Morgan's new friend

Just before Morgan left for winter break in California she had to give Yeager back... for those of you who do not know about Yeager... she was a Guide Dog that Morgan was working with on basic commands and socialization skills.....and she did such a good job that they took Yeager back.

However when she came back from winter break there was someone new waiting for her.... Precious (no Morgan does not get to name the dog). They took her to the Iceoplex so she could experience snow. Precious is the little golden in case anyone had questions.

I am hoping that Morgan will keep us informed about how it is going with Precious either by sending me up dates or putting it on her blog. Morgan if you did get it that was a hint.

I can't believe I have been home a week

It has been a very long week and I am just getting back to the blog...so there will be some old blogs that I had done as a draft waiting to get home to upload the pictures... so if you are looking for all of the Israel go back to see what I have finished.

Daniel

Daniel

has a long history with Sam ... for our part of the trip though he was just a great tour guide.

We saw Daniel many different times over the trip but on Tuesday Jan 16th and Wednesday Jan 17th he traveled with us to many different places.

who is Mumbles and ...

Boy does he get around.

Celia sent Mumbles with us as a Hanukkah present for Sam. He is a cute little penguin with a pocket on his but for Sam's I-pod. Little did any of us know that Sam's i-pod had died the week before. But Mumbles (I

named him) was so cute that everyone donated their i-pods so Mumbles would not go to waste.... Not only did everyone want their I-pod to be in his pocket they also wanted to take their picture with him.

Who is Yoni

He is one of Bubbies Boys ....

and the defender of Moshiko.

Yoni is a lot of fun to go with to the shuk with as well as cab rides. But more than than he is a great kid that I look forward to seeing again when he comes to the west coast.

Ben Yehuda Street

Wow... yes I know that is not a lot but that is what I think of when I think of Ben Yehuda Street.

It is such a great place... we didn't really get to experience it until Saturday after shabbos. But our first (o.k. my first) experience on Ben Yehuda was Friday afternoon... it was starting to rain and we were walking with the boys and then we heard the shabbos bell and before we knew what had happened (10 minuets) everything was closed the cabs were gone and we could only look in the windows and plan for Saturday night.

On Saturday night when havdalah was over and Ben Yehuda came back to life and we were right in the middle of it. We had dinner at Macaroni (a definite recommendation) and then we walked down Ben Yehuda did a little shopping and just enjoyed the atmosphere.

Our next opportunity to experience Ben Yehuda was on Monday when we spent the day with Andrew B. We found a kosher Burger King, McDonald's and Yoni's favorite Mushikos. We also went to some military supply stores and and some of the tourist shops. We also saw the corner where ATARA 1938 was originally.

We started the days with just Sam, Andrew, Bubbie and me but later during the day Daniel, Yoni and Josh met up with us and we had a chance to eat at Mushikos.

We didn't get back to Ben Yehuda until Wednesday when we went to help the economy...and we did. However the interesting or disturbing thing was this sign that was taped up in one of the shops that we went into. I know there was security at every restaurant and I became accustom to having my bag searched but I never gave anything a second thought until I read this little note. I don't know when it happened and the store had been rebuilt and was doing fine, but still we must always remember that unfortunately there are some people in this world that just want to hurt us.

But it was only a moments pause and then back to what we came to do shop.... and shop we did. It was great and I have a whole list of shops to go back to when Barry and I get back there.

my last entry from Israel

not the last one about Israel... because I still have so much more to say... but right now I am sitting at gate C7 nin Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

We had a wonderful morning with Sam and Daniel one last trip to the shuk and Marzipan and the candy store and then we waited for the sharook (airport taxi) and we went to Tel Aviv to meet with Bubbies Pomegranate friend Barbara Esmond.

Now the taxi ride to get to Barbara was an experience because the cab driver got lost.... but we got there. It was very nice we had some tea and went for a walk around the neighborhood did a little shopping in Tel Aviv then we went back to her apartment I took a nap Bubbie and Barbara caught up then we had a little dinner ... 7:45 we caught a cab back to the airport got throught security and here I am waiting for the final check in.... we have been through 4 security screanings already and it still runs smoother than LAX.

I will type more in LA

The Vaginias

What a great end to a wonderful trip I get to see the Vagina's Play Football. Now it wasn't the whole team mater of fact the girls played the whole game both offense and defense. It was a great game... the only thing better would be if we had won. But the team gave it all they had... and so did our interim coaches.

Go Vagina's!

Wednesday is a busy day

After we spent the morning doing our part for the economy of the old city we went back to the hotel changed into jeans and spent the afternoon doing our part for the economy of Ben Yehuda Street.

It started with Sam and Daniel taking us to Burger Bar. Now just a side note in Israel in stead of ordering a quarter pounder you order 150 grams. I know it does not seem a cute in type as it is when they are ordering.









But the burgers are big Sam tells me that usually when she eats there she will take half of it home for her next meal. But this time we had Yoni. and he very graciously took care of Bubbie's burger, Sam's burger and My burger (Daniel ate his whole salad).


But after lunch we went shopping with Daniels and Yoni doing the haggling (a sport for champions) however after shopping the boys needed some more food so Yoni and Daniel told us how they loved schwarmer and then they went to Mushiko.

After the mid day snack we went back to the hotel to rest and then we were off for Sams Football game yes I saw the Vagina's Play Ball

Our Last Full Day

This was a full day... back to the old city then a trip to the Arab Shuk, shopping on Ben Yehuda and what a great ending to a great day I got to see Sam and the Vagina's play a football game.

But we will start at the beginning. Walking back to the old city we were discussing the actual age of the rocks we were looking at and how the walls of the Old City had withstood everything that mankind could throw at it and it keeps on standing. It really is an amazing place when I come back in warmer weather I would love to spend a whole day there if not more just looking around and taking a tour or two.

On the left you can see the bullet marks that were left in 1968 when the Israeli's retook the city. We walked into Zion Gate . with our bagels in hand and then we went for a cup of tea

and to wait for Daniel to catch up with us. So we had Nana at the Menorah Cafe (something I would love to do again) and from there we went shopping. Now I know that it does not seem like a big deal to go shopping in Israel (lord knows we did quite a bit of it) but Sam and Daniel took us into the Cardo and before we knew it we were in the Arab Shook and Daniel was having the time of his life bartering with the shop keepers and Barry had a new drum, we had some new t-shirts, little boxes sweatshirts, pashtook and other stuff...

After we made it through the shook we found ourselves at another gate of the old city Jaffa Gate and it was time to leave. So
we walked back to the hotel put our goodies away and got ready for our next adventure.