Everybody in the country shops on Friday morning.  If I had a choice today I’d go to Baka Al Gharbia for meat, vegetables, kubbe, baklava – and maybe talk to the merchants, maybe meet some friends for a long coffee.  Or maybe go to the Shuk Hacarmel, watch Miri Aloni sing on the corner of the entrance, buy some gym clothes off a cart, grab some felafel…  But with the lockdown I settled for a nearby shopping square that is still considered a very high class place to buy.  it’s right between the apartment that Rabin used to live in and Shimon Peres’ place.  Not wealthy but celebrated.

Now it is crowded with exclusive food shops – bakeries, deli, choclatier, custom loungerie, and a celeb butcher.  Because everyone is masked and coated, it was hard to distinguish the famous from the common, but in any case the lines were so long to get into shops I contented myself with the butcher.  He is himself a big celeb and always seems to pick me out and give me preparation instructions in English.  (my accent is much more Yiddish than English so I don’t know how he guessed it)  I always feel extra special there even though i can’t imagine why.