Monday, March 7th

View North from Shalom Hotel

View Looking West from the Shalom Hotel

View Looking South from the Shalom Hotel

Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center

Tel Aviv Museum of Art

Sacrifice of Isaac Sculpture

Today was a free day for me to visit Tel Aviv and walk some parts of the city that I have not seen.  First I took some pictures from the roof of the Shalom Hotel where there are very pretty views of the Mediterranean.  From the hotel I walked toward the City Garden and then past the Rubin Memorial to the area of the Performing Arts Center and Tel Aviv Museum of Art.  The buildings are very modern and there are modern sculptures on the grounds of the Museum of Art.  The Museum contains Israel’s most important 19^th and 20^th century art collection and includes pieces by Degas, Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Braque, Metzinger, and Picasso.  There is also a 17^th century Flemish collection.  This took several hours to visit before heading to Dizengoff street and stopping at Dizengoff Center Mall, which an enormous multilevel indoor shopping area that covers several blocks.  With such gorgeous weather, walking the date palm lined streets of Tel Aviv was very relaxing and enjoyable.  Tomorrow is my last day before flying back to Birmingham in the evening.