Lehitraot

My visit to Tel Aviv was short and sweet. Too short, really! It was great to just walk around and go to places I used to hang out at when I studied in the city as well as see new places, meet friends and enjoy the beach. I'll definitely go back soon!

As usual the security at the airport did not quite know what to make of me. "What did you do during your stay? Do you have any family here? Where did you learn Hebrew and did anyone in your family also learn Hebrew?". At least no questions about why I was traveling to Amsterdam on a British passport! Bags checked twice and both times swiped for, I assume, explosives residue. All in all not a bad airport experience.

Dizengoff

 

My last moments in Tel Aviv are spent on Dizengoff Street with Daisy at one of the many cafes along this shopping street. The weather is perfect, the Indian chai delicious and both Daisy and I wouldn't mind staying on instead of returning to Amsterdam.

 

Wedding party

 

A wedding needs a party and this one was no exception. Even in parties there are rituals and in this case the bride and groom being danced around on chairs held up by friends and family.

 

Besides the inevitable DJ an interesting band stepped on stage later in the evening. A DJ, drummer, guitarist and didgeridoo-player mixed Aborigine sounds with Western beats and got the crowd breaking into a sweat!

 Until late in the night the, mainly youngish, crowd kept dancing and drinking.

Mazal Tov!!

The reason for coming to Israel was to be present at the wedding of our friends Boaz and Eva. Dressed up after our afternoon at the hotel drinking bubbly, Daisy and I headed to Arca, the venue at the Tel Aviv port where the festivities were to be held. 

When all the guests had arrived and enjoyed some drinks and snacks the ceremony commenced. In Israel there are no civil weddings, so every marriage is per definition a religious one, but in this case not an orthodox one. A young, quite trendy looking rabbi performed the ceremony with the parents of bride and groom joining the happy couple under the chupa that was up by friends and family of the couple.

The ceremony itself is not that long and consists of prayers and words of wisdom of the rabbi. Unfortunately I could not understand what was said, but the outcome was a pair of very happy newlyweds,  two delighted families and many joyous friends! 

Kosher Dutch courage

Daisy and have come to the Sheraton Tel Aviv to keep Boaz company in his last hours of bachelorhood as he is banished from the hotel room as his wife to be Eva gets ready for the big event. The prospect of matrimony is of course a daunting one that needs some liquid encouragement in the form of kosher cava.