Day 3: Carmel Market

Our last day in Tel Aviv. In the morning, we had a culinary treat at Abu Hassan in Jaffa. The specialty of the house, delicious Masabacha with warm pita bread, fresh sweet onions, and pickles. After a hearty meal, we headed to the promenade towards Carmel Market. A great opportunity to buy various souvenirs or fine spices.

In the afternoon sun, we had a smoothie made from sweet fruits and refreshing ice cream.

After the vitamin boost, we visited the Independence Hall, where David Ben-Gurion declared the independence of Israel almost exactly 70 years ago. A historic place including a short film about the creation of Tel Aviv and Israel. After the Independence Hall, some of us went to the Azrieli Center to have a panoramic view of the city from the platform. I walked through small streets towards the beach and was lucky that the sun was shining. So, I could relax and swim in the sea. And that in March.

After the swim, we went to the hotel, grabbed our luggage, and took a taxi for a wild ride towards basketball (Maccabi Tel Aviv - Hapoel Jerusalem). Arriving at the meeting point, we met many different young people and had interesting and expansive conversations. After a while, we continued with the bus to the arena and joined the lively guest block that cheered loud support for their Jerusalem team. We expected an exciting game, which unfortunately went to the hosts in the last few minutes. Too bad, especially since Hapoel led for most of the remaining game.

Shortly after the final whistle at around 9:30 pm, we quickly left the arena as we still had to drive to Haifa. After a nearly 1.5-hour drive, we all fell exhausted into bed after an eventful day.