Travel

Unaccompanied Minor

August 19, 2011

I took my 13-year-old son Aviv to the airport last night. He was flying as an “unaccompanied minor” to Los Angeles to meet up with his grandparents who have promised him two weeks of unmitigated American fun (roller coasters, beaches and all you can eat sushi – yum, I wish I was 13 again!) The [...]

Read the full article →

The Blum Family Trek to Nepal

May 3, 2011

Over a year in the planning, our 3-week trip to Nepal and India – conceived as a way to celebrate my 50th birthday and Aviv’s bar mitzvah – went off without nary a hitch. Other than some unseasonably bad weather and a few dashed expectations, the trip was so unbelievably beautiful (as well as physically [...]

Read the full article →

Spotting the Wild Israeli

May 1, 2011

With all the Israelis who head off for the Far East on extended post-army trips, we were pretty sure we’d meet tens, if not hundreds, of our fellow countrymen and women during our recent trek in Nepal. On the first six days of the trek, though, we met Brits, Canadians, lots of Germans, Japanese, Korean [...]

Read the full article →

Sniffing for Chametz in India

April 28, 2011

It’s been a few weeks since I last posted – that’s because we just got back from our long-planned family trek to Nepal and India. We all arrived home safe and sound on Friday. Our luggage was less fortunate. As I write, it’s still sitting in the Mumbai airport. Normally this wouldn’t be so unusual [...]

Read the full article →

Old City Treasure Hunt

March 30, 2011

Dr. Clue is the world’s leading team-building company specializing in treasure hunt activities. Dr. Clue is also my brother, Dave. He was just here in Israel for our youngest son Aviv’s bar mitzvah and, as his gift, he planned a special treasure hunt in the Old City of Jerusalem. Dave normally organizes hunts for companies [...]

Read the full article →

Trek of the Month: Park Rabin

March 9, 2011

This month’s recommendation for a great hike in Israel is the lovely Park Rabin area, just outside of Beit Shemesh. It was also Aviv’s tiyul #11 of his 12 pre-bar mitzvah hikes in Israel – you can read his blog about it here. The Park Rabin tiyul kicks off along the western segment of the [...]

Read the full article →

Dreaming of Bahrain

March 2, 2011

We have just over a month to go until we leave for our long-planned trek to Nepal to celebrate my 50th birthday and Aviv’s bar mitzvah. There’s only one problem standing in our way: Bahrain. The cheapest way to get to Asia for Israelis is via the Gulf – the price can be as low [...]

Read the full article →

Goats on a Hill

December 30, 2010

A couple of months back, on our trip to Nagal Og near the Dead Sea, we picked up a friend of our youngest son. Aviv’s classmate Nesya lives in what is known as an illegal outpost deep in the West Bank. It is so tiny we couldn’t find it on any map until I set [...]

Read the full article →

A Walk on the Wild Side

December 22, 2010

It has been years since I’ve been to downtown Jerusalem at night, but it’s the “in” spot for the teenagers in our house. After our sushi dinner last week, my wife and I decided to take a walk around. Frankly, we were blown away. I expected to find a run-down city center, its main artery [...]

Read the full article →

War Over the Airwaves in Eilat

December 16, 2010

In 1947, the U.N. partition plan designated the sleepy port of Eilat as the southernmost tip of the new Jewish state. It wasn’t until the final days of the War of Independence, however, when Israel took control of the town in an operation that surprised the small platoon of Jordanian troops stationed in mud huts [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →