Tel Aviv

View of modern Tel Aviv from Old Jaffa.  Ruins nearby have revealed Egyptian, Canaanite, Hellenistic and Roman remains.  

Ok, so Peter took 984 photos on this 3 week trip to Israel, Jordan and North Cyprus.  How to edit!?  Multiple posts.  Our enthusiasm requires patience on your part.

It was a fantastic and long-for-us land tour.  We had originally intended to sail to Cyprus, followed by Israel and Egypt beginning in March/April.  However, commitments have required a change of plans.  As well, we have understood from other cruisers that Egypt is not very welcoming to boats.  Because of the cold, wet winter in Turkey, we welcomed what we thought would be warmer, drier weather travelling in the Middle East, essentially desert.  It was cold, sometimes wet but still a wonderful time!

Tel Aviv is a new and modern city founded by a few Jewish families who wanted to escape Jerusalem in the 1890's.  It grew in leaps and bounds from 65 homes to 40,000 inhabitants in the 1920's and '30's from Jews fleeing threats from Arabs or Nazi Germany.  It is now a city with recently built skyscrapers and prospering from a hi-tech boom.  Like it's Bauhaus White City architecture, the atmosphere is low-key and casual.

A walk around Tel Aviv on a Saturday morning with the interesting garb of men going to synagogue - prayer shawls, beads and heads covered by distinguished hats.  According to some we asked, the type of hat denotes their choice of rabbi.  Others said it was a mark of wealth - the bigger the hat, the more costly.  Either way they were impressive to behold.

Rothschild Blvd traverses the UNESCO White City with the tired but simple and elegant Bauhaus architecture, established about 100 years ago by socialist architects with egalitarian ideals.  It is now Tel Aviv's poshest area with a lovely pedestrian trail down the centre, kids playing, dogs being walked, groups of people socializing and hammocks ready for warmer weather.

We have previously noted in our travels, that it is the population of more affluent countries that have the luxury of time to recreate.  Plenty of that going on in Tel Aviv even on a cool, wet morning.

A large group of women and men were stepping and twirling in  a slow but intricate Hebrew folk dance in a beach side square.  It was a serene and happy scene.

Our first 5 days were spent in sophisticated, modern, vibrant Tel Aviv.  We were very lucky to enjoy the hospitality of our "in-laws" - perhaps a bit premature in title but essentially we surmise it is a done deal between Em and Gid.  Sandy and Michael hosted us at their beautiful Tel Aviv condo when we arrived, took us on walks to places we would never have discovered on our own and introduced us to other ex-pat friends.  Best of all, was listening to their insights about this fascinating part of the world - the ancient history transfigured into the current political quagmire, the Jewish homeland and how it manages being surrounded by hostile neighbours.  It was intriguing!

We were also hosted by a fellow Israeli Antares owner and his wife who we had sailed with prior to the purchase of Milly about five years ago.  We plan to meet them again in the South Pacific, a few years hence.  Cruisers do stay in touch!

I remember an Israeli cruiser who we spent some days with in French Guiana.  She gave us a tour around the farmer's market that had produce I had never seen before.  She knew every piece, even the varieties, and said that you could get it all in Israel.  I thought maybe she was exaggerating.  No!  Even though Israel is essentially a desert, they have mastered the greenhouse and irrigation, power and soil enrichment etc. etc. to grow just about anything. The Carmel Market in the characterful Yemenite Quarter had everything I could imagine, grown in Israel!  It was a feast for the eyes and tummy.  Michael and Sandy lead us around on a busy Friday when all are shopping for Shabbat.  Wonderful!

Michael buying his fruit from one of a street full of vendors selling all types of produce - even dragon fruit which we hadn't seen since Brazil.

Michael has befriended this elderly pastry chef whose cheese filled phyllo pies were being purchased and eaten as fast as he could make them but he still had time for a friendly smile and chat.

One of four or five tables of prepared food - soups, stews, meats, grains, veg, breads, pastries, salads.  Who needs to cook!

About 100 meters of flowers

Busy, colourful, noisy, a nose full of odours.  Truly a feast for the senses.

Baklava type pastry with an Israeli twist.

All signs are in Hebrew, of course, so I still don't know what we were looking at.  Looked wonderful though.

An amazing juice/drink/cafe where they jar their own fruits and syrups and add bunches of fresh herbs to create a delectable and chunky..... 

...work of art which you can sip in....

their roadside benches on the pick-up.

Sandy was an excellent walking tour guide.  She has explored the city on foot and knows all the shopkeepers who delight in her smile.

Our AirBNB was in Jaffa, one of the oldest and important ports in the world, established during the time of Solomon, about 2000 B.C.  After arriving by sea, pilgrims went on the dangerous route to Jerusalem from here, protected by Knights of the Templar.  History comes alive in Israel!

The Old Port of Jaffa is not as grand as in millennia past but is still a busy, working harbour.  Kids having sailing lessons, fishermen mending their nets and tour boat operators waiting for warmer weather.

Our apartment was beside the flea market which encompassed several blocks of stores and booths.  This carpet seller was putting the finishing touches on a beautiful carpet while marketing his wares in front of his shop.

On the other side of our apartment was the old city of Jaffa with tiny lanes and ancient buildings meandering up and down the highest hill in the area.

A suspended Java orange tree, a work of modern art to commemorate - in some mysterious way - the Jaffa orange of old.

Our one room apartment, not much bigger than Milly, the interior of which was the same stone as the exterior.  Very cool.

On to Jerusalem!