Tel Aviv

So I've discovered that Tel Aviv is going to be my secret to sanity in the Northern Sinai. If we gobble some lunch down after our morning staff meeting on Thursday and hit the road by 11:30/12:00ish, we are able to beat the traffic and be in the city by mid to late afternoon. It’s a pretty easy drive and even crossing the border into Israel is relatively painless all things considered.

We do make one stop (both on the way and back) to get these hot dogs at a gas station. I know, eating mystery sausages off of the rollers is something I swore I'd never do, but these are so damn good, you literally have to fight off other people to make sure you get one. They are like 10+ inches, covered in sauerkraut and mustard, nestled in a nice chewy bun. Yum…

Anyway, Tel Aviv is not technically the capital of Israel (Jerusalem is), but it is by far the largest city in the country with a population of over 3 million (including the city proper, Jaffa south of town, and the northern suburbs). It is the economic and cultural hub of the country and at last count the 17th most expensive city in the world to live in.

It fairly new city, founded in 1909 which merged with the much older (and primarily Palestinian) Jaffa in 1950. Given it's location, you'd be right in assuming it's had a rather tumultuous past, from it's time under British mandate, to problems with Palestinian neighbors, to the more recent spate of suicide bombings through the 90's and early 2000's.

You'd never look at it and say it's a beautiful city. Most of it looks like it lacked some serious zoning laws over the years, and you have tall modern buildings right in the middle of residential areas, and the like. I wouldn't even say there is much of architectural significance either. Most building are rather boxy and run down, although apparently they have great areas of Bauhaus architecture. I don't know too much about this other than to say it came out of the German Modernist movement. To be honest, it just looks kind of like the other boxy 60's looking buildings, although I'm sure someone more tuned in would find certain areas of the city very interesting.

What it does have going for it is am amazing location with gorgeous beaches, enviable weather, and an infectiously hip cosmopolitan vibe. It really feels like a European city filled with cafes, bars, upscale shopping, outdoor markets, and did I mention the fantastic beaches? I don't know if it is because I'm going to TA from an area that looks exactly the same today as it did hundreds of years ago (minus the Toyota pickup trucks), but we all tend to breath a sigh of relief when we get into the city.

We get a good rate on a simple hotel right in the center a couple blocks off the Mediterranean which gives us good walking access to pretty much everything. My weekend usually consists of a couple of good meals, lounging on the beach, getting a massage, a movie if anything is playing, some shopping, and a night on the town. Doesn't sound too terribly exciting, but believe me, it is a nice change from sitting in my hooch and eating at the mess hall.

Last time I was there, I hit the craft market in the old part of town. It was pretty much like every other craft (crap) market I've been to, but what was cool was I saw several groups playing music on corners. And I don't mean half-assed performers with accordions, these were groups of 3-5 older men playing classical music. They were all fantastic musicians and seemed to be really enjoying themselves. While I was watching them, I couldn't help but thinking about how they were probably all in Europe during the war and were the lucky ones to actually survive and make it down here afterwards. Speaking of which, it is an incredibly diverse population here. The majority of the people I've met are at least 2nd generation Israeli, but their families come from all over the place, Morocco, Europe, India, etc. Oh yeah and I can't forget the Russians, they are omnipresent. Just when I thought I'd left them behind, I run into them everywhere in Israel and on the Red Sea and Egypt…

It was a beautiful warm night when later that day I went over to Rothschild Blvd., a nice area with bars, restaurants, and the like. I happened to stumble upon a really good jazz band who was setting up for a street gig. There were about 8 young guys in the group which included drums, guitars, bass, sax, trumpet, trombone, and a singer. They were really talented and eventually drew a huge crowd of people to listen. It was so nice and relaxing and a great change of pace from my normal weekend activities.

Since Shabbat is on Saturday and most everything is closed, we usually meet back up for breakfast on the beach and then catch some rays before heading back to Egypt in the early afternoon. Israeli breakfast is unusual, but I've grown to like it quite a bit. You usually get some sort of cooked egg and then numerous little dishes filled with things like olives, tuna salad, "Israeli salad" (finely chopped tomatoes and cucumbers), a salty goat-like cheese, cottage cheese with fresh dill and garlic, nice bread, etc., very healthy.

So, I'll end this here for now. Next update, you'll learn more about the Nabateans than you ever thought necessary and my trip to Petra, Jordan.