Israel - First impressions

I suppose our first impression was - this isn't how the U.S. media portrays it. No soldiers anywhere to be seen - even at the airport.

Beyond that, it has the feeling of Florida - palm trees, lots of blooming flowers. It was easily already 70 degrees when we got out of the airport around 9:30.

From the airport, which is on the southwest side of Tel Aviv, it took about 45 minutes to navigate traffic to the center of the city where our hotel, Prima Tel Aviv, was located at Frishman Beach on the coast of the Mediterranean. Several other major hotels, such as Dan and Sheraton, are also nearby. It's also about 2 blocks from a major shopping street - Ben Yehuda.

The city has a very European feel - narrow streets, family-owned shops at street level with owners that likely live upstairs, lots of little cafes and restaurants.

There is a long Promenade that runs along the beach, so we took a nice walk and had lunch at a cafe along the water. That was delightful. Our entrees included fish and chips, a polish kebab and St. Peter's fish. I had the St. Peter's fish which is similar to talapia. For those of you who have had fish in another country before - yes, I got the whole fish, head staring back at me and everything.



We took a walk, letting our feet get soothed by the cool water. After a full day of travel, it was nice to get the shoes off. There are a couple of break waters set up to keep the waves on the beach very calm.

Since we're closer to the equator here, the sun sets early. The sun dipped below the horizon by 5:00.