Shalom friends,

How are you?

What a crazy world we live in, hey. Just last Friday afternoon we were sitting in our apartment overlooking the old city of Jaffa in the Middle East. It was crazy hot outside. Earlier, we’d had a big lunch out at a vegan restaurant around the corner, and now Jazzy and her boyfriend Noam, Indi and Pepper were downstairs watching the remake of Footloose, while we were upstairs alternating between reading and dreaming up ways that we could spend more of our days chasing sunshine, adventures and exploring ancient cities. I’d had plans to write a blog post, but after the adaptor that plugs into the wall broke, I had no way to charge my computer and had to give up that thought. Instead we went down to watch the rest of the movie, eat snacks and sing our hearts out to the cheesy soundtrack.

Later on, as the movie finished and the sun began to set, we all went out onto the balcony. We told stories, we laughed, we called out to people passing by below, Noam got the guitar from inside and we all sang along. It was one of those perfect moments that you dream about when you’re planning a trip. One of those moments that you know is special even when you’re in the midst of it. Everyone was smiling, everyone was involved, everyone felt part of the whole.

And then one week later, possibly close to that exact balcony hour, we’re home. Jazzy and Noam have gone back to Haifa, Indi is at her home in Melbourne, Bren and Pepper are watching Star Wars in the other room. It’s icy cold outside. We went for a long walk through the forest before and we got absolutely drenched. Now I’m sitting here in my pyjamas, flicking through the photos of our trip trying to reconcile those beautiful golden memories with our jet lagged forest reality, wondering if it ever really happened or if it was an incredibly vivid dream.

The second city we stayed in was Jaffa. You might like to read about it here, here, here and on my blog from 2013 here.

Our family stayed in Jaffa for three weeks when we came to visit Indi on her gap year three years ago, so it felt like coming home. We love the atmosphere, we love the ancient buildings and streets, we love the connection to history, we love the multiculturalism, we love all of the little artist studios dotted around the place, we love the street art and the way people decorate their apartments and balconies, we love the hustle and bustle of the markets and little shops, we love the relaxed restaurant and cafe vibe and the party scene on Thursday nights. It feels like there’s something new to discover everywhere you look. It feels rich and exciting and vibrant.

This time we stayed in a place with the most incredible roof garden and views of the city. We spent hours up there reading books, sharing meals and watching the streets we have grown to know so well and love so deeply.

On the bottom left corner of the photo above is a shop called Yaffa Knafeh. People seem to come from everywhere at all hours of the day and night to buy this Middle eastern desert. We had such fun watching car after car pull up in front of the shop making the already narrow road into a one way street. For once nobody tooted or made a fuss; there seemed to be a Knafeh understanding.

The shop to the right was one of about four supermarkets near us that we frequented often for tubs of labne and hummus, Bisli chips, Bulgarian feta and muesli. Having a choice of supermarkets so close to home was a novelty we never took for granted.

Two doors up from that was the fruit and veg shop we visited so often that we became friends with the owner. Even though we couldn’t speak more than a few words of each other’s language, we found a way to tell our stories and shared many laughs. I especially loved watching him and Bren call each other brother in greeting whenever we passed by, and felt emotional when, after a few days, he tried to give us gifts of carrots and nectarines, and when he was with a customer often told us to come back and pay him the next day. From what we could piece together it sounded like he was having a shoulder operation this week; I really hope it goes well.

The view down from the west was of someone’s storage yard. There are many permanent vintage/old stuff stalls around Jaffa, but once a week on a Friday the whole town seems to open up with things to sell. Roller doors, windows and doors to shops you didn’t even realise were there during the week opened wide, and racks and boxes and piles of clothes and homewares and tools and other miscellaneous items spilled out onto the footpath. I don’t know if we bought anything the whole time we were there but we certainly tried.

Our apartment was right next to the Al Siksik Mosque which broadcast the call to prayer at regular intervals throughout each day.

Like I wrote in my post about Haifa, it’s so hard to decide on accommodation months ahead from the other side of the globe. Choosing a place where we’ll share meals, have downtime from exploring, have friends over, and have enough space for us and some extras to sleep in, feels incredibly important and a great privilege that we don’t take for granted. But we’ve also learnt over time that where possible we love beautiful, interesting spaces, we love plants and now after this trip we’ve added rooftops or balconies to our future wish lists. From the empty streets at first light, to the twinkling fairy lights at dark, what a rich and exciting way for us forest dwellers to observe and experience new places (I so wanted to write new horizons there ahhh).

It’s such a strange feeling looking at these photos and then looking over through the window on my right to the forest outside. We’ve been back a few days now and we’re slowly coming back down to earth. The jet lag has kept us feeling like we’re living in a little fuzzy bubble, but there’s nothing like the school run, the orthodontist appointment, the animals and the laundry to bring us back down to earth.

While we’re still in the dark depths of winter here I think I might keep sharing pictures and stories of our trip here for the next few weeks.

Wishing you peace in your lives and in our world.

Shalom!

Love, Kate x