Tel Aviv

After a day of traveling, we have made it to Tel Aviv.  Our flight on Austrian Air from Chicago to Vienna was wonderful.  Unlike US flights, the business class was only about 3/4 full.  The flight had its own chef who came around and personally asked what we wanted from the menu.  We opted for the beef tenderloin with a prawn salad and I also had the pumpkin soup -- absolutely delicious.  We were also allowed to pre-select our breakfast items at the same time -- United -- are you listening?  Although it was a 9 hour flight, I only got about 4 hours of sleep, but it was better than Bill -- he did not sleep at all on the flight.  After landing in Vienna, we had about 1 1/2 hours to transfer to our Tel Aviv flight.  But we did not have to go through any passport controls -- just find your gate and wait.  As great as the first flight was, this left a lot to be desired.  Intra-Europe business class is just about the same as economy flights in the US, except they do serve a meal and wine.  The seats are the same as the 3 and 3 configuration on a US airbus, and unfortunately, so is the spacing -- there is definitely more leg room in Economy Plus than on this business class.  But the middle seat was empty, so it was at least a little better than coach and it was only a 3 hour flight, so all was well.  As we were approaching Tel Aviv, the captain said that it was very hazy and visibility was quite low.  You could barely see the ground as we were on final approach.  It reminded me of LA before they instituted smog controls or the haze we had in Colorado due to the fires in the Northwest (just 100 times more hazy).  According to our taxi driver, the haze was caused by a big storm over Syria which blew a lot of sand into neighboring countries.  This, coupled with a high humidity, is something Israel has not seen in 3 decades and many people are suffering from respritory distress.

The drive in from the airport was uneventful.  There is not much to see -- just patches of sand between construction sites and non-descript buildings.  But there is a lot of traffic!  As we drove toward the center of the city, it reminded me of Saigon -- a lot of scooters (only in Tel Aviv it is small SUVs) going in six different directions at the intersections.  Signal lights do not seem to matter much here.

The Center Chic Hotel is a small boutique hotel located in the center of Tel Aviv.  The rooms are small, but quite comfortable.  There is a large shower with a rainforest type shower spray -- really, really nice.  We need to see about getting one of those for home.  There is also a sister hotel (Cinema Hotel) located right across the street from the Chic.  As the name implies, it has a lot of items from the glory days of Hollywood -- large cameras, books, and pictures. This is where we will have breakfast and they also have a Happy Hour from 5:30-7 each evening.  It is located on the 4th floor and has a terrace overlooking the city (although last night there was not much of a view because of the haze).  They provide light snacks and free wine.  Once we got settled in our room we went over for the Happy Hour.  We needed to try and stay awake until at least 8 PM.  We sat next to a woman who worked for the Israeli diplomatic corps.  She was between assignments, having just completed a 7 year tour to Vienna.  We had a very interesting conversation with her, especially on the economic consequences the current Syrian refugee situation is having on European and Jordanian economies.  Unfortunately, by 7:15 we were fading fast (I'm sure the several glasses of wine didn't help), so we had to say goodbye and head off to bed.

Fountain in Dizengoff Square

As we were crossing the street back to our hotel, we noticed the plaza next to the hotel had a fountain with colorful lights that were syncopated with a recording of classical music.  It was quite interesting and at certain points during the display, fire would shoot up from the center of the fountain.  Of course, I had to run to the hotel and grab my camera.

The next morning we were up early (woke up at midnight, 4 AM, and finally just got up at 6), had breakfast, and left to visit the Eretz Israel Museum (Land of Israel Museum).  It is an outdoor museum with exhibits built around the archaeological excavation of Tel Galise.   It was an interesting museum, but the weather was so stifling hot and humid that it made it hard to enjoy.  We visited an old olive oil extraction plant and then walked around the ruins unearthed at the Tel.  They are currently working on the Temple area.

Oil Extraction Plant



Residential area of Tel Galise

Temple Excavation

After we returned to the hotel we went in search of a place to eat lunch.  We found a small restaurant that served sandwiches and salads -- The Bread Story. We each ordered a meatball sandwich with a side of Mac and Cheese.  We should have noticed that everyone around us was sharing a sandwich and salad, because when ours came, it was huge. And unfortunately, not very tasty.  We both left about half of ours -- and it was not cheap.  The lunch cost us about $65!



Jaffa Clock Tower

The rest of our tour arrived later this afternoon, and after a short orientation talk by our guide Lior, we all walked to a beach front restaurant about a mile away for our Welcome Dinner.  It was still hot, but at least we had the ocean breezes from the Mediterrean Sea.  Dinner (fish and chips) was very good. 



Egyptian gate

Friday was the first real day of our tour.  We went to Jaffa, a 4,000-year old port city out of which Tel Aviv emerged as a city.  Located in the southern part of Tel Aviv, it may be the world's oldest port city.   It is mentioned in the Bible as the port from which Jonah left in the story of the Whale!  Until the late 19th century it served as the main entry point for Jews around the world who were returning to Israel.  As the population grew in the city, its residents began building outside of Jaffa and the city of Tel Aviv was founded in 1909.  Today, Jaffa is part of Tel Aviv.  We walked around the old part of the city and saw the remnants of the Ottoman Empire -- the front columns from the old Palace, the bank next door, and the jail house (now being renovated into an upscale boutique hotel) across the street from the bank.  In the center of the street stands a clock tower that was a gift of the Turkish government. After walking around for a little while, we drove to Illana Goor Museum.  Near the museum  was an excavation site of an Egyptian Gate dating back to Ramses II. The Goor Museum is the eclectic private home of this renowned Israeli artist, designer and sculptor, which she has turned into a museum to house her artwork and the work of budding Israeli artists.  It was a very interesting museum, although her work was not to my liking.  A picture of her metal sculpture of a whale is below.  Today she was at the Museum so we got to meet her.  She is 78 years old and also resides in New York with her husband.  She was selected by the Israeli government to design the gift for Michelle Obama during her visit to Israel. (See necklace in the photo.)


Sculpture made of chewing gum

Model of Obama necklace

We left Jaffa around noon and went to the home of Doris, an Arab-Christian woman living in Tel Aviv.  She provided us with a light lunch of typical Arab foods -- hummus, cut-up vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, cold cuts, and a very sweet (and delicious) desert bar made from sesame paste.  She then told us about her life, her arranged marriage, her children and what it was like living in a mixed neighborhood with Muslim and Jewish families.




Dust-covered car

As we get ready to leave Tel Aviv tomorrow and head north, some general reflections on the city.  First the weather has not been kind to us (or the Israelis).  We are in the midst of a terrible heat wave -- temps in the high 90s with humidity to match.  Coupled with this, we learned this morning that the dust storm that hit the region from Syria was the worst dust storm in Israeli history.  Our friends on the pre-tour to Jordan said that it was very bad in Jordan also with schools closed and many flights cancelled.  Every day we are told it should begin to dissipate by noon.  So far, no such luck!

Bauhaus architecture

For a relatively new (1909) city, it appears to be a hodge-podge of construction and design. This maybe in part because the developers of Tel Aviv wanted it to be built by Jewish hands and they did not have much expertise in this area.  It is known as the White City for its Bauhaus architecture -- a type of design from Germany that features plain white diced-shaped or box buildings with straight lines and devoid of ornamentation.  There are over 4,000 structures of this type of design.  Sprinkled among these structures are buildings that look run-down and dilapidated.  And in the newer parts of Tel Aviv, especially the northern section, there are tall, glass skyscrapers and apartment complexes.  Land is at a premium here, so people are building upward-not outward.  Traffic is a night mare here -- there is very limited mass transportation (buses only) and the streets are very narrow with cars parked on both sides.  How our bus driver made it up some streets is a testament to his great driving skills.  Tel Aviv is in the early stages of building a light rail system, but it is still years away.  And the coating of dust that covers everything (from the dust storm) just added to the over-all dreary appearance of the city.  We could not find much that would every inspire us to return to Tel Aviv.

Jonah the Whale sculpture by Illana Goor