DON'T TRAVEL DURING COVID!

The trouble started at home. Form after form after form for United and Israel. Until shortly before leaving for the airport! It took hours to be told something wasn't filled out correctly. The worst was the hotel address as the hotel named a new street just for itself and the form wouldn't accept it...Moses figured out how to circumvent the problem so we were good!

United Business Class wasn't quite arranged as we had last time but it was in twos. The service was excellent and the food good but each dish covered in Saran. I read and then slept the rest of the way having to be awakened for "breakfast." I assumed because it was breakfast that we must have arrived in the morning but NO it was evening! Moses ordered us wheelchairs which I fought but we checked in at Ben Gurion at a special counter for wheelchairs. The agent told Moses he had to follow her so we followed with our two ladies pushing us in the wheelchairs. The next agent informed Moses he could not enter Israel. He told them he had a visa and they said he had to have a letter from the SF Consulate. To make a 4 hour long story short, we had to call upon nephew Marty in SF to call the Counsel General whom he knew. He found out that the woman in charge of issuing the letter was on vacation and had no idea about the visa. A letter was sent immediately and we were out of "jail"...and I finished my book!

In the middle of the night the bride Keren and groom Benjamin brought us dinner at the hotel as they are renting our house for at least a year. My dream come true so we don't have the problems to deal with! But the Leonardo Plaza Hotel very near the house I wouldn't recommend to anyone. Marc's real estate former friend got us a condo that we cannot say much wonderful about. I was supposed to have an adjacent single and it wasn't ready for me till Monday night with a couple of problems that took 3 visits to the front desk for each.

Friday the Langs drove from Tel Aviv to help Simone move apartments to return to Hebrew U. They brought lunch and Benjamin joined us. Keren was busy arranging tables for the wedding. Friday night Moses cooked fish and veggies for dinner as most places closed for Shabbat. 

On Shabbat, however, Simone, Moses, Herbie and I went to a non Kosher Cafe Bezalel that we have been going to for years. Then we returned to the hotel and watched the Summer Olympics which I have never done before. So enjoyed it that we have watched quite a bit as it's too hot to go out for no reason. At dinner time we went to the First Train Station that is wild on Saturday nights. It is now a full fledged entertainment center for all ages. Most restaurants are not Kosher but a couple are so everyone welcome. 

                                                                    us with Simone

Sunday Ashira, Zach and their 3 little girls and the 3 of us met at Sacher Park the large park near the entrance to town. The restaurant Gan Sipur is a delicious chain, some of the best food we have had in Israel. We had a very fun time with the 3 girls. The eldest, Nechama, 5 has Autism and her younger sister Meira, 3 tells other children she is a 'special' child so please excuse her. As soon as Nechama played with her Aunt Talia's phone and had lunch she was totally normal. Moses played ball with her outside and you would never know she has a problem. Talia, when available, is wonderful with her and knows how to calm her down. When she is not available and school is out as it is now, Ashira cannot leave the house. They also have a baby girl who is also adorable. 

                                                                       From left:  Zach with Meira, Ashira with baby,Talia

 Moses with Nechama         

That night Herbie had some kind of sheer exhaustion and after we couldn't wake him had to call hotel security. When they couldn't wake him they called the 2 emergency companies and Marc came and said he counted 16 people with their supplies. No one could wake him so they called an ambulance and he spent the night in Hadassah Ein Kerem. Marc and Moses went with him and by the time they all arrived he had awakened. They gave him a couple of tests but wanted to keep him overnight to do an MRI. The problem was he was fine by the time they got there and there were so many sick people he was left in the hall. Marc finally decided that he should be released without the MRI. We may never know if it was some kind of small stroke or just from heat and exhaustion. 

While they were at the hospital I took Talia, ChanaTsipora and Shalom Simcha to dinner  at an Asian Fusion restaurant nearby and we sat outside visiting. Of course under the circumstances, none of us remembered to take pictures. 

Moses, Herbie and I met Rivi, Zalman and the kids at a nearby playground. The girls had a ball on the various play equipment but it was quite late. Moses, Rivi and the baby went into town and brought back dinner which we ate at the hotel outside. It was difficult to get everyone together so I only have a couple of photos.

                    Zalman with son                                 with 3 of the 4 girls
                                                  

One night during the week I had a "hot" date with my old friend Gloria Kramer. We had dinner at a delicious Kosher restaurant at the First Station and then to a film at the nearby Cinematheque. I didn't expect to enjoy it but did. Called Rock Camp it is about rock and roll musicians who volunteer at a camp run by a Jewish man for aspiring musicians. The pros teach them for a mere $5000 a week! Really quite delightful as the students have real jobs at companies. 

Had a surprise visit from Lauren Dellar who was having a haircut in the hotel. She looks great and is her usual ebullient self (see photo)!

 Next day Herbie made it through the Israel Museum and then laid down at the hotel.  It is supposed to be in the 90s and 100s for 11 days! Then we went to Batya's for a yummy fish dinner with French Onion soup, salad and chocolate chip cookies made by Shalom Simcha. We sat on the balcony at two long tables pushed together with Zach being the buffer as he has been vaccinated and had Covid. Some of the same cast of characters I/we had seen plus Batya. We had a lot of laughs and it was a very fun evening. Batya sold her house and will move to French Hill near Zalman and Rivi and Ashira and Zach at the end of the year. Everyone is very pleased with the move and it will be much easier on the young parents. No photos as it was Erev Shabbat.

We spent hours on Shabbat at our house with Benjamin and his Israeli army buddy Tal from Chicago. His mother lives in Tel Aviv so he comes to visit her and sometimes on business and now for the wedding! It was a delightful lunch and visit.

Sunday we ate breakfast at one of my favs Kadosh but found out they only make goey desserts and not my yummy butter cookies. Boo hoo! Then we spent a couple of hours having a very nice conversation at Marc's. He needed to get some "paper" computer work re-registering us to his address from Batya's.

And of course at some point during the week we went to Mamilla Mall and I purchased my umpteenth "perfect" backpack!

Last night before wedding Marc and us had dinner, me for the third time, at Sheyan. Alexander and family joined us for dessert. The twins are adorable as is their brother. 

From left: Racheli, Ayala, Yitzhak Shalom, Tamar, Alexander

They are so cute together. 

The twins were born when  I was last here. 

Racheli due again next month.

PLEASE EXCUSE THE BORING LAYOUT BUT MY FORMER ONE REFUSED TO SHOW UP. BEYOND FRUSTRATING!