Tel Aviv Reflections

Tel Aviv has been an eye opener. Most of the preconceived notions I had were incorrect. The people we kind warm, opinionated and HELPFUL. From our hosts Serge and Michael to the folks we met in cafes, shops or on the street all made me want to stay around as these are my kind of people.

We have eaten very well from local cuisine to Iraqi food, and daily visits to the Carmel Market for a few home made meals.


The thing the made the biggest impression was that Tel Aviv is not a world class city as I had expected, it is  run down and being built up at the same time. There is debris everywhere, yet there is daily garbage pick-up. It has a small town feel from neighborhood to neighborhood. and people get along with much less than most Americans would consider acceptable... and they seem to love their lives here (all 12 people I have talked to) :-)

Paul and I took a walk to a "nice area", this two block long street Nachmani, was between Rothchild and Menachem Begin. As the typical style there were half demolished homes/apartments and half completed newer construction. Trees are so hardy, they grow out of cement, with crooks and bends that seem impossible, yet they bear fruit and flowers, in a way they are survivalists like the people.

It was quite a surprise to see a street named  Oliphant for our friends Patricia and Richard:-)

Cats and Candy

Today was a slower day, Paul had his first day of work and Noa and I just wandered around a few neighborhoods.  The photo above is halvah, a sweet made from sesame and in this case chocolate...  Marilyn, please expect a few pounds:-).

 Two things they have here are there are plenty of are Cats and Candy. There are cats everywhere.  They don't bother to spay them, and all the open air markets with fish and meat keep them here.  All day long you hear them meowing, and fighting.  I love cats and it breaks my heart to see hundreds of cats roaming the streets, parks, even in restaurants!  Thankfully they are feral and know how to cross streets and take care of themselves except for the unprotected sex.  The photo above where stripey looks like he is in jail... he is actually in a shop hiding in the mop display.. brazen.  I wish I didn't promise Paul I would remain quiet about my views as I would be bothering the government about spaying all pets and those on the street.  While I was at city hall... I would  also be SCREAMING about their littering and plasctic bag problems.  There are plastic bags everywhere including the beach... by the thousands, and those are the ones I've seen.  The garbage is extreme, which seems like an oxymoron as this is an evolved thoughtful place.... MEOW.

As for candy, they do a fine of of having every type of sweet on every corner.  Noa says everytime we pass a display, so and so would go nuts for this,  and that one would love all of those etc.

Old and New .. a day of contrasts

I awoke at 4, OK nothing new for me, I killed time until sunrise and went for an early morning walk to see Tel Aviv awaken.  I wanted to see an area called Neve Tzedek, adjacent to our home base and then on to Jaffa also known as Old Yafo (please refer to Paul and Noa's blogs for more on that). As I walked purposely leaving my ipod home so I'd pay attention to everything going on around me.  It struck me that a place that just celebtated its 100th birthday (Tel Aviv) and to biblical times (Old Yafo) that nothing is complete.  Everything is under construction or in need of reconstruction. There is garbage or debris everywhere... like a war zone. 

I stopped in old Yafo and saw a Napoleonic sign telling me which way to go... was he here too?

Next I walked through the Carmel Market where the fishmongers, olive sellers, bakery,  dairy men, produce folks and seller of all kinds of garbage.  It was fresh, clean and ready for business.. At the end of the day I went back to pick up a few things for dinner and it looked like a disaster zone.  Entrails in the street, lone chicken feet, plastic bags from the made in China junk and rotting produce. Then came the garbage truck, think "snow plow" pushing it all together and putting it all where I hope to never visit.   All this will begin anew tomorrow.I wish there was more recycling going on.
 

First 24 hours In Tel Aviv

What started out as an iffy scenario, quickly became a very positive situation. When we arrived at Eden House at around 7pm nothing looked good:-( We were all exhausted and our taxi driver with GPS had a rough go of it. We are residing on a VERY TINY street... more about that later. Noa's face was so long when she saw our quarters I thought she would just about burst into tears. Thanks to Paul's work with the American Academy of achievement, (Noa and I always tagged along) thus her idea of hotels were The Four Seasons, Claridge's, Kempinski etc. Not to mention grandma trips Noa only had experiences in the world of 5*. Paul and I had discussed what a mixed blessing it was for her and that we both preferred to travel more in the "local spirit" with trips to foreign countries with backpacks and on bicycle etc. We both wanted her to learn to love to travel in a more modest style. Well Noa has now seen the world of the 2*. I found this place on Trip Advisor as a B & B and it had/has on the top review from ALL that have stayed here. We have a kitchen, bedroom, sitting area and bath. Two blocks to the beach. Think $96 USD/day vs. $300 or more. It is rustic, complete with dry rot in the bath, 4 types of flooring in less than 400 sq.ft,with humble furnishings. To make Noa feel better, we took a walk down the waterfront promenade and found a gelato shop. The flavors were excellent and for the first time in my life I could not finish. We next walked in to the Sheraton so she could see the nice sterile environment with everyone dressed up and playing nice. We decided we would wait until the morning to see if we should consider other digs. The walk home was fine until we got lost and were getting very frustrated to know how close we were. Noa grabbed the map from Paul and found our way home.

In the morning we all gathered around our technology table, the sun was shining and we discussed how well we all slept, so the ugly beds were comfortable after all, and it was so nice for mom to be able to make coffee in the room and we had enough space for a bit of privacy. The kicker was our hosts Serge and Michael sent us to an AWESOME cafe for breakfast a few blocks away. We met a very cool Sabra, a native born Israeli (very liberal, intelligent etc. As in she could be a best friend). We learned that our neighborhood is adjacent to Neve Tsedek the most expensive area to live in In all of Israel. What more could we want, the beach, quiet neighborhood and room to not be in each others way. WE all were sold, it didn't even have to be discussed.

In the late afternoon we walked Rothschild Blvd toured the Bauhaus architecture, and found the funky shopping area of Shenkin Street. Over the course of 6 miles of walking Tel Aviv streets and shopping centers, it would figure that Noa and I would find the only French store in Tel Aviv having a moving sale and buy a few things all more than 70% off! We will be styling now!

To Booboo: yes I miss you, you appear to be everywhere.

Is it time to pack yet?

As if getting ready to move 8000 miles away wasn’t difficult enough, my mom passed away on Tuesday, I flew to Chicago on Thursday, her funeral was on Friday and I’m on a flight back to Portland today Saturday. I had so many emotions, feelings I was about to crawl out of my skin. I’ve never been to a funeral in several inches of snow, followed by a luxurious luncheon at Arlington Park Race Track, courtesy of my darling sister Sherrie’s in laws who own the race track. It was a repeat of her wedding held there with entirely diffent emotional feel. It was also a blessing as I was able to visit with many relatives and old friends. I also got to spend several quality hours afterward with my dad. There was serendipity everywhere. One of my brother Fred’s good friends knows Rosy the owner of the amazing apartment we are renting in Jerusalem. I went with my dad to Friday night services at a synagogue in Northbrook. The Rabbi also knows of Rosy and knows his dad, if that’s not enough my dear Portland friend Sheryl’s family is buried at the same cemetery as my mom and all the rest of my family. Well we are about to land and I get to see Noa and Paul.

I guess I will finally start packing.