Arriving in Tel Aviv

Entering Tel Aviv

The train ride in to Tel Aviv was quiet and went quickly. For the most part, it wasn't very memorable. The train exits into a makeshift market. The security checkpoint in the previous post illustrates what one would have to go through to enter the station. I'm not sure how the Chicago CTA would handle such checkpoints.  The big question now was where to go once in Tel Aviv. I bumped my travel plans a day early because one of my work friends was coincidently visiting Tel Aviv. I found a nice listing and confirmed it on AirBnB for Tuesday - Sunday, so I had a gap on Monday. The listing I booked for Tuesday - Sunday wasn't available either.  Anyhow, I got an email from my friend while at the airport saying to head over. He also mentioned I could crash at his place if my lodging arrangements fell through. That was good to hear because I hadn't heard back from anyone on AirBnB for the gap day (except from from this clown who insisted I pay more than he listed his unit for).  If you aren't familiar with AirBnB, it's a service that lets individuals rent out a spare room, their couch, or an entire apartment. 

After arriving at the hotel, I took a quick shower  in the world's smallest shower (below) and we head off to dinner. Before dinner we walked around a bit. There are a number of bars and restaurants off the beach, so we head in that direction. We walked easily several miles. I made the mistake of wearing sandals that were not broke in. BIG MISTAKE. My feet were killing me and I developed at least 4 blisters. I guess I should really listen to Rick Steve's advice. Anyhow, for dinner we ultimately decided on eating at this steakhouse

After traveling through Sunday-Monday, I must say the meal was pretty delicious. Included in the meal were appetizers (chicken wings), very nice. Following dinner we checked out the boardwalk on the beach - which was nice. Very much like Chicago, there isn't a single hotel on the beach...it's all public. There were tons of people running, cycling, etc. I felt at home.

Trumpeldor Bar

The hotel is located on Ben Yehudi, which is one of the major streets. There's a number of smalls shops and bars on the stretch. The street reminds me a lot of what you might seen in Manhattan. Lots of shops and apartments that are lit throughout all hours of the night.  Anyhow, my friend had been going to one on a daily basis, so he wanted to swing by before heading to the primary place of interest (Joey's Bar) further away. The bar takes its name from the intersecting street and is very small, but quaint. After about 15 minutes of chatting we became good friends with the bartender/owner, Emmy. We ended up staying there for several hours and never made it beyond the Trumpeldor. 

Trumpeldor Bar

Tables w/backgammon 

Direll, Emmy, and me

Post Trumpeldor Bar

I was pretty exhausted around 1am, so I broke from the party and head back to the hotel. Long story short, I ended up passing it and walked about 3 miles (back and forth) more than I should have. I eventually found the hotel and was about to begin the best 10 hours of sleep of my life.