Kiwi Shot

For some reason my photo taking mission in Tel Aviv was freaking abysmal.  I have five photos representing the entire time we were there.  Which is a shame really, as it was an awesome city, a highrise, beachside town full of cute cafes and funky people.

Below is probably the best photo I took.  The rest seem to consist of Marcelo eating icecream.

Tel Aviv was an enormous culture shock for us after spending so much time in very conservative countries.  It is the San Francisco of the Middle East.  I felt highly ridiculous in my Syrian Souq garb and was immediately desperate to put on my short shorts and a revealing top.  Due to the border fiasco, it was about 11pm by the time we arrived at Tel Aviv’s central bus station.

It looked -exactly- like a post apocalyptic zombie film.  Exactly.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  The fast food shops were barred shut and there were drunk teens drinking cheap beer under flickering florescent lights.  There was trash everywhere, piled up in some places, lazily drifting over the floor in others.  As we descended down a slow, creaky escalator, we were waved and yelled at by a young trans-gender couple from the mezzanine above, swinging a bottle of wine.  Outside an old man lay on the footpath with a beer box as his pillow and his prosthetic leg lying next to him.  It was zombie town.

Nightlife Tel Aviv was a little intimidating for me.  There were clubs and raves everywhere and we struggled to find a hostel with any vacancies.  It had been a hell of a long day.  We had a quick drink with the manager of our hostel and trotted up to yet another craptastic dorm room.  We found out pretty damn quickly that Israel was HELLA EXPENSIVE.  I would say on par, if not more so, than London.

Our next day in Tel Aviv was wonderful.  What had seemed to be a seedy city by night had completely disappeared into a beautiful beach life town full of girls in bikinis and very fashionable people.  Absolutely no dress codes here and we spent all day at the most amazing beach I’ve ever been to in my LIFE.  Warm water with a perfect surf.  Wicked.  There was even a 24/7 breakfast cafe called “Benedict” dedicated entirely to the  awesomeness that is Eggs Benedict.  Homemade breads and spreads, OMG, Best Restaurant Ever.

We freaked out a bit about our dire money situation at this point.  It was a shame because the city is amazing and we desperately wanted to spend more time there, possibly have taken a day trip out to Jericho, even.  Instead, we boarded the bus the next morning for Jerusalem.