My Sar-El friend Scott was still at the Adiv when we returned. We had an opportunity over dinner to rehash the highlights and lowlights of his Israel experience.
Gail and I decided that our remaining time in Israel would be a combination of R&R, culture and retail therapy. We planned our time accordingly. The sun was shining the next morning and the Mediterranean was calling to Gail. Since I had never taken a full plunge myself, I thought this was the golden opportunity.
The Rubin Museum, in the former residence of the Israeli painter Reuven Rubin, was on our short list for culture. Although many of the permanent Rubin pieces were in storage for a temporary exhibit, the Van Gogh exhibit was a reasonable substitute.
Rubin graduated in 1912 from the famous Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts. For the next few years, his travels took him to Paris, Italy and finally back to him homeland of Romania. He crossed the Atlantic in 1920 and his paintings were noticed enough to have a one man show in New York City later that year.The video and photographs of Reuven Rubin captured his colorful life.
In 1922 he opened his own studio in Tel Aviv. During his career, his works included woodcuts, paintings (often described as having a naïve style), and eventually designing sets for Tel Aviv theatres. Early on he was the chairman of the association for painters/sculptors. Rubin’s paintings primarily depicted the landscapes and life of Palestine. A collage of his works graced one of the downstairs ceilings.
A walking tour of Neve Tzedek was the default activity as we roamed the tiny streets looking for the Ayala Bar gallery/store. It is very much an artists’ community and many buildings become the actual canvas!
We past by an interesting ceramic studio, only to find out that the artist had a vessel in the Biennial Ceramics Exhibit at the Eretz Israel.
This was the piece in the show. Our sense of direction was working and we covered a large area on foot.
Since I was still in search of the best hummus, we had lunch at a small hummus spot in the north end of the city.
Yes your geography is correct, Neve Tzedek is in the southern end of the city and we crossed town to the river’s edge for a bowl of smashed chickpeas!
The city was getting ready for Purim. It was the full moon and children and adults alike were donning their costumes.
Only in Israel is the holiday celebrated as such. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do…” we found ourselves back at the synagogue on Bograshav to hear the reading of the Megillah. It was standing room only and Haman’s name brought a roar from the congregation. It was a toss-up for the best costumes: adults or children! The best part of the evening was that Gail was able to cross the last item on her wish list – dancing the horah in Israel. A Klezmer band started playing after the service was over.
We stopped to eat at a neighborhood café; the flatbread pizza was great.
Look closely at the sign; if you have any knowledge of the Hebrew letters, you have easily spot the "peh" and "zed". That's contemporary Hebrew! It was a shame we were too full for one last frozen yogurt at our favorite corner store. So the story goes - if you everything on your first trip, there is no reason to come back!
We had a 4am taxi to the airport. While we waited, Mr Bill had one last Kodak moment with Raviv the night desk clerk.
We had one good laugh as we were leaving; we could hear the “Oh Nooooooo……” coming from the computer in the office as Raviv checking out the story of Mr Bill.
And the adventure continues…
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