Jaffa, Israel

Another beautiful day to explore!  This time... the old port city of Jaffa!  It was about a two and a half mile walk to get there and took about 45 minutes.  Good thing it's scenic!

The ancient city of Jaffa is just to the south of the beach section of Tel Aviv. When you see signs for "Tel Aviv-Yafo," it really means Tel Aviv-Jaffa.  It's the oldest section of Tel Aviv and has been inhabited since about 7500 BCE.  Yes, I said 7500 BCE.

What is this, California!?!  Lots of people getting their workout on right there on the beach!  It's like an adult playground!

Y'all know I love me some handstand push ups.  Apparently so does this guy!  Or maybe he's just doing some yoga!

I love how the old city juts out into the sea.  The waves were insane again today!

Making our way into the old town of Jaffa.

This was just a little restaurant and ice cream stand but it just had the most beautiful flowers and shrubbery!

If you're ever in Tel Aviv (or more specifically, Jaffa), you must stop by Abu Hasan.  It's kind of hard to find, as the sign on the outside is in Hebrew, but it looks like this.  If you're walking in from Tel Aviv, you have to go through the Old Town area of Jaffa and to a neighborhood on the southside of town.

I'm not entirely sure how all of this food landed at our table but we basically walked in, looked confused and the guy pointed at a table.  So we sat down.  Do we get up and order at the counter? Do they come around?  They basically only have about 3 things to order, so at some point, the waiter came over to ask us what we wanted and all we gave him was a drink order!  He came back with hummus though.  Like... the real stuff.  It was out of this world!

He also brought us Masabaha, which is pretty much just warm hummus.  Also incredible!

This painting at Abu Hasan was really creeping me out because he looks exactly like my grandfather!

I surprisingly don't have a close up picture of my grandfather, Howard Farrer Ewbank.  But I do have a close up picture of HIS father, Howard Westcott Ewbank and since my grandfather and great grandfather look a lot alike, check out the resemblence.  Whoa.

The walk back to the old town area is really pretty.  You can see it up on the hill.  Good news: you get to walk off all of the hummus you just ate!

Some kids were having a blast running up and down the stairs into Jaffa.

Naturally, we had to stop in the old town area for a beer.  This being a tourist thing is hard work!  My beer is admiring the main square and St. Peter's church.

I liked this cutie cat of Israel.  It was one of about 200 that I saw in my three days there!

Seaside of the old town area is the Al Bahr Mosque.  It was built in the 16th century and is the oldest mosque in Jaffa.

The view of the newer city of Tel Aviv from Jaffa.  (For the record, it's pronounced, "YAH-fa."

We started to walk back to our hotel and decided we were just going to saunter and stop for a drink.  We stopped at a place called Manta Ray.  We wanted to sit outside, so we asked if that would be possible and were told, "No."  Then a woman, who appeared to be the manager came over and asked where we were from.  We said, "America" and she immediately sat us outside!  I think that's the first time my nationality has ever been recognized so well!

Ayala looks very relaxed in this picture!

This lady looked so happy to have her toes in the water.  We loved watching her get so excited about it!

What?  Creme Brule with berries?  Yes and please.

Everyone knows I love my Makers Mark bourbon.  It's pretty much all I drink on a regular basis.  When I travel, I find most places usually just serve the usual (gross) Jack Daniels and Jim Beam.  Israel seemed very keen on Four Roses, and I like that pretty well.  So I was pretty much set with some Four Roses, Coke Zero (Diet Coke or Coca Cola Light was hard to come by) and even some ice cubes!

Selfie on a windy day in Tel Aviv.

The evening found me all by myself as Ayala had a work dinner to go to.  No worries, I can handle it.  I strolled up to the Sarona Market to get some dinner.  The Marganit tower is all lit up in a pretty purple (my fave!)  When it was built in 1987, it was the second tallest building in Israel.  Now it's all the way down to 12th!  Interestingly, much like the Tower of Pisa, it's leaning 11 inches to the right!

I go into the Sarona Market and what do I see?  Bayern Market!?!  What is going on here!  I didn't come to Israel to eat Bavarian food! I live in Bavaria!

Sarona Market has such a wide variety of foods for sale.  This stall was dedicated to all things olive!

I always think that things get lost in translation when I see stuff like this. 

A candy stand that sells sweet treats such as M&Ms, Cadbury, Milka, Kinder Surprise eggs and... Pop Tarts!?!  Really!?

As I left the Sarona Market, I passed a tree that immediately took my breath away.  The smell was so good and familiar so I immediately looked around trying to identify it.  It was an orange tree that was blossoming!  Growing up in Florida, this was a customary smell.  Mmmmm!

All of the street signs in Tel Aviv are in three languages:  Hebrew, Arabic and English.

Sorry for the blur on this one but I was trying to be clandestine.  This guard sitting in front of this shoe store has a massive gun.  Because why?  Is this shoe store often robbed?  He's not a police officer... just a security guard.  Is there a need for something that big?!

CATS OF ISRAEL!

Breakfast on my final day in Israel did NOT consist of herring in vegetable oil or smoked mackerel! 

Cookies for breakfast! NOW we're talking!

I really, really, really, really wanted to go to the Dead Sea for my last day in Israel.  My flight wasn't until 7:30 pm, but I had been told by Dan the Jerusalem tour guide that you must get to the airport no later than 3 hours before your flight.  That meant 4:30 pm, and that I'd have to leave the hotel at 4 pm.  The Dead Sea, being 2.5 hours away by bus (one way!) was just a bit too far to travel for a half day trip.  I was disappointed but that's just one more thing to see when I come back!

So instead I decided to walk back to Jaffa because there was still a lot that I didn't see!  Walking there, I passed the Ha-Knesset Square and the fountains were on!

I passed by this guy meditating on the Mediterranean while a dozen or so surfers swam nearby.

This guy was very pleased that pigeons would land right on him. Ewww.

This is a memorial to those lost at the Dophinarium bombing in 2000.  It stands on the street side of the nightclub.

I finally made it back to Jaffa, and one spot I really wanted to see were Andromeda's rocks.  These are the rocks that the mythical Andromeda was chained to by the sea monster Cetus (on the orders of Poseidon) when Andromeda's mother (Cassiopeia) boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids who were Poseidon's sea nymphs. In the end, Andromeda was saved by Perseus and they were married.  I grew up in a city that was founded in 1955, so any place that has actual roots to Greek mythology is really amazing to me!

Monday morning fishing in Jaffa Port.

The port of Jaffa.

Delivery bicycles and gates.

I decided to try to make my way up some stairs and see where they took me.  Getting lost (not really) in Jaffa was really cool.  It was relatively empty and incredibly photogenic.

Among the empty pedestrian streets of Jaffa, you'll find plenty of doors, gates and window shutters painted in turquoise.

All that turquoise!  I really wanted to find a #15 house number in this turquoise porcelain fashion, but I couldn't find them anywhere!

I finally made my way back to Kedumim Square to check out the Zodiac fountain. Excavations found that there had been a fountain underneath (yes, underneath) this current fountain location that showed evidence of a wishing well where visitors could toss a coin into the well and their wishes would come true immediately. Believe it or not, I didn't make any wishes here!

I made a quick stop into the nearby St. Peter's church because it was due to be closing a few minutes after my arrival.  There's been a church here since the mid 1600s, but this current church dates from the late 1800s.  This church is dedicated to St. Peter because he raised Tabitha from the dead.  She had been one of Jesus's apostles who lived here in Jaffa.

I love the pastel ceiling in this church!

I next walked over to Abrasha Park. It's a nice little place to stroll around on a sunny day.  There's a wishing bridge where if you cross the bridge holding your zodiac sign and look toward the sea, your wish will come true!  I didn't have my zodiac sign on me... oh well!

Abrasha Park, Jaffa.

Looking toward Kedumim Square and St. Peter's church in Jaffa.

I hate that this seemed in disrepair but there were these great ancient ruins in the park that dated back to the Egyptian and Caananite days.  This was the Lion Temple, named because a lioness skull had been found here (among other bones of many other animals, as well as an alter).  The Egyptians were here from the mid 15th century to the late 12th century, BC.

I decided to try to get lost again in the narrow streets of the old part of Jaffa.  Jaffa was a nice change from the rest of Tel Aviv as it was clean and quiet.

Everywhere you turn, there are stairs!

And then randomly, you tun into Simon the Tanner's home!  (Poor people who live here now!) While St. Peter was a traveling preacher, he stayed here with Simon the Tanner. It's quiet interesting that Peter would stay here, since being a tanner was considered a very unclean profession.  They were basically along the line of someone who collects dog poop!  (Really! It's in the Mishnah which is one of two components of the Talmud).  This is the spot where Peter not only raised Tabitha from the dead, but also where he was told by God to minister to those who are unclean (interesting, since God was speaking of the Gentiles, not necessarily people who's profession was unclean).  The Holy Spirt said to him, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common."  Peter now preached to the Gentiles because through Jesus's death, they all had been cleansed of their sins.  I love all of the symbolism found here.  

Starting to make my way back to Tel Aviv and the hotel, I snapped a nice picture of the Al Bahr Mosque.

And look!  ALL of Andromeda's rocks!

Tel Aviv-Yafo selfie.  Look at those waves!

As I was walking back, I randomly happened upon the Embassy to Vatican City!  How fun!  Totally inconspicuous spot, too.

Finish the job or don't.  Ha ha. This is about as random as it gets!

I had a little bit of time to spare before I had to grab my bags and get my cab to the airport, so I stopped for some libations (you guessed it... Four Roses) and a nice view of the ocean and La Mer.

All the bread and olives and hummus.

 This building made me smile every time we walked by it.  Rainbow color fun!

Until next time, Jaffa and all of Israel!  I'm VERY much looking forward to coming back!