Life's Little Adventures

Ashkelon, Israel

Twelve years ago, in 1996, I revised my travel guidebook Daytrips Israel for the last time. Problems in that wonderful but troubled country have since held book sales down to a point where it was no longer worthwhile spending time there to update it once again. To say nothing of the expense. But still, that edition contains a great deal of travel information that remains valid today. So, if you're heading that way, consider making the following daytrip after checking out the websites listed at the end of this posting:

ASHKELON

(Ashqelon, Askalon, Askelon)

A Daytrip from Jerusalem or Tel Aviv

There's a awful lot to see in Ashkelon; easily enough to keep you busy all day. Squatting next to the Mediterranean, this is among the oldest inhabited towns on Earth, and has plenty of ancient ruins to prove it. But that's not all. Within its widespread boundaries is a traditional Arab town, a prosperous modern community of today's Israel, a commercial center, a complete national park, and a leading seaside resort. The tour outlined here takes you to the best of the widely scattered sites and allows enough time to thoroughly enjoy both star attractions — the Old Town and the excavated site of Biblical Ashkelon.

Egyptian texts from around the 18th century B.C. mention Ashkelon (image, right) as a Canaanite trading town, one of several along the coastal road linking Egypt with Syria. In the 12th century B.C. it was captured by the Philistines and became the most important of their five principalities. There are several Biblical references from this era, the most notable being David's lament over the death of King Saul — "Tell it not in Garth, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice; lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph" (II Samuuel 1:20). Changing hands several more times, Ashkelon flourished under Roman rule from the 1st century B.C. until the fall of the empire. According to tradition, Herod the Great was born here in 73 B.C. and later added  considerably to the town's magnificence. During the 7th century A.D. Ashkelon fell to the Arabs, then briefly to the Crusaders of the 12th century. The ancient town was finally destroyed forever by the Mamluks in 1270, although the Arab village of Migdal eventually developed on a site a little bit to the east.

GETTING THERE:

Buses (numbers 300 and 301 leave Tel Aviv's Central Bus Station frequently for the one-hour ride to Ashkelon, with returns until mid-evening. From Jerusalem's Central Bus Station there are hourly departures (bus number 437) for the 90-minute trip, with return until early evening. Naturally, there is no service from mid-afternoon on Fridays untl Saturday evenings, nor on some major Jewish holidays.

By Car, Ashkelon is 39 miles southwest of Tel Aviv via Route 4. From Jerusalem, take Route 1 west, then Route 3 southwest, for a total diatance of 45 miles. Use the car for getting to the sites; parking is usually easy.

GETTING AROUND:

Unless you have a car, you'll have to rely on local buses to reach the various sites, which are spread over a large area. Relevant bus stops are indicated on the map, and route numbers in the text. As in all Israeli towns, you pay the driver, who will also make change.

PRACTICALITIES:

Avoid visiting Ashkelon on Fridays, Saturdays, or on major Jewish holidays, when much of the town shuts down and transportation is difficult. Good weather is essential for this completely outdoor daytrip. The local Government Tourist Information Office, phone (051) 324-12, is in the Commercial Center of the Afridar district. Ashkelon has a population of about 62,000.

FOOD AND DRINK:

Some restaurant choices are:

Afridar Café (Zephaniah Sq., near the tourist office) Light meals and desserts in a pleasant setting. X: Fri., Sat. $

Nitzahon (30 Herzl St. in the Old Town, at Tzahal St.) Old-World Romanian cuisine for over 30 years, a local favorite. X: Fri. $

In addition, you'll find excellent felafel and other Middle Eastern street foods vended along the pedestrian shopping street in the Old Town of Migdal. There is a pub-restaurant as well as an outdoor café in the national park, and that old reliable standby, the Egged cafeteria at the bus terminal.

 

Click on map to enlarge

SUGGESTED TOUR:

Numbers in parentheses correspond to numbers on the map.

From Ashkelon's Central Bus Station (1) on Ben-Gurion Blvd. you can either walk a little over a mile or take local bus number 4 or 5 to the Commercial Center (Merkaz Afridar) at the north end of HaNassi St. in Afridar. There you'll find the town's best source of current information and advice, the Government Tourist Information Office (2). Just across the square is the Antiquities Courtyard (3) where two magnificent Roman sarcophagi (photo, left) of the 3rd century A.D. are displayed under an open shelter. They were discovered nearby during digging operations in 1972. Afridar is an unusually pleasant neighborhood that serves as a model for some people's vision of Israel's future. It was founded in 1952 as an idealistic planned community by Jewish immigrants from South Africa, and retains much of that rather genteel atmosphere.

From the southeast corner of the same square you can take bus number 4, 5, or 7 to an entirely different kind of place, the old Arab town of Migdal. Then called Majdal, it was established in the early 19th century by Arab laborers brought here by the ruling Turks to work on the ultimately unsuccessful excavations led by Lady Stanhope, an English aristocrat who thought she knew where the treasures lay. In the war of 1948, most of the Arab residents were driven south to the nearby Gaza Strip, and the Old Town taken over by the victorious Israelis.

Get off the bus at the stop (4) near the upper end of Herzl St., the main shopping thoroughfare, and stroll north to the Ashkelon Museum (5), located in an old Arab caravanserai (khan) next to a mosque. The exhibits and audiovisual presentations here focus on the town's history from the Roman era until modern times. They may be seen on Sundays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4-6 p.m., on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and on Saturdays and holidays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Retrace your steps on Herzl St. and continue straight ahead to where it becomes a pedestrian shopping mall (midrehov). A colorful outdoor market is held here on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays; and there are always outdoor cafés, restaurants, felafel stands, and all manner of small shops to hold your interest.

At the bottom of Herzl St. (6), near the post office, you can board bus number 3 or 9 for a rather circuitous ride to the national park and its archaeological excavations. Get off at the bus stop (7) on Shapiro St. and walk west on Agnon St., which becomes a footpath, and into the park. If you're coming by car, you'll have to use the north entrance, reached via Ben-Gurion Blvd.

Enter the *Ashkelon National Park via the Jaffa Gate (8), where you can pick up a more detailed map and explanation of the site. The area of the ancient city enclosed by the great walls is about 600 dunams (150 acres) in size and opens directly to the sea along its western edge. Head south until you come to an intersection with an outdoor café. Just southwest of this is the site of the *Roman Forum (9), where various antiquities have been collected and are on display. At its southern end is a sunken area filled with interesting finds including a statue of the goddess Isis and her child-god Horus (photo, below).

Continue down the road to the restored Amphitheater (10), which may have once been a well and behind which are remnants of the Crusader walls. Beyond the second parking lot is a cliff looking straight down on the Crusader Harbor (11) and a modern bathing site.

The path going past some current excavations brings you to the Marine Stores (12); digs below this have revealed remnants from the Persian period of 500 B.C. The trail leads down to the main parking lot, where there's a restaurant and other facilities. The Turkish Well (13) near here has been partially restored; there's another one in even better shape behind the café. Follow the map to the ruined Byzantine Church (14) of around 400 A.D., which has four Roman columns and a frescoed apse. Those on foot can exit the park via the nearby Jerusalem Gate (15) and head directlu back to the bus stop (7) on Shapiro St., where you can get a ride back to the Central Bus Station. The National Park, phone (051) 364-44, is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closing at 4 p.m. on Fridays.

Copyright © 1996 Earl Steinbicker

Although some of this information is dated, it remains essentially correct. For more up-to-date information visit www.ashkelon.muni.il. This English-language website is a bit confusing, but if you dig deep enough you'll find it useful. A comprehensive website about the entire country is at www.goisrael.com. For bus schedules visit www.egged.co.il/eng/

CLICK HERE for the Israel Experience

 

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THE ISRAEL EXPERIENCE

Early in 1992 I spent over a month exploring Israel on foot, by bus, and by train, researching for my guidebook Daytrips Israel. The book was published in 1993, with a revised edition in 1996. Sadly, events since then have precluded a third edition. Maybe in a few years there will be peace and tourists will again fill the streets. We can all hope. Anyway, the links below lead to accounts of my adventures there.

AN ADVENTURE IN ISRAEL. It's January 1992 and I'm off to Tel Aviv to begin work on the book. This part covers Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Ramat Aviv, Rishon LeZion, Ashkelon, and Beersheba.

MORE ADVENTURES IN ISRAEL. This post is mostly about pious Jerusalem, but also includes Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, and Masada.

HAIFA — ISRAEL'S GREAT SEAPORT. It's February 1992 and I've discovered the most enjoyable city in Israel, stayong there two weeks and making a fascinating daytrip to Akko.

THE NORTH OF ISRAEL. My last week in the Holy Land was spent exploring several sites in the north. including Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, Safed, and Caesarea.

A Daytrip to Ashkelon. This lovely old town near the Gaza Strip has many Roman ruins, and is easily reached from Tel Aviv.

 

Interested in photography? Check out my "Assisting Avedon" blog.

 

SO, just what Little Adventure am I up to now in 2013? Why, just the most challenging one of them all! CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT.

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While some of the practical information in Daytrips Israel (1996) is dated, the historical information and destinations remain valid to this day. Check it out by clicking on its title in the box below, or on the Buy button to purchase at a very good price:

MORE TRIPS IN ISRAEL'S NORTH

FROM THE SEA OF GALILEE TO THE MEDITERRANEAN

February, 1992. My last week in Israel was spent riding buses around the north of the country and devising walking tours of the historic sites found there. Some of them were pretty strange, like the ancient church in Nazareth (photo, above), supposedly built on the remains of the synagogue that Jesus attended.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PRECEDING POST ON HAIFA.

I was able to get to every place that I planned on, thanks to a bus network that goes everywhere, with one exception. One morning I waited, and waited, at the Haifa bus terminal for a ride to Megiddo, the supposed site of the Book of Revelations' Armageddon. This archaeological site, dating as far back as about 3500 B.C., is still only partially excavated. But alas, the bus never came. I found out later that there had been a terrorist attack nearby the night before, with several Israeli soldiers killed, and that the area was now off limits.

A more successful daytrip was to Nazareth, a largely Arab town that is thought to be the hometown of Jesus. Although the place is a bit rundown, it does have the magnificent Basilica of the Annunciation, built in 1969 by the Roman Catholic Church on the traditional site of the Virgin Mary's dwelling. This is believed to be the place where the archangel Gabriel did his thing. As is often the case, there is a rival site, operated by the Greek Orthodox Church (photo, left). A nearby labyrinth of narrow passages leads through a colorful Arab souk, in the center of which is the ancient Greek Catholic Synagogue-Church, on a site where Jesus is said to have taught.

On another day I went to Tiberias, a resort town on the Sea of Galilee, near the Golan Heights and Syria. The "sea" is actually a basin in the River Jordan some 683 feet below sea level, making it the second-lowest place on Earth. It was on these shores that Jesus began his ministry, although he avoided the hedonistic Roman town of Tiberias itself, which at that time was considered to be "unclean" for Jews. It later became one of Judaism's most holy places, renowned especially for the Tomb of Maimonides. As I approached this, a guard came after me bearing a yarmulka for me to put on my head as I, ever the heathen, was bareheaded — a big no-no. The ancient settlement of Hammat Tiberias, a half-hour stroll away, is renowned for its hot springs, in use since the time of Solomon. I was surprised by the almost pagan mosaic images here, suggesting that they certainly knew how to have fun back then!

One of the strangest towns is Israel is Safed, variously spelled Zefat, Tzfat, and Safad (photo. left). This holy place is famed for its air of mysticism and its long association with the Kabbalah. Located high atop a mountain only a few miles from Lebanon, at 3,000 feet of elevation it is the closest place in the land to Heaven. It is also an artists' colony with dozens of resident painters and sculptors. From the bus stop there, it was a long uphill trek into the town proper, which was bathed in an heady atmosphere of ancient times.

Weeks earlier, when I was still in Tel Aviv, I asked the tourist office about visiting the ancient Roman port city of Caesarea, begun by King Herod in 22 B.C. They informed me that I would have to take a guided tour, as there was no good public transportation to the site. I hate guided tours, so I didn't go. But in Haifa I again asked, and there they told me it was really not that difficult. A bus to Hadera, then another bus to the archaeological site. Just watch the timetables carefully. Besides the Roman ruins (photo, above), it has a Roman theater that remains in use today, aqueducts, a hippodrome, and a mighty walled Crusader City with its own citadel. And all this is right next to the sunny Mediterranean.

A few days later I boarded El Al flight 003 to New York, and soon after got to work writing Daytrips Israel, which was published in 1993 and later revised for a second edition in 1996. Sadly, events in the Holy Land have seriously affected tourism in recent years, so it may be a while before there is a third edition. We can all hope.

 

Interested in photography? Check out my "Assisting Avedon" blog.

 

SO, just what Little Adventure am I up to now in 2013? Why, just the most challenging one of them all! CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT.

 

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More Adventures in Israel

ON TO JERUSALEM

In my last post on this thread (CLICK HERE TO VIEW), I had just finished a week in Tel Aviv. Now for the biggie.

Thirty-nine miles and a few thousand years separate secular Tel Aviv from pious Jerusalem. Now it's time to make that journey. Thursday, January 30, 1992. It's raining. And cold. Not wanting to wait for a bus, and feeling flush, I took a taxi the whole distance. The road is straight, hemmed in on both sides by the Palestinian West Bank, and goes steadily uphill as it climbs from sea level into the mountains.

Since it was the middle of winter, hardly tourist season, I didn't bother with making a hotel reservation. Big mistake. How was I to know about the worldwide medical convention in town? After several attempts to find a room, I took out my list of all hotels and started calling ones in Arab East Jerusalem. Luck was with me — the Hotel Alcazar had a room, in fact they had many rooms. A nice, big room with bath for only 30 dollars a day, including breakfast! Very nice people, too. They couldn't do enough for me. And it was within easy walking distance of the walled Old City.

Sacred to the three great monotheistic religions, Jerusalem is the repository of some 3,000 years of turbulent history — a cultural cauldron still bubbling away. Ironically, this world center of spirituality is also the focus of ancient animosities that remain unresolved to this day, but that's what makes this such a vibrant, dynamic place. You may love it or hate it, but you can only gain by sampling its infinite experiences. A successful visit here can well be one of the highlights of your life.

The photo above is of the Damascus Gate, one of several entrances into the walled Old City.

The first two days were spent exploring the Old City. On foot, of course. The "streets" here are extremely narrow and often stepped. I entered through the Jaffa Gate, next to the Citadel built in 24 BC for Herod the Great, then strolled through the quiet Armenian Quarter and into the more lively Jewish Quarter. This is home to the Western Wall, often called the Wailing Wall, which is all that remains of the ancient Temple Mount. Male visitors here must wear a yarmulka (provided free) and go to the shady mens' section (women use the sunny section). Immediately overlooking this is the Muslim-controlled Temple Mount itself, home to the Dome of the Rock, built in AD 691 on the spot where Muhammad took off on his Night Journey to Heaven. The third-holiest place in Islam, this was also where Abraham came to sacrifice his son, and where the ancient Jewish Temple stood.

From here I wandered into the crowded Muslim Quarter, and walked the length of the Via Dolorosa past various Stations of the Cross and into the Christian Quarter. The historic route ends in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, supposedly the very spot (photo, left) where Jesus was crucified and buried. Actually, some Christians believe that the Crucifixion and Burial took place elsewhere, in the Protestant Garden Tomb in nearby East Jerusalem — a very quiet and contemplative place.

Other highlights in the city included the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the extremely orthodox Mea She'arim neighborhood where visitors must dress and behave according to their rules (click on the photo, right, to enlarge and read these clearly). In the Western New City lies the Knesset (Parliament) and the Shrine of the Book, a modern cave-like structure (photo, below) where visitors can come face-to-face with the Dead Sea Scrolls.

I took a bus ride outside the city proper to the most eloquent and moving of all Holocaust museums, Yad Va'shem. Then it was off to Bethlehem, which although only six miles from Jerusalem is an Arab town in the West Bank. The sole attraction here is of course the Church of the Nativity, built in AD 531 on the supposed spot of Jesus' birth. The exact location of the manger was determined in AD 325 by the Roman empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. This is now the Altar of the Manger (photo, left) in the Grotto of the nativity.

Did I mention that it was cold? On February 4th we were hit by a wicked snow storm (photo above). So I made daytrips to warmer climes, namely the Dead Sea at Ein Gedi and that cornerstone of Israeli national identity, Masada. The Dead Sea is the lowest spot on Earth, and Masada more than 1,400 feet above it in a sheer vertical climb. This was the luxurious refuge of King Herod the Great, a spot to which he could flee in the event of an uprising. The Jews of Palestine revolted against oppressive Roman rule in AD 66 and were defeated. Some of them, called the Zealots, escaped and took over the mountain refuge, holding out there until the Romans finally trapped them in AD 72. According to legend, they chose to commit collective suicide rather than become slaves. The photo on the right is of Herod's Palace, or what's left of it. The mountains in the background are in Jordan.

NEXT, the scene moves to Haifa, my favorite Israeli city.

The guidebook I wrote from these experiences, Daytrips Israel, went through two editions (1993 and 1996) before increasing terrorism made do-it-yourself travel less attractive and effectively killed the market for it. Maybe someday there can be a third edition.

 

Interested in photography? Check out my "Assisting Avedon" blog.

 

SO, just what Little Adventure am I up to now in 2013? Why, just the most challenging one of them all! CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT.

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An Adventure in Israel

Late August, 1991. I'm just beginning a program of physical therapy here in the suburbs of Philadelphia after injuring my back. Nothing very serious, just enough to make walking difficult. Between sessions, I'm outlining a proposed Daytrips Spain book to be done after I'm all mended. The phone rings. It's Hy Steirman, my publisher, who is all excited about what at the time seemed like a real possibility for peace in the Middle East. Meaning that tourists would flock to Israel, and would need guidebooks. Can I do one?

Knowing that this was more an order than a request, I said yes provided there was enough of an advance to cover my costs. I never had any particular desire to visit the Holy Land, being a lapsed Protestant and a bit of a heathen, but this sounded like a real adventure. As it turned out, it was.

So I went to work on an outline, and on September 19th met with Barbara Bahny of the Israel Government Tourist Office in New York. I was a little apprehensive about this as I was not healed yet and uncertain as to whether I could walk the short distance from Penn Station to the Empire State Building, where they were located. But I got there okay. She put me in contact with Sheryl Stein of El Al Israel Airlines, with whom I struck a deal for free flights in exchange for putting their logo on the rear cover of the book.

But first, I had to be up to walking for hours on end every day for a month or so. Total recovery took until the end of the year.

On January 2nd, 1992, I traveled by train to Mamaroneck, NY for a final meeting with Hy Steirman before setting off.

MY PLAN OF ATTACK: First, work a week in and around Tel Aviv, followed by a week in Jersusalem and another in Haifa. By that time I should have a good feel for the country and its culture, and could spend the remaining time poking around oddball places.

Tuesday, January 21, 1992, JFK Airport, New York, 7:30 PM, El Al flight 2 to Tel Aviv. The security precautions were incredible — along with baggage checks they subject each passenger to a lengthy bad-cop, good-cop interrogation that relies on psychological profiling. It works! El Al has long been a very safe airline.

My seatmate was a friendly New York rabbi who clued me in on life in Israel. As we approached the eastern Mediterranean, most of the passengers (except me) performed some sort of a Jewish religious ritual in preparation for arrival in the Promised Land.

Wednesday afternoon, January 22, Ben-Gurion International Airport, Lod, Israel. Entry formalities, security checks, money changing. Taxi to my hotel on the beach in Tel Aviv. Checked in, then went to a nearby café for a few beers and a light supper before retiring early.

First thing in the morning I wandered out on the beach and followed it south for about two miles to Jaffa (a.k.a. Yafo, photo on left), one of the oldest ports on Earth and, at that time anyway, a place where Jews, Gentiles, and Moslems lived together in relative harmony. According to legend, it was founded right after the flood by Noah's son Japheth; but modern archaeologists more accurately date it to about 1800 B.C.

Today, the part on the hill is an artists' colony, while the lower town is a bit seedy but throbbing with life. The photo on the right looks down from the hill top, with modern Tel Aviv in the background. By now it was noon, and by luck I spotted a sidewalk café right up against a mosque. Even though this was January, it was warm enough to eat outdoors, so I ordered a shish kebab and a beer. Of the Israeli beers, I soon preferred Goldstar, although Maccabee is also quite good. After visiting the lower town's flea market I took a bus to central Tel Aviv.

The afternoon was spent perusing the sights and popping in and out of a few museums. The walk ended at Dizengoff Circle, a.k.a. Kikar Zina, a lively place where a huge, raised circular platform hovers above a major traffic intersection, with ramps leading down to cafés and restaurants. Atop this is the monstrous Fire and Water Fountain (photo, left), a brilliantly-colored sculpture that spews forth water. Four times a day the whole thing comes to life, shooting out flames as its body twists and spins to the beat of banal recorded music.

After writing three walking tours of Tel Aviv, I began making daytrips to Ramat Aviv (archaeological site and university museum), Rishon LeZion (early Zionist settlement and center of Israel's wine industry — sample tastings at Baron Rothschild's winery!), and Rehovot (modern center of science and technology). But the best were slightly farther afield, first to Ashkelon, an ancient town just north of the Gaza Strip with both Biblical and Roman digs (photo, right) as well as an Arab town that was taken over by the Israelis in 1948.

Winding up my Tel Aviv stay was a trip to Beersheba, 70 miles to the south and right on the edge of the Negev Desert. Beyond this lies a sandy, barren land inhabited by Bedouin tribesmen and their flocks. The Old City, established by the Turks in 1900 is colorful and has an excellent history museum in an abandoned mosque. Since that time a modern city, the fourth-largest in Israel, has developed. Visitors come to see Abraham's Well, believed by some to have been dug by the patriarch himself, and the famous Bedouin Market, where you can shop for all manner of goods, Arab handicrafts, and even goats, sheep and other livestock.

Just outside of Beersheba, in the desert (photo, left), is Tel Beer' Sheba, an archaeological site dating from 1200 BC, and the nearby Bedouin village of Tel Sheva. Both can be reached by bus, taxi, or private car.

NEXT, it's on to Jersusalem and an entirely different aspect of Israeli life.

The resulting book, Daytrips Israel, went through two editions (1993 and 1996) before increasing terrorism made do-it-yourself travel less attractive and effectively killed the market for it. Maybe someday there can be a third edition.

CLICK HERE for the complete chapter on Ashkelon.

 

Interested in photography? Check out my "Assisting Avedon" blog.

 

SO, just what Little Adventure am I up to now in 2013? Why, just the most challenging one of them all! CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT.

RETURN to Current Main Page.

CHECK OUT Daytrips Israel by clicking on its name in the box below, or on the Buy button to purchase.