Trips

 

Sat., 2/4/23 - Tel Aviv and Jaffa

Since Saturday is the Jewish sabbath, most public things are closed, including those we were to visit: the flea market, the “most famous hummus spot in Tel Aviv,” the Carmel Market etc. Instead, the group went off to Jaffa to visit the Ilana Goor Museum. Ilana Goor is an 88-year-old artist, collector, and sculptor. Her house is near the sea and is next door to Uri Geller's (the man who uses telepathy to bend spoons) house and museum. There is a very large bent spoon sculpture outside of his house, which was also closed for the sabbath.
Ilana Goor’s house (she still lives there) showcases some of her art works and metal sculptures, and includes unique pieces by some other artists and collections of African items, kitchen pots, and samovars - very eclectic. A museum guide gave us a detailed tour. Ilana Goor is a talented but “dyslexic” person.

Jaffa	Jaffa - Street scene
Jaffa	Ilana Goor Museum
In the Ilana Goor Museum	In the Ilana Goor Museum
In the Ilana Goor Museum	In the Ilana Goor Museum
Outside the Ilana Goor Museum	We walked a block in Old Jaffa and sat for a coffee near the Church of St. Peter. The church marks the possible spot where Simon Peter had a vision or dream that God wanted him to start preaching about Jesus to all people and not just to Jews. This was the beginning of Christian conversion of pagans and all others. The church is pretty, but simple. Behind the altar is a scene of Peter’s “visitation.”
Church of St. Peter	Church of St. Peter
Church of St. Peter	Minaret if the Al-Bahr Mosque
Nice wiring	Meat for Shawarmas
	Tel Aviv - Cricket game in the park
Sun., 2/5/23 - Tel Aviv This morning we had a new bus and driver. The bus seats 55 - for our guide and the five of us remaining on this trip! The first stop was to briefly visit the Yitzhak Rabin memorial at the place where he was assassinated in 1995. Rabin Square is where protesters gather in this city to complain about proposed changes in the government, most recently about changes to the justice system.
	Rabin Memorial
	Manhole cover
The Tel Aviv beaches seem to be very windy places so the kiteboarders were out in force every time we drove or walked by.	Kiteboarder inflating his sail
Kiteboarder	Kiteboarder
After the Rabin Memorial visit, we were dropped off for a walk through part of Old Tel Aviv. Our walk began near the Tayelet, or seafront promenade and moved into the Rothschild Boulevard promenade. The promenade is located where the train from Jaffa to Jerusalem once ran and is now a wide area for walking and biking.
Sculpture of an angel overlooking the sea	Clock Tower built in 1903 to honor one of the last sultans of the Ottoman Empire
Palm tree	Playground
Trade Tower - Modern office building
Neighborhood walk	The house walls along the promenade are “decorated” with street art, aka graffiti. Old Tel Aviv is nicknamed the White City because so many of the houses are white. In 1933, the Nazis rose to power in Germany. The Bauhaus design school was closed, due to pressure from the Nazis. Thousands of Jewish people fled to settle in the area then called Mandatory Palestine. This created a need for large numbers of houses. Among the most influential European architects who were commissioned to design houses in Tel Aviv where those who had studied at the Bauhaus schools in Weimar and Dessau. They were key to the development of Tel Aviv's "White City" - so named because of its whitewashed façades.
Wall art	Wall art
Electrical artistry	Bauhaus style
Manhole cover
In a restaurant window	Bauhaus style
We entered and toured the Haganah Museum. It houses the history of “defensive organizations” in Israel’s history. After our Haganah tour, the bus dropped us in the German Community settled by German Jews in the mid-1800s. Across the street we looked at the headquarters of Mossad, Israel's very efficient military intelligence service, and then walked to the Sarona Market to buy lunch on our own. The mall is all food shops. Marge and I shared a roast beef sandwich, cookie and Coke at a German Bakery.
Street sign	Haganah Museum
Haganah Museum - short wave radio	Haganah Museum - short wave radio
Azrieli Center Circular Tower	Marganit Tower
Azrieli Sarona Tower
Cheese in the Sarona Market	We were back at the hotel from 2 to 6 until our Farewell Dinner. There are only five of us now to continue on to the post trip to Bethlehem and Jericho.

Continue on next page