Last Day in Tel Aviv

TODAY'S PHOTO ALBUM: Israel - Tel Aviv - Day 6

Slept till 8 am this morning. Finally got a good night's sleep in this city. Not much planned today except one more memorial to see that was within walking distance - Rabin Square.

Rabin Square, formerly Kings of Israel Square‎, Kikar Malkhey Yisrael), is a large public city square in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel. Over the years it has been the site of numerous political rallies,parades, and other public events. In 1995 the square was renamed 'Rabin Square' following the assassination of Yitzhak Rabinwhich occurred there on November 4 of that year.The city hall building is on the north side. 

Near the south end of the square is a memorial sculpture designed by Israeli artist Yigal Tumarkin commemorating the Holocaust.

But first, we had some bookkeeping to take care of. I checked the credit card statement and noticed that our 30 free minutes of biking cost us $50!!??!! It certainly appears that Tel Aviv has it in for us. We looked up the Tel-O-Fun people that run the bike share program and lo and behold, they reside in City Hall - which happens to be in Rabin Square. The bike share must be government run. This was going to be interesting.

Off we went with our handy map, trying to take as many new streets as possible. It is such an easy city to walk around. We never once thought about getting a taxi or bus. Got to Rabin Square and found City Hall. Nice big building, bright inside with smiling, helpful people. There is a system in this country -- we found it in the post office as well - they like you to take a ticket to get a number to wait in line (like the deli counter or bakery). So we took our ticket and we were told to go to counter 35. No waiting. Very nice woman listened to what we had to say and then said she couldn't help us - you have call *6070. After some convincing, she dialed the number for us from her desk. Geoff talked with whoever and found out they charged us for 400 minutes! Not sure what happened, but in the end, they agreed to refund the overcharge.  So that worked!

Left the building and found the Rabin memorial. It is placed on the spot where the assassination occurred.

Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated at the conclusion of a peace rally at the site on November 4, 1995. In the days following the event, thousands of Israelis gathered at the square to commemorate Rabin. The young people who came to mourn Rabin were dubbed the "Candles Youth"  after the many yahrzeit candles they lit. A segment of the graffiti they drew upon the nearby walls has been preserved.

A memorial stands on the spot where Rabin was assassinated (at the northeast corner of the square, below City Hall). Part of the memorial is a small, open legacy wall for Rabin. 

Took our time walking back through the residential side streets. Stopped to pick up a couple of falafal sandwiches for a beach picnic. Got to the room grabbed our beach gear and we secured our spot in the by 12:15. Hotter today and a bit breezier.  Water was still cold but very refreshing once you dove in. The beach was way more crowded - not sure why. Saw some of the same faces. Mostly 20 somethings - for all their yoga, biking, exercising, etc, they all seem to be smokers! It is really a shame to see.  Lolled around till about 4 pm and headed back.

Not many pictures today. It is all pretty much the same. We have covered as much territory as we possibly could by foot. Looking forward to getting back on the road tomorrow. We have done alright here on our own. It is fun discovering stuff by ourselves and not always relying on guides. We can go at our own pace. So in that respect, the last 6 days have been good. However, Tel Aviv is a bit too much like NY and Miami - and the never ending construction gets old real fast.

Time to start packing again. Probably have a quiet dinner downstairs. Guide picks us up at 8:30 tomorrow. Hope he is as good as Ashy!

Next time ... The Road to Haifa

TODAY'S PHOTO ALBUM: Israel - Tel Aviv - Day 6