Monday, April 26th, Our first full day. We began the day with business; that is, getting Raquel to help us with hotel rooms in Haifa, Jerusalem, and Eilat. We had partial success; we need to try again for Jerusalem.

We then took off for Tel Aviv, driving to the Azrieli Towers and parking our car there. It is a group of three very tall building in the Center City of Tel Aviv, one round, one triangular, and one square that constitute a shopping mall office

complex.

We went up to the observatory on the 49th floor of the square building and looked out over the panorama of Tel Aviv and then the Mediterranean. One interesting fact that

I learned right away is that there are lots and lots of members of the Israeli army - kids really - all over Tel Aviv; some with desk jobs are without guns; the others carry automatics. And you need to stop and have security guards check your

purse and bags before you enter any shop or shopping mall.

From the Azrieli Towers, we took off on foot for Center City, through what Ben told me no other tourists ever see, that is, old neighborhoods that he remembers from 34 years.

It was interesting but not worth a photo. We did stop for lunch to eat falafel, that Ben

has been dreaming about since we began planning this trip. He declared this falafel to be very good but not the best. I thought it was delicious! Then Ben was sure he would know where to turn to get us to the proper location, but he missed it totally, and we walked a half a mile extra before I figured out that we were going too far. So far, he hasn't been the perfect guide! His claim is thathe was looking for two tall buildings as his guide, but we came at the from the wrong direction, and so he missed them.

We did get to Bialik Street, which is a small street for artists.

We first visited the Rubin Museum, one home of one of Israel's major painters, Reuven Rubin (1893-1974). His art is very nice and does remind one of Chagall, and the top floor held his studio. We then walked further along Bialik Street until we came to Bet Bialik (Bialik House), the home of Chaim Nachman Bialik (1873-1934), who is considered the father of Hebrew poetry. It has been restored and looks beautiful, so we took a picture.

Just beyond the house is a nice circle with a fountain with very nice water lilies.

After these visits, we walked south and east and found a turkish market that seemed to be miles long, filled with people. Ben bought some kitchen equipment there, of course, for his cousin, Raquel.

We then went walking east to find Rothschild Boulevard and to find the examples of Bauhaus architecture. It is a very nice boulevard with a middle pedestrian and bicycle way with nice residences and restaurants along the sides.

We found what we think are examples of Bauhaus architecture as wellas a cool statues on the balcony of one house.

We then walked up to Habima Square where there are the Mann Auditorium that houses the Israeli Philarmonic Orchestra, the Habimah National Theater that is under major renovation, and the Helena Rubinstein Pavilion that houses contemporary art. It is a very nice cu

ltural park.

We then walked back to the Azrieli Towers to meet Ben's cousins, Ilana and Rani, for coffee and a very nice visit. They had been to visit us in Philadelphia many years ago, and they will take us around northern Israel beginning on Thursday.

Then we came back to Raquel's home to find Avi and baby Adam, Uncle David and Aunt Ruthie, and Raquel. It's nice to come home to lots of nice family and a meal waiting for you. That's all for today!