Our apartment is located on a tree-lined street less than 50 yards off a main thoroughfare. From our front and back balconies we see buildings of all types. This is typical of Tel Aviv, old and new. Israelis have not traditionally invested as much effort in maintaining building exteriors. You often find luxurious apartments inside of shabby looking buildings with peeling stuco and water stains from air-conditioning condensate. Our building, with its five apartments, is renovated and more appealing than some of the neighbors'.
We live in about 900 square feet, including the two small balconies. It’s small but adequate, and we’re in a part of the city that we love. We have a ten minute walk to the beach, and we can walk to almost anything, including supermarkets (nothing like American style Safeway or Kroger stores), green grocers, bakeries, cafes, bike shops, and a shopping mall. One of our three bedrooms is a reinforced shelter called a mamad. More on that in a future post.
