Tel Aviv: Day Two

Sunday, June 29: When they say the Old Port of Jaffa, they mean old. Jaffa port is over 7000 years old and predates the Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Egyptians. Jaffa lies just south of Tel Aviv and it is purported to be the oldest continually active port in the world. Now how would they know that? Actually there are two other ports that are older but neither is active any more. Even Jaffa only serves a small fishing and charter fleet. However it is an old city with active archeological digs going on under the modern apartments that have been built throughout the town. it is, by law, an artist enclave with everything from jewelry, paintings, and textiles to live, hanging tree sculptures.

We hitched onto a free tour - we missed the first half, but got the second. The definition of free is - "I will just ask you for tips later, and to make it easy on you, I'll even tell you what is appropriate!" The tour guide actually was very good and the town is loaded with treasures including the famous Andromeda Rocks. This is featured in a Greek myth - one of the few that takes place outside of Greece - see I told you the guide was good! Something to do with Andromedia being tied to rocks, Perseus flying by, but he can't stop but plans to come back. A bit later he cuts off the head of Medusa - she of the stone-pillar stare - and then uses it to kill a sea monster. This is a story made for Hollywood!

On the way back to the hotel from Jaffa, we stopped at the Carmel or Shuk Market. This is an extensive area of small stalls selling food, spices, candy, underwear, electronics, and evrything in between - kind of like a precursor to Walmart! We will see much grander markets in Istanbul but we had to experience this one nevertheless.

Sunday night was the first big event of the wedding week. A tour bus picked us up as well as about 20 other guests to take us to Marakesh, a Moroccan Restaurant about an hour away. The event was an "intimate" dinner and hina ceremony for about 120 people. Upon arriving, we found the prospective bride and groom decked out in Alladinish costumes. They are a striking couple.

The food and drink were great and it just kept coming - course and course after course. When the DJs cranked up the music everyone hit the dance floor. There were many traditional Israeli songs and dances and a lot of American ones as well. The prospective bride and groom were ceremoniously lifted on chairs and danced around the room. It is always a highlight when they don't fall!

For the hina ceremony, Moroccan garb was handed out to most of the guests - Joani got in full regallia, and Mark just got a hat to go with his fish shirt! During the ceremony, hina or henna, was placed into the palms of whoever wanted their palm red - okay, there is a bad fortune teller joke here, you may fill in the blank - if you don't know it has to do with red and read. Then many of the women were given platters of desserts and paraded around the room. Now I know what Joani would look like if she was a waitreess at a Morrocan restaurant! It was a great time and the long bus ride back to the hotel was very quiet indeed.

Tel Aviv: Day One

Saturday, June 28: A nickname for Tel Aviv is trhe White City. This is not because of racism, but rather because almost all of the buildings - old and new - are white. Saturday is the Shabbos or Sabbath, so it was hard to find things to do because most stores and museums are closed. Joani did find that there was a free English language walking tour of Bauhaus architecture in Tel Aviv. Leaving our hotel at 10:00am for an 11:00 tour, we immediately encountered something that we are not used to - oppressive humidity. Even in Belize it doesn't feel this draining. We had to walk at a fairly quick pace but as soon as we stopped the sweat just poured from us. We kept drinking water but that just fed fuel to the fire.

When we got to the appointed meeting place we found that there were about 40 other folks joining in. It turned out that the tour wasn't that interesting because the tour giver just - wasn't that interesting! We stayed for about 1/2 hour of the 2 hour tour and learned about what separates Bauhaus architecture from other architecture and that Tel Aviv was founded in 1909, which in this part of the world makes it very young. But that was it.

Since it was Saturday we saw a lot of people either going to the synagogue or coming back or just taking a break. While I felkt somewhat intrusive taking pictures, they were such interesting subjects that I just had to do it. 

One of the things that surprised me when we visited Tel Aviv five years ago, was the fact that Tel Aviv is on the Mediterranean - it is a beach town. I guess that if I studied a map that would have made sense. However, this trip I was ready - I knew that Tel Aviv was a beach town. So with nothing else to do on a hot, muggy Satrurday, and dressed out in our finest beach attire, we decided to go to the beach and meet up with Joani's friend Rowen, her daughter, Sydney and Sydney's fiancé, Matan. It was their impending wedding that was the impetus for our planning this trip. There were thousands of people on the beach and we were looking for a needle in a haystack - oh yeah, on a yellow sheet! Up and down the beach we walked - three or four times - and finally ran into them. Tel Aviv has multiple beautiful beaches and the Mediterranean is nice and warm and salty, so much so that I floated with no problem. I only mention that because in fresh water I sink like a stone - the times they are a changing! It was a lot of fun and sunburns were had by all!

Barcelona to Tel Aviv

Friday, June 27: A 6:00am flight from Barcelona to Tel Aviv, made us leave the Hotel Espanya at 3:30am. As we got in the taxi that the hotel had arranged for us, we established the fact that the driver didn't speak much English, nor I much Spanish - not withstanding my 2 years in Junior High School, 2 years in High School, and 2 years in college. Turning a corner we came upon some ladies of the evening, soliciting for their trade. I said to the taxi driver "¿Putas?" He said, "Si, putas." Joani was shocked that I knew the word, but I explained that since I first learned Spanish in Junior High School, of course I knew all of "those" words!

If you've traveling, you know that there are an incredible number of black suitcases - all looking alike. For years we have used Kyrene luggage tags and tied multi-colored ribbons on ours. Not so we could find them, but so no one else would take them by mistake. This year, in honor of our granddaughters we added some special ribbons.

The Turkish Air flight from Barcelona to Istanbul was uneventful and comfortable - we each got in some sleep. We had a two-hour layover in Istanbul so we found some floor space to sit. Of all airlines in the world, Turkish Airlines serves the most destinations, and the Istanbul Airport seemed like every plane must stop here. The people watching was amazing. There were so many people, and many of the men were in traditional garb with full length robes of varied colors and the women wore a variety of burkas. It actually reminded me of the crowd scenes in Star Trek or Star Wars - although these weren't aliens, but just a variety of cultures and religions all coming together in one place. I thought about taking pictures but thought that would be rude and I certainly didn't want a confrontation!

Once they posted our gate we walked through the terminal and were told that the security people had to sweep the area before we could check in at the gate. I don't know if that is reassuring or disconcerting. Additionally, I noticed that the Turkish Air plane did not say Turkish Air, but rather Star Alliance. I guess they are keeping it a secret that Turkish Air is flying to Israel. Shhh - don't tell anyone!

Security in the Tel Aviv airport is very comforting - that is because you don't see it, but you know that it's there! It was much easier and faster to get through the immigration area than it is in Houston or Dallas when arriving from Belize. And they didn't even look at us going through Customs. A taxi ride to the very modern ArtPlus Hotel in Tel Aviv was very quick and our cab driver was sure to tell us about how the Arabs want his country back, etc. I don't know why he had a gun on his hip and I didn't want to find out. After happy hour at the hotel - wine and fruit - the long day caught up to us, and we conked out for the night. Tomorrow we get to explore beautiful Tel Aviv.

Barcelona: Day Four

Thursday, June 26: An early reservation at the Picasso Museum meant an early start to the day. Breakfast at a small stall in the Central Market was great. I love the automatic orange juicing machine - yes, I know we have them in Arizona, but there is something about ordering jugo naranja, and having this old guy smile at me as the machine cuts the orange and squeezes out the fresh juice!

Back in 1970, on our honeymoon, we had discovered the Picasso Museum in Barcelona. It was good to go back and see it again. It is in a very old series of buildings that they have renovated into one, still rather small museum. The collection really has not changed much, as we remember, and is mostly based on a series of studies that Picasso did of a Valasquez painting that he called Las Meninas. Each day he would look at the painting and paint what he saw, and each day it would be different. Sometimes he would focus on a small section of the painting, and somedays he would paint the whole thing. The collection also includes a variety of other works from either early in his life - his paintings when he was 14 actually shocked Joani, as a former high school art teacher - or later in life. All, however, had to do with his time spent in Barcelona. 

In the afternoon we visited yet another museum, this one dedicated to Joan Miro, another son of Barcelona. There was quite a contrast between the two museums. While the Picasso Museum was in a very old series of buildings that had been renovated into one fairly modern facility with high ceilings and large galleries, the Miro Museum was a relatively modern building that was designed for this purpose, and yet had low ceilings and did not present the artwork very well. Both artists were indeed masters, but it was interesting to see how the buildings helped or hindered the display of the artwork.

For dinner, we went to a tapas bar. Tapas is one of the things that Barcelona is known for, and the restaurant didn't disappoint. It remined us of a sushi restaurant in that all of the tapas were beautifully displayed. Each one had a large toothpick or stick holding it together. You went to the counter and picked the ones that you wanted. As you finished each tapas you placed the toothpick into a stand. When you were finished eating, the waiter would simply count the toothpicks and multiply by the constant cost of each tapas and that was your bill. It was fun and the food was great. The only problem was that the USA lost to Germany in the World Cup that night.

Barcelona: Day Three

Wednesday, June 25: When one thinks of Barcelona, one must include La Segrada Familia, the huge church that is being built in the center of the city. Being built, is a bit of an understatement, since it was started in 1882, over 130 years ago! It is often referred to as Gaudi's Church, as Antoni Gaudi was its main architect from 1883 to his death in 1926. He knew that it would not be finished in his lifetime and actually planned for future architects to carry on his life's work. We first visited the church in 1970 on our honeymoon. To visit it 44 years later is a wonderful opportunity to experience it again. They now project that it will actually be finished in 2026 - time to plan for another visit!

The church's size is amazing, although we have been to other churches that are indeed larger. What stands out about La Segrada Familia is the grandeur of it, the design, the architecture, the beauty, the story, etc. - one runs out if superlatives to describe it. The long lines of people queued up to experience it are a testament to both its draw, and to their stupidity for not buying tickets online ahead of time! Online - now there's a thought - think of all of the things that have been invented during the time that La Segrada Familia has been under construction. But, I digress.

Since its beginning, it has always been an expiatory church - which means it has been built solely on donations, which include the admission fees to both get into the church and to ride the elevator to the top of one of the spires that looks out over Barcelona. There are but a few really tall buildings in Barcelona, as about six stories seems to be the normal height. Thus La Segrada Familia stands very tall and very prominent in Barcelona. 

There are two very obvious sides to the church - the Nativity facade and the Passion facade. The Nativity facade was actually done during Gaudi's lifetime. The stonework was very intricately sculpted by hand and shows very realistic figures. The Passion facade, on the other hand, is much newer, the stonework being done by people using modern machines and techniques, and the figures are very angular and chiseled. Another digression - one has to wonder how many iterations of "modern machines and techniques" there have been 1882 and the present.

The inside of the church must be described as modern, as contemporary. While the demensions of the building and its shape are similar to churches throughout the ages, the way that the pieces have been put together just evokes a sense of modernity. Again, considering that the design is over 130 years old, and the work has been done continuously during that time, the freshness and appeal of the building is amazing. Could someone today design a building for 130 years from now, and would that building then be described as modern, as contemporary?

Upon entering the church one is struck by the smooth, flowing lines of the marble columns. Not being an architect, I don't quite know how to use architectural terms to describe the construction, but words like beautiful, flowing, precise, smooth, sweeping, etc., don't do it justice. Different color marble was chosen for different purposes and even though this much stone might be described as cold - it actually feels just the opposite. It is warm and embracing. We walked around, like the other pilgrims, and then sat in various marble benches and wooden chairs. My camera would not stop clicking off picture after picture, and yet I know that if a picture is indeed worth a thousand words then the hundreds of pictures that I took still don't adequately describe what we got to experience just by being there.

After about two hours in the church it was our appointed time to ride in a 6-person elevator to the top of one of the spires. We had done this 44 years ago, so it was great to do it again. The ride is quick and smooth. After we leave the elevator there are still many steps to climb. This reminded me of climbing the Statue of Liberty - you know that you are inside of something grand, but until you get to places where you can look out, you don't quite appreciate where you are. Since the church is still under construction, you get to see them cutting stones and lifting them with huge derricks and cranes. You are literarly in the middle of a construction site! 

As we walked up the spire I felt like the building should be wavering in the wind. But then I realized that the enormity of the quarried stone and cement made it all "rock solid!" The walk down in ever tightening spiral staircases reminded me of Joani, 44 years ago, clomping down the steps of the Duomo in Florence in her wooden Dr. Scholl's sandals. However this time the "modern" shoe was rubber-soled and quiet!

Barcelona: Day Two

Tuesday, June 24: We slept until 1:00pm and I guess that is called jet lag - or just a lot to drink the previous night! Since this is truly an architectural city, we walked toward a street that is famous for the influence of various prominent artists and architects. However due to some rain showers we decided to take a tour bus and get a broad view of the city. After about 1/2 hour the rain stopped but the bus didn't, so we hopped off at Park Guell, an amazing area designed by Antoni Gaudi, a Spanish architect (1852-1926), whom you will hear much more about later. Park Guell was an estate that was eventually deeded to the City of Barcelona and named after the benefactor. It is on the side of a hill and includes great curved structures that are emblematic of Gaudi. 

After wandering through Park Guell for four hours, we hopped back on the tour bus, after all, it was hop on - hop off, and because the weather had turned sunny we sat upstairs in the double-decker. Every where we looked there were interesting buildings and other forms of architecture. Near the University of Barcelona they had installed a tram for the Olympics. What made this one different from most was the rail bed was actually grass instead of concrete or fill material. It was quite striking. We returned to the Port Olympico area again and at a different restaurant had an unbelievable platter of sole, turbot, hake, langoustines, crayfish, shrimp, prawns, mussels, and clams. Oh yeah, and a couple of potatoes! Another bottle of wine and we were very happy. Of course the waiter thought we should be happier so he brought us a bottle of some green brandy and just let us pour to our hearts content!