Sea shells
תֵּל אָבִיב-יָ, that’s Hebrew for Tel Aviv and تل أَبيب-يافا, that’s Arabic for the same thing but what else does Tel Aviv have other than two languages that are completely indecipherable to most of us? Well it’s famous for lots of things e.g. this is where Jonah set sail from before he was eventually swallowed by a fish. Interestingly, the city was established in 1909, by dividing up sea shells on a sand dune in a kind of lottery. One hundred and twenty shells were collected from the beach … sixty white and sixty grey. People’s names were written on the white shells and plot numbers were written on the grey shells. A boy drew names from one box of shells and a girl drew plot numbers from the second box … brilliant!
Grannies
Now, however, besides having a population of almost half a million people, it transpires, according to our Middle East correspondent, that Tel Aviv now has scones. Surely a measure of how far and how civilised it has come in a relatively short time. The Hotel Montefiore is the place in question. Our correspondent sets the scene:
“A sanctuary of peace in the centre of Tel Aviv? No seller’s cries? No TVs. No politicians arguing? No gunshots? No, none of that … just the occasional customer’s chuckle. The cafe was a real surprise….ochre interiors with subtle illumination and dark furnishings, pal
m trees and in the background I think I detected Paul Desmond’s sax. Nubile waitresses attired in elegant black summer dresses waving menus elaborated in the King’s English served the scones and poured the jasmine tea. We cannot deny that our appetites had already been whetted by reading those weekly experiences of our scone mentors in Scotland. The objects of our desire were delicious. Crunchy on the outside and softish inside with a few raisins. Squarish instead of roundish but the taste and consistency were just perfect. Even my Granny in Dublin would have enthused“.
Free scones
Given such
a wonderfully detailed and enthusiastic report as well as an endorsement from a Dublin granny, we feel we have no option but to award the Montefiore a topscone. Or, at least a topscone for a foreign scone! We also notice on the hotel’s website, for all you really keen sconeys already booking your flights to Tel Aviv, that: “Hotel Montefiore invites guests to unwind and enjoy a happy hour of expertly crafted cocktails along with complimentary scones, coffee and tea”. Go get ’em! Many thanks to all our correspondents for expanding our horizons so deliciously.
66 88 3 Israel tel: +972 3 5646100 Hotel Montefiore
In our previous post we asked “what colour is a red telephone box?” Perhaps it was only to be expected that ‘the Pedant’ would respond. He forwarded a picture of an albino K6 located in Hull. What ever next? If anyone can spot a K1 we would be delighted to hear from you … photographic evidence please.