Our Apartment in Tel-Aviv

It was fun to see 90 page views on the first post (a few of those were ours, and a few of them were my Mom, presumably)--definitely encouragement to keep blogging. That being said, I figured I'd better spend a post filling everyone in on our apartment--especially useful for potential visitors (you know who you are), so they can get an idea of what to expect. To summarize: think small and think beach!

If location, location, location is the key...then we're in luck! Our little pad is in the North part of the city, about 100 yards from the beach, and adjacent to the Tel-Aviv Port--an old port that has been restored as a trendy industrial-ish area with many shops & restaurants (more on the port in a future update).

If size matters, then we're in trouble. When apartment shopping over email from the States, we were told that this particular apartment was 100 sq meters (~1100 sq ft). Now that we've arrived, based on my own quick calculation (using the ever-accurate human foot), I'm guessing that it's pushing 600 sq ft. But that's ok...we're glad that we were given a misleading estimate...otherwise we may have chosen something else and missed out. Perhaps the estimator had included the balcony? Regardless, we're really enjoying our little place...below are some details.

Here is the living room. Cozy. Note the picture of a French cafe on the wall--that is a consistent theme throughout the apartment. It's nice to have a few English-speaking TV channels. So far, we've found CNN, ESPN, and Fox News (pro-Israel, as pointed out by a local friend). I was pleasantly surprised to find that Israel's ESPN seems to be the American version--complete with coverage of college football, etc--rather than Hong-Kong-based Asian ESPN, which seemed to focus more on Soccer, Formula 1 racing, and a host of other sports that are not of interest to us.

Here is the kitchen/dining area. Notice the oven & large fridge--two items that we were missing while in China.

Master bedroom. Nothing fancy, but adequate. Plenty of storage. Oh, and our blankets haven't arrived yet. Don't worry, the nighttime lows have been in the 70's, so we just turn the AC down. See the window? Each window has an automated garage-door style covering on the outside that can help block out the light/heat and road noise--especially helpful since we're situated on the busy Hayarkon street. Even with the custom garage doors, though, light-sleeping visitors are advised to bring some ear plugs.

"Master bathroom". I think that my wide angle lens makes this bathroom look larger than it actually is. While taking this pciture, I was standing in the "shower"--the 2'x2' corner with a shower head.

Main bathroom & laundry room. There is also a clothesline outside the window, partially protected by vertical bars. In fact, some of my clothes are drying out there as we speak (doesn't take long here).

There is also a second bedroom, but I'll spare you a picture (it is mostly covered in suitcases at this point). It's pretty much the same as the master bedroom, but a bit smaller.

And the best part...the view! Yes, that is the Mediterranean Sea just a stone's throw from our place. When we were first offered this apartment via email, we weren't made aware of the view...so it was a nice surprise to say the least.

Here it what I'd show a prospective client who was choosing apartments remotely over email.

And here is what it really looks like.

Little Samuel (שְׁמוּאֵל, or "Shmu'el" in Hebrew) seems to be enjoying his new adventure. He's still a bit jet lagged, but happy for the most part. Evidence below.

Here is Sammy after we got back from the beach and removed the sun-cover from his stroller (no staging - this is really what we saw!).

Oh, and this was our first Tel-Aviv sunset. It's so nice to be able to watch the sun set each evening! Just for the record, though, we don't have a sunset view from the balcony...the late afternoon sun is blocked by a building across the street. Such a minute detail is probably not something worth mentioning to a prospective client anyway, right? This is, however, quickly remedied by a short stroll to the beach.


Sunset over the Mediterranean, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Soon I plan to fill you in with more details on the neighborhood,our  short trip to Old Jaffa ("Joppa" in the Bible), and the Carmel Market--oh yeah, and our flat tire episode. Stay tuned...