Israel & Jordan 2023: Jaffa (Tel Aviv)

Let me preface this post (due to the current instability in Israel) by saying this trip happened from January 14 to 27 of 2023.

Following the visit to Neve Tzedek the next stop was Jaffa, or Old Jaffa, which is the old port city and located in the Southern part of Tel Aviv. It is a place associated with the Biblical story of Jonah and the whale. That is why we were dropped off by the whale statue. It was here that the exploration of Jaffa on foot started.

From here, we climbed up a bit and reached the old town. I was admiring the architecture and the cobblestone street. I have such affinity for these old towns that has Medieval vibe to it.

And then we reached the Floating Orange Tree. Created in 1993 by Israeli artist Ran Morin, it is a small orange tree planted on a jug suspended about a foot off the ground hung by metal chains on both sides. I read that the artist sought to emphasize the increasing separation of man and nature as creatures that grow in containers.

I honestly have not heard of it prior to this visit.

From here we walked towards the Rameses II's Gate Garden. The signage says: One of the mounumental gates that was discovered here dates from the period of the rule of Rameses II (13th century BCE) and attests to the fact that at that time Jaffa hosted a permanent Egyptian garrison.

Truth be told, I completely tuned out my guide at this stop for 2 reasons. 1)I wasn't interested in another archeological ruin. 2)The weather was so fine that all I could think of was how warm the sun felt on my skin and how cool the breeze was as it kissed my face. As we were in a garden, many of my tourmates were doing the same thing. I saw one stalking birds and still another more interested in checking out the flora.

Walking distance away is St. Peter's Church.

Around here, there were plenty to photograph and we did just that.

The beautiful coastline was easily seen from Jaffa.

Eventually we ended up in the famous Clock Tower, a landmark around here. This was the spot we will be meeting the bus after an hour of free time for us to grab coffee and pastry or just walk around.

Most of us went straight to the bakery and inspected all the goodies it offered.

The bakery also carried a wide variety of baklavas.

My regret is that we didn't consider coming here the day before the guided tour began. I was under the impression that we would cover this spot and we did, but I wanted to see more.