Pick Your Own.... Paprika

In Boston this time of the year we used to go to the Marino Farm in Natick to pick apples, pears or peaches. Yesterday we drove 2 hours North to a little spice farm near Haifa to pick our own paprika. Much lower scale and less organized but much cheaper than Marino Farm, The Spice Farm, was holding a 10-day Paprika Festival. Here are paprika bushes that we picked the ripe red peppers from:

This is a paprika bath where a few green peppers were hidden among thousands of red and everyone was invited to sift through for a prize. Nadia found one.

I am standing in front of the festival's poster and proudly holding a bag of picked paprika and a dry paprika wreath Nadia and I assembled.

Scarecrow.

This farm is a popular tourist attraction and frequently holds some tours or cooking classes, in addition to an excellent spice market. Worth a visit if you are passing by.

The view of Bahaian Gardens from the main Haifa street.

Then we met a local Arab friend for a coffee in the Fattoush restaurant in Haifa. The atmosphere and food in the restaurant were so good that we almost stayed in the nearby hotel overnight in order to enjoy the dinner. Alas, the hotel was all booked and we will have to return back to Fattoush one day.

With the coffee, I had a pistachio ice cream with tahinni and honey, which was so delicious I forgot to take a picture before it was gone. Little Nili swallowed her share helping herself with a spoon and both hands.  But then when Moshe's order of kanafeh arrived, I was ready with the camera:

It is a traditional Arabic cheese pastry served with a sugary-sweet syrup.

Here is the link for Fatoush if you ever find yourself in Haifa: TripAdvisor Fatoush

A sign at the entrance to the restaurant welcomes people of all colors, cultures and religions and the mix of languages, colors and friendly laughter on this main Haifa street leaves some hope that peaceful coexistence in this part of the world may be possible.

Yom Kippyr 2013

This year we didn't fast or went to a synagogue but rather joined the kids in their wonder of open streets that happens only once a year and for 24 hours.

6:30pm. Tel Aviv's central highway (Ayalon) is completely empty as Naor is starting his journey to the Rabin Square, then to Hertzelya and back to the Northern Tel Aviv.

7pm. Nadia and her friend are ready for a bike ride to the Tel Aviv port. After insisting on chaperoning them I realized that all school age kids are riding without parent supervision.

7:30pm More and more kids are riding into the streets. Passing under the bridge with the Disney on Ice ad.

Ayalon highway later on this Kippyr evening. Wide open for bikers. 

Youth and kids are all out on the Even Gvirol street in Tel Aviv.

8pm. Near Park ha Yarkon. 

9pm. The great new playground in the Tel Aviv port is filled with kids of all ages that rode from Tel Aviv and neighboring towns.

Tel Aviv port. The couple in white are returning from a synagogue.

Yom Kippyr Day - 100F heat. We took Nili to a playground but then stayed in till the evening packing Naor for his trip to the US.

6pm Bikers enjoy the tunnel curves.

Nadia is skateboarding near the Assyta Hospital.

A girl on a skateboard being pulled by her dog on Raoul Wallenberg street.

Sun is setting down on the Raoul Wallenberg street and the monument.