Simon the Tanner’s house where Peter had his vision to take the word to non Jews 2000 years ago
[Mom – September 27, 2019 – We rented a car and left Jerusalem this morning for Tel Aviv where we will catch a plane late tonight to head to NYC. Janice does not leave until late tomorrow night so she is checked into a really cute hotel decorated in all 60s retro.
Before we found the hotel we drove around Tel Aviv which is a World Heritage Site based on the modern movement. Tel Aviv has the highest concentration of buildings from the early 1900s that display these modern characteristics.
Canaanite ruins from 3500 years ago….these predate the arrival of the Jews in the Promise Land
We then drove a short couple of miles to Jaffa which has one of the oldest seaports in the world (4000 years old, but no longer functional as a seaport). Seeing the house where Peter had his vision was an exciting event for us. The contrast between Jaffa and Tel Aviv is quite remarkable!
Some newer ruins in Jaffa that I thought were pretty with the flowers
Our last day in Israel was a good finishing day to our trip with a view of the Mediterranean Sea and visit to one of the oldest spots which is still a very viable community where people still live.
We had Mexican food our first and last nights in Israel. We then went back to the hotel where Janice was spending the night since she did not leave until the next day to play cards while Bill took a nap (the effect of the margaritas may have added to that!) Bill, Shane and I left the hotel around midnight since we had a 13 hour flight that took off at 5:30 a.m. and landed in NYC at 12:30 pm. Ukraine Air was a nice airline to fly on.]
As mom said today is the last entry of the three week trip I took them on back in September through Israel and Jordan. I had seen Jaffa before and absolutely loved its quaintness and was excited to show it to my parents. Plus there is a bit of history there since it is one of the oldest sea ports in history.
Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 and developed as a metropolitan city under the British Mandate in Palestine. The White City was constructed from the early 1930s until the 1950s, based on the urban plan by Sir Patrick Geddes, reflecting modern organic planning principles. The buildings were designed by architects who were trained in Europe where they practiced their profession before immigrating. They created an outstanding architectural ensemble of the Modern Movement in a new cultural context. In order for us to grasp this World Heritage Site I chose 7-10 different addresses that were suppose to be the best examples of the Modern Movement. It took us about two hours and it was a good way to see Tel Aviv, but none of us thought it was worthy of being a WHS. The buildings had a lot of Art Deco feel to me and most of the buildings were kind of run down.
One funny story happened at the Mexican restaurant that night. When they seated us they did a really smart thing by bringing a selection of margarita samples. Given that my parents hardly ever drink (I mean a 6-pack will last six months in their frig) I figured they would not be interested, but the original flavored margarita tasted really good and I said I was thinking of getting one. My dad said that sounds good so I asked if we should get a liter for the table, which would be a glass for each of us. Well they came, they were good, and they were gone too quick. That is when dad asked if we should get a second liter. I was astonished and said WOW, sure. Well dad drank his and when he was done my mom said he could have hers which he did also. During this time I was saving mine for when the food came. Well he reach over when I was looking at something and drank mine down in one gulp and had this big old grin on his face, like he got away with something and he was all proud of himself. I simply looked at him and said you just drank almost a liter of margaritas and he agreed while still smiling form ear to ear. I followed up by informing him that all the margaritas we ordered just cost him $80 (alcohol is pricey over there) and his face diminished into an I did what disgusted face. It made not having a second margarita so worth it. Hahaha
