We arrived in Israel at 6 am and began our tour right away. We stopped at Aroma Café, a popular restaurant in Israel. I got a date pastry and the best cappuccino ever! We ate outside right beside the Mediterranean Sea, but our tour guide, Susan Marcus, sat inside the café with her coat on. She said that today was quite chilly for Israel. After the refreshments, we headed to a little hill that overlooked Joppa and Tel Aviv, perhaps the place where Jonah sat waiting for God to destroy Nineveh. I kept repeating to myself, “I’m in Israel.” It was so much to take in.
Our hotel room was ready by then. It was a very nice room that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. We had the rest of the day to rest. There was a sidewalk that ran along the sea and people walking, jogging, and biking all the time. Mrs. Diamond and I went down to the sea to lie in the sun. The sand was so fine and the water was too cold to go swimming in. There were people playing beach volleyball with their feet, really neat. Mrs. Hoffman – nicknamed Roomie – and I wanted to go to the Tuesday market just a couple of blocks from the hotel. We exchanged some dollars for shekels and got a taxi – taxis only accepted shekels. It was to be my first taxi ride. We arrived to the flea market and saw much of Israel’s culture. Candy, spices, olives, and fish, just to name a few, were out in the open, free for the flies to land on. People did not have personal bubbles. Roomie and I got to pick what fruits we wanted in a smoothie, but because we spent the rest of our shekels on a smoothie, we had to walk back to the hotel. If I remember, it was about 15 blocks. Roomie had arthritis in her hips and it hurt her to walk far distances. However, she did it and it was great bonding time. She wasn't so bad for a roommate. We went to bed early, trying to adjust to the 6 hour time difference.
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