Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
If you want to go to Bethlehem from Jerusalem, you can simply watch out for a Palestinian taxi at the Damascus gate. Or if you are travelling by rental car you can enter the most important border crossing into your GPS: checkpoint 300. At this point you can park your car and get via taxi to the town – but be sure to negotiate the price before the ride.
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It is not a luxury hotel, it is a legend: The American Colony hotel in Jerusalem, only a ten minute walk away from the old town and a safe harbour and second home for travellers. It was founded because the grandfather of Sir Peter Ustinov, Baron Plato Grigorjewitsch Ustinow, was not fond of the Osman hotels where he had to stay during his visits to Jerusalem. Later, Graham Green, Richard Gere and Winston Churchill stayed at the American Colony. And it was also the place where T. E. Lawrence told his story about Lawrence of Arabia to a journalist.
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Tel Aviv is a very modern, western city. It is much more hedonistic and less religious then the rest of the country – but it also seems to be missing an ancient city center. In fact the name of the town is Tel Aviv-Yafo, its second part refering to the old town Jaffa being the germ cell of the city. Tel Aviv itself was built later on by settlers, dividing the land by plan to create a new town.
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art is wonderful art museum consisting of two buildings: the old museum from 1971 housing sponsored galleries and changing exhibitions (showing the views of different photographers on Israel and Palestine during my stay) and a fantastic new building with futuristic architecture.
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A Tel Aviv-based coffee chain, ready to get you ready again for roaming this beautiful neighborhood. Get yourself a coffee and a croissant and look at the people passing by. The Sderot Rothschild includes the independence hall (where David Ben-Gurion announced the establishment of the state of Israel), a lot of bars and restaurants and a green alley to escape from the sun.
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If you’re at the shore of Israel, you definitly need to taste some seafood. A very good place for this is the old harbour of Tel Aviv-Yafo. It has been transformed into an area with lots of restaurants and is very vivid in the evening hours. A nice restaurant is The White Pergola (Hasuka Halevana) at the old port basin.
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The Hotel Melody in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel is a wonderful boutique hotel close to the Mediterranean Sea and the old harbour of Tel Aviv. It is in second row to the sea, half behind the Hilton Hotel and the Independence Park. A walk to the waterline lasts only five minutes, also a walk to Ben Gurion street for shopping or having a coffee is the same distance away.
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The Ben Gurion airport close to Tel Aviv-Yafo is a very modern and good airport of medium size. It is connected by train to the city but most travellers might prefer rental cars instead. Arriving at TLV starts with a passport control that can last some minutes and includes some trivial questions about the planned stay.
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Going to the Centre Georges-Pompidou in Paris, France is always fun! It is a futuristic building in the heart of Paris, close to the Hôtel de Ville. If you get inside you’ll find free WiFi, a bar, a nice art shop, a children’s art playground – but this museum is a playground for humans of all age.
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At the end of the over-crowded, commercialized and steadily inclining Champs-Élysées you’ll find the Arc de Triomphe at Place Charles de Gaulle. It has been built by order of Napoleon to commemorate the victory of the battle of Austerlitz in 1806. You can walk trough a subterranean passage to the Arc and get on top – seeing 14 main streets crossing.
Continue reading “The Étoilé”