Israel: a photo journal

In 1997 I spent almost a month in the Middle East: nine days in Israel, and two-and-a-half weeks in Egypt. What follows herewith are excerpts from my trip journal accompanied by photos from my journey through Israel. I also wrote an article for Expedia.com on my time in Jerusalem, featuring a 360-degree view of the Western Wall.

September 29, 1997 Tel Aviv and Jaffo

A view of the Tel Aviv waterfront from Jaffo, just above HaPisga Gardens:

Had lunch in Jaffo, twenty minutes south of Tel Aviv, at Hazzan Brothers opposite El-Mahmoudiye Mosque. Lunch was lamb kabob and the best hummus I've ever tasted. "Coca Cola" was written in Hebrew along the side of the soda bottle. The menu also offered hearts, liver, udders, turkey testicles, ox testicles, and spleen. Yum. After lunch, I walked up the hill to magnificent views of Tel Aviv across the water. Saw many stray cats, all thin, hungry, and ill-tempered.

Enjoyed HaPisga Gardens and the Freedom Arch, with its blocky, seventies-style sculpture. Three bridal parties waited their turns for photos. All the couples were very young, the grooms uncomfortable in their tuxes, the brides dewy in their Barbie-doll wedding dresses, threaded through with gold.

I poked around a small excavation of an 18th century BCE Hyksos town that later became an Egyptian city. My first on-site Egyptian ruins. I tingled. They didn't look real somehow.

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