HOLON DESIGN MUSEUM

We have meant to go to the Holon Design Museum for some time since it opened earlier this year, but somehow it took us until now to get there. So... we hit the road over the weekend to take a look at the Ron Arad designed structure. The orange-toned building really stood out in the gloomy Holon landscape and is quite impressive from afar. Alas, the moment we looked closely it was obvious that the building was poorly crafted and we imagined an overwhelmed construction crew who could barely piece together the architectural details. The exhibitions though were quite impressive and it's nice to know that there is a local museum interested in displaying the likes of Issey Miyake (love!) in an exhibition entitled, Mechanical Fashion. Our final thoughts: there's a new design museum in town only 20 minutes away from Tel Aviv and afterwards we can always stop for hummus in Yaffo. We'll be back...

Weekending around Tel Aviv

Saturday was a gorgeous day and we took some time to take a quick peek at the Tel Aviv port.

Weekend #2

It was decided that we were to go away up North for the weekend, yet again (this is starting to become a pattern we can get used to). On Friday we spent some time in Akko. We wandered around the old city, saw the Khan El Umdan, entered the Templar Crusader Tunnel, visited the port and had an excellent seaside dinner at Uri Buri and bought his cookbook of course.

The clock tower above the Khan El Umdan.

Docked fishing boats at the port

Fishing

The top of St. John Church.

The next day we were joined by our dear friend N and traveled to Nazareth (we had such a great time the week before that we had to return). This time we came a little earlier on in the day so we could explore the market. There were all kinds of shops, many selling kitchen ware, but this perfume shop caught our eye.

Since a trip to Nazareth is never complete without indulging in some sweet oriental dessert we had to sample the divine knafeh at El Muchtar Sweets (we thought it was better than the knafeh at Mahroum Sweets that we tried last week). But to be fair, we don't think you can go wrong with knafeh anywhere in Nazareth, the capital of sweets.

We soaked in the landscapes...

... and drove around finally reaching Zichron Ya'akov. We decided to drop by the city cemetery and pay a visit N's grandfather, one of the founders of the city. Our weekend of northern indulgence culminated at dinner in El Babur and before we knew it we were on our way back to Tel Aviv.

El Muchtar Sweets
Toufik Ziad Road
tel 04 6556027
(there's another branch on Paulus the Sixth Street tel 04 646 1661/2)

Peres Center for Peace

Today was a gorgeous day and we took a walk through Tel Aviv south to Yaffo to check out the fairly new Peres Center for  Peace designed by Fuksas Architects. Apparently they have been opened since December (we stand corrected). We must re-visit some time during the week to check out the interior. Finally, a piece of architecture worth visiting!

Pre-Yom Ha'zikaron

The Tel Aviv municipality all set up for the big national morning day.

A Family Vacation at Villa Melchett

Come March, we went to the Kinneret, on what has become an annual family vacation at Villa Melchett. Once belonged to Lord Melchett's family, the turn of the century villa and the surrounding grounds are situated right on the beach. Anyone can rent the place. L did and got us spending 3 wonderful days of lounging around and relaxation. We were a bit displeased with the management, but the luxurious rooms, professional kitchen, fish pond, 2000 square meters of grass, hammocks, oriental tent and the open view to the Sea of Galilee kept us very content.

The Moroccan lounge in our bedroom.

The villa from the front garden

Going on a walk

A content family member.

A Trip to Tel Afek, near Rosh HaAyin

Friday was sunny and gorgeous, so we gathered our motivation, joined forces with Y, and ventured out of the city and into the pastoral landscape of Tel Afek. The nature reserve includes an Ottoman fortress, a lake and an abundance of green plains. We took a short walk around the site (it was easy and wheel chair/baby carriage accessible). It was a much needed outing and lots of fun.

Antipatris Fortress

An Abandoned British Water Plant

Rosh HaAyin from a distance.

A caterpillar! We really need to get out more.