Sitting by the Roadside

Here are a few photos from the wonderful time my family and I had at the Tel Aviv beach!  The shoreline is only a five-minute walk from our apartment. View of the beach from a hill directly overlooking it. The sea was warm, unlike the cold water we were used to in the beaches of southern California (not many waves here, though!). My brother's sand castle (see note here ). The waves are beautiful during the evening (a different beach). Sunset on the beach.

Jaffa, or Joppa , is an ancient city and quite well-known.  It is mentioned a few times in the Bible. It is known as the port which Jonah went to in order to escape having to preach to the people of Ninevah ( Jonah 1:3 ). Acts 9:36-43  tells of the story of Peter raising Dorcas (Tabitha) from the dead in Joppa. Acts 10  is a chapter we all know; of Peter's vision and the conversion of Cornelius. The Church of Saint Peter in Jaffa From Jaffa you can see the Mediterranean Sea, stretching for miles and miles and miles.  You might notice an interesting rock formation grouped together--Andromeda's Rocks.  Legend has it that Andromeda was chained to these rocks as a sacrifice for a sea monster.  Perseus, on his famous winged horse Pegasus, came and saved her in the nick of time. Andromeda's Rocks We found a visitor's center and received a map and a self-tour booklet of Jaffa.  My camera broke down at about this time and I c...

A blast of hot wind greeted me as I stepped off the bus with my family.  Tel Aviv turned out to be hotter than Jerusalem. We had checked out of our apartment at 2:30pm and ridden the Light Rail to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station.  Bus 480 took us to Tel Aviv, and from there we rode another bus to the station closest to where we'd be staying. The owner of our rented Tel Aviv apartment informed us that a leak had been found and that we'd had to stay in a different apartment for the time being. I did not mind very much, particularly because the previous residents had left a box of chocolate-covered ice cream in the freezer, along with another box of chocolate and a can of date syrup... In the evening we took a walk to the beach, which was only ten minutes away from our apartment.  The area was calm and still, and not a single person was in sight.  I lowered my hand into the water of the Mediterranean Sea and found it warmer than expected.  Stra...