Israel Trip

Days 1&2: I took a trip to Israel and Jordan, the first three days in Tel Aviv on my own, next a 5–day Gate 1 tour, and then four days in Jerusalem on my own with one of those days taking a day trip to Petra, Jordan. I should have looked at the usual weather in Israel before booking the tour (Gate 1 was giving a great price on it) as it really rained many of the days that I was there. In fact, in some areas, Israel was having more rain than they had had for 74 years. But the rain kept the number of visitors on the low side. I flew from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, and from there to Tel Aviv. My ride to my hotel by TLV was not there to meet me, but I called them and they sent someone shortly. I stayed at the hotel that the Gate 1 tour was staying at––The Hotel Metropolitan, a nice hotel near the beach.

Tel Aviv Urban Art Tour

Day 3: On my first full day in Tel Aviv, I took an Urban Art Tour in the pouring rain. I book my day tours on www.viator.com, but you can find a couple more art and graffiti tours by Googling them. Very few day tours in Israel will pick you up at your hotel, so you either have to figure out the public transportation system or else take taxis. About taxis, either ask them to put on the taxi meter or else set a price for the trip beforehand. Otherwise, you could be surprised by getting hit with some very expensive taxi fares (obviously, that happened to me). My Urban Art Tour was in the Floretin section of Tel Aviv, a section that had changed from a working–class area to a slum area to now a bohemian area full of artists and urban art. One interesting thing about taking art and graffiti tours in cities is that you will visit areas of cities that you wouldn’t have seen otherwise, such as the Floretin section. Photo: walking in the rain in the Floretin section. There were only three of us on the tour––our guide, a young woman from Haifa, Israel, and me.

A Mural

Murals were on walls and store shutters and were quite varied––some just art, some political.

A Mural

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was seen on a number of murals––the same picture so by the same artist.

Religious Mural

Some of the murals were religious such as this one.

Political Mural

A Free Gaza mural.

Religious Mural

A mural on the side of a synagogue including Jacob’s Ladder in it.

Arabic Mural

This Arabic mural was right across from the religious mural on the synagogue.

Fun Mural

The way to carry surfboards on a camel.

A Picture Mural

You have to spend a bit of time looking at the pictures. Each picture has a letter in it. Find the letters and you can figure out what is being said.

Most Famous Mural

This is the most famous mural in Floratin. At the top of the photo are members of the Club 27, made up of famous musicans who all died at the age of 27. Left to right: Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jean–Michel Basquiat, Kurt Cobain, Amy Whitehouse, and the artist Kis–Lev. He was so disappointed that he hadn’t accomplished much by age 27 that he painted over his face.

There are many more murals in Tel Aviv. You can find them by walking around the Floretin section or by taking more than one art/graffiti tour.

I have put my photos of the Urban Art Tour on a slideshow. Go to http://www.peggysphotos.com/urban–art–tour/ (Slideshows, Middle East, Israel, Tel Aviv, “Urban Art Tour”).