{"id":412,"date":"2012-01-19T00:43:36","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T23:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.danielebesana.com\/blog\/?p=412"},"modified":"2017-10-04T07:18:33","modified_gmt":"2017-10-04T06:18:33","slug":"how-about-tel-aviv-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danielebesana.com\/blog\/life\/how-about-tel-aviv-israel","title":{"rendered":"How about Tel Aviv, Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

I think everyone has some places that trigger curiosity, excitement, interest. Places we want to visit, we fantasize about, without really a reason behind it.<\/p>\n

One of this places for me was Lisbon, Portugal.
\nAfter my brother introduced me to\u00a0the movie Lisbon Story, by Wim Wenders<\/a>, I got fascinated by the simplicity of the city and in 2004 I did managed to go there and eat some bacalau.<\/em><\/p>\n

Another place I always felt attracted is Israel<\/strong>.
\nIt’s one of those places mistreated by the media, one of those places we tend to think that only bad things happen.
\nThe proof was that when I told people that I was going to Tel Aviv for business, the most common comment I got was a sad “don’t take the bus!”<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I was there last time in January 2012, the last of three visits<\/strong> I had chance to do. Runnng on the beach at sunset with 15C while Amsterdam was frozen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Tel Aviv sunset<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here are two or three things about Tel Aviv, or T.A. for the friends.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Get ready to get there<\/h2>\n

The most daunting task going to Tel Aviv is passing the security checks, that are equally intense on the way to\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>and\u00a0out<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0the country.<\/p>\n

On my first trip there I received a call the moment I entered Amsterdam Schiphol Airport:
\n“Mr Besana? This is El Al, are you flying with us today? We’re waiting you at the security checks”.<\/em>
\nThere’s a gate dedicated to security checks to passengers going to Israel.
\nI have been left in underwear – literally! – apparently because “Besana” doesn’t really sounds Italian to them, or maybe as I\u00a0discovered\u00a0last week because is a word similar to “tits” in Arabic language (thanks Mouw), or most likely because of the wild beard, or again because I have stamps from\u00a0United Emirates, Morocco and Egypt on my passport.<\/p>\n

Not for nothing is called the promise land.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sleep is overrated<\/h2>\n

My first night in Tel Aviv was a Monday.
\nI went out alone looking for food and having a salade in the central Dizengoff street.
\nMondays are quite everywhere, I concluded, but on the way back to the hotel, around midnight, I could not believe the amount of young people walking in the street in clubbing dresses… what the heck??<\/p>\n

Welcome to TA. The New York of the Mediterranean sea, the city that never sleeps.<\/p>\n

In Israel is normal going out at midnight, partying and going home around 5am – on a weekday!<\/strong>
\nThen going to work the day after like nothing happened.<\/p>\n

Nobody could explain me how they do it. Not the people there, not the (many) Israelis I’ve met backpacking in Latin America. They all replied with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Does anyone of my 7.5 readers know?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Salsa is in Tel Aviv too<\/h2>\n

I quickly found myself dragged in the same lifestyle, staying out till indecent hours in the morning, mostly swallowed by a vibrant Salsa scene where was easy to made connections and Facebook-friends, taking advantage of the “news effect” that a visitor always has.<\/p>\n

Best place was the Havana Club, 5 minutes walking from my hotel (by pure coincidence!).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Friday night fever<\/h2>\n

My new friend Efrat invited me to a Salsa party in Ramat Gan, on Friday night.
\nFriday is not only weekend time in Israel, but also the beginning of Sabbath, the Jewish weekly celebration.<\/p>\n

What did I know about Ramat Gan? Only that is a place close by Tel Aviv, obviously.<\/p>\n

But Ramat Gan is not Tel Aviv, and being on a Sabbath in the dead center of a town very much into Jewish religion ain’t fun!<\/p>\n

Without options for diner, I could only find a fancy seafood restaurant with a group of people celebrating something, a singer with a cowboy hat, and 20 minutes left before closing time.<\/p>\n

Just enough to get an amazing tuna steak with sesame seeds served on lettuce, a glass of white wine and a private restaurant with a private singer that chatted me up curious to know what the hell a tourist was doing in Ramat Gan on a Sabbath, when Tel Aviv is in full party mood 15 minutes away.<\/p>\n