As I write this post sitting in a hotel in Jerusalem, I’ve finally worked out what to make of Tel Aviv!

Before we arrived I had done lots of reading about Israel. In my usual style, I’d googled travel sites and relied heavily on Douglas Duckett’s incredibly informative guidebook that I found via the Amateur Traveller podcast (episode 167).

We’d made some basic plans but I wasn’t sure. We booked a couple of tours ahead of time and put ourselves at the mercy of the hotel Concierge.

His first suggestion was that as its Shabbat, we should,do what most residents of Tel Aviv do and go to the beach. We walked along the promenade from Independence Park to Allenby Street. The beach was packed with young and old. On a warm day what could be better than taking in the beach when the sand is so our and the water crystal clear.

We had a simple lunch, trying the Shakshuka, a traditional egg and tomato breakfast dish and then walked back along the promenade alongside the beach.

We finished the day with dinner at a local restaurant taking in the sunset.

Dinner was enjoyable, with our waitress a highlight. Always with a recommendation and causing us to roll on the floor with laughter when she said her complete knowledge of Australia had come from watching The Bachelor, Australia.

We’d had a challenging cab ride to get to dinner so we didn’t even bother looking for a cab after dinner and decided to walk back to our hotel along the promenade; past beach volley ball, buskers and public folk dancing.

We booked a free walking tours of Jaffa for our second day. We had a great guide who provided a social overview of old Jaffa. She told us about the clock tower, the Jerusalem Gate, the narrow streets, the influx of artists as part of the rejuvenation of the town, the street art and down to the old port.

Lunch followed our tour at a restaurant called The Old Man and the Sea, in the port. An incredible array of salads. The food in Israel was fast becoming a highlight. So much food making it an easy decision to pass on dinner.

We lucked on a taxi for the drive back to our hotel and amazingly had a driver who had spent time living in our home town of Adelaide. The Driver asked us to agree a price before we got in. It was a little over what I expected but it was hot and we didn’t want to hang around and wait for a Gett ride (Gett is like Uber and definitely the best way to catch a taxi in Tel Aviv). We chatted about Adelaide on the drive back.

So to our last day in Tel Aviv.

We decided on a walk into town and then to the Carmel Market and an early evening tour of the modern Tel Aviv.

I wanted to see the modern Tel Aviv. What we had seen in our first two days had been great and hadn’t disappointed but the city seemed a little ramshackle. Not the modern city we’d understood it to be. The buildings we’d seen were older, albeit Tel Aviv is only just over 100 years old.

Our walk into town took as part David Ben-Gurion’s home and along the main shopping street of Tel Aviv, Dizengoff Street and onto the Dizengoff Center before walking onto the Carmel Market. Why are shopping malls and markets pretty much the same wherever you go?

The Carmel Market sold the usual t-shirts and other tatt. It was jammed unlike the shopping mall. Eventually we saw what we’d hoped to see at the market – spices, vegetables and halva. I’m sure for many the market is a highlight but for us it is a place to visit to say we’d been there.

Another interesting cab ride back. We ordered a Gett car but got in the wrong one. Again no English from the driver and no Hebrew from us gave rise to the confusion. Our actual ride was on the other side of the road.

The evening tour of modern Tel Aviv showed us the architecture and told us the history of the city. It was interesting and a chance to see the transition in building and development of the city, but the highlight was our guide telling us about her bent penny and spoon care of Uri Geller!

So what to make of Tel Aviv? Sure there are restaurants, shopping, museums, galleries etc. but this is a modern city situated on the Mediterranean coast. The answer is obvious its about the beach.