It was cold out, so we grabbed blankets in addition to out other supplies. Warm clothes, tea kettle, mugs, tea packets, gangster hats, pasta, Sour Patch Kids, Girl Scout cookies, and ice cream in hand, we set up camp on the balcony. Laughter, tears, confessions, and girly talk commenced for hours and hours on end, with a few silly interludes to prepare for the up-coming week. When it was too cold for the blankets to be any sort of protection, we ventured downstairs. There we got to work, planning and doing and doing and planning until the early hour of 0330.
A mere 2 and a half hours later, the flat awoke with a yawn, as we all prepared for the day. Green Netzer shirts as far as the eye could see, with two commanders sporting Sprite bottle weaponry. At 0645 sharp, the troops set out. To the train station, to the bus station, and to the bus.
Logic games confused a few good men, but eventually we gave in and slept. Harried and a bit hysterical, we somehow ended up making our way from the bus to a train (a double decker train, no less) and to the Tel Aviv University. The longest staircase in the world posed a challenge, but we Etgar-niks are no strangers to accepting challenges.
We spent a good while in a museum listening to a woman who didn't know us or how we lived tell us about us and how we lived. The museum on Diaspora Jewry was interesting, but was almost painfully narrow-minded.
Around lunch time we finally got the chance to eat the pasta I had been carrying around all day. A snafu over the tuna occurred, but in the end we all ate and were merry.
After the tour we were set free unto Tel Aviv. Most soldiers ventured home, but myself and three of my brave companions wanted to go visit the beach. We conquered that disgusting staircase once more and boarded a bus to the beach.
We thought it would be a short ride. We thought the bus driver would tell us when to get off. We thought we were going to the beach.
The four of us (Emily, Naomi, Kitty, and I) woke up an hour later and got off the bus. We didn't quite recognize the area, but when we saw the inscription on the kikar we were shocked: we had somehow ended up in Bat Yam. A few minutes of panic ensues, but we learned to laugh at ourselves. We strolled around Bat Yam for a bit, sporadically cursing the bus driver. When hunger hit, like it has a tendency to do at the most inappropriate times, we got King Falafels.
When it was all said and done, the falafels were among the best we'd ever tasted, but the King needed to work on his falafel putting-together skills.
A bus took the four of us into familiar territory; the longer we rode, the more we recognized. Naomi and Emily said good-bye around Dizengoff, but Kitty and I stayed on the bus until we arrived at the Savidor Train Station.
This is where most of the bigger problems began.
We knew we were supposed to get on a bus at the station near Savidor. However, we couldn't find the station. So we walked a bit, expecting that it would be just around the corner. We somehow directed ourselves all the way up to Weismann, where Dizengoff and Jabotinsky meet in the very northernmost section of Tel Aviv. In retrospect, we can now see that we took ourselves back the way the bus had just driven us, but more indirect and confusing.
At one exciting point, Kitty wanted to rest her feet and I was in desperate need of a restroom. I left her on a bench in search of a kind store owner, but when I got back she was gone. She had left go find me but took the wrong street, and we ended up in two completely different places. A few frantic phone calls solved the dilemma, however, and we met up at an easily recognizable landmark: Super Pharm.
Together, we continued our journey. More and more street names became recognizable, and we got hopeful. However, our ecstatic state was not to last. It only took a few minutes to become utterly lost once more. This time we called for help. We called a friend living in Tel Aviv, who gave us simple directions: follow the road we were on. That didn't help. As I was calling a different person, we saw a sign to the bus station, so I quickly told him that we didn't need help anymore, we figured it all out on our own.
Now that I look at the map, I just don't understand how we managed to completely avoid the bus station. We must have circled it at least twice, coming within a few small side streets and then veering off again.
We walked on, certain that it was just around the corner. Just around the corner (which really means: halfway up Tel Aviv and a little to the east), however, was another surprise.
"Kitty, remember those three shape buildings in Tel Aviv we thought we'd never found? Well, we found them."
The Azrieli Buildings were lit, warm, and welcoming, and we hurried inside. Scrambling for enough change to refuel our weary bodies, we bought ice cream. We sat and ate and contemplated our fate surrounded by the capitalism and grandeur of first world commercialism.
Having spent a good amount of time in the area, I was fairly certain I could navigate my way around from there. We called a lifeline back home to check up on something, and then purchased two train tickets to a different part of Tel Aviv. Sure, we could have walked it, but we did not want to risk getting lost once again, for the night was growing darker and colder by the second.
We departed the train and (no, Kitty, not that way, that's Bat Ram) made it out onto Tel Aviv streets again.
We had arrived back at the beginning, where it all had started. That first bus ride back from Bat Yam landed us here, and we walked away, certain we were looking fora building. Apparently, there is no building to this Central Bus Station. We found the 480, secured the back row, and were off.
To top it all off, we took a taxi from the bus station to home. It was just easier, and involved less walking.
The Journey
We started at the top end of the red line, at Tel Aviv University Bus Station
Red Line: We took the bus down to Bat Yam
Green Line: Bus back to Savidor Station
Purple Line: From Savidor we walked for about 4 hours, and ended up at Azrieli
Blue Line: Train from HaShalom to Savidor, where we caught a bus home
Money Spent During Today's Adventure:
6 nis from Tel Aviv University Bus Station to Bat Yam (Netzer paid)
12 nis for the falafel
3 nis for a Coca Cola (Kitty and I split it)
6 nis from Bat Yam to Tel Aviv Savidor
20 nis for ice cream in Azrieli
6 nis for the train ticket from HaShalom to Savidor
Unknown amount for the bus back to Jerusalem, but Netzer paid
20 nis for the taxi from the CBS to Beit Shmuel
Altogether, I spent 67 nis out of pocket today.
A few good things did come out of today, however. Don't get me wrong, I had a blast. Although there were long stretches of time in which we were genuinely and completely lost, we kept our cool. We had fun with it. A bit of hysteria here and there, but we're capable people and we knew we could figure it out. This might even be a testament to our skills as responsible and level-headed adults.
- I got a lot of exercise
- I got to know Tel Aviv really well
- We got really good ice cream
- We had plenty of time to discuss The Week
- We took some amazing pictures and videos
Kitty has pictures of the adventures today, but she just discovered Google Map Street View, so I expect her to be unavailable for the next few days.
The lesson we learned today: A truly difficult and challenging journey is made better with good friends, a crazy perspective, and ice cream.
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