Only 2 weeks stay between the landing, back from the Aranui cruise to the Marquesas islands Tahiti, and taking off again, back to Israel. passed on this short touch down in Ca.
Just before our departure, the Israeli Gov. dispatched a Travel Safety Advisory , warning Israelis not to visit Turkey, be vigilant and urging them to depart the country immediately, since Iranian's retaliation terrorism, against Israelis, became an highest probable risk
Let and behold our flight tickets to Israel, were for the first time ever, reserved with Turkish Air, with a lay over stop in Istanbul, so the warning evoked some worries.
Some of our friends, with likewise travel plans at the same time to the same destination, postponed their travel plans, while others changed the airline.
Strangely enough, during the same time Erdogan the erratic President of Turkey, declared of his decree to rename the national carrier trade brand , instructing to paint over the 350 Turkish Airline Commercial planes, and change the word Turkey from its American connotation to the bird, with a pure Turkish name "Turkiye. Hava Yollarie"
Thant was not much of a consolation within this new Hazardous risky situation in which being kidnapped or even much worth… became a viable probability…
Even a stranger serendipity presented itself when the the young UBER Taxi driver we ordered, who arrived to pick us up from home to SFO airport, revealed he was actually originally from Iran… "Boy" I thought to myself … t"his trip is not starting too promising"..
However, all went well , and the driver who opposed the Iranian fanatic regime thus left Iran, and only arrived in the US with his wife and kids in 2014, was quite a nice and helpful fellow.
At the Turkish air check-in counter the typical middle Eastern Balggan - disorder - was at its pick upon our arrival, 2.5 hours prior to the 6:15pm due departure.
For some inexplicable reasons we were not notified of any delays. in departure.
However we shortly discovered at the lounge, that the airplane which arrived 2 ours late from Istanbul, earlier in the day, caused also a delay in the departure time, back to Istanbul. It was way after 9:00pm before the plane, finally took off.
Prior to departing San Francisco and during the short stay at home, we managed to catch up with few dear friends, we saw and dine with, as well as frequented the 2 great museums, in the city which held fantastic exhibits.
Gui Pei - Cotour Fantasy at the Legion of Honor Museum
At the Legion of Honor, a marvelous collection of most exquisite artistic coutour designed by this famous Chinese Fashion designer/artist , Gui Pei , I never heard of before - was on display all over al the museum's permanent gallerias.
Born in Beijing in 1967 she is best known for designing dresses for Chinese celebrities, and in America for Rihanna's trailing yellow gown at the 2015 Met Gala.
Guo Pei: "Couture Fantasy" celebrates the extraordinary designs of Guo Pei—hailed as China's first couturier—and includes more than 80 works from the past two decades highlighting her most important collections shown on Beijing and Paris runways.
Through exquisite craftsmanship, lavish embroidery, and unconventional dressmaking techniques, Guo Pei creates a fantasy that fuses the influences of China’s imperial past, decorative arts, European architecture, and the botanical world.
Colorful elaborate traditional stitching most creative dresses, shoes and accessories, made of special materials and dotted with gold threads, sequences, and Swarovsky glass beads . (more photos)
Floral Exhibit - At the De -Young Musum (6/7/ 2022 – 6/ 12/ 202 )
The 38th annual Floral Exhibit named: "Bouquets of Art" on site, showcased for only one week, fabulous flower arrangements, inspired by the captive conversation with color and composition of the museum's permanent art collection, as a backdrop to the paintings, hanging in the background, all around the museum’s various galleries.
Flower compositions of more then 120 of Bay Area's most renown floral designers were on display, throughout the entire museum . permanent collection, celebrating the summer season fresh flowers palette
We saw these wonderful flowers' constellation on it last day when some already were withered away, so were glad we didn't missed it, and had a chance to see another exhibit
at the museum.
The second exhibit seen was of this artist - Alice Neel , who I wasn't familiar with either, and can't say I really liked her art. The art evokes disturbing feelings., but definitely not indifference.
Neel (1900–1984) was an American visual artist, who was known for her portraits.. Neel spent most of her life in New York City, and her work depicted friends, family, lovers, poets, artists, and strangers testifying to the diversity, resilience, and passion of the people she encountered there. The exhibition includes depictions of Neel’s neighbors in Spanish Harlem, political leaders, queer cultural figures, activists, and mothers, along with a diverse representation of nude figures, including visibly pregnant women.
Alice Neel was one of the century’s most radical painters, a champion of social justice whose longstanding commitment to humanist principles inspired her life as well as her art. and her paintings have an expressionistic use of line and color, psychological acumen, and emotional intensity.
This is the first comprehensive West Coast retrospective of Neel’s work and the exhibition includes paintings, drawings, and watercolors, along with additional artworks and media exclusive to the San Francisco presentation.
Golden Gate Park Band Festival - June to sept
Coming out from the De -Young museum, on one of the unusually rear hottest weekend day, the park's benches next to the performance stage, were occupied by a Jazz loving crowd, enjoying the fantastic weather and the entertaining music bands which kept preforming , one after another
Running each Sunday, from June to Sept at 1:00pm in Golden Gate Park's Spreckel's Temple of Music between the De Young Museum and Ca Academy of Sciences
Bil Bates - President bill@friendsofggpband.org 415 309-0953
Joining the crowd , we delightfully run into Zohar and Ilana from the Israeli "parliament"
which is an East Bay based Social Interaction group, that usefully meets on Fridays for lunch, men and spouses each in separate constellations.
"I am Charlie Walker"- Movie
This new film made in San Francisco, to which our good friends kindly took us along, and which was just released last week, tells an interesting story filmed in San Francisco, from the 1970, which I have not heard about.
Based on true story of how one desperate man, armed with only his charm and wits, takes on a racist San Francisco corporation in 1971.
Mike Colter stars as trucking and construction entrepreneur Charlie Walker. In 1971, two oil tankers violently collided off the San Francisco Coast spilling millions of gallons of crude oil creating an environmental disaster. Against all odds, Charlie was able to secure one of the most lucrative contracts to clean the coastline that threatened much of the San Francisco Bay.
With only three trucks, an incredible work ethic and a whole lot of heart, the film recounts the racial discrimination Walker endured as he tries to save the coastline all while fighting institutional racism from the very company that hired him in the first place.
One film's short fun scene is of a cab driver played by former and popular
SF mayor Willie Brown
Brown. also showed up at the screening.
The film premiered at the Roxy Theater in the Mission district, It attracted as "exotic" crowd as the movie had showcased,
At the end of the screening, the special invitees proceed to a joyful and tasty reception at the near by "Chez Chez" Restaurant/Bar (584 Valencia St,). Overall it was a fun evening.
Back to the Flight with Turkish Air
Business section at Turkish air is quite spacious, and to my surprise. dinner order requests was collected and served by an white dressed Chef.
Actually it was a very good, comfortable and well served flight.
No more masks awere required during the flight
The flight, once on air, was uneventful, and the 2 films I saw on air, are definitely recommended;
"The Professor and the Madman" (2019)
Professor James Murray who worked on the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the mid-19th c, and receives over 10,000 words entries from a patient at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Dr. William Minor.
With Sean Penn and Mel Gibson
Dessert Trolley
The Trial of Axis Sally"
American Traitor follows the life of American woman Mildred Gillars and her lawyer who struggles to redeem her reputation.
With Meadow Williams and al Pacino.
Furthermore, the main lounge at the Istanbul airport, which we got to taste, also for the first time, during the layover, was out of this world. We got hooked...
And the airline did its best in accommodating us on an earlier departing flight, so we arrived in Israel earlier than originally planned.
Landing in Israel - back to the "New Normal"
The arrival terminal is now reversed back to how it was in the pre -Covid times.
No mass diversion of arriving passengers to the PCR testing hall, is any longer in practice
But shortage in airport working staff caused a pileup of luggage, which was left on the luggage belt, not picked up. from previous landing flights
Acrobatic movements of stretching over the moving belt, were needed, as to get hold of one's arriving luggage, shot over and piled up, on top of the previous non picked ones.
The first airport Taxi driver ,we engaged at 3:00:am on Friday June 17th, in the morning, claimed he would not lift luggage, and asked David to load our 4 heavy suitcases, into the Taxi. Since David's back operation prevents him from lifting heavy stuff, another taxi .was called
Beats me why a Taxi driver bothers to work at the airport if he doesn't want to pick- up luggage... Only in Israel...
The second Taxi driver after loading our luggage and starting the fare, ..bothered to tell us that his meter (which he suppose to use by law) is not working, and then tried to extort
a high fare cost .. So after some "verbal muscling" he eventually agreed to the fee suggestion, we insisted on.
However that nasty experience, right upon landing, left a bitter after-taste ,
On Saturday Eve at Habima Squere
Baking at the TLV beach, during the morning with the grands, and sleeping off the irritating jet-lag, all afternoon, begged us to step out for a short walk, of the neighborhood, in the cool of the evening.
Instead of the Israeli Medical Staff demonstration in protest against Violence at Israeli Medical facilities, which we thought was taking place, and was a priority,
a Pro Palestinian and against Occupation demonstration, right at the Habima square was taking place, in full motion, with only Palestinian Authority flags raised to be seen.
The speakers at the rally were calling for the dissolvement of this current Israeli Gov.. which absolutely makes no sense, considering that the salvation will definitely not arrive from Bibi...nor from their own rejection provoking Palestinian leadership, that should have been addressed, in the first place for peaceful normalization to be achieved.....
At the Demonstration
In a week time, a group visit to the Italian Bianale in Venice, with an Ascolot Art Instructor - Gilit Ivgi nand coordinated by Kishrai Tarbut, will begin.
To be continued....
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