About the picture on my website title

I thought that I ought to say a few words about the picture on my website's landing page: it is a picture I took around March 2009 in my old neighborhood in the center of Tel Aviv: in Hebrew its name is Lev Ha'Ir (heart of the city). This is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Tel Aviv, most of the old houses were built around 1930. As you know perhaps, Tel Aviv is a newly created city: the first cornerstone was set in 1909.
The picture shows Balfour street at the corner of Yehuda Halevy st. - not the kind of view tour guides lead you through. In my view as a citizen who has been living for more than a decade in Lev Ha'Ir, what makes Balfour st. so special are its fabulous trees. You get to know the special quality of their presence only after you have been spending several months in this area. All over Tel Aviv there very ancient trees scattered in various backyards and back side streets. They make you feel protected when you walk by them - something I have come to value while living in Tel Aviv.
About 2 months ago my family and I moved out of Lev Ha'Ir to another neighborhood, up north, although still part of Tel Aviv. I miss those trees. Although we have plenty of trees in my new neighborhood, they don't feel the same...

Why write about everyday life in Israel?

Israel is almost daily featuring in the news. As a European who has been living in Israel for several decades now, every time I come to visit my relatives and my friends in Europe, I realize how little they know about REAL life in Israel. So time has come for me to tell people a little about life here in Israel through my personal and humble perspective.

What do people outside Israel mostly think of at first, when talking about Israel? The middle eastern conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, of course. Well, enough has been written about the conflict and about the war. I shall not even attempt to tell you about the conflicts and their reasons.

What I want to focus on is the little things of everyday life, the casual, regular encounters, blissful moments, whatever is part of regular everyday life as I see it. I hope that this may outbalance somewhat the imbalanced and very partial pictures you see in the news spots.

The first theme I shall talk about in my coming posts is food - food as a place where cultures meet and mingle.