Fall Break Tel Aviv!

Ill be doing a few installments for my fall break trip in order to break it down and make it more manageable for me to write about it all! First up was our stop in Tel Aviv.

We flew in to the airport around 5PM and made our way into the city which took around 45 minutes. My initial reaction was a little but of awe and a lot of confusion as I stared out the window and wasn't too sure what to make of the city that passed me by. It was dark so I couldn't see all that much but from what I could see the city appeared to be a little run down but still quite modern. The buildings weren't falling apart but nothing really seemed brand new or fancy. After we made our way through a few pretty sketchy neighborhoods (or so we thought) we came upon our place of residence for the next two nights. We had rented out an apartment one block off the beach and after calling the owner we made our way up to the studio apartment and settled in. Mind you, we ended up on a little side adventure because we had been told 28 was the address when really it was 29 so we accidentally wandered into the wrong complex but luckily a girl our age was able to translate over the phone and figure out we were across the street from the apartment.

As you can see from the first picture, the wall decor outside our place was...interesting to say the least. The apartment itself was very nice but on the way in we weren't too sure what we had gotten ourselves into. After setting our bags down and taking a quick rest we wandered towards the beach in search of dinner. We came upon a restaurant that was on the beach and so we ended up grabbing some hummus, pita, and other israeli dishes before making our way back to the apartment. Oh, how could I forget, there was a torrential downpour right before dinner and as we made our way to the beach we had to avoid lakes that had formed in the streets, the drains didn't seem to be doing their job.

The next morning we woke up and went to the beach, it was a beautiful day with very few clouds and not too warm and not too cold. It was nice to be out of the cold London weather for a bit and we were sure to soak up as much sun as we could. After the beach we made our way into the city center. We had no real destination but we walked a few miles inland and around the financial district to see "downtown" Tel Aviv although its hardly a downtown.

After walking around we decided to make our way to Old Jaffa, the south side of the city for dinner as well as to see the sunset. We walked along the beach for a few miles and explored the old city as well as the dock area that had restaurants where we later ate dinner. This part of the city is more muslim than the northern part which was somewhat apparent by the mosques surrounding the area. Above is a picture of jaffa, as well as the dock area. The last picture is us waling towards Old Jaffa as the sun was setting (on the left is Jaffa). The food here was amazing as well, I've given into eating fish this fall due to the fact that on my travels its become increasingly difficult to find vegetarian options so I ended up getting the salmon which was delicious!

The next day we just woke up and went to the beach again, and then packed our bags and set out for Jerusalem! The picture above was in Jaffa and I just thought it was cool so I put it up for everyone to see. In general, I'd say Tel Aviv was the most modern and liberal city we visited. Most people were accepting of both Jews, and Muslims more so than anywhere at least. The taxi drivers were all extremely nice to us Americans (hey, we do support their country...with a LOT of money). In a few conversations we had with various locals we did discover how hard it was to live there, with the constant tension. One bartender (yes mom, we were at a bar, NO we weren't drunk...) who had fought in the israeli navy said that she always lived under tension no matter when or where she was.

Making our way to Jerusalem was an adventure in itself, as we asked the driver to take us to the train station he offered to drive us all the way for around 30 dollars each, which wasn't much over the train fare so we decided, why not?! Turns out he had a TV in the car and he ended up playing Madonna live as we made our way up into the mountains where Jerusalem sits. Until next time...

Not a whole lot to report, its midterm season!

With midterm papers and assignments upon us, I have been under intensive house arrest the past week and a half with little end in sight! Last Sunday I did get the chance to visit Brighton beach for free through NYU. We spent the first half of the day at an old royal palace where George IV spent his time partying. The house was quite ornate, but unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside (google it!). It was nice to get out of London and take a break from work! Next weekend I'm going back to Paris to visit a friend and spend a little more time exploring the city. Heres a pic of the beach, wish we would have gone when it was a little warmer! Also, funny story from the trip. As we were walking down one of the piers a seagull swooped down and grabbed the entirety of my friends ice cream cone and flew off with it, leaving my friend stunned and me laughing as the ice cream blew in my face because of the wind.

A few pictures from Munich!

0. All of us in the tent!

1. Locals I met on Saturday!

2. Hofbrauhouse, most CRAZY tent there was

3. Another hofbrau picture of the stage, where the live band played Bavarian music

4. Outside in the beer garden with friends from the U.S.!

Enjoy!

Munich on my Mind

Just got back from Oktoberfest a few hours ago. It's hard to put an experience like the one I've had in words but I will try. I showed up on Thursday and went that evening to the festival with the guy I was staying with. Upon arrival I saw thousands of people, rides everywhere, and beer tents as far as my eyes could see. We ended up going into a tent and getting a table in their beer garden. After a few steins (german beer mugs), I met his friends and we just talked, and enjoyed the music/environment. That night was a good "warm up" for the next few days, it set me up for a successful weekend since my local host gave me some pro tips. Side entrances are your friend, get there EARLY, the list goes on but without him I'd have been completely lost. The next day I woke up and went back and luckily it wasn't too crowded when we got there so we hopped around a few tents and explored since most of my friends first day was Friday. Saturday was by far the best day, I had bought a ticket from my host so I had a spot inside one of the tents. Best purchase ever. I showed up at 1PM and made my way through hoards of people waiting to get in without tickets (most never did, only a lucky few girls who managed to flirt with security or the people who bribed them). Since I was the only one with a ticket, I had no game plan, except maybe to meet people which would happen anyways since everyone was SO nice and outgoing. After walking around the tent a bit, a few girls approached me and invited me to sit with them and their friends so I did. They were all from Munich so I was the token "american boy" and the fact that I was from Texas, went to school in New York, and was studying in London blew their minds. Funny how things really hit you when other people react. I'm a lucky person to live where I live and be from where I am. We hung out for a few hours but once they left I made my way to another table and met yet another group of locals. We sang, drank, danced, and made toasts all night until it closed around 11PM. We parted ways but I went with one girl to ride one of the rides because I couldn't leave without going on at least one. Best decision ever! The ride took us up a few hundred feet and spun us around so we could see all of Munich and the festival. She couldn't find her friends so I walked her home since I didn't want her to walk home alone and it was still early so I didn't mind. It also gave me the chance to see more Munich since so much of my time was spent on the fairgrounds. In general, this little bubble of German culture, offered me my first view into a world I'd always heard about and never thought I'd live to see. People came from all over, and the mood was simply jolly, nobody was angry, and nobody seemed stressed. American frat parties have nothing on this festival, I can tell you that much. Never in my life will I see another man donned in Liederhosen chug a stein as an entire tent cheers and watches. The city itself was very nice and clean. It had the feeling of a large town just like Austin where youre overwhelmed but it still has a lot to offer. Its definitely a city I could see myself living in, but who knows! If I could go back and do it again, I would without a doubt. I was yet again reminded of how much of a bubble we live in sometimes, theres a whole world out there! With so much culture, its astronomical even from my limited perspective. Cheers!

Amsterdam

After a few days of wandering the streets of Amsterdam I can say I have a pretty good feel of the culture. The people LOVE their bikes, absolutely love them. I saw more bikes than cars, by a factor of 10 or 20. The city itself lacks any tall buildings and so there's no real sense of a "downtown" but that's what makes it so nice. All the buildings are similar, and seem to play in repeat as you walk from canal to canal which ring around the city for a few miles. The food was everywhere, but mainly influences from other places like "mexico", and "italy" but since when do nachos have peas and green beans?! Blasphemy. With no plan and no maps, we really winged this trip but ended seeing up a lot! On day one we set out to just walk around and get a feel for the place, we ended up stumbling upon the Anne Frank museum. Having read her diary when I was relatively young it was a surreal experience being in the place where she wrote/lived during her writing of the diary. The emotions hit me just as they had while reading the books but now her experience was solidified in the confines of her hideout as it had once been. The next day we ended up going to the Van Gogh museum as well as the Heineken Experience. Although both were very different, I nonetheless enjoyed them both equally. The museum was full of pieces I recognized and others I had never seen before but his artwork is amazing in person and reading about his life and evolution as a painter was more meaningful than any simple online image could do justice to. The Heineken Experience was a very touristy place but it offered me the chance to learn how bear is made and the various processes it goes through as well as how and when to consume your beer! (within 12 minutes or before the foam dies down otherwise you lose the taste!)

Being in Europe has begun to open my eyes to a whole new world. A world that has existed forever but I've hardly seen. Every day in my world I fail to see that which surrounds me. Studying abroad and visiting other cities/countries has made me realize just how diverse the world is, which is hard to fathom when you're stuck in America (which is surprisingly diverse itself). Above are a few pictures for you to enjoy! Back to reading and homework before Munich this weekend for OKTOBERFEST.

Not too much new stuff to report...

Just been reading a lot and going to class, amsterdam this weekend! Can't wait! We're planning on going to "Taste of Amsterdam" which is a huge food festival which should be a lot of fun! Can't wait to go, I've always wanted to go!

Bike Rides

Just went for a ride through central London. They have bikes for hire for an hour at 1 pound which isn't too bad, plus the city is infinitely more bike friendly than NYC.