Purim Weekend, Part III: On the road again

Seeing as the rest of Israel was celebrating Purim on Saturday evening, I wanted to be part of the celebration in some way.  However, that would entail finding a place outside Jerusalem to stay for the night, and my new friend and I determined that would be a near impossibility, especially since we were particularly interested in going to Tel Aviv.  Another girl at the hostel tried desperately to convince us that we needed to go, no matter the cost, because this is Israel, the only country on Earth where the general public is wildly celebrating a Jewish holiday!  Come on, this is rabbinically-sanctioned alcohol consumption!  But despite her pleading and attempts to prove that we would surely regret it if we didn't participate, my friend and I decided that we were better suited for a quiet night in Jerusalem.  Surely we would still see people in costume, and Tel Aviv could wait for Sunday.

Motzei Shabbat (after Shabbat, i.e. Saturday night) we headed out to Ben Yehudah Street (remember the State Street of Jerusalem?), where it was crowded with droves of people enjoying themselves in much less crazy ways than we would have encountered in Tel Aviv that night.  We enjoyed the sites, the sounds, the many musical buskers of varying levels of talent, and decided that we were going to celebrate with some good ol' fashioned gelato.  On our way, however, we were apprehended by two guys who were quite obviously looking to get some phone numbers.  I'll admit, though, they started the conversation in the least sleazy way possible.  One came up to my friend from behind her, touched her on the shoulder and said "Sarah?  Oh, you're not Sarah!  I thought I saw my friend; you look so much like her!"  They started talking while his friend started a conversation with me, and then they joined us for gelato.  Nicely done, boys, nicely done.

The next  morning we departed for Tel Aviv, though not before stopping at the giant shook (market) at Machaneh Yehudah where we got some fruit and bread for breakfast.  1.5 shekel for an orange twice the size of my fist?  Yes please!  We hopped a bus to Tel Aviv with the intention of spending the afternoon on the beach, but alas it was overcast and thus we didn't get quite the tan were hoping for.  Still, we treated ourselves at a beachside restaurant for a midday snack, then walked around and found some fantastic shwarma (Israeli gyro) in the afternoon.  

As we walked through Tel Aviv with its fancy beach front hotels, plethora of restaurants and shops, and large city vistas in the background, I noted that, having just come from Jerusalem, it was like going from Washington D.C. to California in an hour.  I know some Jews often bemoan the lilliputian size of Israel, but quite frankly it's wonderful to be able to do so much, see so many different places, experience such extreme variety in very little time.  You want hot?  Go south for the day.  Cold?  Go north.  Mountains?  Northeast.  Religion?  West.  A more cosmopolitan experience?  East.  Snorkeling?  South.  And you can do it all in one week.  Heck, you could even hitchhike most of the way!

I suppose I should thank Israeli public transportation at this point.   Thank you, Israeli public transportation!  You may not always make sense, but you're always there!  (Except on Shabbat.)

As it turned out, there was little Purim-related celebration to be found on Sunday in Tel Aviv, and in some ways I'm sorry I couldn't be in Jerusalem for their parties Sunday night, but my friend and I thoroughly enjoyed our own, relaxing, personal Purim.  And if I did, in fact, miss something significant, then I guess I'll just have to come back to Israel some other year and do Purim right.