Taming Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo, the White City, is the second largest city in Israel and was founded in 1909. Lying on the Mediterranean coastline, it stretches over 20 square miles - which is not THAT large when compared to some European cities - and is home to 3.15 million people. That number became 3.15 million and one when I visited the city several years ago. After an interesting flight to Tel Aviv on Israeli airline El Al - interesting as in "couldn't at least SOME of the in-flight announcements be in English, please?" - we landed at the Ben Gurion International Airport (where I had to wait for six hours for my tour guide to fetch me...good start!) Once I had finally escaped the airport's clutches, I was taken to my hotel, which was located in a nice middle-class area of the city. As far as hotels go, this one was great and it proved that choosing inexpensive accommodation in Tel Aviv had been a good idea. Never one to languish in a hotel room, though, I immediately set off to explore, among other places, the trendy Dizengoff Street and its internationally famous Dizengoff Center shopping mall, which is visited by an estimated 140,000 people per week.
The mall, which opened in 1983, is located just south of Dizengoff Square and was as spectacular as it claimed to be but I must have caught it on a quiet day as it was relatively easy to navigate. My personal favorites were the movie memorabilia shops and the international food court (food + me = good) where I discovered that in Israel, a hamburger consisted of fries, a patty and garnish all stuffed inside a fried falafel shell! I must, however, recommend the juice bars and a cold glass of exotic juice on a hot July Mediterranean day just hits the spot.
I also have fond memories of the time I spent swimming off one of the amazing Tel Aviv beaches. It was rather late in the day and the sun was setting over the Mediterranean but the water was still warm and the beach uncrowded - apparently you may miss the usual hoards of people if you swim in the evenings - and a great time was had by all. The Tel Aviv harbor should also be on any tourist's must-see list and memories of that crystal clear sea against that bright blue sky will stay with me forever (as will the memory of all the ice cream flavors at the historic Montana Ice Cream Parlor!).
Filed under the heading of 'places I wish I had visited while in Tel Aviv' is the ancient city of Jaffa with its 19th century St Peter's Church that's built right above a crusader fortress, and the peaceful Yarkon Park, which features a botanical garden and an aviary.
A slight knowledge of Hebrew is recommended to all those thinking of travelling to Tel Aviv and things do happen far more quickly and easily if you can demonstrate to the locals that you are at least trying to talk in their language. One word that I found really came in handy was 'seliha' - pronounced 'sleega' with a guttural g - which is the Hebrew term for 'excuse me'. I used this word almost constantly when negotiating the insanely crowded international departures hall at Ben Gurion.
I left Tel Aviv, tired but happy, after having a little chat with a steely-eyed Israeli security officer about why my suitcase had a burn mark on it (real enthusiastic light bulb), and, if I could, I would return in a minute.
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