As the taxi took me through Tel Aviv for the first time, I was amazed at how Western it all looked. Years of BBC viewing had prepared me for camels and sandy dunes and the odd keffiyeh. It hadn’t prepared me for gleaming tower blocks and streets full of modern shops and shoppers. And then the taxi driver pointed out the beach ahead…and one look at the Mediterranean lapping at those sandy shores and I was hooked.
OK, that first glimpse was back in 1990, just before Saddam launched his mother of all battles. I had originally intended to stay in Israel for a couple of months but Tel Aviv sunk its claws in (along with an Israeli girlfriend…) and didn’t let go. 18 years have passed and I’m still here. So the girl beside me is not the same girl, and two littl’uns have made life more, er, interesting, but me and Tel Aviv are still entwined.
And yes, Tel Aviv has changed quite considerably in those 18 years. Gleaming tower blocks have been dwarfed by monstrous apartment blocks, excellent pubs and eateries have sprung up everywhere, and areas run down and almost deserted 18 years ago have turned into thriving and very trendy parts of The City That Never Sleeps.
For me, Tel Aviv has also changed its personality. That bustling town on the edge of the Med has evolved into a cool, sexy, happening metropolis. Its citizens still drive like madmen, and are still as cranky as any good city-goer should be, but the Tel Aviv that welcomed me with outdated clothes, music, hairstyles and pretty much everything else, has turned itself into a bit of a swan. Parks aplenty for the kids, the latest fashions and trends, great places to eat and drink…but, of course, the Med still lapping at those sandy shores.
My Tel Aviv: 18 years in a 24 hour city, celebrating its 100th birthday. Mazal Tov!