Israel Day Five (Oct. 12)

Our first full day of the tour was interesting. The breakfast buffet at the Carlton was incredible -- it puts the cocktail hour at a b'nai mitzvah to shame. All sorts of cold things -- different smoked fish, fruit, yogurt, salad, cereal, breads; any kind of eggs (including waffles); any kind of hot drink; halavah and dates. (There are photos.)

First stop was at an Ethiopian community center where we heard the story from an amazing woman who came to Israel from Ethiopia, through Sudan, in 1984. It was a fascinating story and afterwords they served us spiced coffee and their version of cornbread. Hospitality is very important to them. We also had the opportunity to buy some of their handicrafts.

Next stop was with Lecket -- an Israeli organization that provides food for those in need. Lecket means "gleaning" and refers to the mitzvah of leaving unharvested crops in the corners of the fields for the poor to gather (Book of Ruth, among other places). The group both collects leftover food from catered events and restaurants and from farmers' fields. Our job was to harvest pomegranates. We spent about 1/2 hour and filled two large bins.

We then went to the other extreme -- an upscale mall in Ramat Aviv, an upscale neighborhood of Tel Aviv. We visited the food court for lunch -- falafel for me. You'll see photos from the mall -- lots of familiar stores. On the one hand, how annoying that it's the same places I could shop at back home. On the other hand, how nice to know that these brands are not boycotting Israel.

Our next stop was close by, on the edge of Tel Aviv University. We went to the Palmach Museum. This group was the original Israeli underground, working during WWII to try to help Jews escape Europe and also working first with the English against the Arabs in Palestine and then against both the English and the Arabs. It was thanks to them that Israel won the war of independence. It is an amazing museum -- entirely multi-media with some exhibits and films (we had English translations to listen to). It was very moving and inspiring.

The bus made a stop at the hotel before heading to the next stop, which was a walking tour along Rothschild Blvd. As Mike and I spent three days walking along there and seeing the same sights, we got off. And finally success -- Mike was able to rent a kayak and paddle in the Mediterranean.

We had dinner at an outdoor restaurant just south of our hotel, next to the Tel Aviv marina. It was very pleasant. Later in the evening, a friend of the family who lived in Englewood for a few years, came by. Over cups of tea, we chatted and caught up on the doings of his family and ours. Jeff originally came to Israel to work as a lawyer. He decided that he wanted to be a rabbi and came to the US to go to JTS. He now still works as a lawyer but has founded a small conservative congregation that has grown to about 70 families in three years.

We finished packing in preparation for moving on tomorrow.

Day five photos

Israel Day 4 (1011/15)

Another great breakfast this morning. We packed up and checked out -- we're sorry to leave this friendly hotel. Mike was quickly able to hail a taxi on Allenby St., who took us to the Dan Panorama Hotel. Ralph at the hotel was puzzled -- neither our names nor our tour group was anywhere in their system. I gave him the page with the tour phone numbers and he made a call. For unknown reasons, the tour company changed the hotel to the Carlton, which is further north and right on the beach. A short taxi ride later, we were checking in (with our free welcome drink -- sweet mint iced tea). The hotel has a small private beach. We kept walking to the public beach further down where there was an outdoor snack bar. This time Mike got the green drink, a mint lemonade slushy while Nancy had the passion fruit slushy. Mike had a grilled chicken sandwich while Nancy had the very Israeli chicken liver pita (including pickles and tahini). We were very excited to find out there was a place to rent kayaks but when Mike checked, they told him it was too windy for rentals.

Nancy took a taxi out to the airport to meet the group (allowing Mike some more quiet time at the hotel). After a while, the group showed up -- yay! Big beautiful bus was waiting for us (and it has WiFi!) We drove through Jaffa to Old Town Jaffa. Very quickly went past some shops up to the top of the Jaffa Tel (that's a hill) for a view of the Mediterranean and Tel Aviv. We said a special blessing (the Shekhiyanu) of thank you for having come together in Israel. Then the group got to check in to the hotel. Interesting dinner, served family style, with salads, appetizers, various main courses (chicken, lamb, fish, and vegetarian), and a variety of desserts.

Tomorrow we need to be up early as we go off to see and do a variety of things.

Day four photos

Israel Day Three (October 10)

We woke up on time today, around 7:30 am (unlike yesterday's 9:30 am). Breakfast buffet was just as yummy. Forgot to describe one of yesterday's photos. When you enter the hotel room, your key card goes in a slot by the door -- that turns on the electricity for the room. Obviously when you leave, you remove the key card (so you can get back in).

We strolled to the other end of Rothschild Blvd. this morning, through Habima Square (several cultural institutions, including a theater and auditorium, and gardens), and through Dan Park (a haven for children with lots of playground equipment -- at least three birthday parties were going on when we went through). Eventually we got to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. We only went through two floors but I was thrilled to see Marc Chagall paintings (photos below). There were lots of other impressionists and post-impressionists. You'll be amazed to see my photo of a Picasso that is actually recognizable as real people.

We then continued to stroll, stopping for lunch at Lilush (described in the Fodor guide as a cozy neighborhood bistro, we didn't know it was in the guide, just picked it because it was open on Shabbat and the menu looked okay). Mike & I both had mint lemonade.

And then . . . the beach. For 30 shekels (about $7) we rented two lounge chairs and an umbrella and spent the afternoon with a myriad of beach goers (the two ladies next to me were Russian, there were two young men from Germany across from us, and a wide mix of others). I only waded but Mike went for several swims. Very relaxing.

We strolled back to the hotel, mainly along Allenby St. After some computer time we headed out to dinner, going back to Rustico, the Italian restaurant on Rothschild we'd been to Thursday night. We shared a Roman salad (what we'd call a Caesar salad but with a few mushrooms) and each got the mushroom risotto. I had the signature cocktail which is campari with pomegranate juice, orange juice and wedges, and a few other juices. And we shared the chocolate tower (four species of chocolate said our waiter -- I expected dark, milk, white, and something else; instead it was four different preparations) plus cappuccino for Mike and mint tea for Nancy.

This is our last night on our own. Tomorrow morning we'll head over to the Dan Panorama Hotel and then go out to the airport to meet our group.

Day 3 photos

Israel Day Two (October 9)

The breakfast buffet at our hotel is amazing -- choice of hot dishes (pasta and things), lots of salad things, lox, cereal, mini chocolate croissants, bread, jelly, your choice of eggs (any style), choice of tea and coffee (cappuccino, etc.) You'll see my choices in the photos. Forget to explain one of the photos from last night. Our room is on the 2nd floor. I showed the elevator panel -- the ground floor (what we could call the first floor) is 0 and the floor below it, on the elevator panel, is -1.

We walked through Neve Tzedek again, and a little in the next neighborhood, Florentine, down to the water. That took us to Old Town Jaffa. I managed to find two of my favorite shops from January (the fabric art shop where I picked out a beautiful fabric art painting last time and the Adina Plastelina shop that makes all sorts of neat things from art clay). As we're at the beginning of our trip, unlike last time, I resisted any new fabric art paintings, but I did get some small things at Adina's. (As I told the saleswoman there, if I get everything I want now, that would imply that I'm never coming back.) We than walked along to the Yaffa Port where I got a glass of fresh squeezed pomegranate juice and Mike got carrot/orange juice.

On the stroll back, Mike walked along the beach. I did dip my toes in the Mediterranean (the water is warm, 28C). Mike actually went for a short swim. Then we strolled to the old train station that's been converted to shops and cafes. He found a nice bench to sit and read while I strolled. I did stop to buy ice cream -- the smallest cup they had, which, to my amazement had two scoops squeezed in, chocolate sorbet and hazelnut (sorry, you only get a photo of the empty cup, it was melting so we had to eat it fast). Then back to the hotel, cutting through the theater and art complex at the edge of Neve Tzedek. The pretty trees that we saw back in January now have large oranges or grapefruits ripening on them.

After some quiet time (reading, Internet catch-up, etc.) we went off to find dinner. I had looked in the guidebood and discovered that a place we didn't go to last night because it looked like it wasn't very good, had a good review. So we went to Moses bar & grill, described as part retro lounge, part bistro. I had 3 mini burgers -- American (their classic burger with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mayo), European (mix of beef, lamb, and veal with a spicy ketchup), and one of the burgers of the week, Japanese (shredded red cabbage, mayo, and wasabi ketchup). Mike had an Israeli beer. I had a mint lemonade (I love it, you ask for lemonade and they ask if you want mint in it) and then mint tea.

As my cousin put it, Tel Aviv is more secular than Jerusalem. So, many of the restaurants are open (and busy) even though Shabbat starts on Friday night. Tomorrow there will be lots of things open. It is different feel here in Tel Aviv -- more cosmopolitan.

Here are day two photos.

Israel Day One (Again, 10/8/15)

It's deja vu all over again -- I'm back in Israel, this time with my husband Mike. As we hoped, we're here a few days before our synagogue's group tour arrives. Unfortunately, our cousins here in Tel Aviv are away for the weekend, so we're on our own. The flight was okay -- an unhappy baby across the aisle cried off and on most of the night, but we were in the bulkhead row and had lots of leg room.

We took a taxi to our hotel, The Lily & Bloon. Very nice room and the staff is so friendly and helpful. After a little unpacking we wandered off to find lunch. Ate at a nice dairy restaurant where I had another one of my "green" drinks (Kate captioned one of the photos in January -- mom had a lot of odd green things to drink) -- lemon mint slushy -- while Mike had fresh orange juice.

We then walked through the original part of Tel Aviv -- Neve Tzedek and then down to the beach on the Mediterranean. As it was in the 80s (28C to be precise) there were not only people surfing but also swimming. And we saw down a few blocks the Dan Panorama -- where we'll stay with the group. Back to the hotel for some quiet time (reading) but no sleep. Wandered out to Rothschild Blvd. to find dinner at Rustico, a nice little Italian restaurant, where we ate outside. I had a yummy mushroom risotto and Mike had some homemade gnocchi. Will probably be an early evening as we're still not really in this time zone.

Photos for day one