From Tel Aviv with Love
Trip Start
Aug 22, 2008
1
4
Trip End
Aug 31, 2008
Jerusalem,
Israel
Friday, August 22, 2008
The latest opportunity came when I accepted a consulting engagement with the top Israeli fashion retailer, Castro.
Leaving from Newark airport, I boarded a pathetic Continental Long Range 777. With it's nasty crew, rock hard seats and laughable "entertainment"system, they might just have to rename the plane a 000...which is the exact score it gets in Bloom's travel rating system.
Thanks to a full dose of Lunesta, I awoke mercifully close to landing and was able to enjoy the unqiue spiral approach that airplanes now take upon landing in Israel
Getting Ready to Rumble
. I am still not sure if this has been implimented in order to avoid sniper fire or to keep from diminshing the hot property value of the nearest illegal settlements. Nonethless, I was somehow whisked through the very lovely new terminal at Ben Gurion and only stopped momentarily for cursory questioning and to make sure that my socks matched my jeans. Most lax Israeli security ever!
After a short ride into Tel Aviv, I was dropped off at the nearly beachfront Melody Hotel where I jumped into the shower, threw on some clothes and ran downstairs for my ride to the Castro offices with my project contact and new friend Michal.
Since I have signed an NDA, and a hulking Mossad agent is most
definitely reading this entry as I type (Ma Nish Ma Yoel?)...I can say
very little about the specific work that I did for the company...the fashion police are always watching.
However, I can tell you that I learned very quickly how to do business with Israelis...make a point, make it loudly, never back down and use your hands and shoulders at all times. Fittingly....we held all our workshops in one of the company's converted bomb shelters
Gorilla and the Girls
. In all seriousnes, I did really enjoy meeting the people from Castro. They were mostly my age and very friendly. They also enjoy drinking espresso all day...which is an endearing quality for me.
For those who are not familiar with the company, it is the largest retailer in Israel and probably the country's most famous brand. It was started shortly after the founding of the State and while the Castro family eventually took the company public, the daughter of the founder and her husband continue to run the company as co-CEO's. They are both fantastic people (She runs design and he runs the business) and happened to be the parents of my classmate and good buddy from HBS, Ariel. Those of you who read my last journal from South Africa will remember him by his proper name... the Gorilla.
Going to dinner with Ariel and his parents after day two was a really fun experience. I was treated to a fantastic meal at Toto...one of the top restaurants in Israel. And though I very much enjoyed the conversation with the Rotters and a few of their top executives, it seemed like the enire restaurant was staring at our table and hanging on every word
In the Market near basta
. In case you didn't know...They're kind of a big deal. The more time I spend here in Israel, the more I understand what a celebrity the Gorilla is. I've known for some time that he has a tendency to date Israel's hottest models, but I guess I always thought it was his apelike charms. Now I am beginning to see that it is his birthright. He is apparently the Paris Hilton of Israel.
See recent tabloids here...
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3558620,00.html
After my final presentation at Castro, I returned to the hotel to meet Nina... who had just flown in to meet me for the vacational segment of this program. It's her first trip to Israel and she is super excited. We quickly made our way to the lobby where we spent an hour catching up with my cousin Lou who is a Tel Aviv native and the nicest man on Earth.
We then hailed a cab and sped down the Tel Aviv beachfront to meet the Gorilla and his supermodel/TV star girlfriend Rotem (with him in the above link). We had a lovely evening at the casual and charming "Basta" and very much enjoyed spending time with Rotem who is every bit as lovely as she is beautiful. Gorilla has one charmed life!
After a couple hours in a smokey and exclusive Tel Aviv nightclub, we bid farewell to the Gorilla and headed back to the Melody for a nice sleep and a late wake up on our way to the Holiest City in the Holy Land.
Next entry in Jerusalem!!!
