Palmach museum, Rabin Center, Old Jaffa

Just when I thought I had Tel Aviv pegged as a fun, superficial place to shop and eat, it surprises me with a day of complexity and thoughtfulness. We had an amazing day of touring in Tel Aviv with Harley and Gabrielle.

We had been talking about going to the Palmach Museum today, so we called this morning as soon as it opened to reserve it. They only had 4 spaces left the entire day for the 1 pm tour. So, we decided to grab it and Harley and the big kids could go (and Abe and I could reserve for tomorrow). We made hasty plans for the morning. Harley and Gabrielle headed off to the Jaffa flea market and we walked down to Rothschild Blvd to Independence Hall. We happened to arrive just as a tour in English was beginning (for us and a huge international group of teens). The guide started by showing us a photo of the first house in Tel Aviv. He pointed out a window of the house in the photo and then showed us that very same window in the room we were sitting in. Although they knew this was the same place, they didn't know that facade was still intact -- it had been uncovered in renovations a few months ago. Very cool. We then watched a short film about the declaration of statehood and the building itself. It was originally Mayor Dizengoff's house and then later became the Tel Aviv art museum. When the Jewish leadership knew that the British were getting ready to leave (withdrawal planned for a Saturday), they anticipated that the surrounding Arab countries would attack. They decided that they had nothing to lose by declaring the state of Israel. So, they looked for a place to hold the ceremony on Friday, before the British left. They chose this building because it was respectable, but also safe (e.g., small windows, etc). They sent out 350 invitations telling people the time and place of the event, that they should dress up, and to keep it a secret. When the crowd gathered, they broke into a spontaneous singing of Hatikvah. Then, Ben Gurion read the declaration of statehood, a Rabbi led the Shechekiyanu, and the orchestra played Hatikvah once more (this time no one sang because they were crying or at least too choked up to sing). We went into the actual room where the declaration happened and heard an impassioned speech (maybe a little over the top) by another guide about the importance of Israel, the importance of peace, how hard it is to send kids into the army, and so on.

We then took the bus up to the Ramat Aviv Mall to meet Harley and Gabrielle for lunch at the food court. After a quick, but nice lunch, we headed over to the Palmach museum (the elite fighting corp of the Haganah, the underground military organization of the Jews prior to the establishment of the State of Israel). Since toddlers aren't allowed in and we only had four spots, Harley and the older kids went in to see it. I can't report much since I didn't go, but I will tomorrow, so stay tuned. I can say that they had a terrific time and found it very moving. Meanwhile, Abe, Sylvia and I went to find a cool quiet place to wait. The museum staff directed us to a room with photo books about the Palmach. This was the most incredible collection of photos I have ever seen in one room. There were rows of tables with dozens of huge books on them, with photographs given by the Palmach fighters and their families. There were several books for each of the three main brigades (Har El, HaNegev,  & Yiftach), as well as books about a Palmach group that disguised themselves as Arabs, and another that posed as German soldiers during WWII. There was a book for each of the illegal immigrant ships (e.g., the Exodus) with photos of the people on board, the birth announcements of babies born on board, and so on), and much more. We started talking with the woman at the desk and learned that she was 4th generation Israeli (and is herself a great grandmother). She was a teen during the time of the Palmach so I asked her if she had family members who were in the Palmach. She said no, but then said she herself was, and asked if we'd like to see her photos. Of course we did. She pulled out one of the books and flipped through it and there she was on many of the pages, 17 1/2 years old,  fighting for the security of the Jewish people. She showed us photos of her husband too, who she met in the Palmach. We also discovered that she has a second cousin who used to live in Toledo, Rhoda Miller (but not the one that we know and love). After looking at the photos and talking to this woman for an hour, we felt we had just as good an experience as the rest of our group, who actually went into the museum.

Directly afterwards, we went to the Yitzhak Rabin Center next door. This museum blew us away - we spent over 2 hours there, but we easily could have spent 2 days. The display is a big spiral following the life of Rabin, parallel to the history of the modern state of Israel, and interwoven with historical events happening elsewhere in the world. We were impressed by what a balanced view of events they presented (as Harley said, it seemed especially balanced if you happen to agree with Rabin). I was very moved by a video of him talking about his time as a young commander in the army, when soldiers under his command went into battle and were killed. He talked about how the experience shaped his beliefs about the importance of peace. The museum raised so many interesting issues, any one of which could be the focus of an entire exhibit - for example, the controversy over the Lebanon war, the controversy over whether Israel should accept reparations from Germany, the controversy over the peace process, and much more.  We were all very touched by video of the speech given by Rabin's granddaughter at his funeral (which I still remember hearing her give at that time), and seeing the blood stained copy of the "Song of Peace" that was found in his shirt pocket after he was assassinated. The museum was nuanced, thought provoking, and deeply engrossing. Around 4:30 a guard came around and told us the museum would be closing in half an hour and we were only at the half way point!

Finally, to top off this awesome day of touring, we followed a dinner recommendation that Harley had gotten from a cab driver earlier in the day and took the bus down to Old Jaffa. We walked a short way through a very non-touristy, authentic part of Jaffa. It was interesting to see the Arab families and the older houses after spending so much time in the very modern and very Jewish Tel Aviv. We made our way to The Old Man and the Sea (HaZakan v'HaYam). This was easily the best meal experience we have had in Israel. First, the setting is gorgeous. We sat up on a balcony with a beautiful view of the sun setting over the sea. The minute we sat down, they brought to our table a pitcher of lemonade with mint and 2 dozen small dishes with various appetizers - hummus, tabbouleh, cauliflower, tzatziki, falafel, carrots, purple cabbage, beets, potatoes, and lots more than we didn't recognize, but which were delicious, along with a big basket of pita (druze style). The waiter came along pretty soon after this all came out to take our order and we told him we weren't ready yet. He suggested that we needed to order very soon. We hadn't noticed it, but at most of the tables around us were seated Arab families. Their tables were also full of little appetizer dishes, but unlike us, they weren't eating yet. They were all waiting the last few minutes before the sun set marking the end of another day (one of the last days, actually) of Ramadan. The waiter told us that as soon as the sun sets the kitchen and waiters will be really busy getting the food out fast, so he wanted to get our order in first. We could hardly imagine ordering meals on top of all of the appetizers, but we couldn't very well eat all the free food and then leave! We got various meat and fish dishes, which were also excellent. Sure enough, right at sun set, we heard a call from the surrounding mosques, and the Muslim people around us began to eat (with the waiters rushing like mad to get the food out and a line quickly forming outside the door). The whole dinner was delicious, as well as fascinating!

Having eaten this huge meal, we were all up for a walk. It was about 5 km back to the apartment, so we figured we'd start walking and take a cab whenever we got tired. We walked along the shore and happened upon the fabulous, funky Jaffa port. There was a very cool photography exhibit going on in a big warehouse space, several smaller shops and restaurants (including the Nalaga'at center which houses a blind & deaf theater and a "Black out" restaurant, where the waiters are all blind and the food is served in complete darkness). We kept walking and seeing cool things, and enjoying the night breeze off the water, and before we knew it we were too close to make taking a cab even reasonable. So, very tired, but very satisfied from a terrific day, we walked the rest of the way. We're sad that this marks the end of all of our guests in Tel Aviv - it's been wonderful exploring with everyone!

Independence Hall

Extra nice bus this morning (Metropolitan line)

The blog today co-starring Harley (played by himself)

The first of two pink popsicles today!

Sylvia likes having her own headset (even if it's not attached to anything!)

Leaving a tribute on the Rabin memorial wall

First time on an Israeli bus!

Shabbat (Tel Aviv)

Doing nothing - ipad karaoke

We're really embracing the Tel Aviv lifestyle - stay out until midnight on Friday and then sleep in and do nothing on Saturday! Even Sylvia slept past 9:00 this morning.

Doing nothing - ipad 3 little pigs

We got up slowly and did nothing for a while until Harley and Gabrielle came over to drop their stuff off and hang out a bit. Once they left to to do some touring, we did nothing for a while longer and made some plans for lunch. We took a brief break from doing nothing to go grocery shopping (the AM:PM down the block is open on Saturdays), and then did nothing some more until about 1 pm (a day that gets started at 1 pm - that is really a day of rest!).

At that point we met up with a friend, Sharon (formerly from Toledo, now lives in Tel Aviv) and her son. We were planning to go to Spaghettim, but evidently it has closed. We looked a bit for another place to eat, but everywhere was either closed for Shabbat, really crowded (because it was one of the few places open on Shabbat), or only had outside seating (and it is very hot). So, we ended up ordering a pizza to be delivered (which was cool - first pizza delivery for us in Israel!) and having lunch at home. We had a nice time catching up with one another.

Doing nothing - Hotel Chic lobby

Campaign stop at Hatachana!

Later in the afternoon, we went to meet my Dad and Jussara at their hotel and took cabs to HaTachana - the newly renovated former train station for the Jaffa-Jerusalem train line. The station, near the shore just north of Jaffa, has been converted into a pretty happening entertainment, shopping, eating district (What were you expecting in Tel Aviv? History and archeology? Of course it's eating and shopping). We had visited the station at the Jerusalem end of the line when we were there - it has also been converted to a shopping area. We made it a little bit educational for the kids by doing the time travel train ride. It's a simulator "ride" on an actual train car from the former Jaffa-Jerusalem line, which has been retrofitted with 3D movie screens etc. They tell the story of the railroad; how Montifiore wanted to built a rail line, but the Turks wouldn't give him the permit. Later (1880's) Joseph Navon got the permit, but couldn't secure the

Sucked in by a bookstore in any language

funding. Finally, a French company bought the permit, raised the funds, and built the rail line. They built it narrower than a standard line (for reasons that were not made clear but the holographic narrator of the movie), so the train had to travel very slowly. They said you could get off the train, pick a bouquet of flowers, and get back on the train. It took between 4 and 6 hours to get from Jaffa to Jerusalem (today it takes about 45 minutes, and it will take half an hour once the high speed train is completed). My favorite story was about the fact that the clocks at the stations were all set to Paris time. One person had the job of meeting a boat at the Jaffa port every few weeks and checking the time on a ship coming from Paris. Then, he would ride the length of the rail line and set all of the clocks to the correct (French) time. This rail line was also what prompted Ben Yehuda to coin a word in Hebrew for train (Rakevet).

Waiting for our train (movie)

After the ride, we went for dinner at a very nice Italian place and then for ice cream at Vaniglia (our favorite!). By this point Hatachana was really lively -- crowded with people, a trapeze circus act performing, live music, other street performers. The kids especially loved a guy who posed like a statue, perfectly still, until you put a coin in his jar, and then he would sing a song with his guitar. There were also fun stores, like a game and puzzle store that Jonah loved and several clothing stores that Ella loved.

We walked back along the shore (where many Arab families were BBQing, since it is still Ramadan and they only eat after sunset). We also walked past the Dolphinarium - a former (?) nightclub in Tel Aviv which was the site of a 2001 suicide bombing. The memorial out front says , "never stop dancing." Finally, we walked up Allenby, a really hip neighborhood with tons of bars, restaurants, renovated apartments. So cool. The same walk during the day is brutal, but in the evening when it cools off, it is really pleasant and fun to walk along and people watch and check out the sights and the neighborhoods. Tel Aviv has definitely found its way into our hearts. What a fun, cool place to be!

Superman at the Tachana

IT issue? Is there a 10 year old boy around?

We came home and hung out with Harley and Gabrielle. They had found a series of youtube videos from Ulpan Or with simple (and very funny) Hebrew lessons. We watched them together and learned some Hebrew (although I'm glad to say we already knew most of what they taught!).

A classic Tel Aviv day

Watching glass making at the art fair

If Tel Aviv had a mantra, it would be "Shop, eat, beach" and that's exactly what we did today, making for an excellent Tel Aviv day. We started out the morning by helping my Dad and Jussara get checked into their hotel. Then, they headed off to the Diaspora Museum while we went to meet Harley and Gabrielle on Nahalat Benyamin Street (We have a more active social calendar in Tel Aviv than we do in Toledo!)

Friday mornings on Nahalat Benyamin street there is a really terrific crafts market. Beautiful, unique handmade things, being sold by the artists themselves, for reasonable prices in a great pedestrian setting. Although I rarely agree to let Abe buy me jewelry, we found two beautiful necklaces for me there (and Ella found a necklace and a ring). The first necklace and Ella's ring were handpainted on glass. The second
necklaces were made by an Argentinian man (and his son helped with the sales). Ella's is a gorgeous hamsa with a woman's face in it and a thread of raw unpolished silver running through it. Mine is two silver triangles which fall into a Jewish star with blue stones on either side of it. We looked at many other clever and beautiful things (wallets made from pink bamba packaging, coasters made from vintage Israeli advertisements or children's books, adorable handsewn puppets and dolls, and much more).

After the fair, we continued our window shopping up Rothschild Blvd. stopping for lunch at Cacao. The food was very good, but the service was slow, so the waitress offered us a free dessert. We chose an amazing concoction of 2 waffles with shaved white chocolate on them, served with fresh whipped cream, caramel sauce, sliced bananas, and candied pecans. Yum!

To top off our shopping extravaganza, we walked along Shenkin Street - known as a trendy, cool place to shop in Tel Aviv. We didn't buy much, but we enjoyed the window shopping! We loved the first aid candy store, where you could choose a medicine bottle or syringe, a type of candy, and a personalized label with a red cross on it, for a special occasion or a pick me up for a friend. There were some great clothing shops, nice jewelry shops, and lots more.

Dizengoff play area

At this point we parted ways with Harley and Gabrielle. We were really shopped-out, but we wanted to look for a specific thing for Noa for a bat mitzvah gift. So Abe and Jonah took Sylvia to the awesome play area in Dizengoff center while Ella and I made one last pass for the gift (no luck, but we think we know where to get it now). Sylvia had a ball in the play area and hated to leave!

Namal playground

We had a short rest at home and then took one of the last Friday afternoon buses to the namal. Jonah and Sylvia had another long playground time (the namal playground is fantastic!). We headed toward services on the boardwalk, but on the way discovered the juggler and stopped to watch him for a while first. We finally made it to services where Grandpa Dave and Jussara joined us.  The services were beautiful, as before, and then we all enjoyed a really excellent dinner and a long walk home on the tayelet. We got home around midnight, completely worn out but having had exactly the kind of day Tel Aviv was meant for.

Conquering the climbing wall

Juggler at the Namal

Another beautiful Tel Aviv sunset

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!