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

17:41, plage de Tel Aviv. Levés 9h (pas de répit pour aujourd’hui), direction le bus pour l’aéroport. R.A.S. dans l’avion, atterrissage impeccable à l’aéroport Ben Gourion. Je suis un peu tendu quand vient le fatidique contrôle des passeports, mais tout semble bien se passer. On joue les petits touristes bien sages : non, nous ne connaissons personne là-bas, non, nous ne voulons pas aller dans les territoires palestiniens, d’ailleurs qu’est-ce que c’est ? La policière nous fait un sourire, je me dis que c’est dans la poche. Jusqu’au moment où, tournant les pages de mon passeport, son sourire disparaît. « You’ve been to Lebanon ? ». Eh merde, ça il fallait s’en douter. Immédiatement, elle me dit d’aller dans une salle au coin de l’aéroport, sans me rendre mon passeport. C’est une espèce de salle d’attente, ... read more

What an amazing day. Except for me, it was the first time for all our group members – both those who had been to Israel previously and those new to Israel – visiting the Ayalon Institute. The museum tells the story of the young people – teens and twenties - who ran the secret underground bullet factory during the three years leading up to the War of Independence in 1948. Our guide was Shachar and he was the best in all my visits here (my fourth visit). If you have not been there, it’s outside Tel Aviv next to the city of Rehovot. Two thumbs up. From there we headed to Yafo for the Co-existence program we had arranged through Mishkenot Ruth Seminar Center, part of the Daniel Centers in Tel Aviv. http://www.beit-daniel.org.il/en/tour-seminar-center/ It was outstanding ... read more

Arriving in Tel Aviv We have arrived in Tel Aviv! After an extremely long and cold day in Vienna we were greeted by a night temperature of 19°C and a very clean and organised airport. But before writing about our amazing days in Tel Aviv, I'll add a few words about our journey from Austria. After a long and windy day in Vienna, we found ourselves finally boarding the flight to Tel Aviv, scheduled to land at 0:50. The boarding was in every aspect a different experience. The passengers were mainly Israeli and many of them Orthodox Jews with big black hats and beatiful facial hair. Everyone was carrying hand luggage that seemed to weigh several tonnes and getting everyone on board was a puzzle that I still don't know how was solved. The Israelis moved ... read more

Geo: 32.0452, 34.7697We'd made arrangements for a shared Nesher Taxi to take us back to the airport in Tel Aviv. It is a surprisingly efficient system, as you call them up, tell them where you are and the time of your flight. Within seconds, they provide you a pick-up time calculated by the time of your flight and the estimated time needed for security, and other people in your area also going to the airport. It's a matter of luck in terms of whether you're picked up first or last, but for us it worked out fine. The taxi was there exactly on time; we joined a couple already on the bus, and made a couple other quick stops close to our hotel. We were soon on the main highway toward Tel Aviv, but then the ... read more

Jack went back to take more photos of the graffiti early this morning while I updated my blog. When he got back, he offered to join me to go to services. There is a modern Orthodox synagogue, Beth El, within 8 blocks of the hotel so we headed over. The synagogue was small, old and there were probably 40 people there, a mix of young and old. We arrived at the end of the Torah service and stayed until it was time for the sermon, since a sermon in Hebrew was a non-starter. In the synagogue the men and women sat with a divider between them, but near the entrance were seats where men and women could sit together. The Rabbi came over to warmly greet us. He acknowledged Jack's Red Sox cap, and politely informed ... read more