World-class TelAviv

Leaving Safat on Monday, June 13 we are heading back to Haifa to return our Hertz rental car and then catch the train south to Tel Aviv. Per our rental agreement, we are to return the car with a full tank of gas just as it was when we picked it up. $81 later it was full. We wanted to say “Thank you Brandon” but it looks like some other fool is responsible for the high gas prices in Israel. Turned out the train station was just right across the street from Hertz so we had only a short wait for the next train. Great ride, partially along the Mediterranean Sea, easy taxi to our hotel and we are at our final base for segment 1. 

The Hotel Saul is a very cool, boutique hotel in the central district and just a ten-minute walk to the beaches. We splurged a little bit and got one of the two rooms with a front balcony overlooking the street. “Executive suite”, it was called…. but in the truth is, it was pretty tiny, being maybe 250 square feet. Regardless, it was very clean, fashionably decorated and the best part: free beer and wine on the 4th floor sundeck! Had some bar food and a beer at a sidewalk café that night and to bed.  

Hotel Saul and Night and Terrace bar 

Our tour of the city on Tuesday started with a stroll down the famous Rothchild Boulevard, home to hundreds of stunning Bauhaus-styled homes. This is the distinctive German architecture that was used in the late 1930’s when German Jews fled the Nazi regime and began building these homes in what was then Palestine, before the State of Israel was created. The vast majority have been beautifully restored and Rothschild Boulevard is a great place to walk with a tree-lined walking and biking lane separating the one way roads on either side. Andrea wanted to rent scooters but Bill feared getting ran over on these busy streets! 

We then hit the Caramel Market where it was packed with tourists and vendors of all kinds. 

 Paprika cones 

 Spices 

 Yummy baked goods 

 Candies! 

Breads! 

Old Town Jaffa is about 2 km away on the southern tip of the city. After several coaching sessions, we were able to navigate riding the bus. There’s always someone to help and on the bus trip, we talked with a young lady from Los Angeles who visited five years ago, never left and now sells real estate in a very lucrative market. She gave us a few must-see spots to visit in Old Town Jaffa. This is an ancient port that has been occupied by countless conquerors, including Napoleon. Of course, all the buildings are sandstone and restored to house families, bars, restaurants and shops.

 People play backgammon everywhere here. 

We visited an area called the “American Colony”. In the late 1700’s a group of pilgrims from Maine literally disassembled their homes, loaded the materials and themselves on a big schooner and set sail for Israel (or whatever it was in 1700). Once on land, they purchased a small tract of land and re-assembled their homes. Unfortunately, the leader of the group was somewhat of a wino, so he couldn’t hold the vision nor the pilgrims together. Anyway, it is pretty cool to walk down a street of very Maine-looking houses in Israel. 

 

American Colony Homes 

Whale statue depicting the story of Jonah and the Whale. In case you don't know the story it goes like this....God sent a big whale to swallow Jonah and to save him from drowning. While in the belly of the big whale, Jonah prayed to God for help, repented, and praised God. For three days and three nights, Jonah sat in the belly of the fish. All the while Jonah kept thinking about himself and his plight.W hat is the moral of the story of Jonah? Another of those lessons that we really are glad to learn is that no man can sink so low as to be beyond forgiveness. As a prophet of God, Jonah had sunk about as low as he could, but God would still forgive him. Nineveh was wicked enough that God intended to destroy it, but He could still forgive them

After a few cold-ones, we had a great Israeli dinner at a sidewalk café and rode the bus back to the Hotel Saul to end the day.

Wednesday, our last day in Tel Aviv, is our scheduled laundry day. Supposedly there is a laundromat “right around the corner” so after considerable rearrangement of our luggage, we stuffed our two duffle bags (for use later in the African segments 4 and 5) with ten days of dirty clothes and set out for the laundromat. Nope, this one is not self-serve and in the tiny place we are seeing mounds of dirty clothes bags awaiting washing. The nice Asian lady informed us that the earliest she could get to it would be “sometime tomorrow”. Okay, back to the hotel for plan B. Fortunately, the hotel clerk (who speaks nearly perfect English) says there is one in the opposite direction, 10 minutes away and it is across the street from the best hummus place in town. So, off we go and find our laundromat, no problem. Next problem though, is reading the Hebrew directions and understanding how many Shekel coins to put in each of the three washers and dryers we will need. The two accountants determine that about 30 coins are needed, of which we have none and there is no coin-changer machine. While Bill guarded the clothes, Andrea went to two nearby stores and easily got the required coins. With washers humming, we walked across the street and indeed had the best hummus (and accompanying Israeli salad) in town. This little hole in the wall was owned by a beautiful Ukrainian lady with a friend from Sudan (might be the boyfriend but not sure). She said her brother is still in Kiev, fighting the Russians. After a quick run back across the street to start the dryers, we finished a superb meal and people-watched at our outside table. Another laundry patron showed up, a nice, meek young Canadian lady who moved to Tel Aviv last year with her Jewish husband. Her occupation: Standup comic at the “Dancing Camel” comedy store! You just never know!

 

Try and figure this out! 

Yan from Ukraine and Anda from Sudan

After folding and completely repacking our packing cubes back to the original pre-trip state, we’re off in swim suits, flip flops and a cooler full of free beers to the Mediterranean beach for a few hours. The water is fantastic and so refreshing. Had a great (but overpriced) dinner at a Portuguese restaurant just a block from the hotel. Early to bed after getting all organized and packed up for our 5:15 am wakeup to start our journey to Segment 2: Jordan.

 

                                                                 Paddleball is a very serious sport here. 

Prologue:

 

The city of Tel Aviv is a world-class city. Clean, efficient, new and vibrant. It is truly a melting pot of Jewish (and some non-Jewish) people who have “come home” to their motherland. While places like Akko and Sefat were very conservative…(married women cannot show their hair to anyone other than their husband) …Tel Aviv is the polar opposite. The Israeli woman are stunningly beautiful, most young women are bra-less and very fashionably dressed. The streets are teeming with people and the shops are overflowing with whatever goods they are selling. Tel Aviv is clearly the New York City of the middle east, in our opinion.