The last day (Tuesday 21 June 2022)

It was the day to leave. I was able to leave my suitcase with the management company,  but it was a fairly long, slow walk with the suitcase. Now I had time to go and really look at some of the skyscrapers (I am, after all, an engineer). I think you would agree that it's an interesting building. 

Then I got the obligatory falafel sandwich for lunch, and sat in this park to eat it and relax before the trip to the airport. 

Lunch in Jerusalem (Monday 20 June 2022)

My plans for the last two days were pretty light. Today I met a friend, who is newly a widow, at the old train station in Jerusalem. We had a perfectly lovely lunch at a kosher dairy place there. Since it was Monday, the restaurant wasn't too crowded, and we were able to linger at our table for a while.

While in Jerusalem, I was able to solve a pesky problem that I was having no luck in Tel Aviv: buying a replacement glass tumbler for apartment because I broke one. Anyway, on the local bus to meet my friend,  I saw a glass shop right by the shuk in Jerusalem. So I stopped there after lunch and bought the replacement glasses.  Of course, this means I have to carefully transport them on the light rail, the intercity bus, the local bus, and the walk to the apartment. I'm glad to say that I was successful. 

Then there was packing the suitcase-very carefully.  Yes, almost everything fit: a few things had to go into the carry-on. 

Tour of Golan Heights (Sunday 19 June 2022)

I booked a day tour to the Golan Heights for today. It's a place that I've wanted to return to, but it's quite a trip and I hadn't figured out how to do it on my own. It was small group (8) in a small bus. It was great. We saw several tank battle memorials from the Yom Kippur War, and the vistas were spectacular. There are extinct volcanos on the Golan Heights, lots of agriculture, and we had lunch on top of Mt. Beten, one of the volcanoes. You can see the Syrian border (easily), Mt. Hermon (in Israel,  where there's skiing in the winter, and the Sea of Galilee. 

Jerusalem (Friday 17 June 2022)

While I was in Jerusalem visiting some friends,  I picked a few things at the shuk there: marzipan shaped like challah, a key chain for my husband,  and some baklava. 

Tel Aviv Art Museum (Thursday 16 June 2022)

Today was the day to check out the art museum. They have lots of Israeli artists' work, and a number of notable pieces, like Picasso and Monet.  I'm glad I went, and then I picked some food at the shuk.

Visiting a friend (Wednesday 15 June 2022)

I started out the day by going out for a proper Israeli breakfast at Benedict in Tel Aviv.  Not too far from my apartment.  They're particularly known for eggs Benedict. 

Clockwise from the left: bread, unknown,  coffee,  feta cheese with sundried tomatoes,  Israeli salad, cucumbers in tzitiki sauce,  guacamole with black sesame seeds on it, eggs over easy, cream cheese.  Lovely. And filling. 

In the afternoon,  I trekked over to Petach Tikvah to visit some friends who I hadn't seen in years, and had immigrated to Israel. 

That's my friend Anne with her new son, David, and her eldest, Elisheva. I had a delightful supper and visit with her family. 

Levinsky Market (Tuesday 14 June 2022)

One objective for this trip was to visit the Levinsky Market in Tel Aviv and have a gazoz from the shop that invented them. I tried to find the Levinsky Market a few years ago, but I was looking for something the the Carmel Shuk, and it is, instead,  a blocked off street with lots of shops. It was about 8 blocks north of me, so getting there was no problem.  I had the address of Gazoz, but I couldn't find it. I decided to get a sabich sandwich (in a pita with grilled eggplant,  a hard-boiled egg, tahini and a bit of some salads). I asked the sabich guy if Gazoz is still open (in Hebrew) and he said, yes, just down the block. While my sandwich was to-go, the bowl of dill pickles was hard to manage. I did, in fact, find Gazoz, met the owner (and book author), bought a gazoz, and asked the women who worked there a bunch of questions.  We're going to make gazoz at the Ethnic Enrichment Festival in August. 

Ammunition Hill Museum (Monday 13 June 2022)

I met a friend in Jerusalem to help out with something and then went to the Ammunition Hill Museum, which chronicles the Six Day War in 1967. The Israeli forces advanced so far and quickly, that there was a meem at the time that said, "Come to Israel and see the pyramids." It's the war that recovered control of Jerusalem. Outside the museum,  which was a battle site, is a tank, a half-track armored personnel carrier, and a missle-launching vehicle. 

Happy news for returning

See if this sounds familiar: I was starting to make an appointment to get a COVID test for my entry into the US. I checked the State Department website to check on which test was acceptable and saw that the testing requirement was being rescinded on 6/12/2022. Again, hallelujah.  An easy-peasy return. 

Running along the Mediterranean (Sunday 12 June 2022)

I brought my running gear so that I could run on the beach promenade and today was that day. I ran north for 1.5 miles and returned. So that's roughly a 5K. My time was ok, but the high humidity made it slow for me to recover.  I did bring water with me, but it was a slow walk back. I did purchase a cold limonana (lemonade with lots of mint) to enjoy in the air-conditioning. 

Shabbat (11 June 2022)

I was grateful for some more rest to recover from yesterday trip. I went for a walk on the beach promenade and saw where there is open folk dancing on Saturdays. Hmm. Maybe next week. 

Surprising transportation problems (Friday, 10 June 2022)

I got up early to meet some friends in Jerusalem,  which I done many times. I got onto the local bus to the bus station,  but my Rav-Kav transit card didn't work. At all. The bus driver was nice to me and told me to sit down. I planned to do something about at the bus station, but the manned booth was empty, and there were some machines. I still had no luck with the card, although I did buy a paper ticket to Jerusalem. I wandered around a bit and saw a shop that sold new Rav-Kav cards. The man explained that my card was now obsolete. So I bought a new card and loaded it. And I learned that we don't have separate transit systems on the card, it's just money.  That's a big improvement when you're traveling in Israel. But time is moving on and I'm still in Tel Aviv. Now I can't find the bus to Jerusalem. There was a sign that it's on the 7th floor instead of the 6th floor, but I still can't find it. Tick tock. I finally found someone to ask, and it was at another building. At least it was close and I was on the right level.  I caught the next 405 bus to Jerusalem. Luckily the bus I needed in Jerusalem hadn't moved. I wasn't late so I bought a cappuccino near the meeting location,  but even the meeting room changed. 

On the way back to Tel Aviv, I bought a small bouquet of orange flowers in the bus station.  A nice woman from Chabad gave me some candles for shabbat. I took the 470 bus back because it's a safer location,  but the local bus back to my apartment had changed.

Finally back in the apartment,  I prepared for shabbat, cooked some broccoli with garlic and noodles. I was ready for a nice shabbat rest.

Decompressing and shopping (Thursday, 9 June 2022)

Today, the only goals are doing some food shopping and resting.  Jet lag is a real thing. I walked down to the kosher grocery store to get some packaged items: milk, juice, cheese, frozen maluach, and tahini salad. I looked for pesto but didn't find any. I brought those things back and headed to the shuk (market). That's the place for me to get fresh items: eggs, parsley,  tomatoes, cucumbers,  broccoli, scallions, fresh apricots, the cheese that I like, mint, olives, and olive oil. Yes, all in one trip.  I made some Israeli salad because I like it to marinate for a bit before I eat it.

(I grabbed these photos of the Carmel shuk off the internet).

Arrival complications (Wednesday, 12 June 2022)

The flight was fine, although my vegan (!) meals were a little weird. The new planes have LED windows that stayed dark, which was odd when I knew it was light out out but it looked like night. On arrival, my Israeli SIM card worked fine, but I did not yet have my entry code for the apartment. It was now after 5 pm in Israel so the the apartment office was closed.  I decided to stay at the airport until I had everything (the airport is safe, has WIFI. bathrooms, and it was getting dark out) There was a form for me to submit a copy of my passport to avoid the 18% VAT tax, but I had some trouble getting file size small enough for the form to work. Finally success, and the night manager (who was probably eating supper) sent me everything I needed. I took the train to Tel Aviv and shared a taxi, because I wasn't up for finding the place in the dark.

The trip to Israel (Tuesday, 7 June 2022)

I was arranging for the obligated COVID test for my flight to Israel.  There is a testing center at my terminal at the JFK airport. One last check on which test I needed revealed that Israel was lifting its testing requirement a few days before my flight.  Hallelujah! I did need to fill out a form and upload my vaccination card, but that was way less hassle. I printed out my green-lighted form, and just finished packing. I took a (relatively) early flight out of KCI. I needed a taxi to transfer between LaGuardia and JFK because there are no shared shuttles in NYC because of COVID (sad face). And even though I had my TSA number on my El Al ticket, the airport didn't have that lane open. So it was off with my shoes and out with the tablet.  Next problem. 

Returning to Israel - June 2022

 The COVID restrictions have relaxed, and I'm headed back to soak in all the goodness of Israel. Stay tuned for my updates.