If Israel were any closer

According to google, it would take about an hour to walk from the gordon beach to st peter's church in old town of jaffa. I've made it in a 40 minutes slow walk, in the cool early morning air. A few people were out jogging with their dogs, working out on the exercise machines on the beaches, or otherwise taking a stroll and drinking coffee by the seaside. I loved this walk. The promenade was designed perfectly for strolling by the sea, with views of modern highrises on one side and the cool open Mediterranean on the other. It's paradise! It's the promised land! The magnificent view of the Jaffa hill appeared bigger and clearer as I inched closer to it. The Port was already busy by the time I reached Jaffa. I climbed the stairs to the hill. Arriving, I came first upon the zodiac fountain next to the st peter's church. The church pink facade was interesting and inside, the altar had a modern piece that represented the sun and stained glass windows with figures of saints all around. Very pretty and modern church. Some tourists were praying and singing inside the church, an interesting contrast, kind of a mixture of past and present, traditional and contemporary, old jewish songs in a very modern church. up on summit hill, the Pillar of Faith was as i remember it 22 years ago, bone white, imaginative, and full of significance. the carvings on the pillar on one side showed Abraham with Isaac bound for sacrifice; on the other side, it showed Jacob’s ladder; and the cross-piece on top displayed the conquering of Jericho by Joshua and the Israelites. the monument represented God’s promise first made to Abraham, then to Isaac and Jacob, and realized through Joshua. What a wonderful piece of art full of meaning and exactly what this land was about. The view of Tel Aviv from this vintage point was breathtaking. I remembered it all. Since I didnt do it the first time, this time I've walked through the maze of the zodiac streets, narrow streets lined with artists shops, each street named after the Jeweish zodiac, each street with blue signs depicting the zodiac sign and name of the street. In the afternoon I swam in the shallow refreshing waters of the Mediterranean on Gordon beach right in front of my hotel The Renaissance. Later in the evening, I strolled along the promenade again, towards north this time. There's a public swimming pool, the Gordon pool, where people were doing laps at night. Past the Tel Aviv Marina, the Hilton hotel had its own private beach and pool, and a small park with very green lawn on a small hill. Back to Gordon beach, people were still playing volleyball, jogging and taking evening walks, just like me. I loved the atmosphere here. Poeple simply enjoying themselves. carefree. full of healthy energy. fun loving. life loving. no signs of rockets. It was a good relaxing day in Tel Aviv. Too bad the Benetts werent here. it would have been nice to see them again and enjoy the promised land with them. They are so fortunate to live in such a wonderful land. the Hippo sooooooooooo love Israel. If Israel were any closer, I'd go every weekend!

Tel Aviv photos: