Hod HaSharon, Israel, Asia

I got up today at 7am and got ready for a big day out. I hitched a ride into Tel Aviv with Gilad who had to go into the city for work today. I got to see first-hand what the traffic is like going into the city on a Sunday (Monday to all of us in the US and UK) morning. It was ridiculous. A 35 minute train ride took about three times as long by car. Like most big cities there is one major road in and out, and everyone and their brother was on it this morning.

Gilad was nice enough to go out of his way to drop me off at Ha’Carmel Market and I started my walkabout from there. I walked through the market, over to the coast, walked north a bit, and then back south. I stopped at a tourist information office and picked up a map so I had some idea of where I was going. The beach looked like it would be really nice on a hot summer’s day, but today was not one of those. It was 17*C (63*F) and very windy. There were no people relaxing on the beach. The only people I saw were runners, surfers, kite surfers, and army trainees.

I walked down the coast to the Old City of Jaffa. It was by far the best part of the day. It was really old and beautiful with churches and mosques along the coast and it had an old city feel. Tel Aviv, on the other hand, was just like any other big city. It was busy, it was dirty, and it lacked character once you got away from the seaside. I grabbed lunch in Jaffa that might be my last traditional Israeli lunch. Pita bread, six different plates of salads, humus, French fries and kebab meat, with a glass of lemonade. It was excellent!

I walked back uptown through a neighbourhood called Neve Tzedek which was nice. There wasn’t much to it, it just had a nice feel. Lots of little coffee shops, restaurants, and shops. I kept walking and ended up in the business district where Mark works, so I messaged him and met him for a quick drink. By this time it had heated up pretty nicely in the city so I was drenched in sweat. I hopped on a train from Ha’Shalom station and got back to Hod Ha’Sharon in 35 minutes. Once I got back to my familiar area, I hopped on a bus and went over to Marta’s to meet Lee, Pnina and Marta.

I was dying for a shower so Marta and Lee dropped me off at Gilad’s house so I could get a bit more comfortable and then had a bit of time to chill. We went back to Marta’s house for dinner. She made chicken schnitzel and mashed potatoes. She couldn’t have picked a better meal for me. Meat and potatoes! We hung out there for a bit and then came back to Gilad and Kinerit’s. This is our last night here so tomorrow is an early-ish rise to get packed up. I’m going to say bye to the family in the morning before the kids head off to school.