Two days later they took off from Charles de Gaulle for Tel-Aviv on an Air France flight as scheduled at exactly seven thirty in the morning. It was much too early for O’Connelly, used to rising at eight or nine, but the security checks for flights to Ben Gurion required they arrive more than two hours before take off time, and a taxi had picked them up at his apartment at five.
Hertzfeld’s invitation had left O’Connelly just enough time to settle a few outstanding details in Paris. First and most important he returned to his agent’s office the following morning to sign the agreement with Angela who arranged for the transfer of the advance from Bernstein Press in New York to his Swiss account. He then picked up the tickets from their travel bureau and headed over to the Irish Cultural Centre where Laura was tidying up her affairs, it had required several calls to string pullers in Dublin to get leave at such short notice and arrange a temporary replacement.
Laura collected her affairs and made a few last minute purchases before stopping off at Librairie Ulysse on Saint Louis en L’Île, the oldest travel bookshop in the world, where Cathérine Domain, its founder, provided her with a quick selection of maps and guide books on Israel and Jordan.
The flight was spent recovering from their early start, relaxing in the business section of the aircraft and thumbing through their now impressive library. Four hours later they touched down at Ben Gurion and after the usual obligatory security hassle for all arrivals in Israel checked in at the Tel-Aviv Sheraton, where they were pleased to discover Hertzfeld had booked them into a comfortable suite on the beach side of the hotel.
It was a few years since O’Connelly had visited Tel-Aviv and at first glance not much had changed, perhaps a few more office towers in the business area and new hotels to the south of the beach towards Jaffa, the traffic gridlock had not however changed and the drivers seemed just as dangerous. For Laura it was her first visit and she was struck by the European appearance city and its suburbs, she was a little disappointed, perhaps she had expected something…a little more biblical. The view overlooking the beach changed all that and her first suggestion was they join the strollers along the seafront promenade.
A light flashed on the telephone it was a voice message from Hertzfeld wishing them welcome and asking them to meet him in the lobby the next morning when they would leave for Jerusalem by road. That left them the remainder of the day free to explore Tel-Aviv.
The beach seemed to be filled with keep fit enthusiasts as was the broad sea front promenade. People of all ages walked, jogged or rollered past in the different styles and different attires, from the most conventional to the most bizarre. To their left the main road seemed more like a freeway race track than a seaside thoroughfare, crossing it was a dangerous enterprise. They decided to walk south, Jaffa was about two or so kilometres distance. It would be a good start and would please Laura with a glimpse of a little more oriental exoticism.
To their left towards the end of the beach was the beautifully restored Hassan Beck Mosque built in the off-white stone of the region with its elegant, slender, minaret. Behind loomed the new Dan Panorama Hotel and others, there was nothing oriental about them. They saw the Clock Tower as they approached Jaffa where the area was more run down and unkempt.
Walking up hill through the gardens they arrived in the main square of the old centre, transformed into an agreeable tourist district with art galleries, jewellery and antique shops. They then continued down to the south side where Yefet Street and the Arab district stretched out before them with its shops, restaurants and markets.
After a stop for refreshments in a small and typical café they took a taxi back to their hotel, a little footsore, to rest and shower before finding a suitable restaurant for dinner. Laura commenced to prepare their visit to Jerusalem with a new guide as O’Connelly referred to his 1949 Guide Bleu with its map that showed the city divided into West and East Jerusalem. Their attention was first focused on the Haram esh-Sharif and the history of the Temple. O’Connelly found little mention of the underground cisterns, the Palestinian Survey Funds work had been long forgotten in 1949. Laura had little more success with her politically correct Lonely Planet guide, more oriented towards the needs of the modern tourist than history, avoiding sensitive questions concerning the politics of religion and the respective claims of the Jews and Muslims.
Laura announced she was hungry and started to flip through the pages of the different local guide magazines provided in their suite, finally she announced her choice a restaurant specialised in Yiddish cuisine and called to book a table. They took a taxi to the Gefilte Carpe situated not far from the Mann Auditorium in the better class Rothschild Boulevard district. It was stylishly modern and evidently appreciated by fashionable professional class Israelis, they were shown to their table by the maître d’hôtel, a smartly dressed woman, who presented them with the menu in Hebrew and English, then their waitress, a svelte girl in her early twenties, proposed an aperitif which they refused preferring to start with wine and were shown the wine list, the girl recommended the restaurants reserve, a five year old red Cabernet Sauvignon from the reputed Carmel vineyard region.
They both opted for their specialities paté de foie gras prepared in the tradition of Yiddish cuisine and naturally the gefilte carp as the main dish. The presentation was modern and they were not disappointed by the cuisine, it was delicious and the wine perfect, distinct from French or Californian wines. After coffee the decided to stroll back to their hotel in the warm evening air along Bograshov to Ben Yehuda and the seafront area.
The streets of Tel-Aviv were filled with people enjoying a walk in the douceur of the Mediterranean evening air, apart from the restaurants and cafés many shops were open. After half an hour they arrived on Hayarkon Street, not far from the old Dan Hotel and the bunkered US Embassy building, where there were many bars that stayed open late into the night. They decided to stop for a nightcap before returning to the hotel, they had had an early start and the next day they would also be up early again. They walked for another ten or more mintues before finding a bar with a free table, it seemed that population of Tel-Aviv enjoyed café life as in Paris, though Tel-Aviv more resembled the South of France. It was far from Laura’s vision of biblical Israel, almost everything she had seen was modern even in the less prosperous areas of Jaffa.