Tel Aviv Museum of Art and more...

Watching the construction next door

Today we began settling in to Tel Aviv. First order of business was to return the rental car (we had gotten in too late yesterday evening to do it then). The car had to be out of the lot by 7:30, so Abe and I left the kids sleeping at home and picked up the car, got gas (at a gas station located inside a garage - I'm sure that violates all kinds of codes) and gratefully dropped off the car, as Tel Aviv is a terrible place to drive (very crowded, lots of traffic, one way streets, people parked all over the streets and sidewalks). 

We came back and the kids were up, entertaining one another, and enjoying a leisurely morning of not needing to get up and out right away to move to a new place. A relaxed breakfast, a little Nick Jr on TV, and several loads of laundry later, we were ready to set out. We walked to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art - and had a fantastic visit there. Some highlights were a photography exhibit of photos from the Yom Kippur War, a design exhibit with some really cool optical illusions to make you rethink everyday objects in a new light, the impressionists and postimpressionists were nice, and the Art for All Ages (kids area) was fantastic. In the kids area, the exhibit was about wheels, so they had lots of activities related to this theme. They had paper cutout acrobats you could color and then roll down a ramp (Sylvia loved this). They also had a bicycle built for two which generated a cool graphic if two people pedaled at just the same rate (which Ella and Jonah enjoyed). 

"Inverse" movie - backwards colors,
backwards dialogue

Next, we met our friends Jeff and Irene and their kids for lunch. They just arrived in Israel yesterday and were coming in from Jerusalem to visit a relative in Herzelia. We were so glad to get to spend time with them despite jet lag and a very hectic day of traveling on their part. We had to walk a bit, but we found a really nice (and nicely airconditioned!) Italian restaurant on Ibn Gabriol Street, and enjoyed catching up over big bowls of pasta and a glass of wine. 

We came back to the apartment to rest a while (I think the laid back atmosphere of Tel Aviv must be rubbing off on us - a relaxed morning and a relaxed afternoon...shocking for us!), and eat, and then after dinner, just before it got dark, we headed down to the beach. Although there are still jellyfish warnings, the water was full of swimmers and Ella and Jonah joined them and had a blast. Toward the end, Sylvia got in on the action too. It's a beautiful beach with good waves, warm water, soft sand, nice showers as you exit, and we're looking forward to spending several more evenings there over the next couple of weeks.

Imitating the expressions
of the sculptures