Tel Aviv and around

Posted in Places

Venue: Tel Aviv-Yafo, Jerusalem, Galilean Sea

Lens: Samsung S7 camera

Music: Netta – Toy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CziHrYYSyPc)

Last summer I got the chance to visit Tel Aviv for one week on a work-related conference. I expected I’d have very little time for sight-seeing so I decided to not even bring my camera along as it is quite heavy. As it turned out I indeed had a busy schedule, but in the same time managed to do so much more than anticipated and had a truly amazing week. Not only I explored almost every bit of Tel Aviv, but also went on half-day trips to Jerusalem and the Galilean Sea. I had certainly underestimated heavily the beauty of Israel, but to partially compensate for this I of course took plenty of photos with my smartphone (and the worse camera quality could hardly spoil most of the sights anyway). So I hope I’ll still manage to convey a bit of the atmosphere of the impressive places I saw (for the amazing food I tried unfortunately you’d have to go there yourselves).

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We start our photo-tour in the north of Tel Aviv, at the Hertzliya Marina where I was brought by a good old friend of mine that moved back to Israel after our student years together in the Netherlands.
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Luckily we were right on time to catch the sunset just like the people on all those boats sailing towards the sun.
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A few busy days later I finally managed to explore the southern part of Tel Aviv: the old town of Jaffa and the view back to the beach and the modern city built more recently.
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A sunset from Old Jaffa, just like on the top photo. You see the dome of one of the uncountable Christian churches in Israel built on Biblical places. St. Peter was a fisherman in Jaffa, as far as I remember.
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Yet another shot of Tel Aviv as seen from Old Jaffa, where maybe you can see more properly the calm atmosphere of the place and the people chilling around.
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A typical little street in Old Jaffa, where one can find lots of small restaurants and souvenir shops.
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What really amazed me in Tel Aviv is actually the atmosphere in the modern parts of town, all the liveliness and spirit of the locals. So I had to make a few shots of the more hipstery parts of town.
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A fairly typical side street in the modern part of the city.
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Most of all Tel Aviv is famous for its nightlife, and I surely confirm the fame is well-deserved as pretty much everyone in this city goes out at night.
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I was particularly fortunate to catch the “Laila Lavan”, the white night at the end of June when the street parties don’t stop. This is a “headphone” party where you can’t actually hear any music out loud.
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The next day I took a half-day trip to Jerusalem and its old town with the market that you see here. I can’t imagine two places more different than Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, yet they are less than an hour drive from each other.
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Jerusalem is very old and very holy for so many of the big world’s religions. It is also a place of huge tension between different cultures and is extremely far from being “chilled” like Tel Aviv. I won’t go further into politics and religion, but here you see the entrance of the church built on top of Chirst’s tomb.
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And here you see the place where Christ was buried, or at least what people built over it. I suppose it is especially hard placing the burial ground of someone who was resurrected and didn’t leave any bones.
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Here you see the other holy place in Old Jerusalem, the remains of the Western Wall of the Second Jewish Temple. There are many religious Jewish people praying there at any point of time. Accidentally, and quite unfortunately for the course of history, the Western Wall is also of great significance to the Muslim people.
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Continuing the religious path away from Tel Aviv, here we are seeing a church in Nazareth, in the north of Israel. Nazareth was the hometown of Jesus Christ, but it is now a fully Muslim town with several newly-built churches.
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The day trip to the Galilean Sea was essentially full of places that hosted major events described in the bible as this was the region where Jesus and his disciples lived. This photo is from a place where Jesus performed one of his miracles, I believe.
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A catholic nun ringing the bell in one of the many churches along the way.
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Capernaum on the Galilean coast is another Biblical place with lots of ancient ruins a several newly built churches (the pink-domed one in the back is a Greek orthodox church I believe).
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The last place of my Biblical trip was on the Jordan river where many Christian people come to get baptized in the true original way. Several hours later I was back to Tel Aviv and heading to the airport, thinking of the extreme diversity of the people and places I encountered in Israel. Now, almost one year later, I still find it a truly unforgettable experience.

35 thoughts on “Tel Aviv and around”

  6. I live in a relatively remote area of BC, Canada and our internet connection is very slow. So I could not view all of your pictures. But the ones I did see were very impressive indeed. It is wonderful that you have able to see many of the Biblical places and felt the connection to our own civilization. Have a great Sunday!

    Liked by 1 person

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  15. kirilson – I especially liked the picturs in and around Jerusalem. I went to Israel in 1991 and the Wailing Wall and Baptism is the Jordan were both high points. Thanks for bringing back some great memories.

    Liked by 2 people

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  18. I am going back next year and your photos reminded me why I want to go back: looking at Tel Aviv from old Jaffa, the feeling of walking in ancient footsteps in Jerusalem, the wonderful food. Can’t wait.

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  24. Pingback: Tel Aviv and around — kirilson photography « joebuchel

  25. Your post is timely for me since I have just agreed to kitty-sit in Jerusalem in Sept/Oct. I have no idea what to expect and since i am not a religious person it will be interesting to see how I do. Thanks for the photos… all of them didn’t come through but the ones that did made me even more excited about my trip.
    BTW, thanks for following me 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  28. Pingback: Tel Aviv and around — kirilson photography – Elijah's Breeze

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