Things to do in Israel, Tel Aviv

Israel

I visited Israel last February, I usually travel during this period to give myself a gift, my birthday is at the end of January, and travel is cheaper this month.

I was really curious about this country: contradictions, religions and history, I tried to learn more about it and satisfied my curiosity.

Tel Aviv

It's in the north of Israel, it's a modern city, on the Mediterranean Sea, I found it a place where it could be nice to live, and whit a lot of different faces: modern, old, American, Mediterranean at the same time.

Chill

This is Habima Platz in front of the Charles Bronfman Auditorium, a lovely area in the city centre. I found it a meetup place, but also for chill like the guy in the picture is doing. From this square starts Rothschild Boulevard (on the left in the picture), a street where you can walk and enjoy the nice weather that the city can offer.

Draft

Walking in Tel Aviv, in general in Israel, is easy to see soldiers on the street, and like in the picture is easy to see female soldiers. In Israel, the draft is mandatory for men (3 years) and women (1 year), and after that, if necessary they can be called in 48 hours.

Old Jaffa

The view

I visited the old city (Jaffa) on a free tour, it was nice, it allowed me to see many things in a short period; one of the first places we saw was this view from one of the highest points of Jaffa, Abrasha park.

Alley

A thing I learned during the tour is how Jaffa (established around 1800 BCE) changed by the times, from how it was a dangerous place to now that is a really safe and tourist part of Tel Aviv.

Jaffa has a lot of alleys like the one in the picture, it keeps a lot from the Roman period, and it's nice to see the mixture between Christianity, Islam and Judaism architecture.

Walking on the promenade

The end of the tour was at the harbour, which is nothing special (also the guide said it), but just close there is a nice promenade. The weather was amazing, and the walk there was simply perfect, thinking also about that in Europe it fully wintered.

Surfers

A thing that surprised me was to see a lot of surfers, I didn't know that Tel Aviv is a good place for surfing. This part of the promenade was really beautiful because very active: people running, cycling, doing yoga, or just walking, and bars, street food, restaurants.

  

Collecting shells

We decided to enjoy the sunset on the shore, and another thing that surprised me was the number of shells on it. It was since I was a kid that I hadn't seen so many, in Italy, they are almost disappeared. The water was not so cold, warm enough for a quick swim.

Sunset

As you can see from the picture the sunset was really beautiful, with the Mediterranean Sea and Jaffa as background. From the picture is possible to see a tower that is from the Mahmoudiya mosque and part of the harbour.

Market

The morning after, before moving to Jerusalem, I visited the flea market in Jaffa and the market near it. 

I stopped in a cafe for a break and near to it, there was a shop, the one in the picture. I like to try to express everyday life in my pictures, and I think that in this one it's represented. 

 Jerusalem

To be honest, my trip was focused on the holy city, I tried to be as fast as possible in Tel Aviv.
I had a different idea about Jerusalem in my mind, more chaotic, less modern, a bit messy, maybe also dangerous: altogether another thing.

After School

While I was looking for the host place, and waiting to cross the street, I took this picture. I did it for several reasons: because I liked the composition, it's a sort of daily life instant; because I see it also as a family picture; because I was captured by the boy, he was wearing the kippah and he looks like me at his age.

Yummy

The host lives near the Jaffa market in Jerusalem, so the first thing we visited was this market. I really loved it, I think the most beautiful part of the city or at least the more interesting one. It was Friday afternoon and it was crowded, everybody was shopping for the Shabbat because a tradition is to have a family dinner for it.

Catch the moment

People were shopping also because for Shabbat the shops are closed for 24 hours.
In this picture is nice to see the colour matching between father and daughter, but also on the right the expression of the girl and the smile of the boy, I like it!.

Street art

A thing that impressed me about Israel, in general, is the gap between social classes, you can feel it and see it because the difference between one part and another of the same city could be really strong.

For example try to compare this picture with the first one about Jerusalem, "Afterschool".

Old town

Friday evening

After the market, I went to see the Shabbat in the old town and the western wall. Walking to it I was feeling that it was an important moment: everybody was quickly going to the wall, dressed up for the occasion. I was in the right place at the right moment, lucky me.

Shabbat

Being at the western wall at the beginning of the Shabbat make made me goosebumps. I'm not a religious person but at that moment I felt the holiness of the place, heard the people reading the Torah and see how that moment was sacred for them it was priceless for me.

Jews quarter

Jerusalem's old town is divided into four parts: Jews, Christians, Armenian and Muslim, and these quarters are really different from each other, and I think they represent the four cultures. 

The old city is surrounded by defence walls and 4 gates built in 1500, till 1860 this area (1 square km) was the entire city of Jerusalem.

Armenia

I did this trip with an Armenian friend, and thanks to her I had a special view of the Armenian quarter.

The picture is from the Armenian church, and I took it after a ceremony for Armenian Valentine's Day (Surb Sargis): according to belief, before going to bed, a lonely girl eats salty biscuits and does not drink water. In their dream, their future husband gives them water.

  

Shopping

The Muslim quarter is the one I liked most, probably because of the mix of atmosphere, friendly people, and the good smell of spices and food. 

The picture is from the market near Damascus Gate, here the food is really cheap and delicious, but it's really nice to see these old ladies selling food on the stairs near the stands.