Sunday, March 21, 2010

Day trip to Jerusalem

On a Friday morning, my partner and I traveled from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem - an approximately 1-hour drive. I love Jerusalem; I used to live there for 18 years, until I decided to move to Tel Aviv, as so many other people I had known did before me. For years I missed Jerusalem very much, even though I was happy with our moving to Tel Aviv.

The difference between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv is enormous: while Tel-Aviv is a relatively new city (the city celebrated its centenary in 2009) on the seashore of the Mediterranean Sea, a supposedly "Jewish" city (if one excludes Jaffa, which is part of Tel-Aviv municipality), with western flair, Jerusalem, in contrast, is a historical site, which has been existing for more than 2000 years, 800 m. above sea level, in the middle of the Judean Hills. Tel-Aviv is a relatively rich city, a cultural metropolis, with dozens of splendid, genuine Bauhaus-buildings:

 

While in Tel-Aviv, the atmosphere in the heart of the city is vibrant, full of life and interesting, Jerusalem looks somewhat austere, with its sand stone houses: