Istanbul!

Another wonderful trip. I was a little worried about getting to the airport for the trip. My plane left from the airport in Tel Aviv at 6:15am on Saturday morning. As you know from my previous blog, getting around without a car on Shabbat in this country can be tricky. I was going to have to leave my house at about 3:15am in order to be at the airport 2 hours in advance of the flight. I thought about renting a car or about staying at a hotel near the airport because I did not want to rely on a taxi or a sherut. In an extraordinary stroke of luck, I found out that Tal and Yaacov were leaving on a business trip and their plane was taking off from the same airport 5 minutes after mine! So, I left work Friday at about 2:00pm and was able to take the bus to their home before it stopped running for Shabbat. I felt like I started my vacation a day early. I spent the evening with Tal and his family. Dan and Tanya came over for dinner and we had a great time. I slept in Bar and Nofar's room and Tal woke me up at 3:00 and the 3 of us hopped in the car and went to the airport- no drama, worry or expense!

Unfortunately for Zach his travel was not as easy. He ended up at a lousy hotel the night before because of a pending snow storm. He travelled 9 hours one way, through 7 time zones and 11 hours back and into another snow storm. I kept reminding him to be wary of women he meets on the Internet. There was also a bomb scare on his plane that required them to go back to the gate and claim all their carryone luggage while the plane was searched.

So we both arrived in Istanbul within 90 minutes of each other and took a taxi to the old city where the hotel was located. I was very much surprised at how modern Istanbul really is. I had expected to see camels and and goats on the runway but all was clean, modern and efficient. The hotel was ideally situated, about a 5 minute walk to the blue mosque. We awoke every morning to the sound of the first of 5 calls to prayer which is broadcast throughout the city. We got to the hotel at about 10:00am and had breakfast then set out to see the city. We went to the Grand Bazaar. It is huge, encompasing about 60 city blocks filled with all kinds of crafts, jewelry and clothing. We wandered around and bought a few things. After a while all the things started looking the same. The merchants were not very aggressive which was nice. You could really shop without being too bombarded. From there we went to the spice market which sold spices (of course) along with cheeses, olives, fresh fish, meat and produce. To me it was similar to the shuk here in Israel. It was crowded with Turks doing their shopping.

The next day we went to the Blue Mosque, about 400 years old and a beautiful centerpiece to the city. Then we went to the Hagia Sofia museum which was quite an experience. First of all, it was massive. There were different buildings on the grounds of the museum so we wandered in and out of them. We saw jewels (an 86 carot necklace), the footprint of Muhamed and, to me, the most amazing thing- the staff of Moses. I know this sounds hard to believe but according to legend, there was a clear lineage for the staff until there was a fire in one of the places where it was being kept. It resurfaced eventually and is in this museum. It really captured my imagination thinking that this was the exact staff held high as the Red Sea parted. Whether true or not I found it fascinating to see. There were also the buildings where the sultans lived as well as his harems. I think that captured Zach's imagination!

We toured a church that was built 1500 years ago- that's history! The church eventually was converted to a mosque and is now open to the public for tours. Lastly we took a ride across the Bosphorus River to the new section of Istanbul. When you cross the river you are on the continent of Asia so I can now say I have been there too. This area has the Jewish quarter and we tracked down the synagogue that was bombed about 10-15 years ago. Zach's grandfather spent several years in Istanbul (then Constantinople) on his way to the US from Russia. It was nice for him to think that he was strolling the same streets that his family walked. On several occasions he was mistaken for a Turk. His daughters refer to him as the "universal ethnic" which I think is true. We also strolled along a modern shopping pedestrian mall looking at the stores and sights. We went up the Galata Tower and I discovered Zach's fear of heights when I saw him plastered against the wall. It was 1500 years old also and so the floor was not exactly level but it did have beautiful views of the city.

We found the food to be delicious and reasonably priced. We ate kebabs (although they call it kebap), eggplant, stuffed vine leaves, baklava and Turkish delight (a delicious gelatin dessert). We also drank strong Turkish tea and coffee and great Turkish wine. We found the people to be extremely nice. Service was great and accomodations good. The only problem was the weather which was a bit cold and rainy but we came prepared (at least I did) and we did fine. When we got cold we simply ducked into the 4 Seasons Hotel for a cup of tea and some ambiance. Not a bad place to fritter away some time.

I think we would both recommend travel to Turkey. It really was a great few days in a very interesting city.

The pictures are of the Hagia Sofia museum, the synagogue in the Jewish quarters, me in the Grand Bazaar, a view of the city from the museum, us (sideways sorry), me with Turkish tea and Turkish delight and the Blue Mosque. Enjoy!

Getting around on Shabbat

I was invited to a birthday brunch for my nephew Dan at the home of his father. They all live in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. When I take the bus, it is no problem. From the central bus station I take a bus to a stop that is a 5 minute walk to their home. The bus takes about an hour and costs about $8 each way. No problem- except when the party is on Saturday. The buses don't run from about 2 hours before sunset on Friday until about 2 hours after sunset on Saturday.

I began my adventure after leaving work on Saturday morning at 10:00 am. Brunch was called for 12:30. I walked about a mile straight uphill (I am always walking uphill- I haven't figured out how that keeps happening!) until I found a taxi to take me to center city for a price of about $10. From there, I took a sherut. A sherut is a loosely organized private bus/taxi service. There is a meeting place and once the sherut is full, they will take off to some of the popular destinations. I easily found a sherut going to Tel Aviv and left within minutes of my arrival at the corner of center city Jerusalem. Once I got to Tel Aviv I had 2 choices to get me to their little town. I could hire a private taxi for a cost of $47 or I could take another sherut for $4. The problem was that they would not leave until the sherut was full and not many people were going to this small town. So I cooled my heels in Tel Aviv for an hour until the sherut filled. From there I walked to their home. The whole process took me about 3.5 hours- a lot longer then a weekday but I made it without problems and was proud of myself in the process. I arrived about an hour late but, in typical Israeli fashion, it had gotten underway late too. Yaacov served wonderful salads and egg dishes and freshly made apple juice which was delicious. It was so much fun being with the family.

After brunch, the 4 year old son of Tal and Natalie approached me. He does not speak a word of English. I was told that he asked me if I wanted to play with him. He is so cute, of course I said yes. So he took me by the hand and led me across the drive from his grandfather's home to his home. We went into his room and found a common language in play figures such as his Superman, Batman and Spiderman. So we were playing alone in his home for about 15 minutes when he mentioned that he had to go to the bathroom (I understood that) and off he went. When he returned, he said something about a bulbul. I had no idea what he was saying so I asked him "Mah ze bulbul?", what's a bulbul? He then proceeded to pull down his pants and show me his "bulbul"- so I learned a new word! I started laughing hysterically because I was caught by surprise. He of course started laughing too. I said "lo, lo bulbul" (no, no penis)! It was very funny.

After the party, I went to Brinda's home and spent the night. Today we went shopping and had a nice lunch out. From there I hopped the bus and was back in Jerusalem in no time. It was a great weekend and I loved being able to share Dan's birthday with him.

The pictures are as follows: Me and the birthday boy Dan, then Dan and his new wife Tanya, Yaacov and Edna and Natalie and Tal.

I am leaving on Saturday to meet Zach in Istanbul. I am very excited about the trip. I will post my adventures in Turkey when I return.

My interesting observation of Israel: The movie theaters have assigned seats. When you buy a ticket you are given a choice of available seats and must sit in the assigned one as though you are at a broadway show. They also have an intermission. In the middle of the movie the lights go on and the movie stops for 10 minutes so you can get snacks. It is odd and disruptive to me.

Entertaining

I decided to host a little dinner party. I always enjoyed having friends over for dinner at home and thought it would be fun to do it here. As with everything in Israel, it was different and exciting.

I invited Brinda, Ami and Brinda's grandson Avital for dinner on New Year's eve which was also Shabbat here, For many years at home I had hosted a "bring your own lobster" party. I suppose that somewhere in this country, if you looked hard enough, you could find a lobster but I certainly did not know where. I decided to make a Shabbat dinner however when I really looked at my kitchen, I realized that my oven would not be big enough, my microwave not powerful enough and my 2 burner hot plate, inadequate. I briefly toyed with the idea of buying an already prepared meal, but as you all know, I rarely do things the easy way!

So Thursday I set off for the shuk, an open air market where many Israeli's do their shopping. There are grocery stores in every community here. They typically are much smaller then I am used to and they are much more expensive. So I took the bus to the shuk and plunged in. As I have said, it is an open air market. Vendors hawk their foods, people are pushing and shoving and the sights and sounds are amazing. It is like a series of roadside stands all pushed against each other and set in a maze of ancient Jerusalem streets. I bought all the fixing for chicken soup, a beautiful crusty olive bread and ingredients for an avocado and tomato salad. I also bought a package of matzah ball mix only to discover that the directions are in Hebrew!
I packed everything in my backpack and returned home to cook on my little burner.

I have to say that it turned out well. I enjoyed entertaining once again and we all had a nice time. Avital has been taking his role as my Hebrew teacher very seriously and he brought me a notebook for my lessons and tested me on my vocabulary words.

When all was done and my guests left, I came down with a bit of a flu bug that is going around our house. 4 of the 5 of us have been sick. When I am back on my feet the girls are going to discover what it is really like to live with a middle aged nurse. The clorox is coming out! I don't know if it's the kids I am around, or the fact that I am living in close quarters, but this is the 2nd cold I have gotten here in addition to my eye infection. For someone who is rarely sick this has been shocking. But I am on the road to recovery!

I addition to the pictures of the shuk, I am posting a picture of a dinner I made with some of my roommates. I am also posting a picture of some friends of Zach's that came to Israel for their son's Bar Mitzvah. I went to their hotel and visited with them and then tagged along with their group for a walking tour in the old city and lunch. It was a nice day.

I wish all of my friends and family a wonderful new year. I am confident that 2011 is going to be a great year and I am looking toward the future with great expectations.