Jonah's Hill (Givat Yona)

On Wednesday, I had some things to do in the city- port of Ashdod. I thought I'd go afterwards to visit Jonah's  Hill which , they say, offers great panoramic views of the city , the sea, the harbour, and the Lachish river. 

Well, the weather was not cooperative. It changed every hour or so from clear and pleasant to rainy and windy, and vice versa.   Not a very suitable day for climbing a hill.

at first,clear sky, calm sea ; (me with a thin head cover)

Nevertheless, I decided to reach the hill with the intention to, at least, learn about its interesting location - in a residential area, close to the promenade, overlooking the sea and city.

Before approaching the hill, I stopped at two spots on the promenade:  the monument in memory of the sunken ships Struma and Mefkure, and the open market near Lido beach and the Sundial tower.

Struma and Mefkure monument

Struma and Mefkure were two ships carrying over a thousand romanian- born jews on their way to, then, British Mandate Palestine, The british refused their entrance; the ships turned back and got torpedoed, probably by  a russian submarine in the Black Sea (Mefkure in 1942, Struma in 1944).

I'm of romanian descent,born and raised in Romania, and I've known  this story all my life, so I felt I had to stay for a while in silence near the memorial, and think about those tragically lost innocent lives.

Sundial Tower near Lido beach

The Wednesday market on Ashdod's promenade, under the shadow of the Sundial Tower is quite a big, versatile  known flea market, but not on this wednesday. Because of the weather, the vendors closed their stalls earlier , and what was left were vegetable/fruit stalls only. People have to eat .

fresh strawberries - I bought some.

Fruit and veggies

vegetables

preserved olives

herbs

Now, back to Jonah's Hill.  There's a lighthouse on the top of the hill. It is clearly seen from the street and the surrounding area. To get to the top one has to climb stairs. For the locals, so I'm told, the hill is a perfect leisure place;it has  a park, picnic spots, a nice cafe-restaurant, and... gorgeous panoramic views. Well, God willing , I'll visit it some other time, in better weather.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse - closer view

This hill is named after the prophet Jonah who, according to the Bible, was swallowed by a whale (or some other sort of sea creature) and released from its belly only after three days and three nights of praying to God. The prophet is said to be buried on the hill, and some excavations done in the area seem to confirm that.

Jonah, was a disobedient prophet. He was told by God to go to Nineve, one of the largest (and wickedest) cities at that time (Mosul in modern day Iraq), to preach, and foretell its destruction.

Well, some sources claim he tried to escape the mission and that's why he got punished ; other sources say he did what he was told to do, but he was angry with God for saving the wicked city from destruction, after all.  Either way he was disobedient.

"Nothing new under the sun": corruption, violence, destruction, disobedience; and a case of "History repeats itself". Nineve was bad, Mosul (especially under the late ISIS occupation) was bad as well. This part of the world, I'm afraid,  will always be bad.

The Swedish Concept

It's winter Sale at the big, international, clothing stores : H&M , Zara,  H &O, Mango, Springfield, Bershka, Castro etc.; 30%  to 70% discount on most winter items.

entrance to the HM store in Ayalon mall - Ramat-Gan city

upper floor-men/ kids fashion; ground floor- ladies' fashion

My favorite is  H&M  - fashion from Sweden. It's called by people "cheap chique" and "fast fashion" (like in fast food - meaning good stuff at affordable prices).What I like about this chain , is that it has something for any age, gender, and purse.It has ladies/men fashion departments, kidswear/ maternity wear/ accessories sections.  Besides, the design of the stores is very,very cool with lots of space  and lights. The chain has branches in the malls of almost all major cities in the country.

window fashion models

kids'  wear

I entered an HM store the other day to have a look,  and  left with a lovely, festive $10  black top . All the colours are present; it's quite obvious, however, that H&M loves red, although black is considered the average swede's favourite color. 
I know a thing or two about fabrics and sewing, so the store offered me much interest and curiosity.

items in red

check out area; poster above the cashiers

Ikea , another swedish brand,  keeps its big Sale once a year, at the end of summer. There are only 4-5 stores in the whole of Israel, but they're very successful. (In the past, I wrote two posts on Ikea).

Ikea store in Netanya city industrial zone

I enjoy having a look at the furniture designs, less at the...prices. I leave the store with some trivial item/s, usually a pot (I like their kitchenware); Over the years I've bought several furniture pieces , among them an armchair I'm very fond of to this day.
I won't leave the store, without eating their famous 'soup in a bread bowl', 

Bread bowl with soup

It's surprising, how a small country like Sweden (barely 10 million people), has produced such a number of global, successful companies: Ikea, H&M,  Volvo, Scannia , Skype - to mention the more famous ones. They also boast a lot of inventions (dynamite, adjustable wrench, pacemaker,ultrasound, seatbelt, and more) ׂ.   What's their secret? 

I suppose their special, 'out of the box' creativity and  great ability to plan, combined with freedom and encouragement given to start-ups by the government, are the things that lead them to international success.


* The map - Web image