This morning, Wakako, a Japanese journalist, and I take a minibus to Tel Aviv to meet up with Yoko who is already there. After getting off the minibus we had to enter a mall to cut to the other side of the street where the bus station is.
Most public buildings in Israel have some sort of security. At the mall entrance sits a single security next to a metal detector. She goes through both of my backpacks only briefly enough to see the top items and lets us through the beeping metal detector. At the other side we find a bus that is heading towards old Tel Aviv.
The public bus in Tel Aviv looks like any other normal bus, however the clientel is quite different. There are Orthodox Jews, Muslims, and Soldiers carrying firearms and large duffels bags. We arrived at the old part of Tel Aviv called Jaffa. Here we get off the local bus at an amazing looking clock tower and trek towards our hostel.
The beaches of Tel Aviv start next to Jaffa and stretch all the way to the high-rise buildings of new Tel Aviv. It is winter here and the waters are still warm to swim, however I am told that the beaches are the most empty. The overall feel of this city is completely different from that of Jerusalem. It feels soul-less compared to the ancient city of Jerusalem and the modern feel of the city makes it seem like I can be anywhere in the world right now.
I meet up with Anna, a Spaniard, who I met on the Jerusalem walking tour. She is out here doing geological research for school and we decide to check out the beach and walk around the city. There are still a lot of people on the beach, especially for winter and it makes me think how great it would be to live in a place where I can hit up the beaching during Christmas. I’d imagine that it would be must like Christmas in Australia where families each sea food and go to the beach for the holidays.
That night at the hostel I meet my first Chinese traveler. She is staying in the same room has Yoko and is only here for the night and I finally get another chance to practice my Mandarin. The nights are quite cool and without a kitchen I am forced to eat at the local street food stands near our hostel. For being in the middle of the Arabic quarter of Tel Aviv the food here doesn’t hold a flame compared to Jerusalem.
I’ve met and talked to several Israeli people while I was in the city. Four out of the five have told me how Israel is the greatest country in the world within five minutes of meeting them. Yet they don’t really ever justify their statement and the discussion of their country usually ends with that statement.
The walk back from the main city to old city of Tel Aviv takes about forty five minutes. Check out this license plate I found while walking home. It is actually from Sedgwick County which is where I’m fromI usually return after sunset everyday and walk along the beach. The sunsets here have been some of the most colorful I’ve yet to see. The temperature drops immediately after the sunsets and the entire city shuts down.
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