last day in tel aviv…trying to fit it all in

Fred and I, as usual, got up earlier than everyone else.  We grabbed a cab and headed over to Orna and Ella for breakfast.  A great bistro open from breakfast through dinner.  The girls had lunch there yesterday and loved it.  As always, a bunch of dips and the classic chopped salad.  Perfect breakfast because I got to taste a little of everything.  Their granola with the yogurt and black sesame seeds was so good that it almost tasted like an incredible muffin.

We began to walk down Nahalat Binyamin where I had read that there is an outdoor market of local artists showing their wares on Thursday and Friday.  Wrong.  It is Tuesday and Friday.  Regardless I am really glad we walked down this street.  Very European as there are not sidewalks.  It is completely flat and not so sure that cars really drive down the street. 

At the top of the street there are loads of fabric stores including stores where you can buy ribbons and buttons.  The garment center. 

I walked into the one store I saw.  I really wanted to get a gift for my nieces.  I usually pick them up something each time we go somewhere new.  Will be interesting to see what they think about what I bought.  This store is owned by a young woman, Sharuia Galit, who makes all her own clothes.  Each piece is individual.  Young and funky.  She is in their sewing, running her shop, the whole thing.  A woman entrepreneur! 

We figured we would continue down the street into the Florentine area.  Olia is a store filled with products that are olive oil based from flavored and regular oils to moisturizers.  All the products are made at a kibbutz in Israel and this is their retail outlet.  I bought an olive oil and some hand cream.

How the neighborhoods work are always interesting.  We came from up the street filled with fabrics stores and then we move into food stores then hardware stores and furniture stores.  I went into a few incredible cheese shops and dried fruit stores.  This store was great.  Dried fruits, nuts galore and a small oven that could have been for bread.  The basics.  I picked up dried pomellos which are sweet and sour at the same time.  Pomello is big here not so much in the US.

Continued our way through Florentine on Vital street which is supposedly big for late night clubs and bars.  Fred and I have not experienced that part of Tel Aviv.  Maybe next time.  This small synagogue was in the neighborhood of the clubs.

I like this picture because it gives you an idea of how there is an older grittier part of the city that is changing against a big highrise.  This area was filled with wood shops.

Not sure why but there was this memorial in a gate of a closed store.  This memorial is filled with shofars.

We met up with the kids (although Jessica decided to pass) at Abrakses Tzafon.  We were going to go here for dinner but realized we were here less than we had planned so why not do lunch.  My guess is night is a bit more crazy with music blasting creating a club atmosphere so in many ways I am glad we did lunch.  Click here for the link to that meal because it is a post in itself.

At this point, we all went our separate ways.  I wanted to walk over to Gordon and Ben Yehuda where there are a handful of galleries.  I was lucky that the first gallery I walked into the owner and artist were there and I got a full on explanation on each piece.  It is Engel Gallery and the artist is Yoav Ben Dov, a sculptor.   I really liked this piece called a Flower with No Purpose. 

I then walked down Gordon to a few different galleries but really liked Givon Gallery that was recommended to me from Rona Moser, a read of this blog who has given me great recommendations in Tel Aviv.  They carried artists who have won many awards in Israel and well respected and seasoned as well as up and coming artists.  The show up was of the artist Moshe Gershini and his paintings from the 1990s-2000s.  He has a show up at the Tel Aviv Art Museum at the same time.

Next was over to Ben Yehuda where I walked into Mika.  The show was a mixture of the artists they represent.  This particular piece is so powerful by the artist David Amuyal called Childrens Game.  The boys are supposedly fighting over the girl but there is something about the kids, the room, the gun and how this region is so filled with strife and the cycle continues.  Not so sure I'd want it hanging in my house but it really sticks with me.

I had to get one more food thing in.  I went over to the Tel Aviv ports which is almost like their South Street Seaport. It is clean with lots of large hangers filled with stores.  Hanger 11 is like a mini Chelsea Market.  Small restaurants and food stores.  I have to say that I do prefer the grit of the open air markets but it is interesting to see what is happening in the area. 

It was getting late and I walked back to the hotel.  These guys were fishing on the boardwalk, the sun was setting…I will be back to Tel Aviv.