We are now in Tel Aviv, our last stop in Israel. Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 as a modern housing neighborhood on the outskirts of the ancient port city of Jaffa. Today, Tel Aviv is the city and Jaffa is like a neighborhood of Tel Aviv. It’s located on the Mediterranean coastline and is the economic and technological center of Israel. Tel Aviv has the largest economy per capita in the Middle East and has the highest cost of living in the world. It’s a party capital in the Middle East with a lively day life, nightlife and a 24-hour culture. There’s nothing like ending a trip in a party city.

It's hard to get a grasp of big cities like Tel Aviv. My attempt to do that is to show you some photos that I took from the private club lounge up on the 17th floor of our hotel. It had balconies on two sides, so I took these photos. Oh, and did I mention where we stayed in Tel Aviv? Where else, but at Herods Hotel. We couldn’t seem to get away from Herod in Israel.

This first photo I took off the balcony in our room. We had no complaints about our room at Herods.

The 2nd photo is looking north from our hotel. The Gordon Pool was established in 1956. It has swimming, lessons, saunas, plus all sorts of sporting events. Our guide said they empty and refill the pool water daily. Amazing!

The 3rd photo is to the northeast of our hotel. There are a few interesting buildings such as the tall one that is most left in the photo.

The next photo is looking southeast. Tel Aviv is a big city with a population nearing 500,000 people.

The last photo is looking south. The land jutting out in the distance is Jaffa and that’s where we go next.