Israel 17,
July 18, 2026,
Hi Everyone,
In Israel, everything is very quiet here on Friday nights as people spend Shabbat with their families and most restaurants are closed. That changes completely on Saturday when the whole city descends upon Tel Aviv Beach in spite of the fact that it still is Shabbat.
For the last 2 weeks, except for the weekend, I was up at 5:30 and usually didn’t get home until 5:30 pm. Given the fact that I find it difficult to go to bed early, I have been sleep deprived the whole 2 weeks. Last night for a change of pace, I slept for 8.5 hours. That is close to a record for me who usually goes on 6 to 6.5 hours of sleep per night all year.
I woke up fully refreshed and ready to start the day and my 4 days of holiday. I had my usual full filling breakfast and then headed upstairs to the roof top terrace to catch up on my emails. It is amazing how much emails pile up in this day and age if you don’t select, file and turf what you don’t need on a daily basis.
The rest of the day was filled with R + R (rest and relaxation for those of you who have not watched MASH in the 80s). Without going into details, I rented a beach bed, suntanned, swam to the breakwater twice, ran 5k, Magnum ice cream at 4:00). The beach was rather crowded but far less son than the Riviera beaches. I had to duck footballs, volley balls and paddle ball games which slowed down my run a little. I am now as dark or even darker than most Israelis. However, they still address me in English in bars and in restaurants. But, 1 French lady addressed me in French (do I now look French). 2 young Americans asked me if I spoke English (to them, do I now look Israeli). Their question was, ‘what were the dates of WW1?’ I guess with my white hair they must have thought that I could be a veteran of the Great War.
After a light supper of soup, wine and a fruit salad I took a stroll on the boardwalk. The whole town is out tonight. All the bars and restaurants are doing a great business. There are musicians out playing sax, guitar or just singing. There is a championship game of beach-volleyball-football with hundreds of spectators. It consists of a volleyball net on the sand and 2 players. They use a football (soccer ball) and hit it back and forth with their feet, chests and heads. It is amazing how long they can keep the volley going while being encouraged by the noisy crowd.
I am writing my blog, enjoying the warm summer breeze, overlooking the Med, sipping a beer and eating fries. Lovely. Tomorrow is the FIFA final between Argentina and Spain. I will try to arrive early to get a seat as the place will be packed. Israel is routing for Mesi (who is very pro Israel) and Argentina as Spain has a reputation of being very antisemitic.
Love,
Brian
gobriantravel 