Tel-Aviv: The City That's Always Sleeping?

As the plane touched down in Ben Gurion airport every went crazy. Clapping, cheering and lots of massive grins all round. It wasn't surprising after 5 hours on a plane with these (mostly) die-hard Israelites. It was the first flight I'd been on where people were up out of their seats and chatting to everyone. Being sat next to a young Jewish girl from Manchester meant I'd been involved in this from the get go. It was time to wipe the sleep from my eyes (I had been up since quarter to 4 after all!) and start being sociable. The girl, Izzy, was literally vibrating with excitement. We swapped our stories, and then our snacks, and before I knew it I was receiving a last half hour Hebrew lesson.

In the airport I had my first shock horror moment...of the three cards I'd brought with me, none of them would work. Being prepared for the worst I had some dollars ready to change, just in case.

I navigated the train system easily but was less successful by foot. The city's diagonal streets had me baffled and it wasn't all that long till I gave up and found a taxi. The driver was deadly silent until I rambled my way to a price, he clearly didn't like it and point blank told me "no!". After a few back and forths we agreed on 35 Shekels, 10 more than my original price. Once in he the taxi he became a lot more agreeable and even laughed at my (very bad) jokes. We arrived at my hostel door and without a word he handed me back the extra 10 shekels along with a business card, it seemed I had mastered the Israeli taxis!

The hostel was a disappointment on first appearances, the staircase was thick with dust and saws and hammers echoed around the tiny stairwell, but once I'd made my way up to the roof top I was able to relax a little. The terrace was scattered with sofas and hammocks and a whole load of people lazing around in them. It was one of those places where you just know you'll be sucked in to the laziness. My days passed in a whirlwind of reading, napping and staying up late experiencing the Tel Aviv night-life. What struck me most was just how quiet the city was. If you wandered the streets any time before around 1am you'd be lucky to see over 5 people! It was completely nocturnal. After my first taste of night-life I could see why. Getting to a club at 2 and not leaving till 6 really takes it out of you for the next day!

I did however manage to see a few things whilst I was there, my favourites being the market and the beach. I'm always drawn to markets and this one was beautiful. I particularly liked the watermelon seller just outside the market...

The beach was just as busy as the market but a little harder to get to!  We rock climbed our way to the better beach and rented a couple of sun loungers for the day. Not only was it sunshiney beautiful, it was the perfect spot to watch kid's surf lessons and families coming together for barbeques at sunset. I got more of a feel for the place just sitting amidst the locals than I could have through any museum.

Tel Aviv also seemed to be a city for the artist, especially Florentine (the area where I was staying), the walls were covered in graffiti, some was beautiful, some was weird but all were amazing. This was my first meeting with Middle Eastern street art but it plays a bigger role here than I'd first imagined - more about that later though!

By the third day I was ready to move before I submitted to the sleepy lull that seemed to take over everyone there! Luckily I'd met two Austrian guys who were brave enough to rent a car and were heading in the same direction as me. We followed the coast North and they dropped me off in the lovely little town of Haifa.