YAACOVS FARM in Moshav Kfar Haroeh, half way between Netanya and Hadera, right off highway 4, is one amazing place. A small and very pleasant shop offers twenty two sorts of cheeses and yoghurts, as well as superb olive oil, honey and terrific breads. We buy there Manchego and Pecorino, Italico and Gaudo, hard cheeses and soft cheeses The moshav, founded in 1933, is now home to the B'nei Akiva Yeshiva, founded 74 years ago, the most wonderful rustic local restaurant, Ha'roeh B'kfar, the Shoshana's bakery, the best stocked shop for bakers.. For a few days before Shavuot, a larger market is very inviting.

The Harry Recanati Foundation - Ralli Museums of Art - in
-Punta del Este (Uruguay),
-Santiago de Chile,
-Caesarea (Israel),
-Marbella (Spain)
are open to the public free of charge.

The Israeli Museum in Caesarea is in two buildings.
There is no souvenir shop, coffee shop, or cafe...
Just beautiful buildings housing impressive collections.

The first building, built in Moorish style, exhibits mainly Latin American and Spanish paintings and sculptures. The collection of bronze sculptures by Salvator Dali is amazing, and the display is simply wonderful. Very nice scuplture garden in front of the building, and another sculpture garden in the open gallery upstairs. In the lower floor area is an archeological exhibit "Herod's Dream", which shows how the harbour was built, presents the different periods of the city of Caesarea: Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine,...muslim, crusaders... as well as the different stages in the work of archeologists. Also a temporary exhibition is on lower level. Currently it includes work of Eduardo Sarlos, contemporary Uruguayan painter. Sarlos' ink drawings and paintings presenting old people with great detail and subtle irony made me think of Maurice Sendak's work .
	The second building is honouring the Sephardi Jewish culture. Inside the building are 3 floors of 16th to 18th century paintings with themes of the Tanach. Outside - Galleries, Columns, Marble Fountains, Windows, Marble Sculptures, Marble Benches .

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Zichron Yaakov was founded in 1882 by 100 Jewish settlers from Romania.

Baron Edmund de Rothschild provided struggling Zichron's pioneers with financial assistance and
also sent agricultural experts from France
along with French grape vines and instructors
to help the new settlers start a wine industry.

Today pretty Zichron Yaakov is a home to

• - Rothschild's Carmel Winery
  (The first electricity and the first telephone ever installed in Israel were at Carmel !),
• - Tishbi Winery,
• - a few new 'garagiste' wineries,
• - New microbrewery, Pavo, located on the hilltop, offering great beer and spectacular views,
• - Beth El, a German Christian kibbutz that runs factories and enterprises, including,
  • an air-conditioner filter factory,
  • Aunt Berta's jams and sauces,
  • Breads and Pasta
  • beautiful linen...
• - different communities, religious, secular, young families with adults working in High Tech companies within a drive...

The main street, Rehov Hameyasdim, lit by old fashioned street lamps, lined with trees in front of restored original houses, very French looking. A big part of Rehov Hameyasdim is a brick paved pedestrian mall with eateries, galleries, boutiques, and craft stores, .
	A water reservoir, known as Brechat Binyamin with the facade that would make you think this is the facade of an ancient synagogue, but no, the building was constructed in 1891 in order to provide water to a central point in the village.

The ancient caves in the western part of the Carmel Mountain Range contain evidence of inhabitation by prehistoric human beings. These caves were used continuously for 200 thousand years, something almost unheard of. Excavations at the site began nine decades ago, the remains of hearths, food and burials have been found. .

A Tribute evening to the songs of Yossi Banai, one of Israel's greatest performers, took place in Netanya Amphitheatre, on the first evening after the 9th of Av. Boaz Banai (from the Banai Family), Corinne Elal, Ben Artzi (the son of Shlomo Artzi), and the local ensembles sang the songs of Yossi Banai. The evening was hosted by truly amzing Tuvia Tzafir, who performed hilarious imitations of Israeli politicians and sang Banai's songs Yossi Banai's writing and songs, his acting and directing, his passion for French chansons, many of which were translated into Hebrew, his reading from the Book of Psalms, accompanied by music, his singing, turned him into an Israeli legend, an icon of Israeli culture.

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