a worker at Abu Simbel
tower of Montaza Palace, Alexandria
Mediterranean waterfront, Alexandria
A Ya’lla Tours colleague took this picture years ago and it’s still a company favorite. We call him Moses. Little boys paddling the mighty Nile in tiny homemade boats is a common site.
Sultan Hassan Mosque, Cairo
Just outside the world’s biggest mall and near the foot of the world’s tallest building, the world’s largest dancing water fountain dips and sways and shoots 500 feet into the air (every half hour from 6-11pm). That is one happy fountain! The fountain’s mystery home city is known for breaking records in architecture, engineering and development.
Can you name that city?
See below for answers.
National Poet of Israel Hayim Nahman Bialik, 1873-1934
By writing in Hebrew, Bialik was influential in reviving the ancient language, now an official language of modern Israel, along with Arabic.
I didn’t win light in a windfall,
nor by deed of a father’s will.
I hewed my light from granite.
I quarried my heart.
In the mine of my heart a spark hides –
not large, but wholly my own.
Neither hired, nor borrowed, nor stolen –
my very own.
Sorrow wields huge hammer blows,
the rock of endurance cracks
blinding my eye with flashes
I catch in verse.
They fly from my lines to your breast
to vanish in kindled flame.
While I, with heart’s blood and marrow
pay the price of the blaze.
These images were taken by Ya’lla traveler Dori Russell:
Petra
the Dead Sea
syrupy sweets, mmmmm
mountains near Petra
Over 20 layers of habitation, one atop the other, make up Tel Megiddo in the north of our mystery country. An important Egypt-Mesopotamia trade route crossed the Carmel Mountain ridge at a pass near the settlement. This is Armageddon (Greek for Megiddo) of the Book of Revelation, where the final battle between the forces of good and evil is prophesied to take place.
Can you name that country?
See below for answers.
My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice. Song of Solomon 2:9
photo: Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection
Gazelle Valley, in the middle of urban Jerusalem, has been home to the native Israeli mountain gazelle for millennia, but, in recent decades, the encroaching city severely suppressed their numbers and real estate developers threatened to wipe them out permanently.
photo: Israel21c
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), along with area residents, fought for 15 years to maintain the wild patch, and they won! Then the city of Jerusalem, community groups, and NGOs worked together to clean up the neglected plot and turn it into a nature reserve and community gathering place. The park opened in the spring of 2015, with enhancements planned for years to come.
photo: Haaretz
Within the 64-acre park, the replenished (and growing!) gazelle population has 22 acres to roam freely without being disturbed by human visitors. In addition to glimpses of gazelles, birds and other wildlife, humans enjoy walking and bike paths, picnic tables and benches, guided tours, educational programs for all ages, chamber music concerts, and weekly Friday evening Shabbat celebrations.
Gazelle Valley Park is open daily. Entrance is free of charge.
calm waters off Cienfuegos, Cuba
Santiago, Cuba
Baha’i Shrine, Haifa, Israel
Hanukkah, Jerusalem Old City
Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque, Istanbul
egret flying along the banks of the Nile
White Desert, Egypt
These little yellow pods are affectionately known as Coco Taxis because of their resemblance to coconuts. They compete for tourist business with classic American cars, which famously grace the island roads of our mystery country. Essentially, the Coco Taxi is a motorized rickshaw, with 3 wheels and room for a driver and two passengers. If you don’t mind squeezing, a Coco Taxi will get you where you’re going for less money than a “Yank Tank.”
Can you name that country?
See below for answers.
You know Dubai does nothing halfway, and that certainly applies to the annual Dubai Shopping Festival, which rolls out its 22nd installment December 26, 2016-January 28, 2017. Last year, over 3.5 million people attended this shopping and entertainment extravaganza.
Year-round, Dubai is one of the world’s top destinations for shopping and for one month each year the Dubai Shopping Festival magnifies that appeal exponentially. Retail sectors around the city, including world-class malls and traditional souks, slash prices, offer special festival products, sponsor raffle drawings, activities, and live entertainment. Dubai-sized raffle prizes include luxury cars, gold, diamonds, homes, and cash.
The festival chooses a different theme each year, but topnotch entertainment and activities for the entire family always line-up to complement the shop-til-you-drop frenzy at the heart of the event.
Visit http://www.visitdubai.com/en/discover/festivals/dubai-shopping-festival#press-centre for shopping and entertainment details, not yet published. There’s also a Dubai Festivals App to help attendees plot a plan of action and make the most of festival experiences and deals.
I like the dramatic skies in these shots from a stormy day in Kusadasi and Ephesus.
Kusadasi
Kusadasi
Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus
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