On The Road Again....From Jerusalem to Tel Aviv!

We got up early this morning and traveled by bus into town to rent a car.  We decided that renting a car would be so much more convenient for the next 2 days.  Leaving Jerusalem...to the next B&B in Tel Aviv...staying only  2 nights there and then early early morning Saturday we will have to catch a flight to Greece by way of Ben Gurion Airport which is 20 min south of Tel Aviv!

There was a "Thrifty" Car Rental agency close to the Old City Jerusalem.

The only thing was that Nick being over 70 - they will not rent a car to...can you believe that??????????????? We were both shocked to hear that...SAY WHAT?    So it had to go in my name and guess what?  Yeah I was the designated driver!

Well that was a first for us!  

After 13 months of no driving...we or I got behind the steering wheel
and off we went...NO PROBLEM!  It was great to drive again...Wheeeee!  Oh by the way...check out that gear box...so strange...3 spots only: park or neutral, then drive and reverse...that's it!  It was a Fiat by the way!
 

We drove back to the room to pick up our suitcases and pack's and it surely was nice to just load it all up in the car!!!  Hmm...interesting!  Transportation again!  Well we had it - the motorbikes of course - BUT well a car is a very convenient means of transportation - things we usually take for granted - until you begin to travel that is!!!




We  headed out of town...and heading north toward Tel Aviv....it was nice to see what was going on - new bridges being built, roads, and lots of a lot of homes built on the rocky hills of Jerusalem!    Jerusalem is at a higher elevation 2400 feet and very dry.  High desert.
But as you drive north toward Tel Aviv...it becomes more of a agricultural area!














Rows of corn!


Then we arrived into Tel Aviv which is a metropolitan town and on the coast!  Nice! 
   Tel Aviv     (Click on the Link!) It is a very busy town...lots of traffic - much more then Jerusalem it seemed!  But of course it is a much larger City too!  We saw a very nice coast line and then we headed to the older part called Old Jaffa....a cute quaint area with lots of shops and markets & older buildings that have been renovated!
Jaffa also called Joppa (Read up on this old area1)





We finally found a parking spot and stretched our legs!  We found a really cute place to have lunch and oh my it was cute and GOOD!!!!!!!!  Delicious! Boy oh Boy...talk about good salads here!  Fantastic!  With much flavor!  Nick & Ellen LIKES!  This was ONE order!  So glad we did - because it was plenty - good!

Hey the Police ride a fun motorbike! 

After a very relaxing time...we walked along the wharf for a little bit too...and took some pictures of the beach and coast line.  Very nice!

This plant was growing right from a crack in the rock!  I use to have this plant in a pot at home!

 



 Look at this tree.....have you seen this before?  I don't recall! 
 

 
 Interesting huh?  And those pointy things are hard as can be!

  Cute huh these little alley ways?!
 



 A Old Lighthouse~



  


                 Love the old doors ~ Lots of character!

Is that you Nicky?

 

Close to 5 pm - we decided to head east of town to the room we had rented.  We are in a apartment area and it had a large park nearby.  We found a grocery store to buy some breakfast cereal & yogurts for the morning and then went to the apartment.  The couple was not yet home from work - but another guest named "Paulus" answered the door...and knew we would be coming!  Paulus is from Finland...and here for a job internship.

After a little while "Jonathan" arrived and then his wife "Mor" too came home from work!  They were very friendly  and welcomed us to their home!  Showed us around, offered us some refreshing  cold water and some fruit!  We chatted for a while - and it was very pleasant!  Jonathan helped Nick bring up the suitcases (how nice!) and then we took a little snooze!

A bit later we walked over to a nearby restaurant for a very light dinner...so cute - it was called "Neighbour Cafe"  There was seating outside..on the sidewalk...and cute places inside as well!  But we enjoyed the cooler evening and sat outside - fun to sit and watch all the activity around us!  We ordered a dish with wild rice with steamed tomato & cauliflower with a persto/extra virgin oil mix...it was so different and a very nice flavor!.  I must remember these dishes ~ I better make a note somewhere because it is so nice & healthy too!

We strolled back to the apartment and ready for a good nights sleep!  Tomorrow we plan to head north up the coast to Haifa & also Acre/Akko a very old town that had been built by the Templar's - a  Fortress with tunnels!  Just heard this is a pretty neat place to go see!

Another adventure in the morning!