Because we had arrived before the rest of the group we were on our own. The day started with the hotel breakfast, which could have fed us for the day. Here is a fairly complete list -cold cereals, dried fruit, stewed fruit, canned fruit, hard-boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, a chef making eggs to order, blintzes, potatoes, hot cereal, halva, sliced bread, loaves you could slice yourself, rolls, jams, yogurt, granola, cottage cheese, four or five different white cheeses, hard cheeses, pudding, sweet rolls, and a full salad bar including the ingredients to make your own green salad, several prepared salads, and Israeli breakfast salad. No bacon and absolutely no bringing your own food into the dining room.
Our first stop was to track down the windmill we could see from our window. David had read that they were developed in England and were never functional in Israel because of the different weather conditions. We didn't get lost, but we took the less direct route to get there, which was fine because it gave us a view of the neighborhood. There are plastic bottle recycling bins on many corners just as there are glass bins in Denmark. The road signs and license plates also look more European than American.
Our next stop was Ben Yehuda Street, which is the main tourist pedestrian street. We loved seeing the stores filled with kippot and hannukiah and everything Jewish. As we got closer we found stores that sold kippot exclusively, including those made with team logos, college logos, brand (Twitter, Blackberry) logos and those made with complex patterns, multi-colored, etc. More choices than at breakfast. Nothing is labeled with a price, which means haggling. We bought a few souvenirs - a kippah with the rainbow Apple logo for Robin, a key chain for Arlo, and a magnet for the family. What we really wanted was fresh falafel and we found that, too. This was the first and certainly not the last place we saw soldiers, with and without large guns. Service is mandatory for all regardless of sex, sexual orientation, or physical capabilities.
David went off to find a bus to visit a colleague and the kids and I made our way to the library. The children's room didn't open up for another hour so we sunbathed, used ipods, and relaxed for a while. We had our bags examined by security and headed upstairs. The English collection was old, but the selection was fine. The librarian was busy filling what looked to be new shelves or I would have asked her about programs. I had no way of deciphering the signs, but I enjoyed browsing and checking out the artwork.
We met up with David (who didn't make it to the campus near Tel Aviv) and prepared for our 8 p.m. dinner. I was a bit worried since by this time we are usually well done eating and onto the bedtime routine, but part of taking a trip is to do things differently. I always tell this to the kids so it was time for me take my own advice.
The guide, an native Israeli who has had many jobs and traveled many parts of the world, met us in the lobby. Also there were the other two families staying our hotel (one family from IL with 13- and 6-year-old boys and one family from NJ with 13- and 6-year-old boys and an 11-year-old girl). We drove to the other hotel to pick up the third family (grandparents from FL, parents, 15-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy from DC/Baltimore area).
It was an amazing thing to watch our driver take a full-size touring bus down what looked like a one-lane road and deal with people parking illegally for a wedding? bar mitzvah? and then turn the bus around. I oscillated between watching in awe and covering my eyes in horror, as happened many, many times this tour. Moti (for Mordechai) never hit anything!
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