Jerusalem Getting Back to Normal

This summer was not normal.

Rockets were falling and tourism was way down

But those tourists who did come had a great time.

The Tourism Ministry recorded 218,000 visitor entries in Israel in July 2014.

Groups from southern Israel were brought to Jerusalem for fun days.

President Reuven Rivlin and his wife hosted more children this week.

Slowly we are returning to “normal.”

The last two weeks in August there is no regular child day care,

which makes some workplaces look like day care centers.

 Grandparents, cousins,

 or any family member or friend can be called to help out.

 A popular summer activity was the view from Big Bambu at the Israel Museum.

image Big Bambu

Some ‘seniors’ finding out they had to go up with their young children,

were not so thrilled about having to make the climb.

image children play ground

The new play area at the Israel Museum was much easier to experience.

 The Bloomfield Science Museum, an  old favorite, is always great for a day outing.

image science museum water

The water activities on a hot day are always a winner.

image sand play area

The new sand area is usually a busy place,

but not this early morning in July,

image children playing

though learning activities led by staff were well under way.

image hand meat grinder

I wonder how many of the children ever saw a meat grinder like this,

or would have any idea what it is?

It was seen on my way to a new building for a special exhibition:

The Machine Within: Bio-mechanics,

image science museum

the machine inside is built to survive.

image science museum

Using small screens

image science museum

and large ones,

image child and grandmother in museum

and animals to attract attention and teach.

image Jerusalem science museum

This shows the outside of a pouncing animal,

but walk around it,

image Jerusalem science museum

and the exhibit shows how it works inside.

image child in science museum

One of my favorite scenes was this boy,

image child at science museum

who figured out how to interact

image child in science meusm

with all the right moves.

image Arab girl Jerusalem,

During the month of July with all the troubles and tensions you heard about,

at places like the Science Museum, where this Muslim girl is on staff,

image Muslim men Jerusalem

and in the Israel Museum where Muslim men worked and rested on Ramadan,

life went on as “normal.”

That was the real Jerusalem, Israel streets.

Will the cease fire and quiet hold?

We will all have to see what happens next.

Summer Flying in Jerusalem

Every year as the month of August comes to an end, 

sign in Hebrew

there are certain signs of the end of summer, 

besides the outdoor performances at the Jerusalem Theater.

Facebook is full of posts of those returning from overseas.

Another summer, time has flown by with visitors and festivals.

 All over Jerusalem, Israel, as every year until school starts, 

  parents will call on extended family and friends or strangers,

or just make it another ‘take your kid to work’ day,  

in all kind of offices, and even banks.

For those with time and energy there is the Bloomfield Science Museum.

people in the Jerusalem market, shuk photo

 Also, always a good venue for a day trip,

 the Machane Yehuda market, the shuk,

but when it gets crowded, holding on is a great idea.

Teddy Park fountain at night

New this year, the Teddy Park fountain has proven extremely popular.

And,

photo kites, Kite Festival

the annual Kite Festival

Israel Museum Kite Festival

at the Israel Museum

kites in air Israel Museum

is an old favorite with thousands of families,

Israel Museum kite flying

 popular with all ages.

man with large kite, Kite festival Jerusalem

Large kites,

Kites flying . Kite Festival jerusalem, Israel Museum

flown by pros were up in the afternoon breeze,

girl with kite, Kite Festival Jerusalem

however, this little girl did a great job of keeping hers flying.

kites flying, Jerusalem kite festival Israel Museum

Israeli flag kites were on sale and popular.

large kite down, Jerusalem kite festival

But while some of the large professional flags got stuck in trees, 

what was really impressive this year, 

kite, kite in sky, Kite festival Israel museum

were the number of hand-made children’s projects that were flying high in the sky.

No matter what is happening on the ground and all around,

Kite festival Israel Museum

leave it to Israelis to love to just go fly a kite.