We were so jazzed about seeing Meira, Carmi and the kids that it took a long time til we fell asleep (around 2am) but we both slept well until 8am. Woke, showered and sat seaside at the restaurant at the hotel for an Israeli breakfast of scrambled eggs, juice, coffee, cheeses, olives, peppers, fruit chutney, warm rolls, butter and salad.

Meira and Carmi picked us up at 10:15 and the four of us drove to Rothschild Street where we met Shlomo and started off on a walking Bauhaus tour. An hour into the tour we realized that Meira was a much better tour guide so we broke off and explored the area on our own.

The five of us stopped at a shady restaurant in Neve Tzedek for a delicious lunch of mezze.

After lunch we drove up to the bustling shopping and dining center near the old airport where we window-shopped, people-watched and enjoyed delicious ice-cream.

Carmi, Meira, Carol and I had been invited to Shlomo’s house for a bar-b-que at 8pm, so we said shalom to Carmi and Meira, and a few minutes later Shlomo dropped us off at the hotel for rest and showers.

Carmi and Meira came back for us at 7:30 and drove us across Tel Aviv to Shlomo’s beautiful, spacious home. Carol had met his beautiful wife, Sara, and his oldest son, Moishe, many years ago when they came to visit her in LA. Meira, Carmi and I were introduced to lovely Sara, Moishe, daughter Tal and son Yossi, and we visited in their lovely home for a while. Then Shlomo led us to his impeccably manicured, lush, green backyard where we enjoyed a delicious meal of local Denise fish, eggplant, grilled onions and tomatoes, hummus, mushroom quiche, homemade tahini, pickles, salad of tomatoes, onions and pinenuts, Israeli wine, rice and a delicious light, airy cheesecake.

The night was over too soon and we had to say Lilah Tov ("goodnight") to Shlomo and his beautiful family. Tomorrow we will travel with Meira and Carmi to the Golan and Galilee and will explore northern Israel. We plan to see Shlomo again later in the week.

Carmi dropped us off at the hotel and by 12:30 am we were fast asleep after an interesting and fun-filled day in Tel Aviv.

Next Day