We had to be totally loose with our Tel Aviv itinerary since we had to be at the kibbutz in the late afternoon. This was mostly due to the typical Israeli delay at the car rental place.
Eventually we got on the road and Grandma, Zev, and I decided that it would be best for us just to visit the new port and walk around Ha Carmel and the shuk. Dad had quite an experience driving the van and dealing with Israeli drivers on the highway and in Tel Aviv. He has driven in Italy. He used to drive taxis around New York City in graduate school. So, let me put it this way, I trusted Dad's taxi driving skills and attitude completely to get us anywhere safely. He found parking the car in an overcrowded parking lot to be the most challenging since cars would be parked in perpeticular to cars lined in rows, blocking the latter cars' way of backing out. I had to close my eyes when he parked the c
ar because I get so claustrophobic in these kind of situations. Nevertheless, Dad was in disbelief by his challenge. Of course, we applauded his efforts.
The port was quite nice and beautiful. It reminded me a bit of Atlantic City with a different flavor and no casinos. Actually there are no casinos in Israel. Score one point for Prague. For lunch, we went to Cafe Aroma so we could save some room for Max Brenner's. At Max Brenner's, we all
shared (except for Dad) the Chocolate Mess. Literally, it was a thin layer of chocolate cake on the bottom, encircled by slices of bananas, several scoops of ice cream (vanilla and dark chocolate), loads of whipped cream. We were given dishes of nuts and sauces to pour over the gigantic sundae. Loads of fun but not something I'd do again.
Then we jutted over to the shuk. The day was getting a little warm- now I wished that my family really liked beaches. Anyway, I thought Tel Aviv's shuk was a good example of what a shuk looked like since it's much bigger than the one in Jerusalem. My parents compared it to Wegman's but definitely better than Wegman's. They marveled over all the stuff that the merchants sold.
Much to my shock, the Ha'Carmel market was closed- I was always there on Fridays... so I guess it's only on Fridays (also Tuesdays as I found out later from Linda). Nevertheless, they just enjoyed walking around and understanding their location on the map.
We found our way to the Ravids' kibbutz without problem. I saw Maa'yan briefly (she had to go over to her boyfriend's as he was leaving for several months to work as a security officer on the ship). Then Linda showed my family around the kibbutz and explained well about how the life worked for her. She showed us some of the houses occupied by high-tech companies and told us of how the kibbutz dealt with the high-tech companies moving in the area. She also showed a couple things that I hadn't seen yet- the animal farm (Andrew enjoyed that!!!!) and the "party house." The latter was beautiful and I felt that I could have a wedding in there! Dad got a kick out of seeing the tractors again but didn't ask if he could try driving one.
We saw Shlomi when we got back, talking with Zev, and Ofek was on his own somewhere in the house. We had a huge dinner on the patio but Linda served plenty of veggies so I helped myself with those. We all had a very nice time and my parents enjoyed learning more about the kibbutz experience. The lifestyle was certainly not for them- too casual, they said.
On the way home, I could not help but think how much I really wanted to be here, in Israel. I had a discussion with Grandma and Zev that if I die, then I want to be buried in Israel, where all the Jews should ultimately end up. They said that's a Zionist thought and there's no way Israel could support all the Jews, not enough land. Then I thought, well, let me put it this way, then those who are active with Israel, should be here. It just hit me. I've turned into a Zionist.
Eventually we got on the road and Grandma, Zev, and I decided that it would be best for us just to visit the new port and walk around Ha Carmel and the shuk. Dad had quite an experience driving the van and dealing with Israeli drivers on the highway and in Tel Aviv. He has driven in Italy. He used to drive taxis around New York City in graduate school. So, let me put it this way, I trusted Dad's taxi driving skills and attitude completely to get us anywhere safely. He found parking the car in an overcrowded parking lot to be the most challenging since cars would be parked in perpeticular to cars lined in rows, blocking the latter cars' way of backing out. I had to close my eyes when he parked the c
ar because I get so claustrophobic in these kind of situations. Nevertheless, Dad was in disbelief by his challenge. Of course, we applauded his efforts.The port was quite nice and beautiful. It reminded me a bit of Atlantic City with a different flavor and no casinos. Actually there are no casinos in Israel. Score one point for Prague. For lunch, we went to Cafe Aroma so we could save some room for Max Brenner's. At Max Brenner's, we all
shared (except for Dad) the Chocolate Mess. Literally, it was a thin layer of chocolate cake on the bottom, encircled by slices of bananas, several scoops of ice cream (vanilla and dark chocolate), loads of whipped cream. We were given dishes of nuts and sauces to pour over the gigantic sundae. Loads of fun but not something I'd do again.Then we jutted over to the shuk. The day was getting a little warm- now I wished that my family really liked beaches. Anyway, I thought Tel Aviv's shuk was a good example of what a shuk looked like since it's much bigger than the one in Jerusalem. My parents compared it to Wegman's but definitely better than Wegman's. They marveled over all the stuff that the merchants sold.
Much to my shock, the Ha'Carmel market was closed- I was always there on Fridays... so I guess it's only on Fridays (also Tuesdays as I found out later from Linda). Nevertheless, they just enjoyed walking around and understanding their location on the map.
We found our way to the Ravids' kibbutz without problem. I saw Maa'yan briefly (she had to go over to her boyfriend's as he was leaving for several months to work as a security officer on the ship). Then Linda showed my family around the kibbutz and explained well about how the life worked for her. She showed us some of the houses occupied by high-tech companies and told us of how the kibbutz dealt with the high-tech companies moving in the area. She also showed a couple things that I hadn't seen yet- the animal farm (Andrew enjoyed that!!!!) and the "party house." The latter was beautiful and I felt that I could have a wedding in there! Dad got a kick out of seeing the tractors again but didn't ask if he could try driving one.
We saw Shlomi when we got back, talking with Zev, and Ofek was on his own somewhere in the house. We had a huge dinner on the patio but Linda served plenty of veggies so I helped myself with those. We all had a very nice time and my parents enjoyed learning more about the kibbutz experience. The lifestyle was certainly not for them- too casual, they said.
On the way home, I could not help but think how much I really wanted to be here, in Israel. I had a discussion with Grandma and Zev that if I die, then I want to be buried in Israel, where all the Jews should ultimately end up. They said that's a Zionist thought and there's no way Israel could support all the Jews, not enough land. Then I thought, well, let me put it this way, then those who are active with Israel, should be here. It just hit me. I've turned into a Zionist.
3 comments:
It *just* hit you?
Let's say I was in denial :) You know that Zionism doesn't exactly ring positive in America. Like the word "feminist."
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