Neve Tzedek and Jaffa

A day of lots of walking... we did and saw SO much. (which I'll summarize pretty briefly since it's late and I am tired!)

Gabrielle joined us this morning, and we set out for our first destination, the Carmel Market. We had been there before, but there is so much to see there it was fun to go back. The spice seller treated me to several samples of things to smell and taste (if I'd have my kitchen at home, I'd have bought loads). We loved watching the Druze woman make pita and fill it with wonderful salads and sauces (we tried one with hummus and tabouleh and olive oil - Yum!).




























Next stop, Neve Tzedek. This is considered one of the nicest neighborhoods of Tel Aviv (as well as one of the oldest). It was nice, but I think we might have been just on the outskirts and there was a lot of construction, so maybe it didn't quite live up to its reputation. We did however stop for lunch at a very lovely cafe, Cafe Suzanna. The service was friendly (they declared the inside room a non smoking area just for us!) and the food was delicious. We have 2 salads - one with beets, yogurt, and mozzarella, and the other with carrots, turnips, and beets, as well as a whole bunch of appetizers to share among us. Fresh, flavorful, and interesting food. We also stopped by a playground for Sylvia and chatted with a nice American woman who shared her pink Bamba with Sylvia and let the kids pet her sweet dog.

Our next target was Old Jaffa, but along the way, we happened to find the Etzel museum, so we decided to stop in. This museum (beautifully situated right along the beach promenade) is about the Irgun, one of the underground organizations set up pre-State to fight both the Arabs and the British as the situation demanded. The exhibit was only so-so, but the air conditioning was exquisite. When we came in, we asked the guard how long it takes to see the museum and he told us 90 minutes (and evidently he meant to stick to that). After about 30 minutes we were done, so we headed to the front door to leave, and found we were locked in! Can you imagine this happening in the US? The guard had apparently gone to give a tour and he is the only one who can open the door. The woman at the ticket counter shrugged helplessly as we waited around for the guard to come back and let us out (which he did after about 5 minutes).

The walk along the beach into Jaffa is beautiful. We arrived at the visitors center and were treated to a terrific tour which included several short films (clever, animated productions) about the mythical history of Jaffa (the Greek woman Andromeda was chained to a rock off the coast of Jaffa, Jonah [of Jonah and the whale sailed from Jaffa, St Peter raised a woman from the dead there) as well as the real history. We also saw the excavation of the house of a Jewish market overseer from 2000 years ago. After the visitors center, and an ice cream break, of course, we took a quick peek into St. Peters Church and then wandered down to the wonderful, quirky, fantastic flea market. We could have browsed there for hours more, but after about an hour we were tired, so we headed home. We were all so tired that we brought in a pizza for dinner.

In the evening, the kids stayed home and my Dad, Jussara, Abe, & I went to visit the Golds at their hotel. After a short visit we said good night, and decide to enjoy the slightly cooler evening by walking home along the tayelet (boardwalk). We had a little excitement when we got home, as the door lock didn't work right and we were locked out! Luckily, the kids were home. We rang the bell until they woke up and let us in! Hopefully the rental agency guy will be able to come first thing tomorrow to fix it!