27/08/2009
Tel Aviv.
As mentioned, i spent Wednesday exploring Tel Aviv with Adi. The goal was not only to get out to check it all out, but to at least buy myself some underwear – after nearly 3 days, i was still awaiting word on my bag...
Tel Aviv is a beautiful and bustling little city, with a wonderful vibe and relaxed atmosphere. It may be the busy centre of Israel, but its location lends it an amazingly relaxed feel. Situated right on the coast, and with the summer heat creeping to a touch over 30, you can imagine the number of people enjoying the beach. Sweating and a bit parched from our bus trip in, my first objective was a beer... Sitting under that Heineken umbrella, enjoying an icy cold Gold Star (Israel’s VB equivalent) and listening to the ‘clack, clack, clack’ of matcote (beach tennis - the Israeli’s are nuts for it) i began to wish for a beachside bar in Oz... While we have surf lifesaving clubs and all manner of cafes near the beach, we lack a real bar on the beach. Standing at the bar here, your feet are still in the sand. No dress codes, no rules, no regulations. Just walk from the water to the bar and order your drink. Nice indeed!
With our thirsts quenched, we then did the shopping i needed (cheap jocks) and sat down to an amazing Israeli lunch – chips and houmus. I really believe there should be a law preventing Australians calling that muck we have houmus. Until you try the real deal, you just wouldn’t understand... Oh, and the tahina – wow! But, enough about the food. Anyone who knows me knows that i will eat almost anything, and enjoy the vast majority of it. No exception to the rule, here i am still yet to find something i don’t like...
While in town, we caught up with Didi’s big brother Doron, and headed out to his house in Gi'va Time. He and his wife Maya had parent teacher night, and asked us to babysit for them. Firstly, what great people! I guess i should have known that – of course Didi’s family would be just as amazing as she is. After meeting her parents, Gabbi and Dahlia, i had proof enough that this is a pretty special family. As for the next generation.. Whoa! Watch out little Lilsa, i seem to have another young girlfriend! At 5 years old, Eli is a pretty amazing kid. I thought looking after Lilsa could be difficult enough – imagine a 5 year old that speaks a different language! We managed to get by with sign language, facial expressions and repeated gestures (and of course the occasional translation by Adi) – playing games of Guess Who and Dora the Explorer’s balloon game. I didn’t think i’d ever escape..
But, escape we did, and finally got back to Petah Tikva and our comfortable bed. It was my first big day out, and coupled with my lingering jetlag, it saw me fall in to said bed and immediately pass out. Thursday was full of minor plans and people to see, but only 1 thing was on my mind... Where the hell is my bag!! I knew that there was a flight the night before from Hong Kong, so it had to be on it... And sure enough, by 2 or 3 pm, it was delivered to our door. Oh ye of little faith, Simon!! Happy to see all of my belongings, i could now relax and begin to really enjoy Israel. Didi has now printed out a calendar covering my time here, and it is filling up fast. So many people to see, so many places to go – 3 months sounds like a long time, but written down on paper it no longer looks quite long enough!
