Tag Archives: Israel

My sister, brother in law and niece (very very cute niece I hasten to add!) recently came to Israel for a visit, and so I went to places that I don’t tend to visit to often. Rishon Beach is one of these places; after all, when you live a 5 minute walk from Tel Aviv beach, there really isn’t much need to drive 20 minutes to the beach in Rishon Le Ziyyon.

There are several ways to get from Tel Aviv to Rishon; the fastest being on the highway. However, when you are on a scooter, the safest way is through other towns/cities. So, when Avi and I set off to meet “la famalia”, we headed through the streets of Jaffa and down the coast road of Bat Yam.

It was on this short journey that I noticed something about Tel Aviv and its neighbouring cities.

It’s fair to say that Tel Aviv is not the prettiest city in the world (I love it dearly, but it’s not about to win any beauty contests). The city centre has more than its fair shamre of decaying buildings that you can tell once stood proud on the tree lined avenues. But these days, the heat and pollution are just two of the main factors that have made Tel Aviv look so run down.

(However, I feel I must also say that, many areas of the city centre are being renovated and rejuvenated in the Bauhaus style that Tel Aviv is famous for. Many parts of the city have been given a new, yet nostalgic feel).

Jaffa is pretty much in the same state as Tel Aviv. Old, crumbling buildings mix together with the modern, neo-traditional buildings and they all seem to fit in with their surroundings.

Both of these cities are packed full with box-style buildings that were replicated beyond control throughout the 70’s and 80’s. The combination of mismatched architecture is just one aspect that unites these 2 cities, because in many other ways they stand very far apart.

I’m not going to get into politics, because in all truth I don’t know enough about it and this isn’t what my blog is about. But it’s clear to see that although there may be just one road that separates these 2 cities, some of the cultural differences can make them feel almost a million miles away from each other.

In Jaffa, there is a modern-day feel to the city, but you also feel the traditional Arabic lifestyle far more than you would do in neighbouring Tel Aviv or Bat Yam (the city south of Jaffa).

However, what I noticed this weekend, as we rode through the streets of Jaffa, was that there was no graffiti. I’m not saying that the city is graffiti free (I don’t think any city can claim that – well, perhaps Singapore can!), but in comparison to Tel Aviv, it is very difficult to find graffiti in Jaffa.

Almost every building in Tel Aviv has be “tagged” with graffiti and it’s not attractive. I will happily admit that graffiti art can be very nice and expressive and Tel Aviv has a lot of the “Banksy-esque” graffiti which it proudly displays. Unfortunately, a few artists creating their works on buildings has opened a can of worms, and now graffiti is just been sprayed everywhere in the name of “art” and “self-expression”.

I never really noticed how bad the graffiti was in Tel Aviv until my best mate, Melissa came to visit me back in February. She mentioned to me how shocked she was to see so much graffiti around the city… and she lives in Camden!

So does Tel Aviv have a graffiti epidemic? Am I the only person who has noticed this? I am the only person who seems to care? Am I turning into an old complaining woman (who should re-name her blog An Ash Blonde Abroad)?

So many questions – feel free to answer them… apart from that last one!