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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Travel Tales: Day 6: Sweetman’s Grandparents, and Traveling to Ocre, Part One

Today, September 8, 2011

This morning our friend, Daniella, picked us up. She lives in Galilee but before we went all the way there Sweetman went to pay respects to his grandparents from his father’s side. He never knew them.

Sweetman was born in a little town called, Pet a Tikva. It’s twenty minutes north of Tel Aviv going toward Galilee. This is where they rest.

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The story of his father’s parents is a sad one and has been somewhat a mystery since him and his family moved to the states when he was seven. Even though Sweetman does have extended family in Israel, they’re not real close. One time we went to visit an aunt of his, two times. She refused to open her door. Oh well…

Luckily, we had Daniella with us and she was able to read their tombstones. Sweetman speaks Hebrew fluently along with several other languages but can’t read it except for a few words. DSC01218

 

When Sweetman’s father was four months old his father suddenly died, at the age of thirty-two. The man was studying to be a rabbi. The word used for this is ‘shiva’.

 

DSC01220When Sweetman’s father was four years old, his grandmother died at the age of twenty-eight. She was a doctor on her way to Beirut and got a cut. The cut became a full blown staph infection and took her life. So Sweetman’s dad was raised by his grandmothers. We also found out that he has an aunt somewhere. Now we’ll begin the search for her with the help of our friend.

After, we made our way to Galilee with plans to visit Haifa. DSC01231 But we ended up taking a different way and I got great pictures of the city standing high up somewhere off the side of a road. Our friend decided to go to Ocre instead.

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Eucalyptus trees were everywhere. At first, I thought I was smelling basil but Sweetman corrected me. As you go further North, the scent of these trees get stronger. In fact, I’m standing in front of them to get this picture of Haifa below.

After, we made our way around winding roads to get to Ocre. It’s a friendly Arab city. Also, the Crusaders’ fortress still stands there. Wished we could’ve visited this. It’s fascinating. You would’ve loved the pics, especially Sir Wills. Maybe next time.

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Below, I don’t know if you can see this but that’s some Israeli military  up there.DSC01230

That’s all for now folks! Tomorrow I’ll share the sights of Ocre, one of my favorite cities.

Have a great day blogging, writing, and reading!

Shelly

Today, I’m driving down to see my grandson, Ho-Ho, and my daughters.

12 comments:

  1. I always find it so sad when people die so young.

    Really want to see Israel one day. :-)

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  2. Great photos--looks kind of like Southern California!

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  3. What an amazing looking place! I'd like to go to Malta to see where hubby's father comes from. Maybe one day. But, hubby won't go unless his father goes, and his father won't go back. I may have to go by myself.

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  4. Your interesting blog posts (especially SPAL & HB) have earned you an award !
    Please pick it up at http://writer-in-transit.co.za/red-carpet-moment/

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  5. Terrific pics, Shelly. It looks as suitably rugged as I've been writing it.

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  6. Ooops...It was his father's mother who died at 28. This is what I get for rushing this morning.

    @Misha: You would love Isreal. And yes, it's sad when parents die so young that their children will never remember them.

    @Norma: Thank you. There will be more tomorrow. I was rushing to post so I could get myself down south to visit my grandson.

    @Eve: Thanks. It was hard taking what I wanted in a moving car.

    @Mish: Thank you. I'll stop by tomorrow.

    @Sir Wills: Good. I'll have more tomorrow.

    @Sarah: One day after you get your mil...then you can go.

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  7. Great photos. My daughter spent a semester abroad in Haifa and loved it!

    Joyce
    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com

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  8. Love the scenery. I'm glad he got to visit the graves. How sad that they died so young.

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  9. @DM: I am, too, but there's so much he doesn't know. On his mom's side her family died in the Holocaust. So there's a lot of sadness.

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Let me know what you think.