Arrival in Tel Aviv

We arrived in Tel Aviv this morning at 8:50 after a uneventful flight. It seemed to go by quickly as I listened to Mama Mia numerous times then the rest of my ipod downloads. While we had initially planned to rent a car to travel out of Tel Aviv, in the last moment that did not seem like a good idea when we learned that after charging for the car, they wanted to put an $1100 hold on the charge card. So off we went in search of a taxi, which was readily available out of the airport terminal. It really ended up being a blessing in disguise as we traveled to our hotel on streets that would have been a nightmare for us to negotiate. So we saved ourselves a bundle of money and hassles.

The Metropolitan where we are staying is very sweet and will now be our home away for home for the next 5 days. The hotel is centrally located between Tel Aviv's major hotel and shopping areas and one block away from the beach. We can see the Mediterranean from our room on the 7th floor.

Upon our initial arrival we learned that our room would not be ready for a while and the hotel clerk suggested we take a walk out to Dizengoff Square, have lunch and then return and the room would likely be ready. So here we were just after a 10 hour flight, with the same clothes... you get the picture, we walked around for about an hour before finding a little place (air conditioned) to have our first falafel. We then wound our way back to the hotel and our room was ready. After a (long) nap we took a walk down to the beach at sunset. It was a very beautiful sight seeing the sun setting on one side and the city lights coming to life on the other.

We returned to the hotel to meet up with new Israeli friends, Tamar and Yehuda, who are the parents of a Brattleboro friend, Dalit. They brought us to one of their favorite restaurants, Forelli's where I had a delicious fish soup and fish kabobs and Marty had a whole trout. It was indeed a favorite and we enjoyed our dinner very much. After dinner, they drove us around a bit to show some areas of Tel Aviv before taking us to Namal which is a new marketplace area on the waterfront, and was formerly a dilapidated port. It is also the home of a one time energy plant, which was closed after much protest, and has been converted to a museum. We walked along the boardwalk here, seeing people of all ages walking, riding and enjoying the beautiful evening air. Restaurants were all along the boardwalk and we finally stopped at a coffee shop and had a cappuccino. Tamar and Yehuda were very good hosts and tour guides and the evening went by so quickly before we knew it was 12 midnight. The night was alive with people coming down to this area just beginning their evening activities.

I feel very much at home here (now my third trip in the last 6 years). I am very grateful to have been able to make this trip now. We are still up at 3:30 a.m., Israel time. Our time clocks are pretty confused and the cappuccino didn't help. We will aim to get up between 8 and 9 a.m. and head down to the dining room for an (included) buffet breakfast. This is one of the highlights of Israeli hotels. After breakfast we will go to the beach for while and then go to the art museum in Tel Aviv. Later in the evening, we are going to visit my (first) cousin Izzy and meet his family. While I got to see Izzy in 2006, I have never met his wife or children, who are now grown up. I am excited about this. I did not particularly have an interest to see much of my family in prior trips, but am dedicating part of our time here in Tel Aviv for catching up with also with my Aunt Sara (I have not seen in 28 years) and my other first cousin, Ruth and her family, which we also have not seen in 28 years.

So the story continues...