Tel Aviv (pt 1)

Shalom. It is still wierd to start the week on Sunday. We already had six hours of class today, after taking all day yesterday to study.
Anyways, class ended on thursday this week, and we all decided that a trip to the Mediterranean would be great after a brutal week. We also had wanted to see Tel Aviv for a while, and so we packed and got a taxi to the central bus station at four.
Traveling in a foreign country is an eye opening experience. As cars are not as common here (due to a 100% import tax) the bus system is extensive and used for almost any type of travel. Buses leave Jerusalem every fifteen minutes to make the fifty minute trip to Tel Aviv. It was wierd thinking of having to get a bus ticket for the same drive that it would be to go to DC. Even stranger was the central bus station. As the bus system is bigger, the place was more like an airport than a bus station. There were ticket counters all over, platforms and lines everywhere, and vendors and clothing stores in between. Security was tight getting in as it is everwhere, and soldiers were all over the station.
We got round trip tickets, and the bus ride had pleasant views of the countryside around Jerusalem. Neighborhoods are built on the tops of hills and look like ancient cities, each one circling the tops of small mountains with views of the valley below. The countryside is littered with small stone walls that might have been there for centuries, probably ancient boundary lines.
Tel Aviv was very different than I had expected it to be. It was modern in that it had a skyline (mostly composed of luxury hotels over the mediterranean) and has modern stores and commerce, but the city does not really feel all that modern. It felt very similar to parts of DC, dilapilated and dirty for the most part, and without the saving grace of ancient buldings and a rich history. We stayed at Sky Hostel, and were lucky to get a nice balcony looking over the downtown area.
What makes Tel Aviv worth visiting is clearly the mediterranean sea. Something about swimming in the same ocean Odysseus wandered is surreal. We got there at sunset. Walking onto the beach and looking at the breakers backlit with a golden glow was incredible. The water was like a bath. We swam out to the breakers and watched the sun go down over a sea steeped in history.
That night I tried another filafel stand, and remain convinced that French Hill is still the best. Chris found a really neat Jewish bookstore and spent most of the evening there, while the rest of us just checked out downtown Tel Aviv. On the whole, not really all that impressive.

Photo notes:

Chris on the way here
The rest of us on the way here
The sunset through a very odd hotel
My least favorite filafal so far
Approaching the Sea
The boardwalk
Our balcony at Sky Hostel