Monday, October 20, 2008

Monday-meeting the director







This morning, we got up early, had a bit of breakfast in the "Sukkah" created in the hotel.  Following this we were picked up at our hotel by Dani Menken, the director of "18 Kilos of Love" and "Wisdom of the Pretzel", who had provided these movies for the Israeli Filmfest last summer, and his wife Miriam.   Marty had been in touch with Dani and told him we were coming to Israel.  They brought us to Jaffa to an "authentic" and best place for hummus, called Abu-Hassan.  This is a place that often has so many patrons that they crowd together at anyone's table and even sit outside on the steps, just to eat this food. Dani told us that hummus is the worker's breakfast because it provides so much energy.  He was right, the food was delicious! 
After our meal, we walked together through parts of Jaffa and then parted ways as Dani had an appointment.  Miriam suggested that we stay and spend time in this artist colony which we did. 
We found a small gallery recently opened by a young glass artist and I found a beautiful "magic" piece, that changes color depending on the color that I am wearing.  I was very happy to support this artist in her new gallery.  After this we walked around further to a "Wishing Bridge"  where is told that if you hold onto your zodiac sign (they are imbedded in the railing of the bridge) and look out to sea, your wishes will come true so Marty and I did this.  Also, at this location was a spot which provided a fantastic view of Tel Aviv and the beach.
We began our trek down, stopping at Aladdin's for coffee and Labaneh (a cream cheese made of goat cheese that is served with olive oil and Zatar (my favorite spice) and pita bread.  We ate this on the terrace overlooking Tel Aviv.
We decided to walk back to Tel Aviv rather than taking a taxi (and it didn't really look that far).  We later figured out that we must have walked for a couple of hours and in total this day must have walked about 4 1/2 hours.  It was a great walk, but towards the end, had to stop a couple of times for water and a rest.  As we approached our desired location, Marty spotted a Gelato store and we stopped for this treat.  Marty got the "Chinese Pecan" flavor and I Coconut Chocolate and it was really fantastic, really hit the spot.  
After this we returned to our hotel and basically crashed for a couple of hours.

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