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Published: April 29th 2018
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So last day in Tel Aviv...what to do? After a wonderful breakfast I headed back to the beach. I spent the next couple of hours walking in the water, looking out to the Mediteranian and enjoying the peace that comes with the water.
Then it became decision time...because I am not Jewish, nor am I familiar with their customs, when I was planning this trip, I planned my travel days on Saturday. Big mistake! Why? Because of Shabbat! Pretty much everything shuts down Friday night and doesn't start up again until Sunday. So that means no public transportation. Private taxi it is then. With that comes more freedom of choice. So, do i go early or later? I decided to head back to Jaffa and go later...benefit of traveling alone, I get to make all the decisions.
Off to Jaffa I went to look around some more and go down areas that I didn't go to earlier. I am really digging the whole meandering gig! And I was able to find the medallions embedded into the walkways that my food guide told me about. Each medallion represents a country where the Jewish refugees came from and has an arrow
pointing in the direction of that country. Unfortunately, I do not read Hebrew so I could not tell which countries I found but it was such a cool thing to stumble upon.
After hanging out in the park area, in the shade admiring the sea, back to Tel Aviv I went. And, found a small corner cafe by my hotel that was open to have lunch! And lookie there, a table set for 1 was waiting for me! Fate I am sure...
After lunch, back to the hotel to pick up my bags and a taxi was ordered.
The drive from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is about an hour but seemed to go by quickly. Fun fact, the driver was listening to show tunes...took me a second but I suddenly realized I was listening to a song from one if my favorite musicals; Seven Brides for Seven Brothers! Too funny...
As I was looking out the at the landscape around us I asked the driver what city we were coming up to...it was rather large and set up up in a hill. Well, Jerusalem!
Needless to say I was stunned! It's HUGE! After a quick
Google check, Jerusalem has double the population of Tel Aviv. Over 800,000 resident's. Wow...
My driver was so sweet, he took me to the address I had given him but he was concerned because he didn't see the door. He kept asking if he should call. I assured him it was down the walkway behind the building but he looked skeptical. I had to go and come back to offer my assurances I was in the right place!
I have met the most friendly and kind people here, no joke!
Then, after saying goodbye to my driver, I got to meet my hosts for the next week. Barry and Doranne are former Californians who have been in Jerusalem for the last 10 years. Warm, welcoming and chock full of information! Doranne is truly a Jewish grandma and is all about making you feel at home!
Quick nap then off to get dinner. Just walked a couple of blocks down to the Train Station and was seated for food! There are several restaurants and little shop stalls there. Not sure what I ordered but it was wonderful!
Another successful and amazing day! Heading back to my
room later I realized that I have no regrets about this trip, everything has been wonderful so far and yet, there is more to come...stay tuned!
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