Day 2/3 : Israeli Pride .

Hils wrote me before I left: "don't go getting all religious on me"... I didn't appreciate her words until being in Tel Aviv for a couple of days. Wow. There is some serious pride going on here. I mean growing up in LA I have always had Jewish envy, so perhaps I am more suseptable, but after soaking in the wisdom/conviction that Judaism offers, I am starting to think about furthering my studies...and I haven't even gotten to Jerusalem.

Beyond my religious awakening, I've had the luxury of hanging with some locals which has enhanced the experience. Yesterday morning I did my customary acclimation hike, aimlessly setting out on my own to absorb the essence of the city. Next I met up with Yael the feisty Israeli fashionista who was doing photo shoots of herself in boutiques & telling shopkeepers that their product was too expensive. Entertaining nonetheless, we did a nice tour of the yuppie part of Tel Aviv - Neveh Tzedek, which I shamelessly fell in love with. Give me an old stone building renovated with modern, frameless windows & I fall hard.

For dinner I was picked up by Ariel & Rahav. Ariel is a friend of my dads & offered to watch me until he arrived. Rahav was interesting. He is Iraqi or "Iraqi Primitivo" as Ariel would say. While he used his words very sparingly they were indeed concise. On a few occasions he mentioned chopping a woman's head off if she cheated on him & said he will only have "zero children or twenty children". And he was serious. I requested authentic & they took me into a shutdown marketplace with one fluorescent restaurant in the middle, Shemes (Sun). Locals only. Best humus in town.

In the morning I was picked up again by Ariel & taken around town on a scooter to see the different neighborhoods. Since Tel Aviv is only 97 years old there aren't many notable landmarks. However, there is the worlds best collection of original Bauhaus (1920's German modernist) structures, so impressive that they have been deemed an UNESCO world heritage site. Ariel buys these Bauhaus apartment buildings & thus he knows all about architecture in Tel Aviv & gave me a spectacular tour. Another thing I found surprising was the city's laid back, European culture. Ariel & I made an impressive three cafe stops before 2pm when we met up with John Rigney who had just landed. Tomorrow we go to Jerusalem.

My new friends, a synagogue in Neveh Tzedek.

View on the way up to Old Jaffa, Mediterranean Sea.

"Oranger Suspendu", Old Jaffa.

Yael, Neveh Tzedek.

Ariel, AM outside of Dan Tel Aviv Hotel.

Scootin'.

This is one of the Bauhaus that Ariel is in the process of restoring. He combined the three penthouse apartments into one space with private roof access. Is amazing. Selling it for 9 million shekel. Nothing in Tel Aviv is cheap.

Interesting statue, Rothschild Street.

Now camera happy father has arrived, view looking back at coastline from the top of Old Jaffa.

Commemorative Clock Tower for Turkish sultan Abdul Hamid II, 1906.
(source Wallpaper City Guide)

Third cappuccino of the day.

Romantic dinner with my father.