remove some of the color cast. These photos brought back a lot of fun memories.

Jerusalem

Another view of Jerusalem, from a road leading to the desert.

The Kennedy Memorial was built with contributions from the U.S. The shape symbolizes a cut tree trunk. Nearby is the U.S.A. Freedom Forest, filled with hand-planted trees.

Yet another view of Jerusalem

New construction on the outskirts.

The Mishkenot Sha'ananim neighborhood was built by Sir Moses Montefiore outside the old city walls in the mid 1800s. The windmill was built to grind flour, but there wasn't enough wind to make it successful.

The Garden of Gethsemene.

The Western Wall, nicknamed the Wailing Wall, likely all that is left of Solomon's temple. The Dome of the Rock can be seen on the other side of the wall.

The Dome of The Rock, an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Nearby is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. On its roof is a small Ethiopian monastery.

A man and his camel on Mount Zion.

Jerusalem, viewed from Mt. Zion.

I didn't try a camel ride, but I photographed a fellow tourist who did.

I quickly got used to seeing soldiers everywhere.

This sculpture stands outside Yad Vashem, a memorial to the Holocaust victims.

A shepherd seen along the road from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea is a huge salt lake approximately 1400 feet below sea leval, bordered by Jordan on the east and Israel on the west. It has been used as a health resort for thousands of years. The water is so salty that nothing lives in it, and so dense that people become extremely buoyant; standing may be difficult. Bathers are advised not to get their faces in the water.

This Bedouin camp seems to blend into the landscape. I liked the TV antenna.

One of the Dead Sea Scrolls caves.

To get to Masada, tourists can take the cable car or hike up the steep, zig-zag "snake path".

The ruins of Masada.

Heartbreakingly young, I posed in front of the Plain of Lebonah.

You don't have to read Hebrew to understand this sign.

Capernaum. Like so much of the world, it has Roman ruins.

The Jordan River.

Tel Aviv.

Jaffa, a port city on the south of Tel Aviv.

Here I am at the Red Sea. Behind me is a coral island with the ruins of a Crusader castle.

A small bay on the Red Sea.