Rishon-Le-Zion (Lit. 'First to Zion' circa 1882)

After a long and exhusting flight I'm finally here. My first day in Israel was very exciting. I spent almost the entire day dealing with plumbing problems at my mother's house, negotiating with plumbers, getting parts, etc. It's a miracle I came on time because the house almost flooded.

Rishon is my home town. It is really a southern suburb of Tel Aviv and is known for its large and famous "Carmel" winery (I just remembered a tradition here whereby the high-school seniors dumped buckets of water on us, the poor freshmen, at the cellars of the Carmel winery as an 'official initiation', followed by night of wine and cheese). Rishon is also known for its ornage groves, and beautiful architecture going back more than 100 years, to the period it was built by the pioneers. It also has a terrific beach where I spent most of my childhood and hopefully will get to visit soon. It is hard to recognize it now as every other person on the street speaks Russian, many stores carry signs in Russian, it almost has a feeling of "little Kiev".

I'm heading soon to the "Habima" theatre in tel Aviv, Israel's national theatre, to see "All his life ahead of him" with Lea Kenig and other famous actors. I was finally able to get away from the plumbers for a few minutes and took some picutres. More to follow and regards to all....