Day five of our Israel trip has dawned. It is Sunday, April 5, 2:45 AM, but still Saturday 6:45 PM in Pensacola. Any wonder we have jet lag?
We arrived at Ben Gurion airport, Tel Aviv, Israel, after a 12 hour flight from Atlanta at 5:30 PM Israeli time. Getting the rental car – no problem. Thanks to prior reservations. Getting to Jaffa via Tel Aviv – a problem! Usually a 30 minute trip, it exploded into about 4 hours. Ruby drove. I “navigated” through many strange Tel Aviv streets with names like, “Shay Agnon,” “Ayalon,” “Ibin Gabirol,” “Levanon,” and “Ha-Yarkon” looking for “Yafet” in Old Jaffa. Knowing the Mediterranean was west helped but an outdated miniature map and a misleading compass, heavily influenced by the metal in our Subaru, told me west was east and sometimes north. Finally the illuminated hill with the ancient buildings of Old Jaffa filled the horizon (cities on hills can’t be hid). Below it was Yafet Street and our home for the next month.
Not yet finished with a tiring day? And/or night? we set out from the condominium complex for supper. Only trouble was the key to the outer gate didn’t fit when we returned. I was spared the humiliation of falling off the steel fence which kept us out when a couple with the secret code rescued us in. Now our approach is through the underground garage with a radio remote to open the massive metal gates. We feel like mice sneaking into the halls of the Capitol.
Between eating, trying to sleep, grocery shopping and exchanging money the next three days vanished. Saturday was Shabbat (the Sabbath in Israel). How we and the Israelis in Jaffa spent that day is the subject of the following pictures.
We arrived at Ben Gurion airport, Tel Aviv, Israel, after a 12 hour flight from Atlanta at 5:30 PM Israeli time. Getting the rental car – no problem. Thanks to prior reservations. Getting to Jaffa via Tel Aviv – a problem! Usually a 30 minute trip, it exploded into about 4 hours. Ruby drove. I “navigated” through many strange Tel Aviv streets with names like, “Shay Agnon,” “Ayalon,” “Ibin Gabirol,” “Levanon,” and “Ha-Yarkon” looking for “Yafet” in Old Jaffa. Knowing the Mediterranean was west helped but an outdated miniature map and a misleading compass, heavily influenced by the metal in our Subaru, told me west was east and sometimes north. Finally the illuminated hill with the ancient buildings of Old Jaffa filled the horizon (cities on hills can’t be hid). Below it was Yafet Street and our home for the next month.
Not yet finished with a tiring day? And/or night? we set out from the condominium complex for supper. Only trouble was the key to the outer gate didn’t fit when we returned. I was spared the humiliation of falling off the steel fence which kept us out when a couple with the secret code rescued us in. Now our approach is through the underground garage with a radio remote to open the massive metal gates. We feel like mice sneaking into the halls of the Capitol.
Between eating, trying to sleep, grocery shopping and exchanging money the next three days vanished. Saturday was Shabbat (the Sabbath in Israel). How we and the Israelis in Jaffa spent that day is the subject of the following pictures.
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