Blogs from Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv District, Israel, Middle East - page 7

When my GBF (Gay Best Friend) Emanuel said flippantly that we should go to his homeland of Israel, I don’t think he quite thought that I was being serious when I excitedly said yes. Nevertheless, he had made the offer, albeit an offhand one and I had accepted. I would never turn down a guided tour of a country that I had previously put on the ‘too dangerous’ list. We booked the flights before he could back out. For an added bonus after we booked the flights we realised that the Gay Pride week was on for the last weekend that we were there. I’m going to mix it up a bit and start this story from the end. My last weekend in Israel was fabulous. Actually no it was Fabulous. It deserves a capital letter. ... read more

Tel Aviv is an eminently walkable city. That is, if you keep a sharp eye out for bicycles, electric skateboards, electric scooters, and the occasional in-line skater. You also have to be able to ignore all the cars and buses honking at you if you have the nerve to cross the street when they want to make a turn when the crossing light is in your favor. The City of Tel Aviv dates its beginning to 1909 when a group of Zionists, wanting to leave the squalor of Jaffa, parceled out land on the sand dunes north that city. Meir Dizengoff, the first mayor of Tel Aviv, drew up the city’s first master plan. He envisioned it as an urban village, incorporating gardens and open spaces into urban life. The population of Tel Aviv grew dramatically ... read more

New foods and sensory overload The alarm wakes us well before our bodies should be wisely moved. But part of being a tourist is being foolishly heady about sightseeing so I drag myself out of bed and turn on the hot water heater. Most of the year, Israelis rely on solar panels to heat their showers but on the few rainy days, there is the timed heater. I blearily repack (we’re moving spaces this night) while the water temp nudges up to warm. After showering, we head off to market. Friday is like our Saturday and like many places in the US on Saturday, markets fill up to bursting with produce and wares for the weekend shoppers. Uri is actually going a’marketing but I’m more than happy to tag along since it’s all a vacation to ... read more

Just a heads-up that new posts will go up here: ashgreenberg.wordpress.com I wanted a blog with more customization options and to also become more familiar with a widely used platform (wordpress). Latest post is called "the place where there are angry people"... read more

Wann immer ich mich mit Freunden außerhalb privater Räume bewege, werden wir von allen Menschen nur auf Englisch angesprochen. Bei unserer Wüstenwanderung nach Ein Akev, lauschte Lior, wie sich die israelischen Tourguides darüber freuten, die unbeholfenen Touristen ausfindig gemacht zu haben. Als sie dann eine ihrer Aussagen auf Hebräisch kommentierte, taten alle mehr als überrascht. "Ach, ihr seid also gar keine Touristen?" - "Sie ja, ich nein!" Anders sein färbt anscheinend ab. Dabei ist gerade Tel Aviv eine der buntesten und lebhaftesten Städte, die ich je gesehen habe. Man mag wohl nicht unrecht haben, hier den Vergleich zu Berlin zu ziehen. Auch hier tragen Hippster bevorzugt nur Klamotten aus Omis Kleiderschrank. Sie kommen mit Nasenring, Jutebeutel, Hund und einem Arm voller Tattoos. Jungfamilien fahren in VW-Beetle-Fossilien durch die Gegend, den Kindersitz neben dem Fahrer... read more