June 30th-July 1st, 2014
After returning from Eilat Naomi had to work for a couple of
days but luckily one of her friends, Sharon, offered to be my tour guide in Tel
Aviv. We drove along the gorgeous water
front on a sunny day with many Israelis enjoying the beach. We parked in Jaffa, the ancient port city
just to the south of where Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 although they have
pretty much merged into a contiguous metropolis. Tel Aviv is indeed a beautiful city and I
enjoyed our 2-3 hour wander around through parts of Jaffa, along the
beachfront, into some old neighbourhoods and finally along the wide boulevard
of Rothschild Avenue to the Culture Centre where we had lunch.
One of many beaches in Tel Aviv:
I picked the right t-shirt to wear today:
Knuffle checking out Jaffa:
An old alleyway:
Sharon in Jaffa:
An old minaret:
The skyline of Tel Aviv:
An old clock tower:
Walking along the beach:
Maybe we should have done a Segway tour...
A group of young soldiers with their McDonald's lunch in the park...I thought it was quite the novelty.
Madkot Alley: Madkot is a beach tennis game that is all the rage in Israel:
There's even a Madkot Museum...which is basically in an old man's house but we didn't visit it.
It was "raining" on us from the construction of one of these high rises...hopefully it was clean water.
The culture centre:
That evening Naomi took me to Michmoret Beach which is
located about 25 minutes north of Tel Aviv.
We were meeting some of her friends and co-workers there as well as our
mutual friend, and my guardian angel in India: Zohar. I felt pretty special as it was just me with
six lovely ladies. The restaurant had
set up a big screen projector right on the beach for one of the World Cup
football matches but the game was interrupted part way through by a major news
announcement. The bodies of three missing
Israeli teenagers who disappeared while hitchhiking were found. This event would turn out to be the catalyst
for the Israeli/Gaza conflict that is still going on as I write this. The women I was with were shocked and
saddened by this news and it was interesting for me to see how much Israelis
bond together during a difficult time such as this. I guess they have to as they are surrounded
by many neighbours who would like to wipe them off the map. The broadcasting never returned to the
football match as the news pundits analyzed the situation ad infinitum
(although I couldn’t understand it as it was in Hebrew). It was a bit of a sobering way to finish our
lovely sunset evening on the beach.
Meeting up with Zohar for the first time since India:
It was a gorgeous sunset:
My "harem".... ;)
The following day I took the train back into Tel Aviv, this
time to tour around a bit with Zohar.
Similar to the previous day we just wandered around hitting a few places
like the Carmel Market where haggling reigns supreme. After we parted ways I walked for a few miles
and passed by Rabin Square, named after the former prime minister, Yitzhak
Rabin, who was assassinated there by a right wing Israel radical in 1995. This square is usually the epicentre for
protests that often occur in Tel Aviv.
This young woman is "train security". It's hard to see but she has a gun on her belt...this is serious business.
Some strange predator statue in a mall, it's about 8 feet tall.
Heading to the market:
Carmel Market:
Rabin Square:
An odd looking building...just an optical illusion:
During our shopping in the market, I had bought a kitchen
knife as a small gift for Naomi but I hadn’t even contemplated the fact that it
might cause some difficulty getting on the train to return to Kfar Saba. At the station they had an X-ray machine and
metal detector, just like you’d find in most airports. The young female security officer immediately
asked me if I had a knife in my backpack.
Whoops, yes I do. Thankfully
after half a dozen questions as to who I was, where I was from and who the
knife was for she let me get on the train.
I have to admit that I like the fact that I come from a country where
such strict security is not required.
Speaking of my country, it was Canada’s 147th
birthday this day, July 1st.
Naomi has a co-worker who is originally from Canada and I met Jason
briefly in Goa three to four months earlier.
Our plan was to meet up with my fellow Canadian for a Happy Canada Day
dinner of gourmet burgers and the food did not disappoint and it was great to
sing along to some Tragically Hip with a fellow Canuck.
The Canada Day burger:
We found this crazy playground after dinner...it has to be a recipe for injuries:
This should help with the digestion of that burger...spinning around and around:
This is just downright dangerous...thankfully no one fell off:
Happy Canada Day!
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