Yafo-licious!

We weren't having a particularly exciting, nor talkative morning due to sleep deprivation and being on the go non-stop for more than a month. Together, we strolled along the tayellet (sea promenade) in Tel Aviv. I lost my cellphone at a brief pit stop and had to run all the way back to retrieve it. It was already December and it was hot out. The decision was to see the old city of Yafo, south of Tel Aviv, before calling it quits for the day.

Who knew that the remedy to our weird and uninspiring morning was just around the corner!

It all started with a man in a yellow hat. (To get the full description and photo, you must visit Roisin's blog, as she made me promise her that this would be her story to tell - theworldthroughmyis.blogspot.com).

Minutes later while we sat down in the shade, we saw this man go to a nearby place. An interesting device captured our attention. Our ears perked up to live music emanating from this place. Feeling sympathy for Roisin's determination to get rid of coffee from her diet, I made her come with me to see if this place had coffee.

Not only was there coffee, there was freshly squeezed lemonade with sugar cane juice (hence the interesting device), an impressive selection of live recordings, and a charismatic owner named Shmuel.

A neon purple guitar sign marks the place...


The roof above the outdoor seating area...

The amazing sugar cane lemonade...


I sunbaked as Roisin sipped on coffee...

We were just about to leave when a man rode up on his bike to discuss his Brazilian band's upcoming concert at Shmuel's place. This led to Shmuel asking the man to play us banot (girls) a little something on his accordian. Roisin whipped out her trumpet and the afternoon was spent!

Musika!

Following a beautiful impromptu concert,
Shmuel treated us to a great feast...
(Note: the mystery device is top-left)


Musicians and music lovers...

We were invited to come jam with the Brazilian band that Saturday night. A thrilling, yet terrifying prospect for this classically-trained violinist! Saturday came around and so did rain showers. We arrived to find that the jam was over and the accordian player didn't bring his accordian. Despite this, music was made with a tambourine, a pair of congo drums, a trumpet and a violin!

Afterwards, we were treated yet again with food; however, this time, to traditional Brazilian fare - lamb, rice and beans.

Yafo-licious!

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On our way out of Yafo, we found an art exhibit:

swinging white dresses,
heads made of mirrors,
dark archway backdrops,
and
real screeching bats!



I'm still weirded out...