Tel Aviv

Arriving in Tel Aviv airport provides a wonderful gateway to the country. The airport is modern, lavish and sophisticated, but ancient mosaics with Greek inscriptions also greet you. The situating of ancient and modern not merely side by side but surrounding each other.

Then you get outside, and find out what the 25 degrees Celsius temperature at midnight feels like.

But I am glad I arrived as late as I did. Seeing how many young people are on the streets at that time of night definitely gives a sense of a city’s vibrancy.

I want students I travel with in the future to see Tel Aviv, but if one has a tour scheduled in Jerusalem the next morning (as I ended up arranging as a last minute substitution) then it makes more sense to go straight to Jerusalem. I intend to spend a little more time in Tel Aviv on my last day in Israel. Perhaps visiting Tel Aviv will be most conveniently left until the end of a trip, rather than at the beginning.

I should also note that it can be difficult to sleep if, in addition to the change in time zone, you are also keenly aware that in a matter of hours you will be in Jerusalem!