Two final activities awaited us on the last full-fledged day of #Israel2016, the first of which was a trip to the Orchard of Abraham's Children in Jaffa. The Orchard is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2011 by Ihab and Ora Balha; its primary mission is to create a sense of community and connectedness between Israelis and Palestinians.
Read MoreWe hit up two aesthetically-pleasing sites along the Israeli coast today. Stop number one was Caesarea, the ancient port established by Herod the Great, that little rascal who purportedly wanted baby Jesus dead so that he wouldn't be usurped as "King of the Jews" (obvs. things didn't quite work out like he'd hoped).
Read MoreThough it was a beach day/day to get acclimated, myself and others did a lot of walking. We walked down the promenade at Tel Aviv Yafo Beach to get to a nice spot in the sand; we walked further to stop at a coffee shop called Aroma (which has this splendid little frozen coffee drink); and then we walked even further to the city's port, a commercial and entertainment district, where we found a charming park with miniature zip line included.
Read MoreI landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday, May 4, right around 3:40 PM local time (which is to say 8:40 AM in Michigan). As I glanced at signs and advertisements posted along the walls of the airport, it was quite clear that I wasn't in Kansas anymore.
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