I am up early this morning. Internal alarm clock went off at about 4 AM and there was no going back to sleep. Yesterday was a warm, balmy day, with many people heading to the beaches. Jeanne and I walked down the boardwalk and soaked up some sun and fresh air. The beaches are beautiful and protected by jetties and sea walls. Lots of paddle boarders, but the waves are too small to surf. The ocean is clear and very dark blue, much like our own Pacific. We ventured up a couple blocks into the city on our way back, finding the streets lined with small shops and hole-in-the-wall eateries. Tel Aviv is like any other big city...lots of traffic, noise, trash and people. Buildings range from new and modern to old and crumbling (or condemned). Renovations are taking place everywhere, and with many buildings with scaffolding and gutted interiors.

Today, we both have busy days planned. Jeanne will be working most of day with the HP logistical crew preparing for tonight's event kick off, an evening cocktail party in one of the ballrooms. I am catching a shuttle to the old city of Jerusalem, where I plan to walk the entire wall that surrounds the city, and then spend the remainder of the day exploring the Muslim Quarter.

I will try to get some pictures posted either tonight or tomorrow, unless I have issues with the blog. Funny thing happened last night...I opened the blog and all the posting tools had changed from English to Hebrew, and went from a page orientation of left-to-right to right-to-left. It took me a couple hours of trial and error to finally find the setting that changed it back. I think my computer saw that I was in Israel and assumed I wanted to have Hebrew for my native language. Stupid Computer!

Mike