Israel: Sun and Mon in Tel Aviv and Jaffa

We're in Tel Aviv!

We'd be glad to be here under any circumstances, but we are especially happy to be here, given the rough traveling we just did. On Saturday morning, Aviva had a fever and was very grumpy. During the 3.5 hour drive to the Johannesburg airport, she was fine...until she threw up on herself in the car seat.

At JNB she threw up at dinner while Peter was holding her, and on the flight, she threw up while Peter was carrying her in the Ergo. Because she was crying so much before we took off, the guy next to us moved to the back of the plane. She cried on and off from 9:30 pm until about 3:30 in the morning, when her fever broke.

Fortunately for all of us, I didn't take photos of any of that.

Anyway, we're here! We arrived Sunday morning and came straight to the apartment we rented. We'll post photos of it later. We walked on Sheinkin Street (a well known street full of shops and cafes), and then Peter and Aviva went to pick up his Grandma Frances (Aviva's Nana Frances) at the airport.

Here's Frances with her cousin Ilana, who also came to the airport.
Ilana's daughter Einav also went to meet Frances (and meet Aviva.)Last night, we went over to Einav's house for dinner. Here I am with Aviva, and (from left to right), Einav, Frances, Ilana, and Ilana's husband, Ari.
Today, we started our morning like any decent Tel Avivian, with breakfast at a nice sidewalk cafe.
We saw some interesting art (or something) on the street on the way to the cafe.
Afterward, we went to a very cute playground across the street. There were actually two separate play areas: one for babies/toddlers, and one for older kids. Here Peter's helping her crawl inside the mushroom-house.


Isn't this photo cute? Aviva is holding hands with another baby.
Ha! Of course she's not holding hands with him. She's actually in the process of stealing his toy.

Nana Frances kindly showed Aviva some photos (probably of Aviva!) Aviva's wearing her new swimsuit (well, new to us, from the Sevin family) because we were getting ready to go swimming in the apartment complex pool.
We had lunch at a lovely restaurant called The Container. Their fresh bread was delicious.

I had the calamari salad with lentils, fennel, carrots, and orange zest. It was warm and light and wonderful. I highly recommend the restaurant, though it was a little pricey.
The space inside the restaurant was great. High ceilings, very industrial.

After lunch we walked north along the water until we reached the area near the Visitors' Center of Old Jaffa. After stopping to have a quick cappuccino and watch the sunset, we walked around. There were many kids playing at dusk.



Tonight we had the perfect dinner after a long day of exploring Tel Aviv: takeout falafel and several different side salads and types of pickles; beer; and ice cream.

Tomorrow: more exploring!