Return to Tel Aviv!

Last weekend I traveled to Tel Aviv with some of my friends. I stayed just a few blocks from where I lived with my dad during the summer of 2007. It was refreshing to know where I was, unlike in Jerusalem where I am consistently lost (in a good way, of course). It was amazing how fast everything came back to me. Our hostel was at the corner of Gordon and Ben Yehuda, which is a block from both the beach, and many great restaurants. We traveled there using the Israeli bus system, called "egged, which was highly convenient. We arrived at the central bus station in Jerusalem, and bought our round trip tickets, which together cost under 8 American dollars (!!!), and 10 minutes later we were on the bus to Tel Aviv. The bus took us to the main bus station in Tel Aviv, which doubles as a large mall. We spent over 30 minutes wandering around trying to figure out where our bus was, finally a man told us to go outside, sure enough, we found our bus! Our bus dropped us off by Deizengoff Center, and luckily I remembered the area because we were far from any sort of smart phone. Our hostel room had 5 beds in it, with was almost perfect because we were a group of 6. We made it work. Since it was pretty late when we got there, we decided to go find a quick dinner. We went around the corner and sure enough we found our savior in restaurant form "Pizza and Beer" (!!). The next day we got up and had breakfast at the hostel, which was complementary! They had a large selection of fruit, veggies, cheese, and shakshouka! I was impressed! For the remainder of the trip, we were beach bums and also enjoyed Tel Aviv's lively night scene! Here are some photos from the trip:

View from our hostel's terrace! (Conveniently located next to our room!)

!!!!Going to the beach

Street in Tel Aviv, I walked this block almost everyday last time I was in Israel!

(Poppy-this is the road to Gootcha and that fruit stand!)

Great restaurant we ate at the second night, their hummus was some of the best I've ever had!!

                                                             View of Tel Aviv from the beach!

Running into the Mediterranean Sea, it is MUCH colder than it looks :(

Overall it was a great trip! It was nice to be in familiar territory, and I'm excited to go back and explore Yafo, and other parts of Tel Aviv I haven't been to!