Jaffa Street – Page 2 – The Real Jerusalem Streets

Walked Down Jerusalem’s Jaffa Road Recently?

August 10, 2016rjstreets

Time to get out and walk

on a special Jerusalem, Israel street.

Children cool off in this water mist from an urban installation.

Remember when traffic pollution was so thick

it was hard to breathe?

Not any more, no cars allowed.

Walk further down Jaffa Road,

construction cranes rise above Ben Yehuda Street,

and off Kikar Tzion, Zion Square,

the new Mashbir has a new neighbor.

Its renovations completed,

the new Herbert Samuel Hotel has opened.

Near the site of the Sbarro bombing 15 years ago,

people have returned to city center.

After years of the Jerusalem light rail saga,

trains are running regularly.

Walk Jaffa Road,

off Davidka Square you will see

some of the photos from the

Tower of David Museum great photo exhibit.

Wow, across the way,

look at those trees,

what a difference since the storms of January 2013

knocked out the new plantings.

A popular new night attraction at the shuk,

Machane Yehuda market,

are the shutters painted by Solomon Souza.

Here one shop was closed during the day,

with the bright colors and Hebrew words visible.

Oh dear, and across Jaffa Road,

was the sad looking וורדה.

I had a whole blog planned on this street installation,

called Varda, with its faded fabric, replaced multiple times,

tied for winter winds, and millions of shekels wasted since 2014.

This week one “flower” was so shredded,

it was removed – again.

Maybe more on that another time.

The Jaffa Road area has changed drastically.

Construction has begun on huge projects.

Hundreds of new apartments are going up.

The new fast train to Tel Aviv is coming–

imagine a half-an-hour from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.

It’s really coming.

Located across from the central bus station

on Jaffa Road,

is Jerusalem’s newest train station.

Old and new.

Jerusalem of contrasts.

Jaffa Road has changed over the years.

Always something new to see on the Jerusalem streets.

12 Jerusalem Scenes with Israel Under Fire

July 22, 2014rjstreets

Israel is under fire.

Southern Israel has been getting hit for over 10 years

and people always said “wait till the rockets hit Tel Aviv!”

Well, rockets from Gaza have hit Tel Aviv.

Again and again people run to bomb shelters after the sirens.

Operation Protective Edge is going into a third week.

In Jerusalem, Israel we have had “only” a few sirens,

so the daily routine like hanging the washing goes on.

Fall school supplies are ready in shops, though there are very few shopping for the fall.

Some tourists are cancelling their trips,

ElAl has room to spread out on their flights and thanks those who fly with them.

But people are still eating falafel on King George Street.

Jaffa Road towards the Old City,

and towards Machane Yehuda Market, the shuk,

looks the same minus lots of Arab women shopping,

but it is the month of Ramadan and they are fasting month and it is hot.

I did spot one interesting couple,

I had to get a good photo of those shoes.

Everyone knows someone who has been called up for duty,

and my son-in-law has been on the Egyptian border

on reserve duty for over two weeks.

Like so many other young mothers, my daughter is trying to manage

with her children out of school, work and appointments…

and how to get to them all to a bomb shelter

when there is a siren warning of incoming rockets.

Jerusalem Cinema City is one popular option for an outing,

being that most of it is safely underground.

But the Bloomfield Science Museum and

Israel Museum also provide fun and educational activities.

And in this crazy upside down time,

last week as planes flew over head in Abu Gosh,

a caterer held a tasting for a dozen August weddings.

We ate it all and keep planning the wedding.

At the same time it is hard to not think about

and thank all our Israeli soldiers,

as friends went to Ashkelon to be with their wounded son,

and another funeral begins.

Jerusalem Blue Sky, White Snow and More Ice

December 24, 2013rjstreets

Stabbing attack, bomb on a bus, and a murder near the Gaza Border,

terror against Israelis is increasing.

But in Jerusalem this past week it was all about the weather.

The sun is shining and sky is blue,

and people are walking again along Jaffa Road,

and eating and shopping in the Shuk, the Machane Yehuda Market.

For some in Jerusalem, Israel, the snow storm of December 2013 is history.

Meanwhile,

many street corners still look like this with heaps of ice and debris.

Nothing in Jerusalem is flat, so there are many steps,

including this 99-step stairway that was icy this week.

But this fallen tree was blocking them at the top making them useless.

They are off one of the hardest hit streets,

where many were without power for a week because of the storm.

Now new wires are being buried underground.

I had to go around out of my way,

but I had a chance to meet two of the hasmal electric company guys,

who wanted me to to take their their photo.

It is a miracle that with blocked icy sidewalks and people walking

on dark slippery streets in traffic that no one was killed or seriously injured.

This week, a corner where many children cross

near a busy school was still covered with ice.

You cannot really understand Jerusalem streets from looking at a map

or even at photos, as it can rain on one street and be dry on the next.

This week you really feel and see the differences.

While some are out in the sun,

others are still trying to get around the mess!

I almost fell today on an ice patch near the Windmill.

The tree cutters are busy with lots more work to do.

People and buses are sharing same spaces,

but even with the snow in the background,

the last rose bud was still looking good.

First it was pretty, then it was clean-up time,

now if they can just get the mess cleaned up before it rains…