Ha'aretz (Israel)

Tel Aviv/Yafo, Zichron-Ya'akov, Jerusalem, Caesarea
March 1-March 8, 2008


Clock tower in Yafo built in the 1800s. Yafo has been around since the late Bronze Age (at least 1400s-ish BCE) , and is one of the (if not the) oldest continuously-settled ports in the world.






Baker making bread in the brick oven at the first place that we always have to go eat when I get to Israel: Abouelafia. They've been around since, oh, 1879 or so. Their melawach kicks booty (a yemeni pizza-y bread dough thingie that I would compare to naan... but way better).






Me diggin on some melawach filled with tomato sauce, spices and boiled egg... oh so good. Hey, don't knock it til you've tried it.






Yaeli and baby-boy-to-be - A view of Tel Aviv from Yafo and the end of the long boardwalk (Tayelet) that goes along the sea from Yafo (south) all the way up to northern Tel Aviv.






A view of Yafo and its port from the Tayelet. It was windy and cool and the sea was super-angry that day.








Me n Yafo.








Yaeli stopping to smell the roses in the quaint Tel Aviv neighborhood of
Neve Tzedek.










Me showing the way on the famous Rothschild St. near (in?) Neve Tzedek.







Hadari after being picked up from preschool. Too insanely cute for words.






Yael and Hadar with Yael's grandparents. They live around the corner from each other, more or less. Yael's grandmother is Italian so she has a knack for always offering you food or coffee :)
They are very sweet and it was so nice to see them again.





Yaeli and Hadar having fun in the kitchen. Hadar always wants to help with or watch whatever you're doing. And she'll sit and talk to you and want to do things together ("b'yahad"). Again, no words can describe the cuteness. She breaks the cuteness factor.





The Alali house post-remodeling (finished around 3.5 years ago).










This is the building where Yael works, on the 3rd floor. She has her own office. And her own projects. Yeah, she pretty much rocks.








Playing on the playground right next to the house.









Hadar gets wrapped up as a package or "ha'bilah" in her towel after her bath and before bedtime. Shai had the honors of packing her up that evening as she had just gotten her big-girl bed ordered that night. She was so excited. And tired.





Yael and Michal drinking hot chocolate at the famous Max Brenner cafe in the northern port area of Tel Aviv. They serve hot chocolate in "hug mugs". Even their "diet" hot chocolate was really good. Nuff said.



Yael at the Tishbi winery outside of Zichron Ya'akov. There used to be only 1 winery in Israel - then 20 yrs. ago it split and the different vineyards that contributed to that one winery began to form their own, and today Israel has around 200 wineries. And it ain't just Mogen David :) This one also produces some crazy-good olive oil.



The pedestrian area of Zichron Ya'akov ("Jacob's Memory"), one of the oldest towns in modern Israel (founded by one of the Rothschilds in the 1880s). It's in the Carmel mountain range. You can see clear out to the sea from the town - it's a *gorgeous* view. However, it was too far away to photograph :(.





Yael introducing me to the wonderful ice cream at Aldo in Zichron Ya'akov. Very creamy and very good.







Picking up Hadar from preschool.








We took Hadar to one of the northernmost beaches in Tel Aviv. It's close to where Yael got married. The sunset was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.








We watched the sunset and Yael made Hadar laugh telling her that the sea was eating the sun all up.









Post-sunset, ready to go home.








Overlook to Jerusalem.









You can see the old city and Mount of Olives in the background.





The golden dome in the middle is the Dome of the Rock (in the center of the Temple Mount). It is in the middle of the old city of Jerusalem (still walled as you can see in the picture). The pretty tree in the foreground is an almond tree - this is the time of year that they bloom. Yael could smell them but I could not. Lavender was growing wild everywhere along the path we were on and I couldn't concentrate on any other smell.



Approaching the northern gate (Yafo gate) of the walls of old Jerusalem. This is the main one used to enter the old city, I think. There are 11 gates total in the wall (7 open - the 4 original ones are closed).





Tower of David (next to the Yafo gate, part of the old city wall).







Souk, or Arabic market in the old city. Spices, sweets, clothes, hookahs, souvenirs, knick-knacks and hummus galore. And people trying to sell you things pretty much constantly.








The Western/Wailing Wall ("Ha'kotel") with the Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock in the background. They are still doing archaeological digs in/around the wall.





Closeup of the Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock. The craftsmanship is amazing.
You still can't go in, unfortunately...






Mount of Olives and the Jewish cemetery. We didn't go but you can see it very well from where you enter in to go through security at the Western Wall.







The Western Wall from more close up (the men's side).





Yael and I went on a really cool tour underneath the wall. See, the wall is much more than you see in the above picture. The areas next to the wall have been built up so you don't see that the wall extends meters below ground level. The tour takes you down to the original road that ran along the wall, and you end up walking underneath the Muslim quarter as you see how long the original temple wall really was. The picture to the left is of the largest stone found in the wall (weighing in at 9 tanks - wow).


You emerge from the underground road out into the Muslim quarter and walk along the Via Dolorosa to get back to the Western Wall area. It didn't phase Yael (and did phase me) that we were flanked by armed security guards while walking through the Muslim quarter.




Me and the Wall. Stuck a paper in the crack and put my hand on it again after almost 8 years. Even in the sun, the stones are cool to the touch. I wonder how many people in over 2000 years touched that same spot. Good energy there. Ironic, given the political ickiness surrounding the area.






Spices, incense, tea and coffee at the souk. I love those smells.








The Yafo gate exerior. The "40" sign celebrates the 40 years of reunification of the city after the '67 war.







I couldn't resist the photo - sorry. It's just so... eye-rollingly-*bad*.







Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem. This is a pedestrian area in the more modern part of Jerusalem with shops, cafes and restaurants.







Yael dominating the remains of an old Roman column in Caesarea.
Caesarea was built by Herod in the 20's-10's BCE and dedicated it to Caesar (Augustus), hence the name. It became the capital of Judea and an important Roman port, and then later on a Christian/Byzantine hub, then a Muslim hub and then Ottoman hub.







Me n Yaeli with the ancient port in the background.









Ruins of buildings with the old wall in the background.











A beautifully intact mosaic on the floor of an entranceway to the old Roman palace.




Ruins of the public baths. These held Yael's and my attention for quite a while. The mosaics and marble were still in tact and you could clearly see the different rooms - the palestra (gym), changing rooms, frigidarium, tepidarium, caldarium, etc. It was so incredibly cool. This was a part of the palestra.






Mosaic on the floor of the palestra.








Public bath ruins. Multiple rooms (don't remember which).







The caldarium where they would heat up the areas underneath the floor to create a sauna-effect.







It's Greek to me. :P I'm hoping that someone (Cathie, ehem?) can translate this maybe? This is in one of the changing rooms in the baths, I think.







Frigidarium - the little holes along the walls and in the middle are where the fountains were.








Amphitheatre in amazingly good condition.







Ruins of the old Roman palace that jutted out into the sea.









The hippodrome where they would have gladiator fights and chariot races.






Me and the sea, getting sunburned and not knowing it yet.







The sea had started the week quite angry but calmed down quite a bit by Friday - it was almost like a swimming pool - would have loved to have jumped right in...








Yaeli and Hadari - Hadar with her omnipresent pacifier ("motzetz") and enjoying contemplating her belly button ("pupik").






Hadar helping us make my aunt Cecilia's famous banana bread - we took banana bread muffins over to Shai's parents' house for Sabbath dinner that Friday night.






Sabbath dinner - from L to R - Shai, Yael, Hadar, Shai's parents with Aroni (Lior and Hagit's daughter), Hagit (Lior's wife), Maya (Lior and Hagit's daughter) and Lior (Shai's brother).





Me saying goodbye to Hadari before she went to bed.








Yael and Shai.








Yael and I attempting to recreate a photo taken of us freshman year during/after painting and decorating the Hill House suite lounge with Halloween smurfs... we just didn't have the paint on our faces this time, and it was a little more difficult to entwine the legs with the whole pregnancy-thing and all ;)


Lots of love to Yaeli and Hadar :)
Be sending good thoughts her way for she is due soon - at the end of April! Then we will have a new cute face to ooh and aah over :)
I feel so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends. I am extremely blessed and am very grateful for their being in my life. I think of everyone more often than they might realize, even if they are far away or it's been a long time since we've seen or spoken with each other. The older I get, the more I realize that distance and time have diddly-squat to do with connections and relationships with others. Miles away, I still feel the presence of the loved ones in my life and that just blows me away. So, thank you :)

Lots of love and hugs to everyone out there in their respective parts of the world,

Martha