israel

this post is going to be massive.. i'm trying to summarise all the expiriences of ten days in israel, i hope you take some time to read or just look at the pictures!
starting at 6am in the morning at munich airport i already had trouble. my lovely holga nearly didn't make it through the security check, but fortunately, two checks for explosives and 45min later, i could take her with me onto the plane. the trip was organised by 5th semester interior design students, so we visited a lots of museums and architects, it was rather a trip to earn knowlede, than to relax, but i really enjoyed it!

some hours late we finally arrived at tel aviv airport where our bus was already waiting to take us to the hostel. the same day we went to TEL AVIV PORT to meet it's designers MK ARCHITECTS and to have a very delicious dinner. 

next day we started early after a typical israeli breakfast at our hostel, featuring pita, hummus, shakshuka, spicy salads and sauces - a bit heavy for the european stomach, yet very delicious - walking through the city to the CONCERT HALL SQUARE (right) to meet it's designer DANI KARAVAN there.

after that we went to the TEL AVIV MUSEUM OF ART, a really spectacular building, even more from the inside, and had a guided tour about israeli art there. 

after lunch we went to the BAUHAUS CENTER to first get a small lecture from MICHA GROSS about the bauhaus-style in jerusalem - it's basically european architects that imported the style of the german bauhaus school in the 1940s, after they escaped the hitler regime, to tel aviv and designed the WHITE CITY there, the 'old city' of tel aviv, wich is nearly completely bulit in that style - and then we went on a small tour throught the white city to take a look at some of the buildings. (3rd picture)in the evening we went to the beach to watch the sunset and have a picnic - well originally we wanted to o swimming but it was soo cold and windy so we didn't..

 next dlaay we went to JAFFA PORT and after that to a small gallery showing photographs of abandoned cinemas in israel. we went through JAFFA FLEA MARKET - wich you have to visit, it's soo great! sadly we didn't have time to go look around all the beautiful stands and shops.. - to have lunch at HUMUS ABU HASSAN - wich is the best humus in tel aviv, and it really is! later we went on to the PERES PEACE HOUSE, simply because of it's special architecture

the DESIGN MUSEUM HOLON was the next point on our scedule, first of all again because of it's architecture, but it happened that they showed a really beautiful exhibition about bathing suits and fashion designed by LEA GOTTLIEB, it was called 'lady of the dasies'. 

in the evening we went to a the MAYUMANA THEATER watching the show 'MOMENTUM', wich i really enjoyed! before heading home we went to a really cool bar called 'CONTAINER' at jaffa port and enjoyed the live band there.next day we first visited TALENTS DESIGN GALLERY, wich showed some really cool furniture and home accesoires made by israeli designers, then we went on to the NACHALAT BINYAMIN ART MARKET and the CARMEL MARKET, where you can buy cheap clothes and accessoires and delicious food, vegetables and fruit. we went on to HIRIYA, a gigantic mountain built up from trash, that's now transformed into a beautiful parkon top of it, where we had a great view over the city, it was kinda crazy to see how much trash a city like tel aviv produces in just half a day..we went back to tel aviv and visited AN+ ARCHITECTS and their beautiful studio in a courtyard where the first and oldest elevator of tel aviv was built. when we went back to the hostel we came around the market again and this is what it looked afterwards.. felt like being back at the trash mountain again! (before-after)

next day we left tel aviv and went to cesarea, a ruin city, after that to haifa, where we had a beautiful view over the coast, then the next stop was akko, where we had lunch and visited an old underground city of the crusaders, after that we stopped once more in nazareth, where we had a small tour around the city and finally in the evening we arrived in jerusalem, where we would stay for the rest of our trip.

next day we went to the ISRAEL MUSEUM, a huge museum containing art, archaeology, the SHRINE OF THE BOOK (above) with ancient thora rolls, sculptures in the garden (second), and lots of other stuff, really interesting though! after that we went to YAD VASHEM, a museum and memorial for the holocaust victims, and in the evening we made a small tour around the old city. it was the evening before memorial day, so at around 8pm there was a siren and everybody stood still for a moment for all the fallen soldiers. back in the hostel we made a huge buffet for our whole group, in the end we bought so much stuff that we even could eat the next day again!

the next day we first went to the GARDEN TOMB, where some people belive jesus was buried, then we had a huge guided tour around the OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM, we visited the market and all the important sights..

first we went up on a roof of the house of some jewish family and it was soo awesome, they had the highest rooftop of the whole city i think and we had such a great view! after that we visited the DOME OF THE ROCK, the WAILING WALL and the CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, just all the important stuff you should see as a jerusalem tourist. then we went down to the old cisterns of the city, it was a fun tour undergroud, you could even do a 45min walk through the water, but sadly we had no time again.. in the evening we joined the INDEPENDENCE DAY party, again the evening before the actual bank holiday, it was crazy! all day the streets were emty and silent but then suddenly it was full of people, everyone was partying, there was a concerts and people had just fun, celebrating the independence of their country.

next day we went to a barbecue, also a traditional thing to do on independence day, we ate so much good food and talked to different people there, it was really fun. afterwards we went to see DAVID GUGGENHEIM, an israeli architect in his studio.the next day we started our workshop with the BEZALEL UNIVERSITY architecture students. we had the task to chose one of three courtyards we visited and design something to make them better, or better used. that's what we did the whole day, until we were finished.next day we went to the university itself and got to listen to some presentations of the students, then we presented our stuff and talked a little bit to the students, then we went to the studio of ADMA ARCHITECTS, who accompanied us already for some days. finally the last day, for me the highlight of the whole trip, we stood up at 3am to go to massada, an old fort on top of a mountain in the desert, climbing up in the dark and then watching th sunrise above the dead sea and the desert, it was really beautiful and worth the exhausting walk upwards. after that, at 9am in the morning we went to the dead sea, and all i can say is AWESOME! going there had been a dream of me since i heard of it in elementary school or something and finally i really had been there! it's so much fun, really, you have to go there at least once in your life! floating in the water, not sinking without having to do anything about it is so cool. we went then back and took a last round around the market to buy some souvenirs and finally at 1am in the morning we left to the airport, there it took about 3h to go through the security checks, they're kinda strict in israel and finally i arrived back home in munich, very tired after more than 24h awake but very happy about our wonderful trip. what's upcoming? i really have a lot of stuff for you soon, a travel haul, analogue photos as soon as they're developed, the secret project i've been working on so hard for the last 6 weeks and maybe some changes on the blog design! stay tuned!