Dateline Jerusalem – I haven't traveled from my town for quite some time. This week a friend and I went to Tel Aviv to meet a friend who used to live in Israel and had returned for a few days. Tel Aviv was chosen because it is central and convenient to public transportation. We met at the Azrieli mall, the base of a circular tower between two other geometric shaped high-rises, one square, the other triangular. This is the Azrieli Center in the heart of Tel Aviv.
The circular tower is the tallest of the three skyscrapers, the second tallest building in Israel. The mall is one of the largest indoor malls in Israel. A unique feature of the mall is that it is attached to a pedestrian bridge linking it to the Railway Station via turnstiles on the first floor. Train tickets can be purchased from machines adjacent to the turnstiles. It makes shopping and traveling so convenient. As a senior citizen, one- way train fare from Tel Aviv to Rehovot, a half-hour trip, is half price, $2. For those wanting to travel by bus, the bus station is a half-mile away.
The train from Tel Aviv that passes through Rehovot has its final destination in Ashkelon, a coastal city in southern Israel, allegedly the home of the biblical Goliath. It is a comfortable trip in a two- level train, velour seats and a table separating four passengers seated across from one another.
Announcements regarding the next stop are made over a loud speaker in English and Hebrew, and written in both languages on a digital screen. Depending on the time of day, trains run every 30 to 60 minutes apart. The scenery is not exactly spectacular. Train tracks run along the highway. The view is of high rise buildings and concrete walls. Once out of Tel Aviv, however, there are miles of flat, undeveloped land with orange groves, corn fields, and acres of green plants and vegetables along the way.
Although Tel Aviv is only 12 miles from Rehovot if one were to fly over in a straight line, it takes 30 minutes by train, 25 minutes by car without traffic. However, traffic in and out of Tel Aviv during rush hour is a nightmare. It makes the parking lot freeway traffic in Los Angeles seem like a race track. The metropolitan area of Tel Aviv is the largest in Israel. Almost half of Israel's population is in Tel Aviv and surrounding cities and towns. The population of the city itself, not the metro area, is the second largest in Israel, with Jerusalem coming in first.
With the weather still in the high 80s, but relatively low humidity this time of year, I am looking forward to getting out and about and traveling once again.
L'hitraot. Shachar
