|
|
Thursday May 8 - Tel Aviv, Israel
When I woke up this morning, I had no plans at all. Rather than sit in the apartment all day, I decided to go to Tel Aviv. I returned the rental car and had to choose the method of transport for the day. From Rehovot to Tel Aviv, there are a number of options:
- Eged or Dan busses: good, but about an hour travel time and costs about 10 NIS
- Car: about 45 minutes, but you have to have a car, and I had just returned mine to Hertz
- Train: about 30 minutes travel time, and under 15 NIS
- Hitch a ride: free, but you need to speak the language well enough to be understood, and I do not qualify. Hitching is pretty safe here and is considered as one of the ways people naturally get around. Last night on the way back from Yerushalym I stopped and offered a fellow a ride. Told him I was going to Rehovot and 3 more people piled into the back seat for the ride. They would tell me where they wanted to get out and offer a ''toda''. The last person came almost all the way. You meet some real people, nice people and telling them that you are from North America really gives them some good thoughts about us. You also get to practice your language skills and they get to do the same. Highly recommended for drivers.
- Sherut: a group taxi. Cost to Rehovot is less than the bus, about 8.6 NIS. Faster than the bus, guaranteed a seat, and a good way to go.
- Taxi: about 10 to 20 times the price of the bus, very fast and the driver will make a deal on the price
So I took the sherut. Took me right into Tel Aviv, drops you at the bus station and off you go.
I like to walk in cities, I think you see more of it and get the flavour of the place. Tel Aviv is like any western city, make that North American, except it's all in hebrew and everyone is Jewish. That's pretty cool on both counts! I walked from the bus station to Deizengoff Center then along Deizengoff to Ben Gurion's house (on Rehov Ben Gurion), then along the waterfront, past the US Embassy to Jaffa. That took about 5 hours with stops along the way to see different things.
It was pretty hot today in Tel Aviv, 30C, and I made sure to get a couple of litres of water which I consumed during the walk. A couple of spots you must see in Tel Aviv are the Carmel Market, which is the city's shuk where you can buy just about anything and the shoreline.
Random thoughts about Israeli cities:
- Every Israeli city's main street is called ''Hertzl'', named after Theodore Hertzl, the founder of the Zionist movement in the 19th century
- Israeli's believe that to drive a car you need 3 hands, one for the wheel, one for the gearshift and one for the horn. The last one is the most important. They used to need a fourth hand for the cellphone, but they now have laws about that.
- The sound of Israel is the ringing sound of a cellphone. There are more cellphones than regular phones, and just about everyone has one or two on them at all times.
- The streets are filled with people who look like people you know.
- The society here is quite mixed, with folks of all races, most of them Jewish. No observable tension, everyone is cool with everyone else.
- There is a large percentage of the populace in uniform, and you get used to the girl in front of you having a revolver on her hip and an automatic rifle on her shoulder. There are lots of girls and guys like that around and they are all fit and strong and good looking.
- The women are marvelous! There must be more attractive women here than in any other city in the world, including New York. As an old married man I am only looking for research purposes so I can tell everyone about this. If you have a son who needs a calla, send him here.
Tomorrow I'm going to see Daniella and Yossi, on their one week anniversary and then visit with my old friend Udi Savion who is the CEO of the new pay highway here.
Will write before Shabbat.
|
|
