Bits and bob

Vintage store in Jaffa, Israel.

I forgot to buy this

I was going to buy some of this spice for making rice but I forgot.

Pots, anyone?

Flea market in Jaffa, Israel.

Muslim quarter, Jerusalem

This is so middle east, the color, the sounds, the smells....

Back to Tel Aviv

My last day in Israel, I took the train and returned to Tel Aviv to wait for my flight home. I went back to Carmel market and there was a fair going on. The whole place had such a festive air. I had some great roast chicken and rice. The spice was just so excellent. I'm not going to forget Israel, I have plans to return next year. With this trip in the bag, my next trip is going to be rolled out soon. In three weeks I'm going to London and Berlin for a few days each.

Mt Carmel National park

In Haifa, at the top of Mt Carmel, the same Mt Carmel mentioned in the bible. Here I spent a few hours just hanging out. I regretted not bringing some food to eat, I had just a small bottle of water. I couldn't stay long because I was getting hungry.I sat among the red anemones and walked around to see the other wild flowers.

I was on a quest

I was on a quest, the beloved anemone that is Israel's national flower. Besides red, they do come in other colors but I saw this lone blue one.

Dalit el Carmel

A little village about one hour bus ride away from Haifa. Each morning the Druze (a Muslim sect) men and women meets separately for prayers. I'm always amazed when people don't have a job to go to. We, in the USA, are always at work. Time for even prayers is non existent.

I'm on a quest

Well, I was on a quest, in February, to search for the places where the red anemones grow in profusion. Its the national flower of Israel and in Spring, they are all over the place. I found some in Be'er Sheva, though not as much as I expected. Most of its habitat have been destroyed by development. But here in Mt Carmel national park, they grow unmolested. I stayed the most part of the day just gazing at these red flowers. They were all over the park. What a treat.

Easter morning 2014

I went for my morning walk at the Venice community garden. What a sweet and pretty area.

video

Here is the video. I have a new macbook air and somehow I can't upload my videos from my youtube acccount into my mac. We'', I haven't leant how to do it yet. I still have my old pc and I know how to do it on my pc.

Happy easter

http://youtu.be/ypqp8QCrkAg Easter dinner at my house, eating by color. There is a cookbook of the same title. I went to the market and just bought the most colorful of vegetables and et voila, we're eating by color.

Mary Oliver, poet

'tell me what you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?' Here I was chilling on Mt Carmel National park, Haifa, Israel in February this year. Happy Easter.

Happy Easter

The spot in the Holy Sepulchre church where the cross went into the ground.

Akko, the capital of the second crusade

This is a replica of the standard of Richard the lion heart, three golden lions. Here, one thousand years ago the crusaders lived and had their citadel.This is an Unesco world heritage site. Excavation is still going on.Someone remarked to me recently, 'must be crazy to be in the same place where Richard the lion heart was.' It was a little crazy and overwhelming. In fact this whole trip is one of overwhelming heights. The climb on Mt Sinai, where Moses climbed thousands of years ago. The milky way and the numerous stars above Mt Sinai, that's something that still stirs in me as I think back to that night. I still feel the tingle in my spine.

Templar tunnel, Akko

 Here I am waiting for the tunnels to open. I met this Japanese girl who was also waiting. She took my picture and I took hers.

The crusaders built this tunnel and it is still there in its original condition.

The port of Akko

In the crusader days ships carrying crusaders from all over Europe comes in through here but today small boats are moored in the harbor. These are the boats used by fishermen.

Akko (Acre)

A crusader stronghold in its hey days, it has a port and ships carrying crusaders came into the Holy land through here. It was their capital. It was named St John d'Acre after the knights Hospitalier of St John. After the fall of Jerusalem it became a Muslim enclave but Israel captured it back in 1948 and since then hordes of Jewish people from Russia and the Ukraine has been settling here. Today the old city is predominantly Muslim and nearby are the Jewish and the Christians.

Stella Maris church

 Its high on a hill and the view of Haifa harbor is just spectacular.

 I got lost, I took the bus this way and that until I finally found this place. It was closed at lunchtime when I arrived with a few other people. I sneaked in with a group of women who seems to be regulars. They went to a chapel and I followed. No one suspected that I wasn't with the group.

Inside the chapel were these beautiful frescoes. The door locked after we went in, I had to ask the reception people to open the electric gate to let me out.