A Day of Songs

The point of Tuesday was to end up in Jerusalem for a Yom Yerushalyim event in the evening.  But that would be later.  I went for a bit of a walk over to the old city hall just to sit in a pretty place on the plaza.  There were some benches in the shade so I sat there. There was a mom with her kid, a guy with his dog, a tour group.  But then the tour group (Israelis) came to sit in the shade while the tour guide talked to them. Huh. They insisted that I not move (Israeli hospitality).  Ok. We were all cheek-to-cheek on the bench.  I figured, how long can they stay? About 30 min.  In Hebrew I mostly didn't understand.  When they left, one of the ladies talked to me and explained that it was a tour about Natan Alterman.  The guide had played several of songs for which Alterman wrote lyrics.

On the recommendation of two separate Israelis, I took the train to Jerusalem instead of the bus, because of President Trump's departure.  The bus's path is the main highway to the airport.  I met up with friend from Jerusalem, Gershon, for supper and then went on to the free Yom Yerushalyim concert @2100.  Well, that website info was wrong.  The concert started at 2030 (no problem) and required tickets (hmm).  I wasn't going to stay too long, but although one could hear, one couldn't see.  I queued up to get a ticket, but they had run out.  Really.  There were a lot of people without tickets that didn't know they needed them.  A lot.  I decided to see what would happen.  And they started letting us in as SRO.  Fine.  But then they stopped letting people in (capacity?).  It was titled "Singing to Jerusalem."  They had the words up to old songs that everybody knew (but me), and I mean everybody because I was standing by some teenagers.  And they were running archival footage of 1967 Jerusalem behind the words.

Listen the songs I heard (different performers):
"Light and Jerusalem"
"Letter to life"
"On all of these"
"Let it be"
"Keep the world" David D'Or was there
"Blessings of the King" Miri Mesika was there

In closing, I didn't see this, but I hope to:  https://www.jerusalem.muni.il/en/Municipality/Municipal%20info/Pages/AllcelebrationsJerusalem.aspx
A long, late trip home, but I slept in my bed.  Dayanu!

Botanicals and Herzl

I decided to go to Jerusalem today with one of two objectives: go to the Herzl Museum and/or the botanical garden in Jerusalem.  I got up and about early and was on the bus to Jerusalem by 8:15.  I called the museum when they opened and got booked on a 1:15 English tour.

Well, that sounds like enough time to go to the garden first.  The #32 bus from the Jerusalem bus station drops you very close to the garden.  The garden is at the bottom of a valley (that will be important later), south of the Knesset.

It's rather a linear park.  The herb garden was of particular interest to me.

Oregano

Rose geranium (mine doesn't look like this)

There was a cool wood structure:

And here's an overview shot I got from the elevated walkway,

They were kind enough to have water fountains throughout the park, so I left well-hydrated with a bottle of water.  I wasn't too far from the museum on Har Herzl (yes, that's Mount Herzl) and I needed to walk a bit to catch a bus.  After a bit of a false start, I headed west toward Har Herzl.

The garden is in the green blob in the center by "Nayot"; Har Herzl is next to Yad vShem (to the left). I never did find the right bus stop, so I decided to walk the whole way.  Let me just say that it really was uphill the whole way.  From the bottom of a valley to the top of a mountain.  But I arrived in plenty of time for my tour, so I ate the lunch I brought (stuffed grape leaves, hard boiled egg, and pistachios) in some precious shade at 12:30.  And thanked G-d for my health.

The Herzl Museum is fairly new (2005) and is 95% dramatic presentation on video.  They do have a lot of his stuff (desk, living room).  Of course, it's an amazing story.  Well worth my time.  I think he'd be proud of the Tikvah dancers and Israel Spirit.

Luckily for Deb, the light rail stop is very close to the museum.  One more thing to do: check out an alternate route home from Jerusalem to my apartment.  The bus stop in the Tel Aviv south station for the local bus is creepy at night.  I took the bus to the north Tel Aviv bus station at the Savidor train station.  Then in an absolutely not-creepy setting, picked up the #18 which brought me home.  We have a winner for safe evening returns!

1967 liberation

This post is from the States, but I thought you'd enjoy the photo (and the story):
http://www.jewishledger.com/2017/05/israeli-paratroopers-re-create-iconic-photo-50th-anniversary-reunification-jerusalem/

Am Israel Chai!

Yafo, etc.

I took the #10 bus over to Yafo to get some postcards for Israel Spirit.  The shop wasn't open at 10:00, so I walked down to the seaside road to take some photos.  In the background you can see the waves by Tel Aviv, that I can see from my apartment.  At 11:00, the shop still wasn't open, and there were no hours posted.  But the owner's cell number was, and I called him.  He said he'd be there in 40 minutes.  I said, fine I'll get some lunch, and see him then.  Lunch was a lovely bit of ice cream and a bottle of water.  When I walked back he was, indeed, open.  I procured many postcards.

Business now concluded, I headed down the hill and east to pick up the bus back on Jerusalem Road.  A #18 came first, and dropped me at a better place than the #10 would have.

I had to walk through the shuk anyway, and stopped in a cheapo kid store to get leftover Yom HaAtzmaut stuff for Israel Spirit.  And while I was in the shuk, got some broccoli and cherries, too. (not for the same dish!)

Even the ambulance was quiet

So Shabbat settled in, and Tel Aviv quieted.  Quite a lot.  I heard a chirp of a siren and looked down on the street.  An ambulance only chirped its siren enough to get through intersections (there are taxis and the occasional private auto, and of course pedestrians and bicycles about), but was much quieter than I would have thought.

Like BeerSheva, the town gets restless around 3:00 pm, and I was surprised to see the city buses running by 7:30.

So here's my malabi.  There's quite a lot of nuts and coconut, and the lemon syrup.  The pudding was milder in the rosewater department than I expected.  Very nice, with good complexity for a dessert.  I'll need more research...

Shabbat prep

I overslept my alarm and did not make it in to Jerusalem this morning.  I enjoined with the world in the Carmel shuk, and did my Shabbat shopping: whole wheat bread, nuts, and flowers.  And I bought stuffed grape leaves from some Druze ladies.

I was given Shabbat candles from a young Chabad woman. And located the malabi place by my apartment.  She gave me a takeaway, so it's in my fridge.  I will report.

Beyond this brief update, I need to make Israeli salad, and tidy up.  I located some stores in the shuk with leftover Yom HaAtzmaut stuff that I'll get for Israel Spirit another day.  I hit the Nachalot Binyamin craft show and got gorgeous earrings to match a spectacular necklace.

The new apartment and setup

Drinking some mint tea and posting photos for you:

View to the west (Mediterranean)

View to the east (Allenby, King George and Shenken Streets)

Looking north on Allenby

Living room

Kitchen. Yes, that's where the culinary magic happens.

Bedroom

Itty bitty bathroom

I walked up to the big supermarket to get some packaged food and do some research for my Hebrew teacher. I bought a carton of eggs for the first time in Israel (just didn't need the shuk-sized eggs).

Then, on to the shuk. A big shopping list, including all the makings for Israeli salad, cauliflower salad, and my Israeli broccoli and garlic with noodles.  Keep in mind that all these require olive oil, and I found a dandy:

Don't worry, I got olives, and apricots, and  butter (Israeli butter!) and cheese (I think I've figured out its name.  Will report on confirmation), too.