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 Tel
Aviv residents call it the City That Never Sleeps, and if
you don't believe them, just come around at 4 am, when you may
find yourself waiting in line for a cafe table on seafront Hayarkon
Street! Enjoying the highest standard of living in Israel, one-third
of the country's population now lives in this exciting 55-square-mile
metropolis that has become a world center of commerce and culture.
The city bustles with first rate Tel Aviv hotels, restaurants,
art galleries, museums, and spectacular beaches where the beachfront
Tayelet runs two miles south to Jaffa providing a great walk,
especially during one of Tel Aviv's many spectacular Mediterranean
sunsets. The north-south thoroughfares of Hayarkon, Ben Yehuda
(which becomes Allenby), Dizengoff, and Ibn Gvirol streets run
parallel to the shore. The premier Tel Aviv hotels are located
mostly on the seafront, along Hayarkon Street with its dozens
of cafés, restaurants, and pubs. The unofficial "border"
between south and north Tel Aviv is Carmel Market, a real cultural
crossroads of East-meets-West and old-meets-new.
History: Tel Aviv's southern border, the ancient port of
Jaffa, is where Jonah set sail on his fateful voyage into the
belly of a whale. The cedars of Lebanon that were used to build
Solomon's Temple arrived in Jaffa before being transported to
Jerusalem. In the second half of the 19th century, Jewish pioneers
began immigrating here from other parts of the world, and their
numbers strained the capacity of the small port. The resulting
city was named Tel Aviv in 1909. These Jews were later joined
by immigrants from Europe, mostly Poland, and later by an influx
of German Jews fleeing the Nazis. These new, urban arrivals brought
with them an appreciation for the arts and a passion for Europe's
sidewalk cafés. It was they who made the strongest social and
cultural impact on the Tel Aviv of today.
Tel Aviv Fact: Tel Aviv is the first Hebrew city.
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