Robert Ullian - Frommers EasyGuide to Israel

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Robert Ullian has been the author of editions of Frommers Israel for 20 years and is the co-author of Frommers Venice Walking Tours and Frommers Israel Past and Present: A Guide to Archeological Sites in Israel. Educated at Amherst College and Columbia University, he has also written guidebooks on Morocco and Bali.

Sadek Shweiki, research assistant and multilingual translator, was born in Jerusalem and educated at Hampshire College, in Amherst, Massachusetts, and at the School for International Training in Vermont. He brings his personal knowledge of many cultures to this book.

ABOUT THE FROMMER'S TRAVEL GUIDES

For most of the past 50 years, Frommers has been the leading series of travel guides in North America, accounting for as many as 24% of all guidebooks sold. I think I know why.

Though we hope our books are entertaining, we nevertheless deal with travel in a serious fashion. Our guidebooks have never looked on such journeys as a mere recreation, but as a far more important human function, a time of learning and introspection, an essential part of a civilized life. We stress the culture, lifestyle, history and beliefs of the destinations we cover, and urge our readers to seek out people and new ideas as the chief rewards of travel.

We have never shied from controversy. We have, from the beginning, encouraged our authors to be intensely judgmental, criticalboth pro and conin their comments, and wholly independent. Our only clients are our readers, and we have triggered the ire of countless prominent sorts, from a tourist newspaper we called practically worthless (it unsuccessfully sued us) to the many rip-offs weve condemned.

And because we believe that travel should be available to everyone regardless of their incomes, we have always been cost-conscious at every level of expenditure. Though we have broadened our recommendations beyond the budget category, we insist that every lodging we include be sensibly priced. We use every form of media to assist our readers, and are particularly proud of our feisty daily website, the award-winning Frommers.com.

I have high hopes for the future of Frommers. May these guidebooks, in all the years ahead, continue to reflect the joy of travel and the freedom that travel represents. May they always pursue a cost-conscious path, so that people of all incomes can enjoy the rewards of travel. And may they create, for both the traveler and the persons among whom we travel, a community of friends, where all human beings live in harmony and peace.

Arthur Frommer

F or a country the size of New Jersey, Israel is startlingly diverse. When you find yourself in the silent, haunting desertscape near the Dead Sea, spotting ibexes on cliffs that are dotted with inaccessible caveslike those in which the Dead Sea Scrolls lay hidden for more than 18 centuriesit can be hard to believe that less than 60 minutes away is the 19th-century East European ghetto world of Jerusalems Orthodox Mea Shearim quarter. And a few blocks from Mea Shearim, youll find the labyrinthine medieval Arab bazaars of the Old City, with calls to prayer from the citys minarets punctuating your wanderings. Hop into a sherut (shared taxi) to Tel Aviv, and in an hour youre in a world of glass skyscrapers, surfboards, and bikinis on the beach. Travel 2 hours to the north, and you can explore ruined Crusader castles in the green forests of the Galilee Mountains.

The Holy Land surprises visitors in other ways as well. Thirty-five years ago, the country was still an austere, no-frills societyIsraelis lived with few luxuries, and this spartan life was part of the national ideology. Today, Israeli society is frenetically inventive, the countrys economy is booming, the standard of living has skyrocketed, and many surveys rank Israels percapita income among the top 20 in the world. Israel is becoming a nation with a lively sense of style and a taste for the good life. Luxury and better-quality hotel accommodations have popped up all over the country, and visitors find an interesting array of restaurants, shopping opportunities, and sophisticated boutique wineries.

With the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty, a journey to Israel can also easily include an excursion to the fabulous ancient Nabatean city of Petra in Jordan, camping with Bedouin in Jordans wild Wadi Rum, or a stay at one of the excellent luxury spas on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea.

But amid Israels busy swirl of exoticism, ancient sites, markets, and crowded highways, you can still find young, idealistic kibbutzim and communities in the Negev, where new immigrants and old-timers are reclaiming the land from the desert as they learn how to live on it, appreciate its wonders, and make it truly their own.

ISRAELS iconic EXPERIENCES

Visiting the Dome of the Rock and the Temple Mount (Haram Es Sharif): Built by the early Islamic rulers of Jerusalem in A.D. 691 on the .

The Western Wall on the Eve of Sabbath: Enter Jerusalems Jaffa Gate before Shabbat and join the flow of worshippers making their way downhill through the bazaars and alleys of the Old City as they move toward the Western Wall. At the Wall, youll feel the magnetism and charisma that this remnant of the ancient Temple possesses for millions in the Jewish world..