Tel Aviv could not be more different than Jerusalem. It talks like New York and looks like Miami Beach. While it has more hustle than Jerusalem it was also more laid back. In Tel Aviv, the Bistro where we ate lunch offered ham sandwiches (we went for the corned beef.). We could also get a cheeseburger, not Kosher, and not Jerusalem. With each delivery the waitress said “enjoy” just like in New York. Tel Aviv has over 4000 Bauhaus school of architecture buildings, built by Jewish Socialists in the 1930s, and because of that, is a world heritage site. We walked through Bauhaus neighborhoods touched by Art Deco (the touch of Miami) and “enjoyed” a coke on the beach watching a school for young surfers.
This is from a 2010 letter. I had been staying in East Jerusalem, working in Bethlehem and traveling to community radio stations in the West Bank. We went to Tel Aviv for a break and enjoyed its relaxed ambiance. Tomorrow I will post the other side of Tel Aviv, Jaffa, an old city now incorporated into a new one.
