June 5/6 - Sunday/Monday

Up early to catch a 1:30 ElAl flight to Israel. It's only an hour drive to the airport, 2 1/2 hr wait, then about 10 1/2 hrs. of flying time. Excellent and uneventful flight. Even security was easy, although they did pat Peter down and the scan him, probably because of his two new knees. He kind of liked it, though. We arrived at 7:00 am after an uneventful trip. The taxi driver argued with us about the price to Tel Aviv - highway travel vs secondary roads was an additional fee - and was screaming on the telephone with several people during the entire trip to the city. On the way to the hotel, I become obsessed by my Mobal world phone that was supposed to work in Israel. It's wasn't working. We arrive at the hotel and surprise! The room was ready! It's now 9:00 am and I've resigned myself to pay to use the hotel phone to call my sister, who has already been here a few days and I call customer service. We agreed to meet at her hotel for a second breakfast and coffee when customer service returns my call. "Dial any combination of these numbers," the woman says. She's not really sure why I can't dial out. I finally figure it out and can now enjoy my day.

So off we go to see my sister, Carol and her son, Spencer, and cousin Neal. We walked the several blocks to Carol's hotel and enjoy a second or third breakfast (I've lost count by now) with them. Our cousin Neal, has been living in Tel Aviv for about 1 1/2 yrs. and is anxious to take us sightseeing. Tel aviv is an active city and apparently know as "the city that never sleeps." Peter chose to stay behind to rest and swim in the Mediterranean Sea, which was much cleaner than our last visit and a beautiful blue/green color.






Carol, Spencer, Neal and I took a bus close to Old Jaffa and then walked on the promenade along the water the rest of the way.

Checking out the old and the new which is evident everywhere you go.





Finally found the jewelry store where my friend Judy bought the most beautiful earrings in 1993. Funny how I knew exactly where to go? Bought my earrings and all is well. (this isn't the store, but it was around the corner).





We explored the Old Jaffa; saw the hanging tree and the Tell and then made our way (through the industrial section, the garment district(?), ribbons and bows district, to a little section called Newe Zedek. Carol knew about this neighborhood from her friend's daughter who lives nearby in a Yeminite neighborhood. Here I finally begged for a nice cold beer and a chance to sit and get out of the heat. We found a small restaurant, of which there were several, clothing boutiques and other small shops. All very charming and a little like SoHo used to be. We decided to take a taxi back to our respective hotels. After paying the appropriate amount including tip, I was not given the correct change - why do I feel that I have to keep a sharp eye on the money?

The day is far from over ... Neal made reservations at a seafood restaurant, "The Old Man and the Sea" in an obscure part of Jaffa. This taxi dropped us off more than a block away because the restaurant was on a one way street and we would have been going the wrong way. Ah, Tel Aviv cabbies. Peter thought he was in heaven when the waiter brought out about 20 small plates of delicious food; hot and spicy, sweet and savory and as much as you wanted with lots of pita bread. Then came dinner. Peter and I ordered St. Peter's fish. Yummy. They served a whole fish with all the bones. You sort of scrape the fish off the bones on one side, flip it over and do the same on the other side. It's really delicious.





Back to the hotel for a well deserved good night sleep. Have only been up for 33+ hours, but loved every minute. Tomorrow off to Tiberias to see the family.

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