Jerusalem & Tel Aviv

I booked an El Al flight for 280 Euro each (my partner and I) from Malpensa to Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv; then, again online, I booked 2 nights in Jerusalem at the Alon Hotel and, since I was there anyway, another 3 nights in the city currently considered the Middle Eastern Miami, that is, Tel Aviv. The flight from Malpensa arrived in Tel Aviv in the morning at 4.30, and from there, at exit no. 23 of the airport, we took a shuttle bus which for 5-6 Shekel takes you to the area called Airport City on the road to Jerusalem, leaving you at a bus stop where the no. 423, 945 or 947 will come by, taking you to the central Bus station in Jerusalem. At 7 in the morning we are in Jerusalem, from where you can take one of the various buses (5 shekel a ticket) to the central part of the city or one of the two surface Metro lines.

Our hotel (Alon) was on Shamai Street, practically right in the centre in the new part of Jerusalem outside the Jaffa Gate, 20 metres from Ben Yehuda and Jaffa Street, which are the pedestrian and liveliest streets, full of shops, pubs and restaurants of every kind. The hotel is nice, without great pretensions but excellent for value for money and above all close to the Old City and to Jerusalem's nightlife. Without rambling on too much, I will tell you that we devoted the first day entirely to savouring, absorbing, processing and listening to all the sounds, flavours, smells and colours of the magnificent Old City of Jerusalem, where the 3 monotheistic religions are concentrated within a few hundred metres: the Christian quarter with all its churches of every Christian denomination (Lutherans, Greek and Russian Orthodox, Ethiopian and Egyptian Copts, Protestants, Catholics etc.

etc.), centred on the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre; the quiet, silent Armenian quarter; the very chaotic and noisy Arab Muslim quarter, rich in smells, flavours and colours, centred on the al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock; and finally the clean, tidy Jewish quarter, whose nerve centre is the Western Wall or Wailing Wall, what remains of the Temple of Jerusalem, built in the 10th century BC. We walked slowly for hours through every alley, lane and shop, we climbed a staircase (St.

Mark Street) that leads onto the rooftops of Jerusalem, where you can admire the whole panorama of the Old City at 360°, the domes of the churches and the mosque… at sunset it is wonderful! We enjoyed the comings and goings inside the Holy Sepulchre of all the faithful of every religious order, we silently listened to the prayers of the Jews before the Wailing Wall, as well as the calls of the muezzin of the al-Aqsa Mosque summoning the faithful to prayer. A fantastic day, which we fittingly rounded off in the evening with a lovely dinner in the centre of new Jerusalem.

On the second day we were lucky enough to enjoy the spectacle of the Jerusalem Marathon: the city was practically at a standstill from 7 in the morning, the streets deserted of cars and instead full of athletes and supporters, the sun was shining warmly, and so we decided to watch the marathon runners go past and then to walk in Jerusalem outside the walls, first visiting the northern area with the Ethiopian and the Russian churches near Jerusalem's city hall, then we saw the beautiful Damascus Gate swarming with Arab people busy with every kind of activity and traffic.

Continuing on, we climbed the Mount of Olives, first visiting the beautiful church of Gethsemane and the Russian church of Mary Magdalene with its golden domes, and finally, at the top of the mount, the sanctuary of Dominus Flevit, beside which you can see the ancient Jewish cemetery stretching over the whole hillside next to it. Continuing along the road that runs beside the walls you can see the tomb of the prophet Zechariah and the excavations of the house of David. Finally we re-entered through the Dung Gate into the esplanade of the Wailing Wall, where the Shabbat festivities were beginning. This feast begins on Friday about an hour before sunset and ends on Saturday at sunset. Be aware right from the start that public transport practically “disappears”: no bus, no train, no light metro, no post office, no bank, no currency exchange… you can only get around by taxi.

Shops, pubs and restaurants practically all close, except those run by Arabs or non-Israelis. It is very beautiful to watch from above the arrival towards the Wailing Wall of thousands of Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews dressed for the occasion in the typical clothing of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Germany, and their festive singing mingling with the muezzin's call to prayer in the Mosque that stands right above the wall. We return to the hotel satisfied with the day and enjoy another little dinner in the centre of New Jerusalem! On the third day, since it was Shabbat and we could not use public transport until 18.00, we decided to visit the Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem….

but unfortunately, to our great regret, we discovered that this too was closed! We did not give up: we went to see the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, and then we entered the open-air Israel Museum, where we spent the whole day looking at works of modern and other art, with pavilions dedicated to Jewish/Israeli history from its origins to the present day and others dedicated to all the cultures of the 5 continents! At 17.00 we left and took a taxi that, for 100 shekel (exchange rate 1 euro = 5 shekel), took us to collect our suitcases at the hotel and then straight to the Central Bus station, where for 19 Shekel we took the bus that at 18.30 took us in an hour to the Tel Aviv Bus station! By 19.30 we had already arrived; we left the station and for 6,5 shekel we took one of the famous shared taxis (Sherut), which takes you into the centre, practically to Bialik Street, where we had booke

d an apartment on the top floor of a building whose terrace offers a 360° view of the whole city… spectacular! We took a nice shower and then went off to enjoy a well-earned dinner in one of the dozens of pubs, restaurants and little eateries on Allenby Street, where you will find whatever you want and for every taste and budget, all night long! We devoted the penultimate and last day to visiting the ancient city of Jaffa (Yafo), which today can be considered the old part of Tel Aviv, to the south of it: a grid of ancient alleys with mosques, churches and lighthouses, full of art shops and little restaurants, which is certainly worth visiting.

From there you can take a lovely walk following the Tel Aviv seafront, which is at least 2-3 km long, skirting a wide and beautiful beach on one side while on the other the White City and the new skyscrapers of Tel Aviv merge into a truly unusual mix. The White City is that part of the city built from 1909 onwards, with low white or otherwise light-coloured buildings, also in 1920s-'30s Bauhaus style, to which in recent decades Miami-style skyscrapers have been added; at night it is a fantastic spectacle of lights. Tel Aviv is a sparkling city, full of entertainment, of opportunities to socialise, that never stops, with wi-fi everywhere, a beautiful, wide beach with a cycle-friendly seafront where boys and girls run and do sport constantly.

The port area in the north of Tel Aviv has been redeveloped and is full of restaurants and bars populated by young and not-so-young people; within the city the most beautiful streets besides the seafront are Allenby Street with its colourful Carmel market, Dizengoff Street with its shopping centres, Ben Yehuda Street and King George Street, where you can get around on foot or by taking the sherut for 6,5 shekel, which will take you anywhere. A visit should also be made to Rabin Square, near which is the memorial at the spot where he was killed.