Israel Adventure - Day 4

My day started with coffee, learning about Tel-Aviv and a Bible study with Pam Herman, with whom we are staying on the first part of our trip. We had a chance this morning to sleep in some, and begin getting over jet-lag and work.

After getting ourselves up and around we ate breakfast at Finnegan Kitchen & Cafe near our apartment. We had Aig’h, an Arabic omelet with herbs, cauliflower, onion, eggplant and roasted peppers served alongside bread, cream cheese, feta cheese, tuna salad, olives, tahini, jam and butter. We also had Shakshuka and coffee.  While we were at breakfast Sarah finished the videos from the Tel Gezer dig and began to upload them. The videos are available here and here.

After breakfast we went to the Eretz Israel Museum which is on the campus of Tel-Aviv University. The museum has many exhibits of the land including an archeological dig from Tel Qasile, Mosaics from the 6th and 8th centuries, a museum of ethnography which holds exhibits on Jewish holidays and the Rothschild Center, a museum dedicated to the efforts of Baron Rothschild to settle the land. We saw a special exhibit on the Bar Kochba rebellion and how it inspired future strength of the Jewish people.

We stopped for lunch at the Italian cafe at Eretz Israel Museum. We ate pizza (which is Mediterranean, but not necessarily Jewish … but it was in Israel in Jewish surroundings).

Afterwards we drove around Tel Aviv-University and the areas around the museum. We ended up at Yarkon Park. We took a walk in the park, enjoying the zoo, the river and people in the park. The park follows the Yarkon River from the western edge of the city to the sea. This park is like the Central Park of Tel-Aviv with multiple ball fields, an amusement park, and other amenities. We took some pictures along the river. Chelsea and Sarah laughed at how I was dressed, like an old Gezer waiting for people to talk to him. I told them the socks with a mountain and animals represented Mount Sinai, for this day is Shavuot in Israel, a holiday.

Following our walk we drove downtown to see Independence Hall and passed the Haganah Museum, which we will see on Tuesday, when it is opened. We enjoyed walking along Rothschild Blvd., and stopped for a drink at…

No, not there … at Aroma Coffee. The Israeli Coffee was a great end to our night. We might have to stop there again on Tuesday, when we return to the area.