Tel Aviv

(32.064, 34.763)

One nice thing about the hotel was it's location on the beach right across from Charles Clore park. I got up early and took a jog uptown along the beach, which involved more walking than running because of the interesting sights and the languor of my jet-lagged body.

05/22/2011 07:17 IDT Sir Charles Clore Park	05/22/2011 07:18 IDT Sir Charles Clore Park
05/22/2011 07:24 IDT Israeli flag	05/22/2011 07:26 IDT Beach chairs
05/22/2011 07:46 IDT Janitor	05/22/2011 07:50 IDT Beach scraper
05/22/2011 07:51 IDT Beach scraper	05/22/2011 09:14 IDT Breakfast
05/22/2011 09:14 IDT Breakfast	05/23/2011 08:21 IDT Dan Panorama, Tel Aviv
05/23/2011 08:08 IDT Cool lamp

Throughout the tour, we managed to spend a lot of time in areas that had been developed in the 1970's, and the architecture was a bit worse for wear. The country does seem to have developed in spurts of modernist explosion, which causes problems as large sections of infrastructure simultaneously reach the end of their design lifetimes and fashionability. There are also some fundamental ergonomic issues with 1970's architecture that become painfully evident in such a concentration - such as the forbidding street walls and useless elevated pavilions. But it's not an unattractive place.

05/22/2011 09:49 IDT Pool and beach	05/31/2011 07:01 IDT Unused 70's plaza
05/22/2011 07:55 IDT Pavillion	05/22/2011 07:57 IDT Cat
05/22/2011 07:57 IDT Pavillion	05/22/2011 07:57 IDT Pavillion
05/22/2011 08:08 IDT Homeless guy	05/31/2011 07:07 IDT Manual transportation
05/31/2011 07:24 IDT Studying on the rocks	05/31/2011 07:24 IDT Coastline
05/31/2011 07:26 IDT Cat	05/23/2011 06:29 IDT Cranes

Following our trip to the Diaspora Museum, we had lunch at Suzanna. After dropping mom off for her nap, I ventured north into the Carmel Market, a fascinating and expansive collection of open-air stalls selling pretty much everything.

05/22/2011 15:49 IDT Suzana	05/22/2011 15:59 IDT Cat
05/22/2011 15:53 IDT Suzana menu	05/22/2011 16:07 IDT Dinner
05/22/2011 16:18 IDT Suzana	05/22/2011 16:34 IDT Parade
05/22/2011 16:34 IDT Parade	05/22/2011 16:49 IDT Bike rental
05/22/2011 18:15 IDT Gas station	05/22/2011 18:29 IDT Carmel Market
05/22/2011 18:30 IDT Carmel Market	05/22/2011 18:30 IDT Carmel Market
05/22/2011 18:35 IDT Neveh Tzedek	05/22/2011 18:35 IDT Cats
05/22/2011 18:41 IDT Bike rental	05/22/2011 18:41 IDT Bike rental

Lag BaOmer

When we arrived in Tel Aviv, there were a number of small bonfires burning around the neighborhood. Turns out it was a holiday called Lag BaOmer, which celebrates, "the anniversary of the passing of the great sage and mystic Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar. It also commemorates another event. In the weeks between Passover and Shavuot, a plague raged amongst the disciples of the great sage Rabbi Akiva. On Lag BaOmer the dying ceased."

05/22/2011 18:42 IDT Lag B'Omer	05/22/2011 18:44 IDT Lag B'Omer
05/22/2011 18:44 IDT Lag B'Omer	05/22/2011 18:45 IDT Lag B'Omer
05/22/2011 18:45 IDT Lag B'Omer	05/22/2011 18:45 IDT Dog run

The crows in Israel are hooded crows, which have ash gray bodies with black head, throats, wings, tail and thigh feathers. Although they behave like the all-black North American Crow, for some reason I found them oddly captivating.

05/23/2011 06:23 IDT Crows	05/23/2011 06:24 IDT Crow
05/31/2011 07:12 IDT Crow	05/23/2011 06:25 IDT Etzel House
05/23/2011 06:26 IDT Etzel House	05/23/2011 06:26 IDT Etzel House

Next: The Diaspora Museum...