Touring with Hose
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2008
1
9
130
Trip End
Aug 01, 2009
Netanya,
Israel
Friday, August 29, 2008
This morning was early but it didn't help that I had been up late talking with Barb and Les! We were up about and ready for breakfast about 8:30am to that we could be on the road by 9:30ish to Tel Aviv.
The condo is on the 11th floor and overlooks the Mediterranean and WOW, what a view!!!! The weather was hazy as it was already hot and humid. Luckily, I am able to wear shorts here and gladly put them on. :-) Off we went in a little car with all 5 and the air conditioner at full blast!
First off was a drive through the kibbutz that Dumameit grew up on. I feel so lucky to have had this opportunity! It was not what I had imagined. I was thinking that it would be more desolate and fields. That wasn't the case at all. This has a hotel, water park, businesses, and lots of beach area. This kibbutz is the most prosperous one in Israel. From there we drove into Tel Aviv
Over looking Tel Aviv
. We went to high point that overlooked the city and towards the shouk(souk in Arabic). Eddie moved the car so we had a rock star parking spot! It was actually next to the place where Dumameit started as a performer. We were a few blocks away from her favorite shop but of course we had to walk past a lot of other stalls to get there. I found it refreshing not to be bothered by all the oweners trying to sell you stuff. Maybe that was because we had a native speaker with us! I know it helped when I was buying things!!! :-) Pomegranate juice was next as they are in season and it was being freshly squeezed while we watched. The flavor was VERY tart but oh, I enjoyed it.
Next was the "outlet" store for Naot shoes. The space wasn't that big but there was a ton of shoes crammed in there. I found a couple of pairs but the shoes but he wasn't willing to go as low as I thought they should be so we left. Lunch was going to be with some of their friends in the spice and nut market so back in the car we went and Eddie found another great parking spot! The next part was to actually find this restaurant! It had moved so there was a "tussle" as to where it had moved to but we found it. It was a Persian restaurant that tasted like I was back in Shiraz
The Shouk
. There was sabzi, kebab, and the really good saffron rice with tart cherries/pomegranate seeds in it. Oh, it was soooooooooooo good! There is a picture of one of the dishes but there were so many more!After lunch we headed back to the apartment for a nap/relaxing time. Eddie and Dumameit were invited out for dinner so around 6:00ish, she took us to the beach so Les could go swimming and we could grab something for dinner. The beach was like walking on corn starch-it was that fine!. Les found a place to change while Barb and I staked out a place to sit. I have a picture of feet in the water but that will have to wait. We were there a while, watched the sun go down and just rested in a cooler spot. Finally, it was time to go, Les changed and we took the big elevator up to the top so we were again close to the city center. It was a short walk but we found a place open-The Scotsman just off of the main square. There weren't a whole lot of choices due to Ramadan but this one looked pretty good. They were even willing to put the fan on us so we were sold! Actually, the menu was more Slavic than Scottish so Barb had the stronanoff, Les had spaghetti and I can't remember what I ate. After dinner, the boss sent over some local ameretto that was so smooth, I wish I could have had more.
A taxi was in order for getting home and then we watched TV for a while and then went to bed as the next day was going to be a busy one with Eddie as the tour guide.
