caesarea – a little food and a little kulchur

We decided to go to the Ralli Museums  this morning because two of our friends are exhibiting there.  We’ve been there before but weren’t terribly excited by the classical collection.  For some reason I didn’t take pictures but it’s an impressive museum, and worth seeing.  I didn’t even take pictures of the exhibits, even though I found Rony Sommek included a poem I’d translated in one of the pictures.  Ronen Shapira’s portraits were impossible to portray because of the lighting reflected in the glass, but they have to be seen to be believed.  And his piano invites inclusion and participation.  See?

Tuned to quarter tones, it immediately changes the way you think about music, about harmony, about the Middle East.  

So much for culture today.  We need much more of it.  But we were also hungry, and I got it into my head that we had to have lunch on the beach at Caesarea.

Now this was not an easy task. Ezi saw the sea of cars in the parking lot and immediately balked.  But I was driven.  We parked, flashed our membership card to the nature society at the entrance, and walked through the crowds to the furthest restaurant – the one I remembered with great fondness from almost 2 years ago, Helena’s.  There was a line of people  who were getting turned away because they hadn’t made reservations but somehow we found ourselves at my favorite corner table by the windows overlooking the sea and the shore.  

What amazing luck we had!  What amazing food.

No wonder we were overjoyed to be there.  Everything was perfect, the owner was warm and inviting, the waiter – OH the waiter, Stav – deserved a much bigger tip than the 15% we always give.

I promise next time I will make reservations and bring my whole family and all my friends!  There are very few places that I recommend with all my heart, but Helena’s is one of them.