A party transpires in Tel Aviv and you can expect to be on the guest list. Set on the Mediterranean Sea, Tel Aviv buzzes at night with partiers and clubbers looking to make the most of their holidays. By day, Tel Aviv simmers down with more cultural activities, filling with world-class concert halls, theaters and museums for perusing. With the city’s permanent tone of always being on vacation, visitors may adapt the laissez faire attitude, taking in a museum here and a nightclub there.
Mentioned in the Bible but of 19th century origins, the Jaffa area boasts the city’s old town. Entering into the Jaffa, visitors transfix their eyes on the Ottoman Clock Tower leading the way. Exploring the area, mosques pop up like the Mahmoudiyeh Mosque. The mosque speckles in minarets and domes of Turkish construction. The center of old Jaffa lies in Kedumim Square. The main plaza dominates with St. Peter’s Monastery.
Tel Aviv houses not just the party scene, but also a number of museums for something other than drinking and dancing education. The Tel Aviv Museum of Art showcases Israel’s principal modern art collection. Also within, the Museum holds a permanent collection of European and American art from the 20th century. Works hail from notable artists like Cézanne, Monet, Dali, and Chagall. The museum also puts on exhibits from world leading modern art museums.
Continuing the museum spectacle, the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora looks at another area of Tel Aviv’s history. The museum devotes to Jewish history, cultural diversity and migration. The Museum of the Jewish Diaspora specifically details the time in 70 A.D. when the Romans expelled the Jews from Israel. More modern day exhibits in the museum highlight the diversities of Jewish communities throughout the area. More artifacts fill the Eretz Israel Museum. Tracing 3,000 years of culture through artifacts, the museum holds separate pavilions showcasing a specific aspect of Israel’s material culture.
Independence Hall positions as a monumental part of Tel Aviv’s and Israel’s history. One of the city’s first structures, Independence Hall was the venue where the state of Israel came to be on May 14, 1948. Today, a museum stands in its place detailing that day and what lead to it.
Post museum visit, lazy day shopping is in order along Sheinken Street. The Melrose Avenue of Tel Aviv dresses many people well out of their budgets with designer clothing. The boutique shops are not just for the big spenders, but also an ideal place to see and watch they all.
Despite the sights and history, Tel Aviv has another agenda. With some of the hottest night clubs in the Middle East, the liberal Tel Aviv would much rather be the life of the party than the wall flower. The ceaseless energy through the city’s tree lined avenues and squares makes for a Middle Eastern city that just may surprise you with its history and culture when the night ends and morning takes over.
