Allie's Birthday - In Haifa!

The day begins! A train ride away from the farm.

Haifa! On Ben-Gurion street, looking up to the Baha'i gardens.

Whoa nelly.

Haifa, from the top of the Baha'i gardens.

The gardens and the port area below.

Allie on one of the 1400 steps.

Allie showing off her mad photography skillz...

...Ta da!

Roses for Rosalie.

The gardens, with the sea and city beyond.

The steps up to the top of the Baha'i Temple.

The terraces from below.

Flower star.

More stars and flowers.

Haifa's easy bike routes.

The proper way to extract the glorious Middle Eastern delicacy - Pomegranate Seeds

Step 1. Cut off the crown of the pomegranate.

Step 2. Cut lightly in sections along the rind.

Step 3. Soak for 5-10 min.

Step 4. Break apart and remove seeds.

The rind floats.

Step 5. Remove rind.

The seeds sink!

Step 6. Strain and eat :-)

The farm - Part II

Cukes that we picked!

Herbs for tea.

Lime trees galore.

The bees.

Strawberry fields forever.

Avocado trees.

(We're not sure what these are.)

White pumpkins?

Life on the farm - Part I

Our pad.

Beachin' it on the Mediterranean.

Cass, Amir (the owner of the farm), and Allie with the cutest kitten EVER.

Mike and Cass and tens of thousands of onion bulbs...

Al & Cass planting onions.

We're really excited to be here!

Sunrise on the back of a tractor... looking forward to another long day...

Modi'in

The lovely hillside suburb of Modi'in, Israel.

Modi'in again. Modi'in is the biblical home of Judah Maccabee.

Even the Israeli grapefruits are thick-skinned.

Peering to the sky -- the view from a Holocaust memorial that we hiked to.

It is on a mountain outside of Jerusalem.

The Robbins -- Mark, Amy, Adina & Coby -- and Mike.

Masada

Allie pondering her awake-ness and waiting for sunrise.

A new day!

The sunrise over Jordan and the Dead Sea from the top of Masada.

Us.

Mountains.

Jerusalem - Part II

The corner rock where the Levi's stood at the Temple Mount a mere 2,000 years ago.

It reads: "L'Beit Ha-Tekiyah" (House of the Trumpet).

The Western Wall and Ancient Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, old and new.

Allie at the Via Dolorosa, where Jesus walked with the cross.

The site of the Last Supper.

Allie, holding court.

Overlooking Jerusalem.

King Herod's ridiculousness.

He cut off the top of a mountain and built a palace inside of it 2,000 years ago!

O Little town of Bethlehem.

Amen. Only in Jerusalem...