Tel Aviv- Take me back!

The weather forecast called for a chance of rain and clouds, but it couldn't have been more wrong. Our Tel Aviv day was filled with sweet sunshine and warm bliss. I didn't bring a swimsuit, not even considering there would be a chance I would go swimming in February but that was a mistake. It turns out the Mediterranean Sea is warm even in February and that there are some fabulous beaches in Tel Aviv. Needless to say, I went swimming regardless of the fact that I didn't bring a swimsuit (luckily my friend Jenny didn't want to use hers and let me borrow it). But we'll get to that later.

When we were first let off the bus next to the ocean, we ran down to the beach where I took my first steps in the Mediterranean. We spent time splashing around and taking pictures.

Then we went to this flea market with all sorts of cool garage sale kinds of things and a bought a bracelet.
Next we went to this really cool Russian Orthodox church called St. Peter's in Old Jaffa right on the water. Outside of this church were some vendors selling awesome jewelry and some nice shops and restaurants at Old Jaffa. It was beautiful and reminded me of something I'd see in Greece. We got some amazing nutella gelato and ate it as we walked along the coast!

View of Tel Aviv from Old Jaffa

St. Peter's

These are all hair clips a woman made and was selling at Old Jaffa

For the rest of the afternoon, most of the BYU kids met up at the beach and had an afternoon full of swimming, laying in the sun, and enjoying the beautiful day. The Mediterranean is super salty but also really surprisingly warm for the time of year. It was such a blissful day and the perfect way to wear off all the school-induced stress we'd been experiencing.

After spending a few hours at the beach, a group of us walked up the coast and explored it. We were going to rent bikes and then this carriage driver offered us a better option- a carriage ride with all 6 of us for 10 shekels each (10 skekels= about $2.50) haha so obviously we took this option. We felt slightly ridiculous riding on this horse-drawn carriage down the busy street of Tel Aviv, especially because we were definitely the only carriage around and everyone was waving at us. It was so fun though and was the best way to see the coast of Tel Aviv.

Our carriage driver was so nice and our horse's name was Billy

Tel Aviv has a very different feel from Jerusalem- it's much more laid back without the political tension you can feel in Jerusalem. People from Jerusalem view the people from Tel Aviv sort of as free-spirited hippies which I could definitely see. Everyone I talked to was super friendly and inviting and seemed extremely happy. The Jewish holiday Purim happened to be going on at the time we were in Tel Aviv which is like Halloween for them. People were wearing all sorts of funny costumes which were really fun to look at.

These guys were waving at us as we rode in the carriage

After our spectacular little carriage ride, we watched the sunset from the beach. There were lots of surfers out and people playing paddleball all over the beach.

Once it was dark, we headed a few streets into the city to the Carmel market before it closed. It's a long street filled with all sorts of food vendors and stands selling everything. A local told us we had to go there while we were in Tel Aviv so we did. It was such a fun place and was HUGE. It was kind of like Pike Place market in Seattle but less artsy and way bigger. We finished the day with dinner at a cute little restaurant just outside of the Carmel Market. Tel Aviv is a city that absolutely amazed me- one second you're at the beach with a bunch of surfer beach bums feeling like you're in California and the next second you're at this huge market that reminds you you're in the Middle East, then a few streets over it feels like you're in New York City with crowded streets and fancy stores. Not to mention Old Jaffa that feels like a quaint Mediterranean coastal town. This day was absolute bliss and is what I needed to keep myself sane before two weeks of crunch time for classes.

Carmel Market