Day 51 - Catching up on the weekend & night activities

The plan for the day was for me to stay with Georgia in the morning, walk to Alicia in the afternoon to say bye to Inga and Michal, and see X-Files in the evening with Isolde, Diana, and Alisa.

We went to the youth park at around 10am. There was a very interesting woman with a little girl called Isabella. She was about 45, in great shape, and attractive. She was also very animated, observant, and after learning that we do not speak Lithuanian switched to Russian (including to her kid). There was a plastic cup with fresh wild flowers in it on the playground table when I arrived. Since that lady was the only one there it was most likely her. As people started piling in she greeted them (in some cases with squeals), started conversation with all of them, remembered kid's names. In short, she turned a normally somber and reserved playground into a very lively place (almost like in an Indian movie) with many conversations going on at once and everyone looking brighter. This is amazing talent. On my side, it has not even occurred to me to ask her name.

Then car rental called to let us know the guy was in our backyard to pick up the car we rented on Sunday (they could not let us keep Colt and ran out of cars but they went to another company and got us another car (semi-dead) while we were driving around in Latvia). This is a weird thing about this guy - he always calls when he is in our backyard - not when he sets out. Sometimes we are 15-20 minutes away and have to run home when he calls. We told him a few times to call in advance, but he does it. Maybe he likes a little break while he waits? Anyway, he called and I've tried to call Dan who was at home but my phone run out of minutes. So we ran home and Dan came out to give hims the keys.

It did not make sense to go back to youth park so close to lunch. On our playground the crowd was as serious as ever. Some old lady started a conversation with me saying this playground sucks. I said that she can also try the youth park. She said it is not called youth park anymore (did not catch the new name) and started whining away how horrible it is to change names, going over city's decrepit state, and ultimately switching to retirees survival rates. Georgia rescued me by telling me that she has to use the bushes "Right Now." All the while the old lady wears pearl necklace and earrings to the playground to match the rest of the outfit and hangs out on the playground in the old city rather than in the outskirts.

We went to the Blinnie place for lunch. Georgia sat on the windowsill and waved to tourists.

At Alicia's it was busy with four of us adding to the rest of the crowd. When t.Nina, another aunt, arrived it got completely crazy, and Dan and I abandoned Georgia to seek refuge in the bedroom with TV.

Diana and Alisa got lost trying to pick up up and she had a problem with her car (black smoke coming out of the rear end pipe). When they finally came, we took Isolde's car to go to Vingis movie theater. With Diana on the phone trying to find a mechanic, Alisa was charged with giving us directions. She just came out 3 hour driving lesson and temporarily lost ability to differentiate between right and left. Diana got back to us and guided Isolde like a real real estate professional "Please change the lane and keep left. There is police post coming up ahead, please slow down... What? You have Russian plates? Please keep up the speed" :) When we arrived we had to take a break for a few minutes to unwind and get some ciders and popcorn. We sat down 10 minutes late and remarkably the movie did not start until then. A bad movie BTW.

In addition to the lousy script and porn-movie-quality acting (except David Duchovny) it always puzzles me that they cannot find a single native Russian speaker Hollywood and use people who pronounce forceps like chips.

Diana and Alisa were not in the mood to stay up and went home. We joined in with Andrei, Natasha and Dusty and went to the old city. Our Double Coffee is 24 hour but after 12 they do not allow service on the terrace and do not allow dogs in - so it was a bummer. There are only a few places in the old city that are open late and we drove around to find a bar behind Philarmonie. A waitress came over to tell us about a Lithuanian law whereby she cannot serve us alcohol after 12 - instead we have to go to the bar and order it ourselves and take it outside. She can still bring us appetizers. Dusty got cold sleeping on the ground and jumped up on the wooden bench next to us. We had a good time.

We talked about Isolde's crazy contract in Turkey where she was working a group of hotel entertainers as a part of her degree industry practice requirement. School did not control the contract very well and she ended up working for 4 months without any days off, 14 hour days at $200 per month. They did not even process kids visa's properly because the practice was probably very illegal. Her visa got expired and she cannot go back for 5 years. Sounds a tiny bit like our Israeli GCP project but it was much worse because they were kids away from home basically working as slaves. Educational institutions have to be held accountable by law for ensuring normal and humane conditions for anything done as a part of degree.

A quick note to the road sign gurus. Asked cops about the confusing road sign several posts ago and were told that cars are not allowed only 22-6. Still not 100% - if no cars allowed sign is to the right, then it does not make sense. Andrei thought it means no cars allowed.

Day 50 - Europas Parkas and dacha

In the morning on Sunday we drove over to Alicia's. We planned to drop off Dan's mom at Olshevsky's dacha and go to Europos parkas with Alicia's crew.

Olshevskys got a new dog - a 4 month old English Bulldog. It is adorable - weighs almost as much as Georgia and has a wrinkled old face, and baby teeth. It started to lick and chew on my hand (pictures on the right and on the bottom of the email are for comparison purposes).

On one hand this breed is kind of cute, but on another, it seems to have become perpetuated genetic mistake. These dogs are no longer born naturally - their head is so big that they are delivered by c-section. They are intense burpers, farters, and snorers. They suffer from nasal and ear problems from puppyhood. I wonder if they are born sicker every generation or it is just a local line. Carl Sagan seems to have suggested that the thing with big head is beginning to affect humans too.

We got to Europos Parkas early and stayed in the forest nearby waiting for the rest of the group to join. There is a great variety of plant life here: we got a few remaining wild strawberries, raspberries, about 7 kinds of wild flowers, there are mushrooms. We also saw two kinds of frogs, giant dragonflies, and crickets.

Entrance with dogs is not permitted here but Ekaterinburgians begged the ticket lady and she let them in. The fee is 23LT per person and while it is a pretty park with some interesting giant artworks it is not worth it unless you get discounted fee as a student or a child.

We stopped back at Olshevsky's and had a really great time there again. Vitalik's mom made cherry stuffed ravioli (delicious). Vitalik's dad offered to go down to the river. At first I decided to go but, seeing that Vitalik, and his sisters stayed at home, decided to stay too. It was a wise decision. Vitalik's dad decided to give his wife and Dan's mom a survival test and ran them both through the forest at full military training speed. Poor Dan's mom had to carry Georgia too. Between walking from the market and up the stairs with full bags, running with us to and from the parks, driving in non-air conditioned cars, and this - her stamina probably has increased 10-fold and she may choose to exercise it on Dan's dad when she is back.

Days 48-49 - To Riga and Back

It is about 295 km to Riga. We planned to go in two cars with Ekaterinburgians and Israelis. We were going to sleep over there and reserved a medium sized apartment in B&B Riga (http://www.bb-riga.lv/). They were going to drive back in the evening. We planned to stop in Urmala on the way back.

On Friday we woke up at 5:30 and at 6:10 were on our way to join up with Alicia's guests. We got a little red Mitsubishi Colt again a day before. Georgia was very good at waking up early. She went back to sleep in the car shortly and we drove for 2 hours before stopping at our first rest stop. In addition to all the prerequisite facilities it big grounds with several things to help one unwind from the long drive. It had a big playground with a variety of interesting things. The swing was made from an old sled. They also has a little zoo with miserable looking bears, ostriches, and deer. Dusty, the dog, got a good walking.

In 19km we passed the border patrol. In principle, there should not be any border control at this point given that the Baltic countries are a part of the Shengen zone. But there was patrol and it was us who got stopped, possibly because of our rental car. The border police walked around the car comparing the faces to the pictures in passports and let us go. We stopped once again at around 30km mark.

Our hotel was pretty easy to find - A7 turns into Lacpiesa. A few turns and we were on Gertrude. The room was great - a very reasonable apartment with a separate bedroom with a king sized bed and a foldable bed in the room. The was also a foldable sofa in the living room that Dan's mom took. Little attached kitchen had everything necessary to set up a cooking shop. Receptionist Alex was really helpful - he speaks better English than Russian. It costs 100 EU per night. We parked both cars in their closed parking lot.

Hotel is only about 15 minutes walk from the old town but Dan had to make a really quick run to it once Georgia requested a pacifier that we accidentally left. We waited near the Russian Orthodox church in front of the statue of liberty and watched two weddings. The brides looked like the wedding cakes.

We walked around the city until 8pm. It is (including the center) much bigger than Vilnius. It is also being restored. Some streets look completely unrecognizable from our last visit about 5 years ago. Flower vendors offer great variety and it is hard to resist buying a bunch. It is not much more expensive here than in LT. Exchange rate of 1 lat = $2.23 makes everything seem very inviting. For example, ice-cream ranged from 50-60 santimes. It looks like many of the pretty clay souvenirs that stopped coming to Vilnius had been end up here instead.

Russian is much more prevalent here. After a short while we did not even try to speak English in the stores. On average (just subjective perception) the people are fatter and shorter here (so I fit right in). There is a lot more show of luxury - Isolde and Andrei delighted in accessing various Bentleys and Porsches lining up the streets. Some women were dressed like on the runway.

We wanted to go to a medieval restaurant Rosengrals (http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5338) but unfortunately dogs are not allowed. A door attendant offered to take care of Dusty while we ate, but the dog would be miserable and Andrei did not agree.

Instead we had lunch at Salve next to the tourist information office in the centre. It is a very good restaurant and has service is great too. I've ordered blood sausage - something I've been dreaming about since my last visit. Under disdainful eye of our group's vegetarian Michal I felt like I was consuming a baby animal. It did not help that they did not make the sausage thick enough and dark brown contents spilled out once I've made the first cut.

On the desert side we bought ice-cream from a street vendor and it was great. "Plombiras" was very rich, heavy (just like Dan remembered from his childhood), and delicious.

In the evening we got together at the hotel and helped Andrei plan the route back. Michal decided to stay with us. Dan's mom put Georgia to sleep while we walked back to the city. If one looks closer, only the central part of the old city is restored - to the left and to the right of it there are abandoned buildings and ruins. We walked around one such ruin. It actually looks scenic surrounded by the beautified city. I urged Dan to make a dig for a treasure but he refused.

At night the city looked sinister - there were cops and security on many streets. Young men with close haircuts and sticky stares lined the corners. We sat down for a cup of coffee and (stale) cake at Double Coffee. The presence of a security guard made the place somewhat uncomfortable too.

In the morning Dan and his mom went to the coffee shop across the street to get coffee and pastries. Our bed and breakfast actually does not provide breakfast but offers 1.5 LAT voucher (per person) for the coffee shop. At first $3.30 seemed like a rip off but when they came back from the shop they said that pastries cost at most 30 centimes and they would have to take half the store with them if they were to realize the entire amount.

We went to the park first to so that Georgia could get some fun for herself at the playground at last. After that we walked around the city for some more views. We planned to go to the medieval restaurant for lunch but it only opened at noon so we decided to head out to Urmala and catch something to eat there.

The road to Urmala is pretty good but we hit some traffic and only made it there by 1pm. We entered the beach about 200m off the main entrance near abandoned beach side hotel. Georgia went paddling in the water au naturel and Dan's mom went swimming. We walked along the beach to the center. The water ain't Mediterranean but it is warm enough to swim in. The only thing is that you have to walk half-way to Sweden before it is up to your waist.

There are some attractive bods in the run-way quality swim wear to look at and most of them are very conscious of that too. There are far more obese men and women with various bodily disfigurements - stomach scars, tumors, and moles. Israel beach scene is a lot more relaxed and pleasant to look at.

In the center of town there was Exotic (a.k.a belly) dance festival going on. Lots of shapely and less so beauties of various ages dressed in gauze with twinkling coins were coming up on stage to perform their numbers. I had a crazy thought that this is a competition to pick out the best dancers to ship out to Turkey to perform in the hotels.

At 3:30 we headed back to LT. The ride was 3 hours and 20 minutes, with a 20 minute stop on another pretty rest area with a huge playground and lake access. A bunch of travelers took a swimming and sunbathing break nearby. There was no border patrol. Georgia slept most of the way back. Dan's mom got overheated and had a headache.

In the evening we went to see the Dark Knight (very nice!). Afterward we went to the Double Coffee to compare the cakes to the ones we had in Riga. Lithuanian ones won. Apparently there is a security guard here as well at night.

Day 47 - Not sure what to say

Having come back from a nice weekend in Riga I don't remember anything particularly memorable happening. So this would be a short post this one.

Day 46 - Approaching Usupis

Today was was also like a "typical" day in LT. Dan and I went to Double Coffee while Dan's mom was with Georgia in the park in the morning. She dropped off Georgia at noon and we went to Kavine Usupis. We had been passing by the place for some time and today was the day to immortalize the experience.

The restaurant is located in a beautiful spot right at the entrance to Usupis neighborhood, near the bridge of Vilnyale river, steps away from the infamous Green Duck. We got a near the railing. The service was so so, but not through evil intent but through the lack of training. Even though we though our body language was obvious (the menues were closed and we followed the waitress with hungry eyes), the waitress first cleaned all the tables on the deck by carrying away individual plate/cup/utensil at a time in a way reminiscent of Woo, and finally came over.

While the food was being made Georgia and I walked over to the interesting colored house (in past pictures). The artists who run the place are preparing for some event and there are white baloons tethered above the river. There were several men drilling cage-like welded metal boxes nearly.

We walked down the steps to the river to throw in a few stones. There was a multitude of beer bottles thrown around - part of decor or stimulation. In general the place has a forced artistic atmosphere.

I was hungry and actually liked my meal - lamb stew in a pot (5 nail sized pieces floating in the bean soup), until Dan found a little caterpillar on his steak. Don't know if it was part of the plan - combine dead and living carbon forms, but he was not excited about it. He also said their cold beetroot soup that he had taken a liking to this summer was far worse that even mine. So feel free to mark this place off the list on that account.

Stayed at home in the afternoon. Dan's mom went to the cemetary with the family. When Georgia woke up we went to the playground outside. There were two other kids with grandmas in the sandbox and two teenagers drinking beer on the bench next to it. I still can't get used to this and it is a bit distrurbing.

Georgia learned to operate a little carousel by getting it to rotate and jumping on top (mind you very slowly). It was fascinating to see her learn to do it in stages. Then an older kid came over and tried to rotate it much faster. He spoke with her in Lithuanian asking to speed up a notch, and she responded in Russian asking to slow down. They did not work it out.

In the evening we walked around Basanavichiaus (spelling looks right now) buying and consuming various baked goods.

When we got back home we had one of those parent moments when we tried to give Georgia antibiotics. They are sold as a coarse powder mixed with sugar. The idea is giving parents an option to mix the powder (it does not dissolve) with water, juice or milk. It tastes sweet for a few minutes and then becomes intensely bitter and the bitter taste stays on (possibly to encourage drinking lots of water). After 5 times Georgia already figured it out and flat refused to drink it. We tried a number of tactics including reasoning, trying to leverage off cartoons, candy, mentioning the doctor, leaving her in her room, feeding a stuffed animal with it, mixing it with honey. Finally Dan suggested ice-cream and that worked - we gave her tip of the spoon of ice-cream followed by one sip of the mixture. It is so much easier with Dina.

At night we walked with Inga and Michal (who came home with Dan's mom) to Gedimino prospect where we met with Andrei, Natasha, Isolde, and Dustin. We decided to go ice-skating in Acropolis and possibly see a movie in the evening. On Friday we are planning to go to Riga for 2 days.

Zooming Through Days 39-45

Between unloading the pictures, catching up on our daily routine, hanging out with the visiting relatives, and taking care of Geogia's long cold, we did very little exploring in the last few days.

When we arrived last Wednesday we went to pick up Georgia from the kindergarten. Even though she hardly mentioned us during our stay in Israel she was really happy to see us and it was wonderful to be together again.

After Georgia's nap we went to Alicia and met up with Inga and Michal. Georgia had a great day because she also got to play with Aquelia while we were there.

Thursday was almost like a typical routine day again - we dropped Georgia off at the kindergarten and worked in the morning. Then I picked her up, we went to Double Coffee for lunch, worked more in the afternoon, and walked around in the evening. But in the evening Georgia's cold got worse and she was coughing during the day now - not just in the morning so we decided to have her stay home on Friday.

We walked around youth park on Thursday evening and Georgia got a baloon from some clowns advertising construciton company. For dinner we went to Gabi restaurant on St.Mikolo. Dan's mom ate there a few times and they also rescued her with an umbrella when she got stuck there last week. While they do have a beautiful courtyard and dining rooms, the service is way too slow. Lithuanian specialties are passable but worse than those at other places. Dan waited for the check for an hour.

On Friday we went to the playground in the morning and met with Inga in the afternoon. On Friday we went to Fortas for dinner with Inga, Michal, and t.Ira. Georgia had temperature in the evening. We decided to try to schedule an appointment with doctor at Northway on Saturday or Sunday. Dan's relatives from Ekaterinburg arrived in the evening - they would be staying at Alicia's.

By the time we walked over to Alicia in the morning on the following day Northway was closed. Georgia was cheeful and coughed occasionally. So we decided to wait till Monday.

Alicia had a full house staying in her two little rooms: Ekaterinburg crew: Isolde, Natasha, Andrei and their dog Dustin; Israeli crew: Inga and Michal. We stayed for a few hours and went home to get the dinner prepared for all - by the way of Hyper Maxima. In the evening everyone came over and we had a good time.

Andrei was talking about the excitement of traveling by car through Eastern European countries. The joy of being stopped in the middle of the road by robbers, corrupt cops who refused requisite vodka that they carry to appease in favor of a few bucks for "ecology" and to "feed the family." Totally brought to mind characters from Nasha Rasha (Elena is yawning). But he and Natasha were very good spirited and these issues never stopped them from their long drives including the one to Greece. They were contemplating going to Israel and were thinking of several different routes.

Isolde talked about the games she plays with her friends. One of the most popular ones a car-based scavenger hunt when groups of people drive around in cars to the destination with the clue (to the next destination). Their gas must be really cheap.

We could not decide whether to get the car for Sunday because the sky was overcast. Weather.com said 70% so we decided against it.

But on Sunday morning it was sunny and clear and we regretted. We went to Vingis park. They have a new attraction - go-boats. It is a shallow blow-up pool with little motor boats shaped like different things. Kid and parent get in and it is kind of like go-carts in water. Then she rode the horse on the carousel by herself and was very proud of it.

On Monday went to the doctor in the morning. Georgia was really good - she patiently huffed and puffed when the doctor was listening to her lungs. The doctor requested virus and bacteria bloodwork from the vein. We went to the lab and it was the same young nurse. Except this time her hands were shaking. Mine started to shake too. Georgia's veins were very hard to find and she poked her in three places before hitting the spot on the wrist. She filled about half of sample bottle before loosing the spot. She had to do the finger for the rest of the virus sample. Luckily half a bottle was enough to run the bacteria work. The doctor prescribed antibiotic which would take care of anything it could have been.

For lunch we went to Chinese restaurant on St.Mikolo. Despite the prime location, and having been in business it was surprisingly good. Fast good service and prices. The waiter brought little candle heaters to keep the dishes warm while we were eating from other plates. Dan did not like the egg fried rice - which was made by frying the egg and mixing it with boiled rice but it must the the local adaptation.

We spoke with Kostik and he told us that instead of miserably waiting for us to come back they have already seen three movies. So in the evening Isolde came over and we went to Acropolis mall to see a movie. Dan's mom was with Georgia. With so many friends and relatives visiting in the last few days Georgia's collection of toys increased at incredible speed. She likes everything and does a good job playing with most of the things through the day.

The process to buy the movie ticket is really complicated. Here is the conversation of us (US) with the ticket lady (TL).
(US) - 3 tickets for Kung Fu Panda, please (there was just one more showing on Monday)
(TL) - For what time?
(US) - Isn't there just one more showing left?
(TL) - I don't want to sell you the wrong one.
(US) - 9:30PM for today please, and here is our card
(TL) - Movie tickets are only for cash
(US) - Here is the cash ($25), is it in English?
(TL) - No
(US) - What do you have that is in English?
(TL) - Everything else is in English
(US) - How about Wall-E?
(TL) - Except cartoons - they are translated too.
(US) - That leaves Deception, 3 tickets for 9:30PM please.
(TL) - Pick your seats (She showed the screen with the seats in green, there were 3 seats in the middle in red and 3 other seats in the middle in yellow, seats in the back were green and had hearts next to them).
(US) - What do we do with this?
(TL) - It is like a traffic light
(US) - ???
(TL) - ???
(US) - (Dan just read out a green combination - and apparently it passed)

The movie sucked BTW.

On Tuesday Georgia was still at home with Dan's mom, we worked in the morning from the Double Coffee on Pilies. In the afternoon we visited Alicia. The whole crew went out and she was alone. Georgia is feeling better already.

Dan's mon was exploring the city and has got pretty cool pictures of Usupis. We decided to head back there tomorrow - on Wednesday to see in more detail what the place has to offer.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008, Tel Aviv

Today was the final day in Israel. We thought of going to Haifa in the morning and spending the rest of the day walking around the city - there were several flea markets.

As we approached the car rental place we saw that the car is no longer there. I was pretty sure he already rented it off to someone else and sure enough he did. Key dropping off was symbolic.

We walked around most of the day. The market near the King David is pretty interesting - there are lots of artists making handicrafts similar to what is available in stores but of lower quality and price. There were some cute things like "mystical" photos of Hasidic jews superimposed on the background of Torah, a cone with a stick with a stuffed toy on the end - you can "hide" the stuffed toy in the cone and make it peek out. We got one for Georgia.

A cute "Israeli" moment was when we came up to a street bread vendor and asked to get a bagel-like thing. Dan held out his palm with about 10NIS on it. The lady could not control her instincts. She grabbed his hand, counted off all of the coins, pulled us close to her, whispered quietly that she will give us something special, and gave us the bagel we wanted and two other ones. Obviously you don't do that with large denominations :), but it was funny.

The flea market near Dissenhof fountain is kind of yucky - lots of vendors selling nasty old trinkets, corroded coins, and old pictures.

We also walked around Neve Tsedek again. It is the prettiest part of Tel Aviv. Rotchild avenue is also not bad but it was very hot and there are few trees.

In the evening we met with Miri from the GCP near Sheraton Moriah. It was good catching up. Had a shake in the same place as before.

At night we went to the Manta Ray restaurant. I was there last time and did not even notice that it is on the beach. Pretty shameful. My only justificate is that we must have been working really hard. The place is really nice and the food is good. Don't overdo on the salads - the portions are pretty big.

We checked out and asked for a wake-up call at 2:45am, and a taxi at 3am. 2 members of the hotel staff told us that it should be 120NIS.

In the early morning a cab driver came to the hotel to pick us up. The mini van had no markings indicating that it was a cab. I heard a small voice telling me not to get in but we did because it was only 3 hours till our flight. We put our luggage in the trunk and got it. As it started moving we saw no meter. We asked about it and the driver said it is a flat fee 150NIS. That's when it hit us that it was a scam. We asked to stop and he would not. He finally drove us back to the hotel and refused to allow to take out our luggage until we payed. He went inside and got a Russian guy who called it - and Russian guy said very sorry, but I did not know about the price. Most definitely a scam that has been going on because they knew each other and cabbie was very comfortable around hotel. At this time of the night we probably would get the same treatment so we bit the bullet, got back in, went to the bank and got the rest of the money. I am sure it works perfectly every time - when you are bounded by the flight you are not in the condition to negotiate. Cab to the airport should be called for and arranged in advance.

At the airport we were not in the mood to discuss our family holidays again but probably produced reasonable enough answers to be zoomed through all the checks in about 40 minutes.

On the positive side, this is the only airport we ever saw that provides enough entertainment, open stores, and watering holes to keep the travelers busy and properly monetize every minute of their stay.

After the short flight we are back. We were probably 80 years younger that the rest of the passengers. It was good to be back.

Monday, July 14, 2008, Sefad

More pictures. Today the plan was to leave at 7:15 (taking account the opening time of the Central coffee boutique), go to Sefad via coastal route past Acco and then take smaller route to Sefad, go down to Tiberias, swim, go to Ceasaria, and back. First and last pics are insurance policy in case car rental places gets funny on us.

The plan worked as advertised. The roads are much better than we thought - even smaller roads are excellent and we only ran into serious traffic when passing Haifa. In retrospect it would be OK to take smaller roads close to the center of the country - they are more scenic and are not less safe. Coastal route is not that scenic because the road is close to the coast only in a few areas. The road signs are in 3 languages. Drivers are better than those in Sicily and are overall reasonable. Access into/out of the city is not bad either.

We arrived to Sefad around 10. It was supposed to be this mystical town on top of the mountain where Kabbalah originated and artists took over. The mountain views when approaching are indeed awesome. The town has excellent system of roads leading to the top mystical center and good parking. The town has grown to lower sections of the mountain and is occupied by Orthodox Jews or Hasids (not sure in what proportion) for the most part.

The presense of religious ones did not allow to relax to feel the mystique completely. It is also true that the overall the spirit of the place is changing and it would be a better place to visit in a few years. The original art colony was established when the State of Israel was founded. Now most of the artists are retired or dead. New artists (many from the former USSR) are moving in and lots of renovations are under way. If not for that, the sounds of drilling unfailingly reduce spirituality of any place.

There are several interesting places like the home and museum of Fenkel (I am sure I am misspelling the name) who established the colony and art center. Despite my complete art ignorance it was clear the he had amazing talent and paintings depicting his father's agony, biblical topics, and his family life are deeply touching and different. His wife, Inga, who survived him lives in home - she must have been a good deal younger than him. She told me that one day he will be recognized to be the same magnitude as Van Gogh and we will be happy to have visited his gallery. She lives there surrounded by the pictures on her life with him.

Another gallery on the same street (forgot the name) is in a beautiful house, the paintings are so so, but it has been made look very bohemian including a massive bed in the living room. The views like the city through the hole in the wall must have been very inspiring.

These was a sign for Sefad cheese and we faithfully followed it through the maze of streets, passing several American orthrodox mommies with kids. We arrived to the right place where they gave out free tastings. The cheese is great, but, if you walk out with it, in this weather it would probably go bad instantly.

There is so much art that it is difficult to find anything to want to take home as a memory. The place is open between 10:30 and 12:30. At 1, we realized that stores are closing and tour buses are gone, and left too.

We drove down the mountain and towards the lake looking for the beach. We entered a few places designated as beaches but none of them allowed swimming. Finally we arrived to Tiberias. The city looks even more down than Tel Aviv - most of the luxury hotels around seem empty. There was no beach access from the main promenade either. And so we left too.

The last stop was Ceasaria. We went to the beautiful excavated complex on the sea. Entrance fee is $6 per person and implied access to all sites and the beach. We wanted to go swimming and noticed a beautiful beach inside the complex - there were umbrellas and benches and armchairs with pillows. Turns out the entrance was another $6. They really should have charged $12 to start with.

We spent about 3 hours there and had made it to the wild beach. There are restaurants, galleries, and of course excellent ruins. On the beach a bunch of people was searching through the shells. I've asked one lady what she was searching for and she said she and her mom are looking for the piece of old mosaics that sometimes get washed up here. They make more mosaics out of it. The rest of the people are searching for crowd sake. I felt a strong urge to search for something too and found a few pretty rocks with holes.

One other feedback is that they should clean the beach more than once per season.

We got back, left the car near the car rental agency, and walked around and to the Tel Aviv port in the evening.

In a falafel place one religious Israeli (RIA) tried to squeeze to the cashier in front of us as we mistakenly tried to order from the falafel maker guy. He saw that we were talking to the wrong guy and made his move. Dan tapped him on the shoulder and said that we were there first. What a louse that RIA was.

Sunday July 13th, 2008. Tel-Aviv

Photo gallery continued. Today the plan was to go through all the available venues for Dan's interest, rent a car, and in the evening we were meeting with Dan's parents' friends. The plan worked as expected. Venues were disappointing - but then we were not expecting much.

It was really good to walk around the city - the streets that you normally not visit as a tourist. It is confusing city. Some parts are growing uncontrollably, others, like the beach and the surrounding areas around King George Street, Disengoff, and Allenby had seen better days. There does not seem to be central plan for city's growth. Some of the buildings are attractive individually - white, with interesting architecture, but together, they clash and look artificial.

It is also one of the dirtiest cities I've ever seen. There are street beggars, decently dressed, who beg with their heads covered (shame? piety? or they do not want to be recognized by friends and relatives?) There is a homeless guy without a leg who has been camping outside our hotel during our entire stay (save Saturday) right in a middle of the sidewalk. He either sits there with all his plastic bagged posessions close by or sleeps right there. I am pretty sure there are social services here. There is a feeling that no one cares.

On the positive side, we found Central Coffee boutique on Ben Yehuda - a street away from Frishman. Philo pastries with backlava and chocolate and capucchino justify, in part, why no one cares about the look and feel - the taste makes up in the levels of satisfaction.

We went to 7 car rental agencies. Prices for 1-day rental range from $40-80 but there is limit on the mileage 200km, extra km is around $.25-.33. All these places open at 8am and close at 5-6pm - so if you are planning a full day - add more days. We were running out of patience so decided to rent a car at the cheapest place for 2 days (Rent A Car). This would cover the distance to Tzvat and back. We agreed to pick up the car at 4:30pm on Saturday and technically that would allow us to keep it till 4:30 on Tuesday. We told the company we will leave the car on their parking lot to avoid parking on the street. Also got comprehensive insurance for $14 for day - this would cover scratches, theft, and everything in between. They quoted $15 for the next guy who walked in after us.

Dan was not really comfortable renting having observed pretty agresssive driving around and because the city has a lot of one-way streets and is difficult to drive around. But another alternative would be to walk to the main train station, take a train to Acco, wait for the bus to Tzvat and back. With so many changes and taking into account the weather it just seemed easier to drive. Plus we could stop on the way if we saw something interesting.

In the remaining time before the evening we walked back to Jaffa (45 minutes) and went through the galleries again. A few more had opened. We got a painting - it will be painted and sent to us in the fall. The picture on the left is that of a soldier designated to guard the backpacks and guns of the rest of his team while they went swimming. Pile of machine guns looks interesting.

We met with Dan's parents' friends in Neve Tsedek in the evening and had a really good time. Dan's childhood friend Gita visited LT a few years back and did not like it because it was not as she remembered it in her childhood. It was funny to hear her bring up the same reasons as we had about Tel Aviv now - delapidated streets, garbage, penhandlers. I guess it could be because you can assume different perspectives depending on whether on you are tourist or living in the place. It is not that we ignore bad stuff around the place where we live - we choose to focus on the positives and it becomes a more pleasant to live in.

Sharon, a partner from Marathon Investments and a remnant from the GCP project, walked by us in the evening - it is such a small country.

Photo Gallery as Promised

I need to get back to our life in Vilnius so here is a rapid picture review of our time in Israel.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

The goal for the day was walking over to Jaffa (we did not expect anything to be open), going back to stay out the hottest hours of the day, coming out at 4 to go swimming, and going out to dinner with my GCP team. The plan worked as intented - added bonus was that most of the galleries were open. We also caught a mass at St. Peters performed by singer with a beautiful voice. A minus was that for various reasons and none only Sharon and Einav could join us for dinner (Israelis paying back for US team ditching on the last night?). But we had a really great time at Dita.

Here is a pic of antique store sign in Jaffa. It was closed - perhaps they ran out of the ancient history and are waiting for the fresh delivery.





All of the street signs in Jaffa are made with these clay tablets. I assume Mazal Talev is the name of the street. Some doors also would have the image (like goat) next to their door with a number.

Street decoration? Artwork? This tree is growing out of the 3d oval suspended in space by 3 cables tethered to the roofs of the building around. The question is what happens when it outgrows its box?

One of the streets in Jaffa. One of the most memorable galleries was that of crochet art. One would think crochet - pretty knitted stuff with to decorate flower pots with. No, this was crochet on Red Bull Gone Wild (if Google indexes this phrase out of context, I am sorry searchers - this was just a figure of speech). There were door sized weavings with tangled ropey cables and a mass of little crocheted bags like nests of eggs, and masses of tangled hairs with occasional knots coming out. Basically it looked like viscera. If it was dyed accordingly, it would be intensely scary. We squeezed through the gallery under the watchful eye of hawk-faced owner lady forgetting to take a picture and exhaling with relief once we were out in the heat of the street.