Newly Decorated "Tunnel"

Last night, when my husband and I got off of the bus that had taken us from Ashdod to Jerusalem, I wondered how we were going to cross the road from Binyanei Ha'uma to the area of the bus station. My plan was to use the time before our bus to Shiloh to make a "pit stop" in the CBS, Central Bus Station. In order to cross that wide, busy street, we'd have to walk quite a distance to either the right or the left.

I hadn't gone through the tunnel underneath for years. It's really ugly, smelly and unpleasant in many ways. But he insisted that would be the best way to go.

As soon as we got down there, I was in shock!  Not only had it been cleaned up quite a bit, but it has been painted in a very attractive way. Abstract is perfect there. Flowers would have looked silly.

What do you think?

Israel's Eurovision Win, Not Just Music

When I saw Israel's Netta's "Toy" in the Eurovision semifinal last week, which was the first time I watched it or any of the annual contest for years, I began to understand that Eurovision's no longer just a "song contest." And I'm not talking about the "politics." If you want to know a bit about the "politics," then read my Shiloh Musings post.

The staging and production of Eurovision is now most suited to a sports arena, and there's no way that it will fit in Jerusalem's Binyanei Ha'uma, where it had been held in the past.


Israel's "Halleluyah" won Eurovision in 1979, when the competition took place in Jerusalem's Binyanei Ha'uma.

Compare it to Israel's win in Lisbon just a few hours ago:



There's nothing simple about the staging. Of course the most spectacular place in Jerusalem would be Sultan's Pool, outside of the Old City, but security would be easier at Teddy Stadium. What do you think?