... on Sunday mornings

Ben Gurion blvd. kiosk, Sunday morning

Since Israeli weekend is Friday-Saturday, Sunday is the beginning of our work week. So today - Sun, Sept 1st - it's a beginning of the new week, new month, and a new season... I love days and dates that work out like this...

Tel Aviv is a city of marvelous open cafe culture, and it's splendid to see people opening their day in the cafes all over the city. Those who work from home run their meetings and make business calls; those who have a day off just relax and read a paper; and those on the way to the office grab a coffee to go. Each street corner and each morning hour sees its regulars, and some places open as early as 6:30 AM!..

Opening Sunday morning at "Streets" at the corner of Ibn-Gvirol - Arlozorov

Today I had time for a morning stroll on some awesome Tel Aviv streets - first Ibn Gvirol, then Ben Gurion, then Dizengoff. And the streets were airy and happy, and the cafes filled with patrons. I especially love the open, inviting, integral-part-of-the-city cafe-kiosks (more about Tel Aviv kiosks here and here), like this one on Ben Gurion blvd.

Pink bicycle on Ben Gurion blvd. for CDP theme - pink :)

The last photo is for today's City Daily Photo theme - pink :) Click here to see more happy pink from around the world. Happy Sunday and happy September everyone!

... when having a walk on a rainy day (Ibn Gvirol street)

Nordau - Ibn Gvirol intersection

It was so hot today, that I could hardly recall how a few weeks ago it was raining so heavily on Friday morning, that I really couldn't think of venturing outside. Then I thought of one place a walk was not only possible, but also reasonable on a rainy day - under the arcades of Ibn Gvirol buildings.

This is how it was raining! I really liked this small graffiti sign. I think it loves Tel Aviv too :)

Ibn Gvirol is a long, long street, constructed from typical (to Ibn Gvirol) 4-floor buildings: the 3 upper floors are residential, and the ground floor holds shops and businesses. Under the buildings, in front of the shops, there's a kind of arcade that shelters from the rain in the winter, and from the sun in the summer.

"Efrata" designer boutique at 175 Ibn Gvirol st. - great for window shopping, and for the regular shopping as well

And so, this is a really great walk for a rainy day: you can go from a shop to a shop, window shopping, buying an occasional cup of coffee and continue walking, watching the rain pouring outside...

For your Tel Aviv address book:

Efrata

175 Ibn Gvirol st., Tel Aviv

http://www.efrata.co.il/

Visit Scenic Sunday for views from all over the world. And also - CDP's theme day today is cobblestone. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants. Ah, and happy April Fools' day everyone!

... despite the image of indifference

The residents of Tel Aviv are often accused of being indifferent to the problems of the rest of Israeli citizens. A Hebrew slang expression calls the city "the State of Tel Aviv" - meaning to say that Tel Avivians have their own state withing the state of Israel, with its own norms, life style, and rules.

I pondered on this when I saw a book of Robert Capa photography. Robert Capa had been in Israel in 1948-9, portraying the Israeli War of Independence and the arrival of the new settlers from the post-WWII Europe. One page of this book has two pictures (links are to these pictures reproductions on the awesome site of Magnum photos agency):

1. The Negba Kibbutz in Negev, south Israel. Tired people eat in the kibbutz dining room, under a wall damaged by shell fire holes from Egyptian artillery fire.
2. Armon Café, on Hayarkan Street, Tel Aviv. May, 1949. Smartly dressed fancy ladies sit in a typical Tel Aviv café.

I guess it was true then and true now. One country, sometimes two worlds.

Map (Hebrew).

... because of the coffee & coffee shops

Tel-Aviv is a coffee paradise. When you stroll the streets of the city, it seems that the majority of the population either are drinking their Java on the go, or are indulging themselves in numerous coffee houses.
It's funny though that this abundance is only a recent development, and that some 15 years ago it was almost impossible to find here a cup of a decent coffee. Then in ~ 1994 Ilan Shenhav had opened "Ilan's" coffee shop, first on Ibn Gvirol street here in Tel-Aviv, and then, as a chain, in more locations, and taught us all good coffee what it is. Since then many Israeli and international coffee chains were opened and flourish in Israel, mainly in Tel-Aviv. The woman on the photo drinks a cup of "Arcaffe", brought from a Bazel street branch of this chain.

... because of the Avenues

They are not as famous and glamorous as Parisian boulevards, but Tel-Aviv's avenues are also full of charm. They make Tel-Aviv a city that is actually nice to walk about, while you enjoy the scenery, watch the happy lazy crowd and breeze some oxygen.

Nordau ave. is my personal favorite, from a lot of reasons. First, I live nearby. Second, even before I lived in Tel-Aviv this was my route to the sea beach (famous "Metzitzim" - "Peepers" - beach). And also, because in summer weekends this is everybody's route to the beach - look at these stylish girls at the picture!

... because of the globality

My friend took me to a French cafe, called "C' si bon", next to her apartment, on Bugrashov street. Everybody but us spoke French: the owners, the waitresses, the customers! Our waitress asked us which language are we speaking. "Russian". She learned Russian in high-school; they read Turgenev's "First Love" ("Premier Amour") in the class.

This is a typical Tel-Aviv evening: coffee, mix of different languages, a reminder that it really is a small world.

About Bugrashov street:
Haim Burg (Bugrashov) was a teacher, one of the founders of the first Hebrew High School - Herzeliya, that still exists here in Tel-Aviv. After the WW I Bugrashov helped to establish a Tel-Aviv neighborhood called Nordia that provided home to people in need. Bugrashov st. is the main street of this neighborhood; it was called after Bugrashov while he still lived (not a very unusual habit in Tel-Aviv :). Later he changed his name to Burg, but the street name hadn't been replaced.