A little somethin'

More posts tonight. Am back from the longest flights, ever, but here are a few more travel highlights until I can post more:

• The sun and the sea are a fabulous cure for the common cold
• You can bargain in the drugstore in Israel. Who knew?
• Facebook is amazing. Seeing a 35+ Australian traveler log in at a coffeeshop in Amsterdam to update her profile....that is a small world!

Tel Aviv is for Yuppies

Poker Chick is sad to report that for the first time ever, she's not coming back from Tel Aviv with bags and bags of souvenirs and goodies*. Why? She can't afford it. Yes, we've been through the weak dollar argument. But it's clearly more than that. The Israeli economy is booming.

The average 2-bedroom apartment in TA probably costs more than the equivalent of $500,000USD. Coffeeshops and fancy boutiques are everywhere. Shoes for 1,000 shekels. 1,000 shekels! Shoes? All the same stores as everywhere else too: Steve Madden, Aldo, American Apparel, Kookai, fancy French stores. The french are everywhere here. Did we mention the place is full of French? PC has never seen so many stores with "On parle francais" in the window before. Anyway.

So there was no point in buying anything. First of all, the unique stuff was not so unique anymore. PC even came across a gorgeous pair of earrings that she already owns! This store got them from the same distributor in India that the NY store she had bought her pair at did. Is that a sentence?

Even the food got fancy. Yeah, you can still get falafel, shwarma and pizza. But more common are gelaterias, creperies and fancy coffees. You think a frappucino is good? It's got nothing on this stuff. Even the coffee is fancy. A regular coffee at breakfast is a "caffe afooch" - literally translated "opposite coffee" but basically it's a cappucino. That's the basic stuff.

Like any country, poverty is still a reality. Big Boy claims 1/3 of Israelis live at or below the poverty line. This may be true. But these people couldn't even come close to affording living in Tel Aviv. It's been called the"Israeli Riviera" for a while, but this is the first time it really seems to have earned that title. We'll post a "Riviera" pic when we get back.

It's tough to partake, when one is fromthe poor country. a.k.a. New York. Poker Chick's gotta go get some water now. For 9 NIS a bottle. Papaya juice was even more. Sheesh.

*Ok, yes, she did buy 3 pairs of shoes, a present for a friend, and half a wardrobe for the mini. But you had to expect a minimum, right?

Jews, they're just like us

The funny thing about Israel is that everyone looks familiar. Not that it's not a diverse country, it is - you see every skin color and then some and once you get past the weirdness of an asian woman opening her mouth and speaking hebrew it's cool.

But still, take a look at all the white people and they all look like someone you know. Keep looking and after a while you realize it's because where the majority of the white population is Jewish. And if you believe the statistics, one of every six (or four, depending who you read) of these people is related to you or your Aunt Sadie.

For those of you (that would be everyone) used to being a minority population in your country, this concept is a bit mind-boggling when you stop to think about it. A whole country when even the most secular of people refers to their Saturday night parties as those on "motzei Shabbat". It's pretty freakin' awesome.


Now let's talk about the beach. For the geographically challenged, Israel sits on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. Here are some fun facts, with some help from Wikipedia. First, you should know that large islands in the Mediterranean include Cyprus, Crete, Euboea, Rhodes, Lesbos, Chios, Kefalonia and Corfu in the eastern Mediterranean; Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, and Malta in the central Mediterranean; and Ibiza, Majorca and Minorca in the western Mediterranean.

1. The Mediterranean climate is generally one of wet, cold winters and hot, dry summers. Crops of the region include olives, grapes, oranges, tangerines, and cork. A souvenir gift for the first person who can tell Poker Chick what a "cork" crop is.
2. Being nearly landlocked affects the Mediterranean Sea's properties; for instance, tides are very limited as a result of the narrow connection with the Atlantic Ocean.
3. The Mediterranean is characterized and immediately recognized by its deep blue color. Behold, a picture of the blue sea wherever we can put it near this text. Regrettably, the good ones are still in the camera. Yeah, uh, that's the story.
4. Evaporation is especially high in its eastern half, causing the water level to decrease and salinity to increase eastward. This makes sense to Poker Chick, as she can tell you it's a salty sea. You can smell it in the air from three blocks aways.

If Poker Chick had more than 2/3 of one (out of three total) battery packs left on her camera, she'd show you the funny splotchy sunburn on her foot. Like a splash of burn. But she can't so you'll have to imagine it.

The funny thing about the beach is that it's almost impossible to find an American these days there anymore. It's all Europeans - a lot of Brits and French, a smattering of Germans, Spanish and others. Americans are not so much loved in this (or any) part of the world, and Poker Chick has never seen it in full force like this.

Now, to answer the first question, why are there no Americans? Because in case you hadn't noticed the dollar is in the toilet, peeps. Fellow ad friends have seen the effects as the tried and true international shoot is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Fashion friends can no longer afford such luxuries as Prada and Louis Vuitton. International friends obviously had this realization before yours truly.

But it's true. Look at everyone else in their Dior sunglasses, and you realize.....we've become poor! And the rest of the world is becoming richer as we obliviously watch clips like "The cutest puppies in America" on "morning news" programs. Know what you get when you turn on the news here? Take a guess, c'mon. That's right! It's......REAL news! Imagine that. Now imagine all the people 'round the world pitying us ignorant Americans as we eat our McDonald's and pet our pooches.

Poker Chick is by no means unpatriotic, but it is......embarrassing. We need to get our act together and wake up and realize the world is much bigger than we are and the days of the American empire are over. Thanks, G.W. Swell job.

Loyal readers should stay tuned for more. Coming up.....tales of Jerusalem and the yuppification of Tel Aviv.

See if you can find what's similar

'Twas around rush hour when Poker Chick took the commuter train to Centraal Station in downtown Amsterdam the other day. For you New Yorkers out there, here are a few pics. It's hard, but see if you can spot the similarities:

A shoutout!

To DinDin, who faithfully read the blog, only to be disappointed. With "great anticipation" he read the last post, waiting to get the credit he was looking forward to......and...alas! Denied.
So your very own shoutout in your very own post. Everyone shall now know that you were the one that tipped me off to the free tour. Now I'm off to buy your friend a beer.....

More pics and words later for the rest of you peeps. We're working on it.