Miami Hotel Tel Aviv

... had changed.

Tired from his swim, Ziv went home to crash and I went back to the hostel where I found my 2 Swedish roommates, who had just graduated high school and were on the verge of being broke from waiting the past 2 weeks for placement on a kibbutz, working on liter of cheap (47 shekels < 8 quid) vodka.

We took it up to the roof terrace, where we were joined by our eyebrow-raisingly flamboyant other roommate whose name ...

... couple of full on days exploring. We took in an excellent free tour to start with, which gave us a nice overview of the 4 quarters (Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Armenian). While we were waiting for the tour to start we were given a little abuse by a Palestinian as the tour was run by Jews. This is the kind of tense feeling that hangs over the city. It’s a pity though – had he been offering an alternative free tour – we would ...

... a few walls. When I arrived at my youth hostel, the lobby was crowded with yelling students, and four guys sat at the reception downing Gold Stars and talking about nightclubs, until the guy behind the desk asked them to shut up just long enough for him to tell me where the showers were. I wound my way up through a group of screaming Australian girls, teetering atop four inch heels and grooming themselves in front of the only full length mirror in ...

... look at the sea and boardwalk, the matkot games still in full swing below. Surfers were washing off under the public showerheads, and a squirming puppy was getting cleaned off, too.

After cleaning up, we headed on the spur of the moment to the gay community center in Gan Meir (Meir Park). (The cabbie misheard me, although he insisted he hadn't, and took us to Gan Ha-Ir (City Park) instead, prompting a whole re-negotiation of the cab ride and a stop at an ...

... living room and bedroom, and DSL. Good to go. Our unit is #521, but on the 4th floor--and there are only two other units: 522 and 530. Whoever did the numbering around here was on something strong. At least we're not on floor -1 (yes, minus 1)!

Despite still recovering from our day at the beach, we decided it was time for another one, especially as I've been fighting off some congestion for the last few days. We walked down nearby Ben Gurion St ...

... tour after lunch, which took us into the plenum, where the legislature meets, and showed us the art and other features of the building. Both the Israel Museum and Knesset (like Yad Vashem) did not allow photos inside, unfortunately, so pictures of those places are not here, of course.

After retrieving our stuff, we headed through the large park and rose garden that sits next to the Knesset on our way to ...

... two other friars, and six faithful, worshiping and celebrating the Eucharist. It was truly a beautiful, worshipful time. After the the Mass, I went into the tomb, along with two others to pray. Long before the huge crowds would line up and push and shove, long before the monks from the different Churches would begin to bark orders at unruly pilgrims, the three of us knelt in silence, alone but together. There we reverenced this place of brief rest for our Lord ...

... screamed like a girl. She's so much fun. She's 25, married and from Berlin. We've been having a great time, trying to understand each other! She's obviously much better at English than me German. We were invited by the hotel to join on the Passover Feast. We looked a little out of place surrounded by people in skullcaps. It was really fun, lots of food and we were treated to a few rousing Jewish tunes. Later that night, I went for ...

... had interesting views on politics, and is a personal friend of Dana International - the Israeli transsexual singer who won Eurovision with "Diva" a few years ago. His comment to Bec, and I quote: "You'd think she's more female than you are"! Bec didn't know how to take that... The houses in Neve Tzedek had interesting stories, as many were lived in by well-known poets, artists, etc. Many of them had interesting pottery, sculptures and other art at the front of their ...

... that touch one another from one side of the street to the opposite side. We stop at all of my friend's merchant friends. They offer us tea with mint or Arabic coffee. The first stop is at the Bedouin shop who sells carpets and hand-weaved bags. The second stop is at Yussef's who threaded my friend's beautiful gold necklace with antique gold beads and also sold her some furniture and carpets. A third stop takes us to Bilal who sells antique jewelry, antique carpets and ...