Travel: Branching out across the country

Olive B&B is a new network of bed & breakfasts that facilitates access to more vacation spots.

By JONATHAN GOLDSTEIN
hotel 58 (photo credit: MCT)
hotel 58
(photo credit: MCT)
Choosing a B&B is a commitment.
The location will be the focal point of your trip, with limited radius of potential exploration. However, Olive B&B has conceived a new way to expand the geographical extent of a sojourn to the North. Seven individual bed & breakfast branches form a network across the Galilee to allow the traveler to check into one branch, drive across the country to stay at a second branch and check out from there.
Not only does the Olive network create a diversified experience at each location with the luxury of uniform standards, but it also provides an extensive network of day trips, tours and activities to choose from to make the most of your time in the countryside.
Having shut down our computers one summer afternoon, my girlfriend and I left the crackling fluorescent lights of the office and the ungodly traffic of Tel Aviv to take wing on the open highway north.
Our destination was Olive’s Safed branch, Pelach Harimon, one of a chain of similar B&Bs.
The room was just a stone’s throw away from the Old City’s artist market, filled with ancient synagogues and modern- day pilgrims.
Greeted by a bowl of fresh fruit, chocolates and a small bottle of wine, we went straight to the balcony for what proved to be our favorite part of the B&B experience – the view. The large balcony was furnished with a patio set so, we sat down with the bottle of wine and soaked up the foreground of the artists’ market with the setting sun dipping into Mount Meron in the background.
On par with the views, such B&Bs are known to come complete with multi-jet Jacuzzis.
Ours guest house had a lovely bathroom, complete with jet bath, assorted soaps and terrycloth robes.
The next morning, over a large Israeli breakfast at the Maximillian Café in the artists’ quarter, with which Olive has an arrangement, we formalized our plans for the day. We would start with a tour the manager offered through Safed’s Old City, complete with all the usual attractions. Later, we continued our romantic getaway with a spa workshop in the gorgeous mountain town of Amirim. Our contacts at Olive arranged for an appointment with a masseuse, and on the way we deliberated about what exactly a spa workshop might entail.
At Jacuzzi in the Woods, we parked the car and took in the scent of herbs and the sounds of birds in the mountain air.
The spa was prepared for us with hot herbal tea and a platter of dried fruits, with the gentle sounds of nature emanating from a CD.
Our masseuse welcomed us and prepared our workshop.
We started with a conversation about the state of our relationship and where we saw it going over Tarot-like cards. It was an unexpected part of a spa workshop, to say the least.
Afterwards, she opened a small wooden box filled with an array of aromatic oils. We chose the ones we found most pleasing, and she blended together our own personalized massage mixture.
We took turns as she taught us methods of massaging. At the end, she presented us with a gift of the aromatic oil mixture we had created together.
We departed and made our way to the next Olive branch in the Hula Valley.
The writer was a guest of Olive and Jacuzzi in the Woods.