2018 Eastern Mediterranean Trip - Day Four, Jaffa With Family

Much discussion of what we should do in the Tel Aviv area transpired the night the #3's arrived and during the morning. But the reality was thus:

• We barely got out of the house before Noon time
• For our family from Amsterdam, the 80 degree temperature and full sun was overbearing
• Wife and I were on our third day of going at it and were ready to not go quite so hard

Result, we never got out of Jaffa. We walked back to the old town. Since this was our third time going this same way and we were walking at the speed of young children, Because we went slower, I was able to pay a lot more time to our surroundings. Jaffa is interesting because it has been sort of poor area, not the focus of development until just recently. So there is a lot of interesting architectural touches and I channeled my inner Wife as far as picture taking today. On the culinary front we got ice cream for the kids and had our first shawarma and falafel experiences.

By 3 PM Wife and I were ready to pack it in. We discovered that there was a much shorter way to get from Old Jaffa along the sea coast. Better late than never. The two young ones wanted to go to this big playground on the way back to the apartment. They, to the their parents amazement, played for another hour straight before coming back to the apartment.

#3 had bought some food for us to cook for dinner. We still needed more so she and I went out to get it. Then we cooked up dinner. With all four adults sharing the duties, it is not too much work for anyone. #3 had bought these meat patties from the local butcher (most of the shopping in this area is in small shops the specialize in produce, meat, fish or general groceries. A supermarket as we are accustomed to was not to be found in this area (we did see one yesterday in the area of Jaffa that was transitioning to the more modern city). The meat was kid (baby goat) and was pre-seasoned. While we were all a bit wondering what it would taste like, it was actually one of the better burgers I've had from a pure meat flavor perspective.

Pictures

Obligatory Grandchildren Pictures

Gastronomy

Shawarma

Aged Falafel is considered a delicacy

Wandering through the Old City

Channeling my Inner Wife

Wife has for the longest time been interested in doorways and windows

For some reason, it has rubbed of on me and today I saw a number that caught my eye

Sunset over the Mediterranean

And, of course, Signs of the World

Ever wonder where all the Tsunamis come from?

It all starts here

This is actually a major tourist attraction

People coming from all over to see where Tsunami come together and decide where they are going to go

2018 Eastern Mediterranean Trip - Day Three, Old Jaffa Tour

One day of acclimation and it is off to serious business of being travelers. So let's start with a 3 hour tour of Old Jaffa...except when we added in the 45 minute walk to get to the tour and the 45 minute walk back and the fact the guide was 3 and a half hours and still going when we realized we needed to get back meant that it was 5 hours on our feet. I am SO GLAD that Wife and I continue to recognize the need to cut back and act our age.

Our guide was Albert. He was born in Algeria, moved to France and then moved to Israel. He used to work in high tech before he became a guide. He was very historically oriented which suited me fine. I will give you the very short version.

• Hebrews come into the land of Canaan. Joseph moves everyone to Egypt. Doesn't turn out well. Pharaoh builds a 'big, beautiful wall' and Moses has to take them back to Israel
• Jaffa mentioned in Egyptian chronicles of Ramses II and his wars with the Hittites
• The Prophet Jonah goes to Jaffa to catch a boat and get very far away from God because he doesn't want to fulfill God's commandment and go to Nineveh and tell the all-powerful, very cruel Assyrians they are up shit's creek in God's eyes. Large fish (mistranslated to 'whale' let's Jonah know 'getting away from God' not so easy
• Simon/Peter is told he 'Will be the Rock' on which the church will be built. He's not convinced. Goes to Jaffa to get away...notice a pattern here...Local folks tell him someone is dead and can help -really! - but through God's will she is risen and he now believes
• Richard the Lion-hearted and Saladin have big ole fight outside Jaffa. Richard wins battle. Loses the war. Jerusalem stays in Muslim hands
• Mamalukes decide that these Crusades are a big bother. Negotiate with Pope to give Christians access to holy sites. Franciscans chosen to be the gate keepers
• During 20th century Jaffa is caught in a number of situations with Ottomans, British, Palestinians and Jewish settlers that leave it the worse for wear
• 21st century and suddenly Jaffa become 'hip'. Many art galleries ensue and gentrification

After the tour it was 12:30 and we needed to get some lunch and get back to the rental because Daughter # 3 and family were flying in and joining us. Somehow we couldn't find a place until we were almost back to the rental. It was a local hole but the food was great. The kids arrived and the usual enjoyment of family ensued. #3 wanted to cook dinner so she and family went out and did shopping which was great as Wife and I needed to collapse and nap. Enjoyable evening followed.

Pictures

Arrival of respectful Daughter #3 and her 3A

Station for washing feet and hands before entering mosque

The combination of the three main faiths is quite visible

Going along the coast and seeing some Ottoman era architecture

Home of Simon the Tanner where Peter's resurrection took place

Wandering through the old town

Examples of modern art in Jaffa

Views of Modern Tel Aviv

History everywhere

A building where the foundation of Israel's largest bank took place

The church where the Franciscans set up their base 

Clock Tower from the Early 20th century when the last Ottoman Sultan insisted each town have a clock so they could start to take time (time precision was not an aspect of that culture)

Examples of Pre-fab houses from Maine

A group in the mid 1800's that set up a colony to 'make things better so the Jews could return'

General street scene and cool tree that looks like it should be in Southeast Asia

LUNCH!

Hummus, a couple of salads and kebabs of chicken and kibbeh (ground meat). Quite yummy. $27

2018 Eastern Mediterranean Trip - Day Two, Hello Jaffa

We stay in rental apartments and houses the majority of time we travel. And most of these we book through Airbnb. There is a general range of quality and amenities that one expects to find in these accommodations. Often times you find all kinds of information about your surroundings and a kitchen with a fair amount of supplies. Our place in Jaffa is definitely on the lower end of this scale.
For on thing the mattresses are just about the hardest I have ever encountered. My arthritic hips and shoulders were complaining so much that I had to move myself out to the couch which mercifully was softer. For another there was no coffee or tea in the apartment as there often is.

A few shots of the apartment which is very close to the coast

 

So after the long trip, there was nothing to speak of to get us going into the new day. Nonetheless, we were ready to face the new world so with Google Maps enabled on our phone. Off we set in search of what was in our surroundings and hopefully some food.

Our time in Israel is going to be a bit disjointed. Tel Aviv is a large, modern city. Jaffa is an old city that has been historically referenced back to the time of the Pharaohs. They used to be two distinct cities but now Jaffa is considered part of Tel Aviv. We are in a neighborhood and there is not much right around is the way of food. So we headed off toward the center of Jaffa.

Always interesting walking in a new country. In this, the old town, we are reminded of our days in Southeast Asia where sidewalks were minimal and used for commerce...you walked in the road.  The driving is slightly reminiscent of that as well, but with actually a lot more respect for rules of the road.

We immediately got our cameras as there was plenty of street stuff to observe.

As it is the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel flags are everywhere

We were getting really, really hungry and finally found a place that a variety of savory baked goods

"I'm hungry...do your food photo paparazzi thing later!"

Slightly nourished we headed out toward the flea market that is well known in Jaffa.

I can report that it is 'just like a flea market'

Hunger again reared its hoary head.

We found a place that was selling Khachapuri - Georgian Cheese Bread

For you international food fans, you will recognize the word 'Puri' which is also a bread in Indian cooking. Speaks to the great cultural combination from Central Asia through Persia to India

There are a variety of different sizes and versions

They put toppings on in our case onions, mushrooms and cheese, heat it up and serve it with some sauces

It was pretty good and only cost $8 for the two of us

We went back and had a nap, then we went to a restaurant on the coast north of us where a client of mine was also in Israel and we arranged to have dinner together.

Coastal colors

 

The weather was starting to turn but there were some local folks playing in the surf.

A young woman came and asked us to do a selfie with them. This seemed a bit weird but I got a good picture from it and we still had all our belongings when it was over

Our meal with my client was pretty damn good

It was a fish restaurant, all the fish was very tasty. The service was reasonable given how busy they were. 

The tray of mezzes

 Whole sea bass

 Sea bass with gnocchi

 Croaker with potato mash and Jerusalem artichoke chips

People say that Israel is very expensive

But this meal with drinks before and a bottle of wine with was less than what we would have paid in Albuquerque and much better

And finally, we return to

SIGNS OF THE WORLD!

These are EVERYWHERE in town

I can only assume there is a feeling that everyone should be reminded of the frailty of life