Classic Israel experience... On our third day here, knowing we would be riding the bus a lot, we went to the desk at the main bus station which sells the Rav Kav - the multi-ride pass which gives you a discount. The guy whose job it is to sell them asked if we had an Israeli ID card. No? Then you can't get the card with the photo on it. Ok, can we buy a card with no photo on it? Yes, but it doesn't give you a discount and you have to pay 5 shekels for the card, so it's not worth it, he insisted. Fast forward three weeks to our second to last day in Jerusalem, we get on the bus to go to Ein Yael (more on that in a moment) and ask to buy 4 tickets as usual. This bus driver (as opposed to the dozens before him) says, why not buy a Rav Kav - it gives you a 20% discount. Sigh... better late than never, and I was proud of having the whole conversation with the driver about how it works on a moving bus, in Hebrew, while holding Sylvia. Customer service, not Israel's strong suit.
It was a long bus trip to Ein Yael on the outskirts of J'lem, but we spent a really fun day there. It's a living history museum where the kids can do crafts in the style of the people who lived there almost 2000 years ago (most likely a retired Roman legion - the site also includes some very cool archeological sites, which one of the counselors gave me and Abe a personal tour of). The kids loved doing pottery, making their own pita on a fire, making fresco tiles, weaving, and making a flute from bamboo. We met a bunch of nice people - an Israeli family that lives in Toronto now and a Long Island family in Israel for 3 weeks with their 3 young kids (Ein Yael is clearly a site for non-traditional tourists like us). We all ended the day dusty and tired, but happy.
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| Lunch with home made pita bread. |
Classic Israel experience... On our third day here, knowing we would be riding the bus a lot, we went to the desk at the main bus station which sells the Rav Kav - the multi-ride pass which gives you a discount. The guy whose job it is to sell them asked if we had an Israeli ID card. No? Then you can't get the card with the photo on it. Ok, can we buy a card with no photo on it? Yes, but it doesn't give you a discount and you have to pay 5 shekels for the card, so it's not worth it, he insisted. Fast forward three weeks to our second to last day in Jerusalem, we get on the bus to go to Ein Yael (more on that in a moment) and ask to buy 4 tickets as usual. This bus driver (as opposed to the dozens before him) says, why not buy a Rav Kav - it gives you a 20% discount. Sigh... better late than never, and I was proud of having the whole conversation with the driver about how it works on a moving bus, in Hebrew, while holding Sylvia. Customer service, not Israel's strong suit.
It was a long bus trip to Ein Yael on the outskirts of J'lem, but we spent a really fun day there. It's a living history museum where the kids can do crafts in the style of the people who lived there almost 2000 years ago (most likely a retired Roman legion - the site also includes some very cool archeological sites, which one of the counselors gave me and Abe a personal tour of). The kids loved doing pottery, making their own pita on a fire, making fresco tiles, weaving, and making a flute from bamboo. We met a bunch of nice people - an Israeli family that lives in Toronto now and a Long Island family in Israel for 3 weeks with their 3 young kids (Ein Yael is clearly a site for non-traditional tourists like us). We all ended the day dusty and tired, but happy.
I love this concept, but isn't all of Jerusalem like a living museum?
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