Walked Down Jerusalem’s Jaffa Road Recently?

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.