Comments on: City Guide Tel Aviv: the centennial edition

By: motti

motti — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:05:29 +0000

cool. i just found a pic of myself in the new city guide.

By: Aleandre Adoni

Aleandre Adoni — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:45:34 +0000

Hi! Lisa: your page was everything that I was looking for. I’m thinking about to spend sometime in Tel Aviv and now I’m totally sure that. Your page is alredy a “must read”!

By: Fay

Fay — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:55:59 +0000

On my bedside table. Trying to hold on to the memories.

By: lirun

lirun — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:31:09 +0000

book sits right next to my surf board in the living room.. place of honour..

By: lisoosh

lisoosh — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:06:56 +0000

Oh me oh my.

Just took a quick peek and couldn’t stop turning the pages. Fabulous, just fabulous.
Tel Aviv was never my city and looking through that, I can’t understand why, apart from the fact that I might appear a tad, shabby, next to all that glamour (I was never quite fashionable enough for TA).
The photos are absolutely beautiful. Makes me want to spend an eternity eating, shopping and living there.
Well, not in the summer of course.

By: lisoosh

lisoosh — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:54:11 +0000

Congrats. I shall need it when I visit.
Better be available for a coffee or two.

By: Nizo

Nizo — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:36:03 +0000

Alf Mabrook!

I’ll be ordering my copy on-line.

By the way, Gal has very edible legs… I’m salivating…

By: Goy

Goy — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:42:42 +0000

The book is a great achievement…well done!

By: zoss

zoss — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:19:03 +0000

Tel Aviv has always been on my list, but now –after reading your introduction and flipping through the guide– it’s been bumped up a few spots; I’ll be seriously considering it for next winter/spring.

Congratulations; you’ve all done a wonderful job, and Natan’s photos are amazing indeed.

By: Aviv

Aviv — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:10:00 +0000

Lisa,

In your overview of central Tel-Aviv, you mention everything from Ibn-Gvirol in the west to Azrieli in the east; From Shaul Ha-Melech in the north to Sarona in the south. Everything but the Kirya, Israel’s Pentagon.

The Kirya is a hallmark of how intertwined the military is with civilian life in Israel; how Tel-Aviv retains stronghold over political affairs that should theoretically be in Jerusalem, like the MoD, foreign embassies and political parties’ HQs; And, finally, the Kirya’s architectural hodgepodge of Templer houses, spartan shacks and grandiose office buildings symbolizes how policy in Israel consists of a series of short-term solutions, temporary band-aids till things blow over. “Yihyeh b’seder”.

Opinions differ about whether the Kirya is good or bad for Tel-Aviv, or for Israeli society in general. It’s certainly ugly, but you had no problem decrying eyesores like Kikar Atarim and the Dizengoff square pedestrian catastrophe. I can’t help but wonder why the Kirya didn’t merit a mention. Tourists looking at uniformed clerks and officers will be left wondering about one of Tel-Aviv’s most telling institutions.

Aviv, I love your description of the Kirya and its symbolism. You are absolutely right – I should have written about it, and I do not know why I didn’t. I think, perhaps, for most Tel Avivians the Kirya is just something that’s…there. It’s this big walled complex that takes up a lot of space, and it’s something I have to pass on the way to the train station or the Ayalon. Other than that, I have to confess, I don’t think about it. Now, thanks to you, I will. Lisa