TexanTransplant

The Western Wall We wake early. Or at least, we’re out of the hostel before the street vendors open up. The streets are wider, brighter with the reduced clutter of stuff and clamor of conversation. We’re headed to the Western Wall. As we walk, I make myself put aside my initial emotional reaction to seeing the Wall yesterday. Really, it was the reaction at seeing the undeniably differently sized spaces for men and women to approach the Wall. Yesterday, I saw the clump of bodies on the women’s side, vying for space to touch and pray up close, contrasted sharply with the black shapes on the men’s side, spread out and moving about freely. There were just as many women as men. But they had a third of the space. The softness of the sunset colors ... read more

Changing faces of Israel We leave Henry asleep (mostly) in Aleeza’s bed (she was kind enough to give us her bed while she slept on her pullout couch). Early morning on Shabbat, even in the party-city Tel Aviv, is very quiet. A few streetcleaners and one or two cars, even in this central location. We walk to our pick-up location, a nearby hotel, and easily spot the loosely bunched group of foreigners on the lookout for a leader. A compact fifteen-seater van/bus pulls up and we’re off. This is an English-speaking tour but we have Germans and one Greek man in addition to the handful of Americans. This is my first jaunt out of Tel Aviv and I avidly watch the landscapes outside. Tel Aviv metro area quickly drops off to be replaced by wooded shrubby ... read more

Welcome to Israel! It's...raining I had big plans for today, a jaunt up to Caesaria, a famous Roman ruins site, a head-first dive in to Israeli culture, history, and the bus system. But instead, I’m snuggled with my boy on a foldout couch in my friend Uri’s apartment, after he and his flatmate have left for work, wondering if it will stop raining. Last night, when I walked out of the Tel Aviv airport, I was greeted with an enormous clap of thunder. Though I was all business, looking for a taxi cab while trying not to look too much like a callow tourist, I couldn’t suppress an inward gleeful shake. I whine often about the sad dearth of thunderstorms in California (if you live in the Central Valley or the SoCal coast), missing my Texas ... read more

Walking in a Winterthur wonderland I wake before my hostess and pour myself a little bit of ultra-pasteurized milk (a strangely pleasant taste to me but one many Americans dislike) with my muesli. Due to Kristy’s tiredness yesterday and my own desire to simply enjoy with her and not push a sight-seeing agenda, I opt for a day in Winterthur. And so when Kristy wakes up we munch a bit more and then decide to run some errands. Kristy and Stefan live very near the pedestrian-only center of Winterthur and it takes less than ten minutes, especially when you jaywalk. Which Kristy says that few Swiss do but as Americans we do so with great abandon…and even some relish. Winterthur may be Switerland’s 6th largest city but there is little hustle and bustle here except for ... read more

I have one full morning left. Kristy’s working and so I venture out alone. It’s early-ish (before 10) so museums and such are not yet open. I head straight to the Royal Gardens, binoculars strung around my neck. It’s quiet out today, the Boxing Day shopping crowds have exhausted themselves, many folks are still on vacation and staying home with family, and most tourists have yet to rise. I meander through the park keeping my eyes searching and my ears perked. I want to get a good glimpse of the various parrots I’ve seen flitting around the park. I luck out. I near a large tree with bright orange blossoms flaring up amidst the greenery. And here I find my parrots. Rainbow lorikeets clatter all about the tree, in constant motion but there are enough of ... read more