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 Tel
Aviv residents call it the City That Never Sleeps, and if you don't
believe them, just come around at 4 am, when you may find yourself waiting
in line for a cafe table on seafront Hayarkon Street! Enjoying the highest
standard of living in Israel, one-third of the country's population now
lives in this exciting 55-square-mile metropolis that has become a world
center of commerce and culture. The city bustles with first rate Tel Aviv
hotels, restaurants, art galleries, museums, and spectacular beaches where
the beachfront Tayelet runs two miles south to Jaffa providing a great
walk, especially during one of Tel Aviv's many spectacular Mediterranean
sunsets. The north-south thoroughfares of Hayarkon, Ben Yehuda (which
becomes Allenby), Dizengoff, and Ibn Gvirol streets run parallel to the
shore. The premier Tel Aviv hotels are located mostly on the seafront,
along Hayarkon Street with its dozens of cafés, restaurants, and pubs.
The unofficial "border" between south and north Tel Aviv is
Carmel Market, a real cultural crossroads of East-meets-West and old-meets-new.
History: Tel Aviv's southern border, the ancient port of Jaffa, is where Jonah set sail on his fateful voyage into the belly of a whale. The cedars of Lebanon that were used to build Solomon's Temple arrived in Jaffa before being transported to Jerusalem. In the second half of the 19th century, Jewish pioneers began immigrating here from other parts of the world, and their numbers strained the capacity of the small port. The resulting city was named Tel Aviv in 1909. These Jews were later joined by immigrants from Europe, mostly Poland, and later by an influx of German Jews fleeing the Nazis. These new, urban arrivals brought with them an appreciation for the arts and a passion for Europe's sidewalk cafés. It was they who made the strongest social and cultural impact on the Tel Aviv of today. Tel Aviv Fact: Tel Aviv is the first Hebrew city. |
