Tel Aviv (Pt 2)

After checking out of the hostel we set up camp at the beach and stayed there for most of the day. We all tried schnitzel for the first time, which was really good, and I found watermelon juice in bottles. Really good.
The beach was incredible. The sand was the softest sand I have ever felt, and the water was unbelievably warm. We spent most of the day in and out of the water. Randy and I spent several hours body surfing in the waves, which were really decent. In face, Randy and I spent most of the entire day in the water. Apparently, just sitting in the water is the thing in Israel. Up and down the beach, people were just sitting waist deep in the water, just letting the waves roll over them. Another thing that seems to be really popular is this game with two paddles in which a soft rubber balls is hit really hard back and forth from about twenty feet. Everyone seemed to be playing it, and everyone seemed to be really good. I mean, they were wipping these paddles back and forth. I tried getting the rules out of someone, but english is not exactly common around here.
The only downside to the beach is that apparently it is jellyfish season. I currently have five bad burns that have now turned purplish. I thought I had gotten stung the night before, but during the day we really found out what being stung means. Jellyfish were everwhere, and they were not exactly afraid of man. Most of them were around two feet big, but some were killer, like three to four feet around.
Down at the end of the public beach are some breakers, and from there you can see the ancient port of Jaffa. The white limestone shines in the sun. We didn't get a chance to visit it, but it was amazing to think that the Crusaders pulled up at the very spot we were at. There is so much history, its impossible to really absorb or realize where you are. This is just something that doesn't exist in America, these setting that make you realize where you stand in history.
Taylor stayed with some friends, but Chris, Randy, and I caught the last bus before Shabbat back to Jerusalem. We got the craziest cabby ride of all time back into the city. I swear, lanes and speed limits don't mean anything in this country. In fact, on the main streets in Tel Aviv there were no lane markings in yellow. I saw the same four lanes be used by traffic going both directions that simply swerved out of the path of oncoming cars.
I was really glad to return to Jerusalem. It actually felt like coming home.

Photo notes:

Walking on the beach
The sea breakers
The modern skyline
Camping out
That Jellyfish is actually four feet across... I should have stood by it for perspective
That is Jaffa in the background behind all of us
The view from the breakers - modern shipyards with ancient Jaffa in the background