Now it's been almost a month since my last update. And this time, people have actually contacted me specifically to ask me to write another entry to this blog. Oh my God that means there are some people out there who really read it!!

I shan't write too much; instead, I'll keep it brief. But there's so much to write about!! Okay, here goes:

I was at Jeremy & Tanya's wedding in Southport on 12th September. It was a truly wonderful day, and everyone there was sporting a huge grin - even before the bubbly! I enjoyed the wedding for three main reasons: I got to share in Jezza & Tanya's special day and see how happy they were; I had a chance to feed my ego by singing (a cappella I might add) during the wedding ceremony - thank you Tanya & Jezza for trusting me not to cock things up!; and I got to see loads of my Uni friends who I haven't seen in a long while.

Not only could I catch up with those in the UK, like Justin (& Sam & Grace & Maisie), Hugh, Foggy, James and H (and his wife Tania) but also those further afield, such as Stephen (who's now in Japan) and Andy (who's now in Malaysia). And it was fab to see Jeremy's family again and to get to meet some of Tanya's Italian relatives (one of whom had kindly brought a humdinger of a grappa with him from his valley). Plus I caught up with a few old acquaintances like Jezza's mate Tim and made a few new friends too. Marvellous. So the trip over from Munich was well worth the trouble (there was a train strike in Germany that day, plus hellish traffic and roadworks from Manchester airport all the way to Southport).

I had hardly been back in Germany more than a minute, when I had to pack my bags and head to the airport again. This time I was off to Israel for just under two weeks, with Oliver, Trixi & Christian. At long last, the trip we'd planned back in May was about to start! We did an obscene amount of tourism in our short time there, so I will restrict myself to a bullet list of sights and just throw in the odd observation for a bit of local colour, if that's all right:

DAY 1: Munich -> Jerusalem

• The flight was fine after an amusing start with a tank accompanying us down the runway (El Al take their security very seriously)
• We took a taxi from Tel Aviv airport to our accommodation in Jerusalem, the Three Arches YMCA, a marvellous art deco building just outside the Old City.
• We walked up to the Jaffa Gate, into the Old City, through the Jewish Quarter, past the Wailing Wall, and along the Cardo Roman road, then back through the Armenian Quarter.
• Jerusalem is a hilly place, and not somewhere you'd want to visit in a wheelchair.

DAY 2: Jerusalem

• Church of the Redeemer (a sober German affair)
• Church of the Holy Sepulchre (complete with crazy nuns)
• Bar mitzvahs at the Wailing Wall (mad Middle Eastern musicians jumping around)
• The Arab Quarter (with a coffee in the Austrian Club)
• Pontius Pilate's house
• The Lion's Gate in the old city walls
• The Souk (Arab market)
• The Damascus Gate (with the first of many many MANY falafel meals)
• The Garden Tomb in East Jerusalem, the busy Palestinian area of the city
• Underground tour of the Western Wall (this was a real highlight)
• Dinner at the American Colony hotel & restaurant, with drinks in Osho bar near Jaffa St

DAY 3: Jerusalem

• We picked up our hire car from Sixt - which took about an hour all told
• All morning at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre (a harrowing story told in a gripping manner in the museum)
• The Shouk (Jewish market), where we met Oliver's friend Dorit from when he lived here
• The Zion Gate, from where we saw the new security wall that goes through the West Bank
• Beit Knesset Moreshi Yisrael synagogue for evening prayers (mad rabbi from LA)
• Libon restaurant in the Cinematheque for yummy salads

DAY 4: Jerusalem

• Auguste Victoria church on Mount Scopus (another of several German churches)
• Paternoster Church (where the Lord's Prayer can be read in 180 languages on the walls)
• Dominus Flevit Church (with a wonderful view back to the Temple Mount)
• A Jewish cemetery with a view back across East Jerusalem to the Old City
• The Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations
• A crazy car stop on a busy road to photograph the Olive Mount from the Eastern Wall
• Posh snacks in the King David Hotel (with a view to the Jaffa Gate)
• A sherut (public minibus) to the security wall crossing on the road to Bethlehem
• A taxi with a cheeky spiv driver from the crossing point into Bethlehem
• Church of the Nativity and St Hieronymus' Church
• The Souk (including a stop for falafel and free pancakes)
• St Mary's Syrian Orthodox church (laid out for a wedding)
• Taxi / sherut back to Jerusalem (the security barrier is FULL ON with x-rays and gun emplacements as well as excellent graffiti - on the Palestinian side)
• Shopping in Jerusalem's biggest mall (including the biggest falafel of the whole trip!)
• Beers in Dolce Latte bar in the Ben Yehuda pedestrian area

DAY 5: Jerusalem -> Masada

• David's Citadel (cheesy light & sound additions to an otherwise terrific castle)
• Temple Mount (sadly the Dome of the Rock is closed to non-Muslims; they were testing people at the doors on whether they could recite bits of the Koran before letting them in)
• Mea Sharim Orthodox area of town (plenty of crazy beardy weirdies - and their wives all wear the SAME wig because they're not allowed to show their head hair)
• Back to the Shouk for more tasty pastries, falafel, and snacks
• Drive to Mount Masada, staying at the fabulous youth hostel there with swimming pool

DAY 6: Masada -> Galilee

• Climbed up Mount Masada to see the sun rise over the Dead Sea from its summit
• A few hours wandering through the ruins of Herod's palace and the Roman fortifications
• Cable car back down again, and a welcome swim in the hostel pool (we had to climb over the fence to get in though, because they didn't have a life guard on duty)
• Drove to En Boqeq Dead Sea resort (the water is REALLY WEIRD! You just can't sink)
• Drove to En Gedi nature reserve (swam in the refreshing waterfall pool and saw chamois)
• Drove to En Gev on the Sea of Galilee (dinner of St Peter's fish in the kibbutz restaurant)

DAY 7: Galilee & Golan

• Fish nibbled our feet in the Jordan river at Yardenit, where Jesus was baptised
• Drove through Tiberias to Banias falls and Banias Pan Grotto (ate a huge bedouin crêpe)
• Nimrod Castle (fantastic views over the Golan Heights)
• Driving around on what feels like the top of the world (Sea of Galilee is at -200 metres...)
• Checked in to youth hostel outside Tiberias, then went to get water when our car broke down! Sitting around waiting for Sixt to send someone with a replacement car

DAY 8: Galilee -> Acre

• Bread Miracle Church at Tabgha (throngs of annoying Spanish tourists)
• Church of Primacy of St Peter (bloody Spaniards followed us there too)
• Foundation stone of House of St Peter and ruined synagogue at Capernaum
• Church of Beatitudes on Hill of Beatitudes, overlooking Sea of Galilee
• Lunch in Sefad, an ancient Jewish city of great liturgical importance
• Church of the Annunciation and Church of St Joseph in Nazareth (plus delicious falafel from a Palestinian who assured us that in Nazareth people of all faiths get on really well)
• Drove to Acre and lucked out big style at the poshest hotel in town, Akkotel
• Outstanding Arab food and shishas with huge crashing waves in the old harbour area
• Delightful nighttime walk through the old city, ending up in a Palestinian wedding party (it was mad! we were invited to join in, sit down, have some food and even dance with the groom - all with bombastic Arab music through the biggest speakers I've ever seen)

DAY 9: Acre

• Delicious breakfast in the hotel (we were even filmed for Israeli TV!)
• View over the city from the unfinished rooftop bar (the hotel is built into the old city walls)
• Walked through the old city to the Caravanserai (which reminded me of many a Plaza Real in Spanish towns, particularly Salamanca)
• Walk to Citadel and through the underground passages of the Crusader city
• al-Jazzar Mosque (the only mosque we were actually allowed into in the whole of Israel)
• Drove to Rosh Hanikra to the chalk cliffs and surge caves on the Lebanese border
• Watched sunset from the old harbour of Acre
• Walked through Templar Tunnel from old harbour to caravanserai
• Ate shawarma on the street and halva in our hotel room (well, we hadn't had lunch...)
• Dinner at a posh fish restaurant in the old harbour area (beardy weirdy multilingual owner and staff that warned us NOT to spend time in the old city at night!)

DAY 10: Caesarea

• Drove down from Acre past Haifa to Caesarea (ruins of Herod's port for Roman trade)
• Excellent interactive displays on history of the city, plus great ruins, plus a great beach
• Drove to Tel Aviv and ended up in a Russian-owned hotel right by the beach
• Walked along waterfront to a trendy restaurant (monster portions)
• Drinks at a very trendy beach bar with funky red pyramid lamps (the sand is SO FINE!)

DAY 11: Tel Aviv & Jaffa

• Taxi to a bagel stand at the base of the hill of old Jaffa (very very tasty)
• Walked through Jaffa to harbour (cool suspended tree in an Alien-esque egg)
• Walk back along beach to Tel Aviv and our hotel, via another trendy beach bar
• Quick coffee in a nearby shopping centre (once again with gun checks at the entrance)
• A lazy afternoon on the beach, roasting slowly in the hot autumn sun
• Checked out & brought luggage to car in underground car park, then found some dinner
• Walked to a recommended bar away from the beach, then back to Dizengoff St for coffee

DAY 12: Tel Aviv -> Munich

• Back to the car, straight off to the airport (no need to sleep that night, because we had to be at the airport for 2am anyway)
• Eventually found petrol, and handed car back
• Unexpectedly lenient grilling from the security services (even easier than in Munich)
• Zombie-like hanging about in the departures lounge, then an uneventful flight home
• Landing in Munich, with a tank to escort us back to the terminal building
• Babsi picked us up and dropped us off home (she had also brought us there 12 days ago)

There was just SO MUCH that we did! I've got all tired again just typing it up! It was a memorable holiday. Several thousand photos await my attention - and I'm almost not exaggerating...