Our first visit was with Eddy and Laora in Tel Aviv. Eddy is Jay's 2nd (or so) cousin, and their apartment was Jay's "home away from home" during his junior year at the Hebrew University. Eddy now works helping Israelis who had been "hidden children" in France during the Holocaust (as he was) and Laora is a retired translator of a zillion languages.
On Friday we walked around Tel Aviv with Iris, Dena's friend from her Sherut La'Am days, and learned the story of the lion: In the early days of Tel Aviv, an American named Shapiro built a beautiful house for his wife. He was often away on business and she was afraid to live in such a wild and isolated place as Tel Aviv was then, so he built this lion to protect her. It didn't help, because she ultimately ran off with someone else. But the lion remains, at the end of this lovely residential alley.
Neve Tsedek is one of the older areas of Tel Aviv. It's a residential neighborhood full of art galleries, shops and original Bauhaus architecture. Some buildings are in the process of restoration; many are in need of restoration. It's a wonderful change from the modern skyscrapers of much of the rest of Tel Aviv and a great place to wander around.
The star-gate leads to a residence and the purple star-gate encloses a small synagogue. The decorative door-handle is meant to "push."
More stars on the house on the left. I loved the word-division on the laundry, and the blue door on the right says "no parking" in Hebrew and "no entry" in Dutch.
Iris and Dena on the left; some other ladies in the center. The house on the right is covered with clay people, lounging on the balconies, hanging on the walls, and many more of all sizes live inside.
More Tel Aviv sights: an old mosque juxtaposed with a high-rise building, a girl's school from the early days of the last century, a young guy being helped to put on tefillin on a busy street corner.
Tel Aviv Nahalat Binyamin TelAviv/Jaffa Galil Haifa Acco/Galil More Galil Jerusalem Old City Jerusalem