Elad’s blog

We visited Jerusalem, Megido, Tel-Aviv, Zichron-Ya’akov and Jaffa; we saw a horse race at the new hipodrom recently opened at the Gilbo’a mountain and an exhibition openning at a museum; we celebrated birthdays to numerous friends and family; we met family parts that are usually abroad as well as those normally living in Israel; we even managed to attend a few movies in a few cinemas and do a few walks. Last days had been packed with events.

Many years I tried to avoid the crouds. I don’t like traffic jams, and I travel enough throughout the year. So when I was in the army, I would usually take advantage of my position and avoid the so-called compulsory vacation many times they tried to impose on us during passover. I prefer to take my vacation when I choose. However, this year I was neither in a position to avoid this vacation nor did I want to: Elina is also in a vacation and we wanted to take the opportunity to spend some time together. Indeed we spent; but until now - in over a week of vacation - we still didn’t have much, if any, time just for ourselves. It seems that all the obligations just accumulated to this single week: and as we try to manouver between birthdays of Elina’s friends (a couple a day) to a visit of my Australian family who came to Israel (Adrian and Rachel who hosted me in Melbourne. They now have a newborn son - congratulations!), time just slips away.

It does supply us many interesting moments. Here is a small series, just so you can feel the taste.

• Jerusalem. After stralling in Nachla’ot and the street mall, we arrived at the old town. We passed the market (a story by itself) and visited the burnt house (an original house from 2000 years ago that was burnt down by the romans at year 70); finally we stand at the stairs that lead down from the jewish quarter to the wall. The yard is full of ultra-orthodoxes, as can be expected in Passover. Just behind us, on the stairs, a religeous man points to his son - maybe 3 or 4 years old - and shows him the mosques on the mountaintop. “these are made by the evil Arabs,” he explains, “they should be exploded and destroyed, to make place for the temple”.
• Tel-Aviv. The openning of the Mark Rothko exhibition at the Tel-Aviv Art Museum. betwen the mayor and the American ambassador, after judging the fancy clothes of distinguished ladies (but why, why, did she put those orange strips instead of a decent skirt), we slip away from Rothko’s coloured rectangles to the impressionist section, After looking at decent pictures we find a really nice exhibition, by a certain Nurit David. Chinese style scenery paintings hide between Chagalle and Cezanne. Suddenly some celebrity passes by. Who is it? We can’t remember. Oh, yes, she won some television contest.
• The Gilbo’a march. We walk with a couple of friends, and find Irises between all the wild flowers. The sun comes out of a cloud and paints the Jezreel valley below and yellow, green, red and brown. Later we go together to a nice restaurant, when the friends behave really… undistinguished.
• Tel-Aviv. The Carmel market. We came to buy some veggies for passover cookings (I’m in charge of the salads for my familt, this year. It took me a day and a half, but was worth it). In addition to the vegetables, I buy 10 kilograms of fresh garlic, which is now in season: later I will dry it and keep for the entire year. My house is smelly for days, not to mention my car.
• On the same occasion, we also enter an art shop at a southern neighbourhood. The people on the streets are very colourful. Howcomwe bride clothes hang out on a second floor, just above the street?
• We went to see the “Beaufort” movie, about a group of Israeli soldiers stuck in Lebanon. When did they start making Vietnam-warish movies in Israel? It is a good movie (go and see), but so unreflecting of what I remember from there. Half of the chairs in the cinema are broken, and we have to look for unbroken seats. We also saw a movie about Edith Piaf, at late night, on an old-style cinema. When we go out, heaps of kids try to play the “Rocky Horror Show”, live. Customs all around.
• Biblical Megido. Will the final christian war really happen in these stables of king Solomon? we don’t really see the impressive ruins, as we go straight down to the coolest place: the water system of this ancient town. A grotto goes dozens of meters down into the mountain, then a tunnel where you can easily stand in leads you for over a hundred meters to the spring, originally out of town; the water are taken inside but the original flow - which led out - was blocked and camouflaged as part of the mountain. The nicest part: people still disagree who made all this - was it king Solomon or king Achav? Nice question, 3,000 years after the construction of this fully functioning system.
• Jaffo. The fishermen’s port. Late afternoon. A group of people, all with wide hats, sits at a restaurant. Above them is a greek flag, on a monestary or something. Up the hill, on the ancient town, we go to some art galleries. Later we visit a (yet another) archaeological site: an ancient house in the middle of the city, pretty similar the the Burnt House of Jerusalem; and go home for a late afternoon rest.
• Jerusalem, on the same occasion. Climb to the rooftops of the ancient city. Listen to orthodoxes who wear silk dress, hats that seem to be made of fox fur, and talk Yiddish. Sit in our more-or-less common Cafe at the mall, for a new kind of salad.
• Go to a birthday of a friend, and find ourselves in front of a television with a bit of snacks on the table. Hey, 30 is still an age to celebrate! At least, worn us so we’ll wat at home… After it we go to a restaurant and celebrate in our own way: one good end to a day that included two birthdays and one parents visit, and still left us hungry.
• Go to a hipodrom to find out that horse races are actually really boring. Amuse ourselves with the announcements about the horses that couldn’t attend because of some beaurocracy and the English style they try to impose on the entire event, so unfit here. Go home and decide: never again.

As you can understand, this vacation is full, and my house is a total mess: I didn’t have a moment to clean it since the great salad cooking day. The few hours we had in thehouse, we spent with Ofir who helped us to install some things on Elina’s new computer. Now I’ve got to go - another day is pending, with some more family stuff ahead. Ain’t life wonderful.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 8th, 2007 at 7:23 and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.