The Rabin Center in Tel Aviv
We’ve been making our way through the prime minister museums over the years. We’ve been to the Begin Center, and the Ben Gurion Museum in Sde Boker. Yesterday we visited the Israeli Museum/ Rabin Center in Tel Aviv. The well-designed museum goes through the life of Rabin and the history of Israel, bringing to life the events that ultimately led to his assassination. If you’re a new oleh, tickets cost only 25 NIS! I highly recommend a visit to this museum.
Biking in Tel Aviv
On the topic of Tel Aviv – this city is an AMAZING place to bike through! We spent a day biking along the beach, to the Yarkon Stream, through Park HaYarkon, to the Rabin Museum, and then to the Carmel Market. There are fantastic bike trails just about everywhere. The terrain is flat, so it’s excellent for bikers of any age and skill level. We brought our mountain bikes, but there are also cheap bikes to rent (for adults) all over the place.Â
Reading
I’m re-reading Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes. This book is so beautiful in its descriptions of life in Tuscany. It’s cool to see how a book about something as mundane as renovating a house can be so captivating. What I really like about the book are the descriptions of the local produce, flowers, and cuisine. Why? Because all of the things she describes are also present in Israel, from the gnarly olive trees to the figs so ripe that they’ll be ruined by the time they get home. Even the wildflowers she collects remind me of home – Queen Anne’s lace, poppies, and more. Maybe I’ll write a book like this about Israel one day!
Ein Tzurim
Everyone needs a good local spring in the summertime. Our favorite is Ein Tzurim in Rosh Tzurim. This place is so idyllic and fun for kids. My boys often end school at 1:30 (which is a whole different conversation), so sometimes I take them there in the afternoon. It’s always empty, quiet, and gorgeous.
Podcast
I’ve been listening to the 18Forty podcast by David Bashevkin recently. He put out a series about Israel a short while ago. The last part of the series was about moving to Israel. I really enjoyed the nuance and thoughtful conversation about the beauty and the challenges of making Aliyah presented in this episode.
