I spent most of the last week road tripping around Israel, crossing the country from the Lebanese border in the north to the far south, where I saw both the Egyptian and the Jordanian borders on my morning runs through Eilat, Israel’s Red Sea resort town. This road trip came with so many highlights – it was hard to pick one single moment for this week’s Polaroid! I loved the blue grottoes of Rosh Hanikra which are right on the border to Lebanon, the ancient fishing village of Akko and the spectacular Bahá’í Gardens in Haifa. From there, my friend and I made our way south to the Dead Sea, where I hiked up the Masada, an ancient fortification located on top of an isolated rock plateau, with stunning views over the Dead Sea (I hiked up there at 5.30am to see the sunrise over the Dead Sea), climbed up to the waterfalls of Ein Gedi, a desert oasis, and finally returned to the Negev Desert where I hiked in Timna Park, a desert area with unusual red rock and stone formations that blew me away (and nearly killed me, thanks to the 100°F/37°C temperatures). I loved my time in Eilat, where I snorkeled on the coral reef that is closer to the beach than any other reef I’ve been to, and the many colorful fish I saw made me wish I’d bought the underwater camera I was eying with this past summer in New York. After that, the road trip came full circle when we drove back north via Mitzpe Ramon, where I got to see the giant crater (25 miles long and up to 6 miles wide) and stopped in Tel Aviv for a dose of big city life before returning to northern Israel for a typical Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) family dinner. I must have taken around 2,000 photos on the road trip alone and can’t wait to show you all of Israel’s natural beauty.
The most unusual stop on the road trip was without a doubt the Dead Sea, where the strange sensation of floating in the water was certainly an incredible and unforgettable experience. The Dead Sea, 1,401 ft/427m below sea level, is one of the most fascinating places in the world. I didn’t think I’d be floating that much, but I couldn’t get my feet on the ground at all! Which wasn’t a bad thing after all, because I learned that the Dead Sea is 1,004ft/306m deep, and deep bodies of water freak me out (which is why I don’t think I’ll ever try diving). With 34% salinity it isn’t just one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world, it is also ten times saltier than the ocean. Tip: Don’t rub your eyes!! (I learned that the hard way.) It is impossible for anything, animal or plant, to survive there. The landscape around the Dead Sea is very barren as a result, but oddly beautiful. Even though nature is basically dead in and around the Dead Sea, it is filled with healing minerals and hugely popular for treatments of all kinds of sicknesses, ranging from skin diseases to osteoporosis and arthritis. My skin felt amazing after my bath in the Dead Sea and the mud mask I gave myself there. Sadly, the countries bordering the Dead Sea (Jordan and Israel) have caused a lot of environmental damage, causing it to shrink rapidly. There are plans to replenish it, an initiative especially driven by Jordan. I hope that both Israel and Jordan will work together on this project, to guarantee the conservation of this unique natural wonder for future generations.
However, when I arrived in Tel Aviv, I didn’t think I would end up leaving this city with a heavy heart. I like pretty cities – when a city is obviously beautiful like Antigua, Paris or 
It took me a few days of wandering the streets, but then, completely unexpected, the city put a spell on me and grabbed me hard, pulled me into its fascinating mix of old-fashioned markets and trendy coffee shops, coexisting cultures of trendy hipsters, Jewish families and Arab Muslims; a city with a delicious food scene, buzzing nightlife and gorgeous beaches right at your doorstep.
Tel Aviv took hold of me and hasn’t let me go since: while I travel to a lot of places that I’d like to return to, I don’t often travel to places I’d like to live in. Tel Aviv is one such place though – I would love to live there for a while, taking my time to truly explore the city, understand its culture, its people and as a foodie: have enough time to delve into the cafe and restaurant scene, of which I only scratched the surface.
I am not sure what exactly it was that made me fall for the city – it might have been the beach, which is without a doubt part of the draw of Tel Aviv, nearly nine miles (14km) of wide sandy beaches right in the city center. There are just not that many cities in the world that have such a prime oceanfront location. I would either start my days with a run along the Hatayelet, the promenade, or finish my day with a sunset run while the sun colored the sea and the sky with striking tones of orange, red and purple. A daily spectacle that draws hundreds of people to come out to the beach and watch it. I would never get tired of it.
The local runners I passed on my runs usually looked as if they had fallen right out of a men’s magazine, wearing nothing but shorts and showing off their perfect abs, covered in a layer of sweat. I would run by the gay beach, where couples sat together all loved up, and of course I have to love a city that has its own gay beach (even though I loved other parts, such as Gordon, Frishman or Banana Beach, just as much) – in the Middle East no less!
I loved the active vibe along the beaches – no matter if it was running, cycling, inline skating, kite boarding or the popular matkot ball game, people were doing some kind of activity. In all honesty, my daily runs were needed to offset all the delicious food I stuffed myself with, but Tel Aviv just seems to be an active city – and with a gorgeous backdrop like these beaches you don’t need an excuse to go outside and exercise.
Prior to my visit, I had read that Tel Aviv’s 4,000 white Bauhaus buildings were 
Which isn’t something I mind, I usually find this kind of crumbling glory charming, but it was just not how I had pictured Tel Aviv, so it took me a few days to adjust my senses to my surroundings. (Side note: I also came to the conclusion that 
And there still are grand buildings in some parts of the city: the Neve Tzedek neighborhood is filled with beautifully restored houses and the villas along Rothschild Boulevard are signs of the prosperity of the city in the early 20th century, but the true showstopper when it comes to eye-catching architecture is Jaffa, the ancient port town that sits on a hill just south of Tel Aviv.
You can walk the beach promenade all the way down to Jaffa and one morning I strolled over there, in time to join the 
The tour was an excellent introduction to Jaffa, telling us all about the history of the 4,000-year old town that has been experiencing its fair share of ups and downs throughout the centuries, and a wonderful revival ever since its makeover in the past decade. When we finished, I continued to wander the streets, getting lost in the maze of alleys and peeking into some of the galleries, sitting by the fishing boats in Jaffa’s port for a while, standing in awe when locals passed me in horse-drawn carriages which made the ‘stepping back in time‘ feeling I had in Jaffa even more real.
Then it was finally time for lunch, for which I had big plans: I was finally going to have Dr Shakshuka’s famous shakshuka. 
The restaurant is located in the midst of the Jaffna flea market, which isn’t a flea market in the traditional sense but a collection of dozens of antiques shops which line the streets near the clock tower. I could have spent hours roaming these shops where you can buy anything from vintage luggage to furniture, books and other bits and pieces. Sadly, Dr Shakshuka didn’t liv up to the hype (at least in my opinion!) – the shakshuka was good, but I didn’t think it was better than any of the other shakshukas I had in Israel.
Before I made my way back into the city, I stopped at a viewpoint to take in the vistas over Tel Aviv and its long-stretched shore, and it might have been there and then that I decided I had to come back for longer – a week was simply not enough to get a full grasp of this diverse and forward-thinking city.
I am still stunned about how 
But not only gays and lesbians seem to be widely accepted here, I felt that also the different ethnic groups, in particular Arabs and Jews, were more successful in living peacefully side by side than in Jerusalem for example, known for the regular 
Not only did Tel Aviv seem more liberal than Jerusalem, it also had a younger, more dynamic vibe to it. Jerusalem is home to the largest number of Orthodox Jews in the country which is why it is much stricter with rules regarding nightlife and which places can open during 
The areas of the city that are known for its buzzing cafe scenes, like Shenken Street or Rothschild Boulevard, were always teeming with people, and when I saw trendy 20-somethings in skinny jeans and hipster beards would wait in line for a table at a popular restaurant I felt as if I was in Brooklyn and not in Israel. 
Speaking of cafes – one thing I loved about Tel Aviv were the bread shops that usually double as a cafe / restaurant and serve some of the best bread I’ve ever had – and that includes bread in Germany! Even regular cafés take pride in their baked goods and I think it is impossible to get bad bread anywhere. 
Overall, Tel Aviv doesn’t have a dense number of landmarks such as London or Berlin – in fact, other than a few museums and the Bauhaus UNESCO site I didn’t come across any not-to-be-missed sights – and yet I was still completely pulled in by the dynamic atmosphere of this livable city which is far from picture-perfect, but that’s exactly what I came to love about it: the gritty buildings, the street art, the laissez-faire attitude and the laid-back vibe on the beaches.
If you come to Tel Aviv, don’t look for striking sights, but let the city pull you in with its strong charisma. Wander, get lost, eat and drink your way around the city, enjoy the nightlife, people watch, take in the local life and fall in love.
Pine trees were wrapping their surroundings in a mesmerizing scent, and birds were chirping. In the desert, there had been barely any sign of life. We hiked up Tel Azekah, a hill with wide open views over the the Mountains of Jerusalem and the Valley Of Elah where, according to the bible, David battled Goliath. The mound itself is known for its burial caves from various periods and secret tunnels from the days of the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
When we reached the peak of the mountain, we were rewarded with sweeping views over the Sea of Galilee, where many of Jesus’ miracles occurred, including him walking on water and him calming the storm. We enjoyed a coffee break right the rim of steep cliffs (1,250 ft / 380m high) – a coffee maker is something that is brought on every hike in Israel, I was told – while looking out over Arab villages, date palm orchards and avocado plantations of northern Israel. We could see as far as the mountains of the Golan Heights, which reach well into Syria, and I was once again surprised about the inherent natural diversity of this small country.
Almost as much as the country is diverse in its landscapes, it is diverse in the religious communities that live here together – in some places more, in others less peaceful. The trail passes Arab and Jewish settlements, sometimes villages that are home to both, it passes Christians, people of the Bahá’í Faith and Druze, a small religious community we got to know in the Lower Galilee when we had the pleasure to be invited for dinner at a Druze family’s house, enjoying some of the best food I had in my entire time in Israel, while learning more about this little-known religion. It was fascinating to hear about their beliefs, traditions and history first-hand, and the people you meet along the INT are undoubtedly a vital part of the experience as a whole.
Last week I got my first introduction to Jerusalem, Israel’s capital and the most significant religious city in the world. Even though Jerusalem is not part of the 
And in Eilat, I would finally get a break to recharge my batteries before heading back north to explore more of Israel and visit the West Bank.
But I had found a lovely hotel which had only recently opened (I would definitely recommend it in my 
Wedged between Jordan and Egypt, Israel only gets to call a tiny part of the Red Sea to call their own, but they’re using it well. Eilat is not only a popular vacation spot with foreigners but also with Israelis, even though it is quite far from everywhere, separated from the heavily populated north of the country by the massive Negev Desert. When we drove down to Coral Beach the next day I understood why it was such a popular vacation spot.
Upon arrival, we paid the entrance fee for the nature reserve and rented snorkeling equipment, and while I was a bit disappointed at first by the rocky beach, I quickly understood what this was about: the underwater life, and not the beach! I’ve never been to a place where the reef is as close to the shore as it is in Eilat, and at this part of the beach you can’t even just walk into the water because it is part of a protected nature reserve. Instead, a couple of long piers have been built over the coral, and you step into the water via a set of stairs at the end of them – right next to the reef.
My first thought when I stepped into the water was how cold it was! The Mediterranean and the Dead Sea had both felt like a bath tub in comparison, and especially after a long hot summer and the proximity to Egypt, combined with the sweltering heat, I would have expected the Red Sea to be much warmer.When I turned towards the reef though, the shock about the cold water was forgotten in an instant – I was wowed by the coral and the beautiful fish instead. I couldn’t believe how much marine life was happening here, so close to the shore! I also couldn’t believe that I didn’t have an underwater camera to document it.
I tried to take some photos from the pier, but just imagine what these would look like had I had an underwater camera. I even saw tropical fish like parrot fish and clown fish here!
This experience alone made driving down to the most southern tip of Israel worth it, and combined with some beach time and surprisingly good food, I left Eilat just the way I wanted: completely recharged and ready to see more of Israel.
The dinner the volunteers at the hostel put together was almost as good as the home-cooked food I had had the Friday before. The options for vegetarians were plentiful and everything I tried was delicious – and seeing how many people went for second helpings, I was not the only one who felt that way. The price tag for the Shabbat dinner, ILS30 (US$7.70), is also extremely affordable, especially considering the amount of food you get and compared to the pricey restaurants of Jerusalem. While the lounge was fairly busy during the dinner with around 50 people in attendance it still had an intimate feel to it, thanks to the guests being grouped around smaller tables, which also had the advantage that you could get to know one another.
I dove into the gay scene, and one of the things I loved most about Tel Aviv was how gay-friendly and tolerant the city is, especially considering this is the Middle East. Not a single country or city in the region is accepting or tolerating gay culture, but in Tel Aviv, it is celebrated openly and the city was recently voted 
Prices for food span a wider range – similar to New York, I was able to find falafel sandwiches at little street stalls for about US$3, but I also paid ILS55 (US$14.19) for a simple Israeli breakfast and a coffee in a coffee shop in Tel Aviv. Which might be okay for someone coming from New York, but for someone from Berlin, a city filled with cheap breakfast places, this would be downright expensive. Even the famous Dr. Shakshuka, who started out as a small hole-in-the-wall shakshuka place, now charges upwards of ILS40 (US$10.30) for this simple egg dish. 
But it’s not only food and going out: living costs in Tel Aviv have increased dramatically over the past few years. T
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