Library at my school
Schulich School of Business, York University, where I am getting my MBA degree from, is considered to be the best business school in Canada. This picture is from the library which I last visited ... hmm, I honestly don\'t know when...!
Toronto Tuesday: Weekly Photos of different locations in Toronto
Read my travelog for interesting stories from Israel: Scrolls from the holy land
Jerusalem
80 Photos
Tel Aviv, the economic hub of Israel is the second largest city in the country and is located on the Mediterranean sea. Yafo or Jaffa is the older port city to the south which was predominantly Arab. Today Jaffa is mostly an urban retreat and a tourist area.
38 Photos
Dead Sea, the hypersaline water body which is ~420m under sea level. Masada is the on top of an isolated rock plateau on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea.
19 Photos
Cycling along Sea of Galilee, Tiberias, Safed, Beit She'an etc...
38 Photos
Safed is one of Judaism's 4 holy sites and is the center of Kabbalah, the mystical aspect of Judaism.
13 Photos
On the banks of the Kishon River, the port city of Haifa is a mosaic of diversity and home to the Bahai faith.
15 Photos
Old city of Acre (or Akko) was a prominent port city since ancient times
20 Photos
15 Photos
Photos that couldn't be inserted into any other location!
3 Photos
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Photo gallery and Travelogue
I am in the process of narrating my Israel travel stories and posting pictures from the three weeks that I spent there. Please browse these links and feel free to comment on the posts. In fact, I’d be grateful if you comment 
Scrolls from the Holy Land -0: Israel Itinerary
Scrolls from the Holy Land -1: From Toronto to Jerusalem
Scrolls from the Holy Land -2: First evening in the Old City
Scrolls from the Holy Land -3: Magic of the Kotel
Scrolls from the Holy Land -4: Mount of Olives
Scrolls from the Holy Land -5: Bethlehem
Scrolls from the Holy Land -6: Old City of Jerusalem
Scrolls from the Holy Land -7: Tiberias
Scrolls from the Holy Land -8: Cycling around Sea of Galilee
Scrolls from the Holy Land -9: Ancient city of Beit She’an
Scrolls from the Holy Land -10: Safed and the Kabbalah
Scrolls from the Holy Land -11: Haifa and the Bahai’s
Scrolls from the Holy Land -12: Old city of Akko
Scrolls from the Holy Land -13: Story so far…
Scrolls from the Holy Land -14: Floating in the Dead Sea
Scrolls from the Holy Land -15: Masada shall not fall again
Scrolls from the Holy Land -16: David’s Citadel, Mt. Zion and Christian Sites
Scrolls from the Holy Land -17: Kotel – Western Wall
Scrolls from the Holy Land -18: New city of Jerusalem
Scrolls from the Holy Land -19: Charms of Tel Aviv city
Scrolls from the Holy Land -20: Jaffa – my last stop in Israel
Scrolls from the Holy Land -21: Exit from Israel
This travel series has ended, but I might add an occasional post or two. Clicking on “Israel” in the tag cloud on the left will reveal all relevant posts on Israel. Thanks for your comments
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Previous post: Jaffa – my last stop in Israel
My plane too off the runway and as I watched the land of Israel from my window growing smaller and smaller, I inadvertently found saying to myself:
“येतो मी…” (yeto mee) – An informal ‘good bye’ in Marathi which roughly translates to ‘I shall return.’ *
Sounds melodramatic to me too 
but if my 20+ blog posts on different travel experiences in Israel were any indicators of how thoroughly I enjoyed that country, the actual feeling was many times more.
Israel is heavily Americanised (obviously) but their style of working is wayy more Eastern. I claim this after having worked with an Israeli company for five months and ofcourse you are welcome with insights. They have about the lowest city crime rates but extremely sensitive borders. The people appear to be rude but infact are simply straightforward. With Jewish immigrants from all over the world, one can never tell what an Israeli looks like. A traveler in Israel is often confused about what the country really is. The more time I spent, the more confused and curious I got 
Exiting Israel is tedious. All non Jewish non Israelis are subject to questioning at the time of departure. I was interviewed for forty minutes straight. Repetitive questions are asked and someone had advised me to lie and not disclose details of my backpacking – esp going to West Bank. Thankfully I replied honestly because it is simply impossible to lie and lie again for that long! It is natural to have so much security given how much problems the country is subject to. Once the interrogation was done, they assigned a guy who bypassed all standard airport barriers and took me straight to the immigration. That was cool. The Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv is wi-fi enabled and okay comfortable.
An average Israeli is extremely aware about India. But then don’t forget – there are more Israelis in India than in Israel itself. hahaha, I’m kidding ofcourse. There are very few travelers who travel to Israel on an Indian passport and time and again the security guards simply let me pass without checking, ‘Oh you are from India?’. They added a comment like ‘I am going to India next year’ or ‘Goa is very beautiful’ or ‘Namaste’ etc.
So much still to do in Israel:
- Golan heights: See Syria from the forested mountain top
- Negev Desert: Camp in the beautiful sand and natural formations
- Eilat: It’s more of a romantic place so I won’t go alone
- West Bank: Explore more cities
- Gaza: Whenever possible…
All this shall be done soon *
At Mount of Olives, with Dome of the Rock in the background, Old city of Jerusalem.
° Here is the link to all travelogs on Israel.
° Here is the link to the Photo Gallery.
I hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing this travel series. Your comments/critique is solicited and greatly appreciated. I am sure there will be bits and pieces that I will keep writing about.
cheers,
Priyank.
* I will be going back to Israel in the Fall of 2009 for a whole semester at Tel-Aviv University!
Previous post: Jaffa – my last stop in Israel
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Previous post: Charms of Tel Aviv city | Next post: Exit from Israel
Jaffa, western port of the Canaanite empire, 1470 BCE.
Pharaoh Thutmose III sought to regain Egypt’s control over the lands as far as Syria. He presented large baskets full of ‘gifts’ to the governor of Jaffa, an important port city of Canaan. Little did the governor know about armed Egyptian warriors hidden in those baskets.
Jaffa (जाफा, also called Yafo), located south of Tel Aviv, is among the oldest cities in Israel and consequently has a very turbulent and bloody history.
Jaffa port and a Turkish Minaret
History:
Archaeological evidence shows that Jaffa was inhabited some 7,500 BCE, which is really really old It occurred in recorded history only around the time of Canaan’s and was subsequently controlled by various powers – Canaanites, Egyptians, Philistines, Jews, Arabs, Mamluks, Christians, Turks, Napoleon, British etc. (not necessarily in that order!).
In 1947 when the UN plan to divide Israel and Palestine was declared, Jaffa, being a Arab town, was designated as an Arab enclave inside Jewish Israel. Riots followed and in 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the Jews conquered Jaffa. Arab residents fled. In 1954, Tel-Aviv and Jaffa were united under a municipality and Jaffa, or Yafo as it is called today, was converted to a cultural and historical center.
Today, Yafo has a mixed population of the three religions of the book.
Clock tower built in the honor of the Ottoman ruler
Welcome to Jaffa – the place from where I blogged months ago.
Seen in the picture is the clock tower of Jaffa, a monument erected in the first decade of 20th century in honor of the Ottoman Turks. By local standards, this is a brand new structure! In the old days, the clock square served as a welcome plaza to people who arrived to the town. There are markets (called shuk/शूक्) and narrow streets all around.
Guarding the sea port
Tourism:
Parts of the Old City have been renovated, turning Jaffa into a tourist attraction featuring old restored buildings, art galleries, theaters, souvenir shops, restaurants, sidewalk cafes and promenades. Several remodeling projects were underway and I think the government is actively promoting this area as a pleasant drive away from the hustle and bustle of Tel Aviv. Large number of visitors are seen during evenings and weekends, hanging out on the spiraling paths looking over the Mediterranean sea.
A typical alley. An art store appears suddenly in one of those little rooms
The old town itself is a maze of narrow stone streets and buildings. There were expensive cafes, restaurants, art galleries, souvenir shops and even a couple of museums. There are a couple of Churches and chapels, remainants of the Crusader era and a large Mosque that broadcasts a melodious morning azaan.
The Wishing Bridge. Apart from world peace, I wished for lot of money for myself. Neither came true 
Doing ‘nothing’ in Jaffa
Since I was very stressed at the end of my travels and work, I simply cooled off for two days and did nothing but hangout on the stone façades soaking the breeze from the sea.
One of my most pleasant memories was having a breakfast in a rundown eatery. It was full of cab drivers are wage workers but the food was heavenly. Simple pita bread, spiced hummus, falafel, fried eggplant and other assorted vegetables. Inspite of having similar kind of food for two weeks, this place somehow remained etched in my memory. I watched people moving stuff in carts and shouting from one end of the street to the other, signaling by hand gestures that the truck can pass. It made a great animation while writing my journal and sipping endless cups of mint tea. Occasionally someone would pass by and say hello. A simple ‘Walikum es salaam‘ reply would bring a wide grin on their faces.
On my last day
Series to be concluded in the next post.
Pictures and slideshow: Tel-Aviv and Yafo Photo Gallery
Previous post: Charms of Tel Aviv city | Next post: Exit from Israel
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Previous post: New city of Jerusalem | Next post: Jaffa – my last stop in Israel
“Haifa to work, Jerusalem to pray and Tel Aviv to play.”
That’s what they say!
I was in Tel Aviv (तेल् अवीव्) for 9 whole days! Doing what? Ah, school work, the reason for which I went to Israel in the first place As a result, I was unable to see anything worthwhile in the city other than my hotel and the Tel Aviv University and uh the road commute!
Tel Aviv, seen from Jaffa
Happy New Year 2008!!
I can’t believe it’s October already. I was partying at a club in Tel Aviv while having a glass of Champagne for 10 NIS ($2.5) followed by some bar hopping. The reason I mention this is because it is weird to have champagne in a noisy place, never done that before. My Israeli friends said that I cannot return before seeing the sunrise, and I laughed. I am not 19 anymore but that day was different
Tel Aviv is a party place. The city doesn’t sleep. I walked over with some friends to the beach well past midnight on a Friday night and the place was quite busy. Brazilian drums only make the weekend homecoming from military service more fun. Most Israelis in the 18-22 age group are in the military which is pretty stressful, so imagine their excitement when on break. Needless to say, sex is easily available and Israelis are extremely approachable overall. 
The Ha Carmel Market
Ha’Carmel Market
(open everyday except Saturday)
Seen too much touristic stuff? Here is the place where you get to see the real side of Israel. Ha Carmal is a huge bazaar (shuk) with rows and rows of hawkers who put up stands on the street. There are more stores hidden behind those on display in the middle of the road. It makes for an excellent walk – very noisy, smelly and crowded. The market has clothing, footwear in addition to fresh fruits, vegetables, bread, desserts, fish and meat. There are stores that bring spices from Asia and Africa. It is amusing sight to watch women haggle over stuff with the vendors This market is very small compared to an average bazaar in India but still enchanting enough.
Boreka is a Turkish-Bulgarian puffed pastry filled with cheese and potatos (and other fillings). I had fresh ones at a place and they were heavenly. I also bought a bag of assorted candies which have a universal taste.
Vegetable vendor भाजीवाला
Nachalat Binyamin
(open Tuesday and Friday)
Arts, crafts and street performances. Those words are enough to describe Nahalat Binyamin, the artists’ bazaar. Blame me for not carrying enough batteries but I will try to paint a visual image of this place.
A street plaza dotted on both sides with colorful people exhibiting very interesting wares. A painter who drew landscapes, next to him a craftsman who made designs from broken pieces of glass, next was a Guitarist playing Kletzmer music. Suddenly I was stopped by a man dressed excellently like Lord Shiva who said ‘Om’ and left after I handed him two Shekels. An interesting array of delicate jewelery, handicrafts like glass wind chimes, woolen dolls, furniture crafted from bark of a tree, matchstick models of houses and ashtrays shaped like birds.
It is such a pleasure to walk through this market and stop by to appreciate their art. I must have spent a couple of hours picking up souvenirs
So many types of bread!
Safety
I must mention that Israel is one of the most safest places in the world to travel – when talking about petty crimes on the street or problems to tourists. They seem to have only big scale problems – like wars and bombings.
Unlike Peru or Russia (hearsay), policemen are invisible in Israel. Except at places where you expect them – bus and train stations, entrance to the university, and ofcourse the border checkpoints with West Bank. I haven’t been to Gaza because it was risky (almost prohibited) for tourists to enter that area. While in Israel, there were rocket attacks and retaliation and stuff like that which is seen as ‘normal’. Security largely depends on intelligence reports and is tightened if required.
Market Street, Ha’Carmel Shuk
Neighborhoods
Tel Aviv streets are great for walking – since I did not go to the crowded downtown area. I loved especially the area around Allenby and Rothschild streets. That is an area with a young population and consequently has good places to eat, have coffee and drink. My hotel was on the beach close to the Tel Aviv port – now remodeled to an entertainment block. A walk along the sea is always pleasurable. I understand that to the reader this may make no sense oops.
Candy!
Bene Israelis
The Jewish community living in Maharashtra, India, predominantly the Konkan coast are known as Bene Israelis. Most of them have emigrated to Israel but they maintain a strong link to their roots, including annual India festival, danceforms (lavni, kathak etc) and even a quarterly publication (मायबोली). They speak Judæo-Marathi (जुदाव मराठी) which is Marathi characterized by a few loanwords from Hebrew and Aramaic.
I had the pleasure of visiting a Marathi Jewish family for dinner. It was indeed a pleasure to have a delicious traditional meal – with खोब-याची चटणी, पुरी, बटाट्याची भाजी, उसळ, श्रीखंड (some traditional foods of Maharashtra). And little did I imagine that I would be speaking Marathi in Israel !
A हलवाअी and his Desserts! मीठाअी. Ask for a free sample!
Tel Aviv is like any other international city. It has both, upscale and fancy – and rundown and boring areas. The airport is located about 30 minutes from downtown and is conveniently connected by comfortable train. The city is served by a very good bus network called Dan.
Blue blue Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is very beautiful. In December-January it was OK cold and I saw people swimming. Tel Aviv beach is very long and beautiful. There is a nice promenade along the coast that leads straight up to Jaffa, the old port town. I will be heading there next, my last stop.
Pictures and slideshow: Tel-Aviv and Yafo Photo Gallery
Previous post: New city of Jerusalem | Next post: Jaffa – my last stop in Israel
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Previous post: Kotel – Western Wall | Next post: Charms of Tel Aviv city
After having first, second, third, fourth and fifth post about the old city of Jerusalem, here are some views of the new city from the old city.
View from the citadel of David
Jerusalem (जेरुसलेम) is the capital of Israel and also the largest city in the country. Located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern tip of the Dead Sea, modern Jerusalem has grown up outside the Old City. The history of the city goes back to 4th century BCE, making it one of the oldest cities in the world.
View from the citadel of David
The city is full of hills and dry valleys and a crisscross road drive is interesting. It is about an hour’s drive from Tel Aviv, takes little less to reach the airport and half-hour away from the dead sea. Going to Palestinian areas such as Bethlehem or Ramallah or Jerico is facilitated by an Arab bus network that connects these places to the city. The rest of Israel is also well connected since Jerusalem lies more or less at the center of the country.
View from the citadel of David
Jerusalem stone is a name applied to a family of pale limestone, dolomite and dolomitic limestone, common in and around Jerusalem, that have been used in building since ancient times. The city looks very ‘pale’.
Typical houses, pale Jerusalem stone
Jerusalem is considerably conservative compared to Tel Aviv – be it the shutdown on Shabbat or the presence of night life. Ofcourse if you want to know, you would know of the right places to go My interaction was limited mostly to the old city and I did not venture out to explore the new city.
As I wrote in my Peru travelog, something should be left unseen for the next visit
Chaos on the street
Pictures and slideshow: Jerusalem Photo Gallery
Previous post: Kotel – Western Wall | Next post: Charms of Tel Aviv city
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Canada- Toronto Tuesday (weekly)
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USA- 2008: New York City
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