One evening in Jerusalem during the summer holidays, Yonatan, Riva and I (Amber was in Modi’in) strolled around Nahalat Shiv'a, the third residential neighbourhood built outside the city walls, founded in 1869 as a cooperative effort by seven Jerusalem families.
All summer, Yoel Moshe Salomon Street has sported a wonderful decoration of thousands of colourful umbrellas floating in the air like a multicoloured paint brush. The Umbrellas Street Project has been produced by Eden-The Jerusalem Center Development Corporation for the municipality, and is a continuation of an idea begun several years ago in Agueda, Portugal, which has since spread to streets in Turkey, Serbia, Germany, Cambodia and other countries during the month of July. It is usually known as the Umbrella Sky Project. It was first implemented in Israel in 2013, when 600 umbrellas were suspended over Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard to celebrate the arrival of free Wi-Fi across the city. But in Jerusalem they are just meant as an attention-catching way to welcome visitors to this pedestrianised area of art galleries, jewellery and craft shops, boutiques and cafés.
Riva admiring the thousands of colourful umbrellas floating in the air like a multicoloured paint brush in Yoel Moshe Salomon Street.
Yonatan buying jewellry on Yoel Moshe Salomon Street.
Heleni haMalka Street, of Jaffa Street.
Jaffa Street at Tsion Square.
The tram on Jaffa Street at Tsion Square.
Yonatan in an alleyway between Ma'alot Nakhalat Shiva Street and Yoel Moshe Salomon Street.
Building on Ma'alot Nakhalat Shiva Street.
Street cat feeding time on Ma'alot Nakhalat Shiva Street.
An old doorway, Yoel Moshe Salomon Street.
The interior of the Nahalat Yaakov Askenazi Synagogue on Ma'alot Nakhalat Shiva Street, which claims to be the first purpose-built synagogue outside the city walls.
A house on an alley off Ma'alot Nakhalat Shiva Street.
After wandering around – Yonatan bought a silver snake ring for his girlfriend – we visited Tmol Shilsom (“Those were the days,” named after SY Agnon’s novel), a famous bookstore-café-restaurant, whose claim to fame (aside from the excellent food) is that they are a well known establishment where Israel's best known writers read from their works. The first one was Yehuda Amichai, who read from his poetry at the opening in June 1994. Though nobody was reading their works that evening, we found a couple of second hand books to buy, and enjoyed a full meal between us: Riva had an hors d’oeuvre of labane and bread, I had a warm salad with smoked trout and potatoes, and Yonatan has a main course of salomon and couscous!
Tmol Shilsom.