Tel Aviv

	Back in Tel Aviv, we had a brief city tour before returning to the Metropolitan Hotel. We started at the top of a hill in Old Jaffa, followed by a gentle stroll down to the water front. St. Peters Roman Catholic Church with its attractive bell tower dominates one side of the open area.
The Jewish Statue of Faith, sits on top of the hill.
	The open area is flanked by palm trees and overlooks the deep blue Mediterranean below.
Tel Aviv is not one of Israel's historic sites. It is primarily a resort and business centre. The waterfront is dominated by high rise hotels, with the business are not far behind.
	We waited for our tour bus just outside this interesting looking restaurant.
After checking in at the hotel, we went for a short walk along the sea front, ending up at a beach cafe for a drink and ice cream, before returning, very tired to the hotel.
	Our flight home was late on Sunday afternoon, with pick up from the hotel after lunch. Refreshed after a good night's sleep, we went out for a walk in the morning.

Heading towards Jaffa, we started off by retracing our steps of the previous afternoon. The walk along the sea front is interesting, with gardens, shelters, sculpture and memorials. The blue plaque in the picture marks the spot where 157 "Zion lovers" from the US landed in 1866 to set up a community.
	These rather large birds were very much in evidence.
The beach scene was typical Mediterranean, with clean sand, water sports and very gentles waves. Even relatively early in the morning there were people bathing and zapping around of Jet-Skis.
	Tel Aviv is not simply a Jewish City, there are Christian churches and a mosque.
We spent quite a while watching a colony of ants ferrying leaves across the path towards their nest.
	Walking on along the sea front, we gradually approached the ancient port of Jaffa. The Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem marks the start of the ancient road from Jerusalem to Jaffa.
"Danger no swimming" One of the major industries in Tel Aviv seems to be drowning Palestinians visiting from the West Bank area. They seem oblivious to the danger signs and in fact use them as a place to leave their clothes before going into the sea.
	We walked on around the small hill which marks the centre of Jaffa. By this time, we were beginning to get hot and tired and starting to look for a taxi back to our hotel.
Walking through Jaffa port and harbour, there was no sign of a taxi, so we started back towards the hotel. Eventually, we gave up and walked back to the hotel. Lunch and sitting down was very welcome.

Tel Aviv & Jaffa