Day 2: July 9th, 2010 (Tel Aviv)

Woke up around 5:00 AM and couldn’t fall back asleep. Finally got out of bed at 6:30 AM and showered. Al showered after me and then we got dressed, grabbed the kids and went downstairs for breakfast. They had a breakfast buffet that was huge. You walked in there was a table full of every croissant, pastry and bread you can image. Then there was another table in the center that had vegetables, fish, cheeses, yogurts, hummus and more. Another table was full of all different types of fruits and then they had a hot food section with waffles, eggs, potatoes and more. The last table was full of different kinds of cereals. Clearly, there was a great selection of food and unlimited quantities. We chowed for a while and then went back to the room to get our stuff for the day since we were going to be out most of the day. We then headed down to the lobby where everybody was ready to board the bus around 8:15 AM. As part of this

trip we have an assigned tour guide who is taking us to all the sites and explaining the history of Tel Aviv and the various buildings as we traveled around the city. Our first stop was Independence Hall.

Scott standing where Ben Gurion declared Independence for Israel

It was in this building that Ben Gurion declared Israel’s independence back on May 14, 1948. Ben Gurion was the first prime minister of Israel and equate him to our George Washington. The building is not very large and you go through a few rooms before entering the main auditorium where you listen to Ben Gurion’s recorded speech from that day. It is in Hebrew so it is a little difficult to fully comprehend the impact of his words. It ends with the Israeli national anthem and everybody stands up in respect. Our tour guide explains the events that led up to that day and what transpired afterwards which is truly remarkable in light of the oppression Israel faced. One interesting comment from our tour guide was that Jews define peace as “the cease fire between wars”. This is something that we cannot fully appreciate as Americans. He also mentioned that their Independence Hall was also an art museum. When we finished there the women wanted to go to a specific hand bag store on a side street. We stopped there for a little and let the woman shop as the guys hung outside. We boarded the bus and drove around while our guide explained the buildings and history of Tel Aviv. We passed by a memorial park for the 11 Jewish Athletes that were killed during the Munich Olympics. Our next stop was Rabin Square which is the site of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.

Rabin Memorial

He was a Nobel Peace prize recipient and the 5th prime minister of Israel. We got back on the bus and passed by the Opera house, Ministry of Defense and a number of other interesting buildings. Our next stop was the Azrieli Observatory which is the tallest building in Tel Aviv. You access the building thru a shopping mall and take a series of elevators there. When we finally got there we found out the observatory was closed because someone was having a Bris so we check out some of the stores in the mall and bought some drinks and snacks in a pharmacy. Our next stop was the Carmel market where you walk through a very congested side street and vendors are selling everything from produce to spices to toys.

Saffrans and Rittenbergs getting Falafels in Carmel Market

Al, Hannah and I had our first Israeli falafel and Zach had a pizza. We walked around for a while but the only thing that anybody bought was Hannah who found a toe ring she liked. We spent a couple of hours there and then walked back to the hotel. I made a pit stop at the supermarket and bought more water since we were drinking so much due to the hot weather. When we got back to the hotel, I took Zach and Andrew R. to the pool/hot tub. When the kids headed back to the room, I went into the sauna and then worked out on the Elliptical for 20 minutes. Went back to the room, showered and met downstairs for dinner at 7:00 PM. The whole group ate at the hotel for a Shabbat dinner. It was a great buffet with a very large assortment of dishes. After dinner some of us decided to have a drink on the patio at the bar. I had a Goldstar beer (good) and Al had a wine. We stayed there until 12 AM and finally went to bed around 12:30 AM.