Showing posts with label Tel Aviv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tel Aviv. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Yisrā'el

As you already know dear readers, Rodzilla traveled to Israel last summer! I know I'm hella late regarding posting about what I did while traveling last summer but hey, better late than never!

Tel Aviv skyline
So Terrine and I flew to the center of the Middle East from London last July. We flew with BMI to Berlin and then with Air Berlin to Tel Aviv. The flight to get there was pretty pleasant despite that the temperature inside the plane was über hot! Terrine slept with her mouth open the whole time while I couldn't bat and eyelid and remained awake the whole time.

We landed in Tel Aviv at 5am and took a cab ride to the beach. We had no place to stay until at least 9h30am when our hostel (The Mugraby Hostel) would open. BTW: The Mugraby hostel sucks and their dorms are really nasty and have no A/C, not recommended! Despite the first floor of that hostel to be really yucky, we had had the good idea to rent a private room for two days, located on the second floor. Our room was nice and comfy and we had A/C (thank God)!!!

That's how we spent three hours on the beach with all of our luggages waiting for the hostel to open its doors. Terrine was stressed and she threw a tantum at the Big Dog. Hey, these things happen when you're traveling! We spent the first days in Tel Aviv where we went to the beach, discovered and visited Jaffa (the oldest town in Israel), made our first Shabbat and unraveled Hilton Beach (the local Gay Beach). 

Jaffa as seen from Tel Aviv
Needless to say that Terrine didn't really feel like going to Hilton Beach which meant walking for thirty-five minutes along the beach to see speedo-clad Jewish hunks eyeing up one another. Which is all why I went there by myself and enjoyed every second of it!

We went to the museum of old Jaffa which was very enlightening and interesting. Two days after we had first arrived in Israel, we were traveling again and took a bus ride to Jerusalem and then to the Dead Sea. Trust me, there's nothing weirder than taking the bus in Israel; first you need to go to a bus terminal where you'll be inspected and a guard will go through your luggages as if you were in an int'l airport plus you will likely end up running for the bus and be sitting next to sleepy Israeli soldies with huge loaded guns. Worse happened to Terrine and I: there wasn't enough place for us on the bus to the Dead Sea so we had to be standing up the whole ride in the staircase leading to the front door of the bus! 

Dead Sea in Ein Bokek
Terrine and I had agreed to spend a few more pesos on our Dead Sea hotel as we wanted to make these two nights as memorable as possible and also as luxurious as we could. We booked two nights at Le Méridien Dead Sea which is located in Ein Bokek, south of the Dead Sea. Trust me, that was the best hotel room and balcony view I've ever had! When we first arrived in the room, there was a welcoming chocolate cake on the counter. We both had our own King bed, a huge bathroom and a balcony view atop the 14th floor of the hotel overlooking the Dead Sea, the evaporation ponds, the nearby mountains and Jourdan far East. 

The Dead Sea in July shall make you dead too! It was FUCKING HOT during the afternoon, so hot in fact that it felt like a sauna and would make you dehydrated after ten minutes! Floating truly happens in the Dead Sea; you won't even have to walk a few steps in it that you can get to float. And speaking of floating, everything floats; even your cock'n ballz! That was a hell of a weird sensation, feeling my pecker lifting up even when resting! 

We ate the best food at the morning buffet there and had the pleasure to enjoy McDonald's food and McFlurry for dessert. We also tried Israeli white wine which was pretty darn good. We left for Jerusalem two days later. Gosh I never experienced hot weather like the one in Jerusalem in the end of July!!! I could barely breathe since it was too hot and had to purchase bottled water with Aloe Vera every twenty minutes because I had sweated all I had drunk and felt dehydrated! 
Panorama that I took from my balcony at Ein Bokek
Jerusalem was a very intriguing city to visit, we stayed at Youth Citadel Hostel in the Old City. It was pretty cool and sketchy at the same time as the ceiling is very low and the walls are all actual stones that seem to be standing there since 2000 years! Our room looked like the manger where Baby Jesus was born! The restrooms and showers were so tiny and dirty that Terrine decided not to wash herself for three days! Trust me when the outside temperature is 40 degrees Celsius and you don't wash yourself, Baby Jesus can smell you from Heaven! And hell with it! 

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Tel Aviv = Tha New Middle East

Remember Sex und die Stadt zwei?? They said Abu Dhabi was the capital of the New Middle East? Well turns out they were wrong; Tel Aviv is genuinely the real deal.

Lemme explain myself a bit more. Tel Aviv is the gay mecca of the Middle East and boasts of plenty of designers, fashionistas, night clubs, fancy beaches, shopping malls and outlets, DJs, women activists, gays, jews and financiers. U really couldn't find a more open-minded place like Tel Aviv outside of Israël. Do I need to add that they also have an anual gay pride parade?

After considering all the above-mentioned ongoing hot stuff in Tel Aviv, Terrine and I decided to put it into our itiniary for our summer trip!!! How exciting hein?! I mean I can barely stand on my feet! After reading my article "Baklavas" you readers know that I'm crazy about the whole Arab look and that I find them fully edible like baklavas, the pastries themselves lol!

What is so funny is that both Terrine and I didn't tell our parents since we both know they'd oppose themselves to that idea! I tried to tell mine that Israel is getting very hot and "en vogue" and that I want to go but they were like oh we think you shouldn't; this could be dangerous. But as a young free-minded bastard that I am, I decided to keep my idea on mind and book flight tickets without telling them lol! What's hilarious is that we are now using the code name "Istanbul" for Tel Aviv and as I'm a terrible liar, I need to keep saying "Istanbul" whenever I'm talking about Tel Aviv -even with Terrine- because if I ever start saying Tel Aviv all the time, I'm gonna denounce myself lol!

Oddly enough, my mother is going on a trip with her cousin and her sister in a month and they're all going to Istanbul so my mom is all excited about telling me how nice it is that she will visit it before us and will give us maps and hints about what's nice to do! Terrine and I are like oh that's so nice of you, that'll be of so much help... NOT lol!

I can't even describe to you that unbelievable effervescence I have regarding Tel Aviv. It's going to be so exotic and so endearing! It'll be the first time that "The Big Dog" will be traveling into an Arab/ Jewish country and I honestly can't wait! Terrine and I decided to definitely go to "Hilton Beach" in Tel Aviv -the official gay beach- and to try the hip nightlife there. I'd also like to go to Jerusalem but I don't know if it's a good idea though.

One place that I'm dying to see during this life of mine is the Dead Sea. I mean Christ it's so beautiful and unique! I've read online that there are multiple spas and wealthy hotel resorts next to it and that its water, sand and minerals have therapeutic effects. I also want to have a "bain de boue" there! How fabulous would that be lol?! Oh and I've documented myself so much about Israel that I'd be ready to leave right away!

And I told Terrine that if gay rights were respected, women's rights are as well. Usually the two come together as a bundle. That's called sociological and political marketing and that's probably why all gay men hang out with straight women and straight women all want to have a gay best friend to crack their back, tell them they're beautiful and spoon them while taking a nap!

The most funny video I've watched that led me to confirm my decision to travel to Israel was seeing Michael Lucas's touristic video about Israel with his "men of Israel" from his porn movie. I mean how funny yet brilliant?


--> Oh and don't miss his teaser ad for the "Men of Israel" movie lol! It's so cheesy yet so tempting:


Oh and here is the link to THE official website for Queer Tel Aviv which is quite appealing and inviting:

Make sure to take a look at the photos posted below; a true delight for your eyes:

 

Floating in the Dead Sea
Salt Deposits in the Dead Sea
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem

Tel Aviv-Jaffa Coastline

Ouhlala
Israeli Hotness

Tel Aviv, also nicknamed "White City"


Expedia Travel Box

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