Day 3 started out with a walking tour of the Neveh Tzedek neighborhood of Tel Aviv, the first Jewish settlement of the future city of Tel Aviv. While visiting the Suzanne Dellal Centre for dance and drama a siren was sounded throughout all of Israel in remembrance of the Holocaust. Sounding for 2 minutes, all activity and movement came to a standstill, even on the roads and freeways, as people stood with heads bowed to remember this atrocious time in our world’s history. It was a moving few minutes and we were overwhelmed with the privilege of being here to experience this moment.
Our next stop was in the ancient city of Jaffa. Now part of the greater area of Tel Aviv, Jaffa dates back to the 20th century BC. Many of us know Jaffa (Joppa) as the port from which Jonah sailed on his ill-fated journey to Nineveh. Following time for exploration and lunch, we headed over to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art to unload the handbells and have a short rehearsal…Alas, TV1 never came….so much for our fleeting possible moment of fame!
After a wee bit of time to visit the museum holdings, we traveled back to the hotel for freshening up and a bite of supper.
As I am writing this, rehearsal is in progress in the Assia Hall at the museum. There are 42 ringers on stage rehearsing Fred Gramann’s An American Folk Hymn Sampler. It’s amazing watching all of these ringers, most of whom have never played together before, begin to make music as single ensemble.
An interesting environmental issue is in progress in Israel at the moment. Desert winds are blowing in and causing the sky to be very hazy…smog-like, but sand, not smog.
I will share the repertoire for tomorrow night’s concert with you later.
It is now 1 am on Day 4 and we just got back to the hotel from rehearsal an hour ago. It’s going to be a short night as we have to be up at 6:30 for a full day of sightseeing, followed by the first concert. Thus, no posting of new photos…please forgive.
Off to bed……