Tel Aviv Beach Party

It was so miserably hot in Jerusalem this week, that I wonder how people manage in coastal cities like Tel Aviv, Haifa, etc. But the lure of the beach in the evening and a free movie on a big screen was enough to drag me out there last night.

Ahhh Tel Aviv. For Jerusalemites going to Tel Aviv, think that it's something like someone from an historic, beautiful and cultured smallish city in the US visiting big, bad and wonderful NYC - the city that never sleeps. Tel Aviv for me = towering buildings, seedy peep shows near the central bus station, beachfront hotels, beach promenade, looser people, clubs opening up at 11:00 pm instead of closing shortly afterwards, night life, night life, night life.

I've been putting off going to Tel Aviv, even though it's just an hour away, for a year. I don't know why. Once I'm there, I don't know why it takes me a year to get there. I'm always in awe of it when I visit. I should be enjoying this city more - if not once a month, then once every other month.

I went with my oldest married daughter and the ex-Criminal who was allowed on an outing with her mom. My eldest quibbled and bitched like an old married woman on the way there.

"I shouldn't really be going. I really should be cleaning our room. I should be doing laundry. I should be shopping."

Sheesh, lady. You've been married 2 months and you're an old fuddy duddy already. Shut the fuck up!

We got out of our cab and in our short walk to the beach, the humidity hit us Jerusalemites immediately. Our hair began to frizz and curl, which looked great on me, but caused my Eldest to complain even more. Meanwhile, a cute stranger on a bike flirted with my Eldest while on the Promenade. People are so much chattier to strangers here. But I stopped his chit-chat with a stare that said "DO NOT TALK TO BITCHY ELDEST DAUGHTER. SHE IS TAKEN!" He got the hint and biked off.

We checked our bags at a special security booth to go onto Banana Beach,where they were showing the movie King Kong. Nothing like seeing a giant ape on a giant screen, with a crowd of noisy Israelis. We munched on everything they sold on the beach - beer, iced coffee, grapes, popcorn, hot dogs and my Eldest even stopped complaining about the sand getting into her handbag and her clothes. I, on the other hand, slunk my feet deep into the cool sand.

It was 11:00 at night and the movie stopped for a 2nd intermission - just as the big ape cradled his blonde honey in the palm of his hand. It was touching. But if we waited until the end, there would have been no more buses back to Jerusalem and I don't know a soul in Tel Aviv where I could crash with my 2 kids for the night - not that they wanted to sleep over, but it would have been simpler. So I reluctantly pulled my feet out of that delicious sand to go back to Jerusalem.

We knew the ending anyways - they kill the Ape, who terrified most people, except for the blonde chick, and somehow I wished the story could have been changed somehow. But I don't know how that could have been. Because, after all, he was just so friggin' huge (and different). And that usually frightens us all, doesn't it.