What, Raf is STILL in Tel Aviv?
Heading to Jerusalem in an hour or two. It is both quieter (one or two red alerts a week, vs two+/day) and more alive (at least in the Baka neighborhood). Though I do miss my gyms when I am there. And the Tel Aviv shuk. And the beach.
Seen
Tel Aviv continues to be very quiet. By Tel Aviv standards, it is dead. In my small-ish apartment building (12 apartments on my stairwell), it appears a third to half the residents have moved out of town to quieter towns. (IOW: Towns that are not rocketed from Gaza.) Parking is easily available (not normal).
Done
I bought an escooter yesterday. Crazy convenient. Sadly, I am not sure it is a keeper. The rental scooters are heavier, more stable and have better controls. This scooter is "perfect" in its specs, but is twitchy both in acceleration and braking. Enough that after a year long run of excellent safety on the rental scooters, on my first full day of ownership I was dumped on the ground by this scooter. Scraped knee and elbow. It may be headed to Facebook Marketplace.
The guy at the scooter store was great. He spent a year or two in Atlanta earlier in life. My age. Said “When we came back from Atlanta, we were either going to live on Kibbutz Zikim or Tel Aviv. If we had chosen Zikim I’d probably be dead now. The day after the attack, I drove down there to bring some friends to Tel Aviv. They told me it was bad. I was not ready for what I saw. Beyond horrible.”
Relief Area
Alef
This is in central Jaffa. I even saw someone go in!
Bet
Surfs up! No swimmers, but half a dozen surfers at this beach.
Got to get going.
Shabbat shalom from Tel Aviv / Jerusalem.
Raf