Travel journal

Tel Aviv in February: Markets, Coffee and the Seafront

The city days of that visit: stalls and counters, the seafront at golden hour, and two quiet mornings with nothing in them but coffee.

February 2019

A selfie of a woman with dark hair in a city high up, pale towers and rooftops packed together below her and more of the city out to the horizon.

The February visit, in the order the frames happened. The landing first, then the market, then the seafront at sunset, and two mornings that were only coffee.

Landed, and this is the hall everybody walks through: the welcome sign over the counters, the bags, and people waiting for whoever they came for.

An arrivals hall with a wide lettered sign above a row of lit counters, travellers with luggage walking through and small groups waiting.

Then the first look at the water, from up on the balcony. Breakers coming in and the sea all the way out.

The sea and a beach seen from a balcony, the balcony's glass down one side, waves breaking in rows toward the sand and low white buildings along the shore.

The pastry counter that afternoon, all lit up. Rows and rows of little cakes.

A lit pastry case seen from above, trays of small cakes and pastries set out in rows along it.

Down to the sand later, for the sun going into the water.

A beach at sunset seen low over the sand, the sun on the horizon, its light running toward the camera on the wet shore and cloud across the sky.

The seafront at golden hour. Towers, palms, a flag on its pole, and the chairs stacked up for the night.

A seafront promenade in low golden light, tall buildings and palms along it, a flag on a pole and stacked chairs and tables on the paving.

Late, on a marble table: a plate of pastry and one small red cake.

A white plate with a folded pastry on it and a small red cake beside it, on a marble table.

The next morning, a coffee with a face drawn in the foam and roses behind it.

A cup of coffee on a saucer with a smiling face drawn in the foam, a small vase of red roses and a breakfast table behind it.

Then the market. Up the street under the awnings, past the stalls.

A market street under canvas awnings, produce stalls either side, shoppers walking away down the middle of the lane and a red awning overhead.

The cheese counter, with the shop's own board on the wall behind it. Wheels and cut pieces, and a lit case the length of the shop.

A cheese counter stacked with wheels and cut pieces of cheese, a lit display case behind it and a lettered shop board on the wall above.

Fruit next along, stacked up under its painted board.

A market fruit stall with oranges, melons and bananas stacked in tiers below a painted board, and bags of produce hanging above them.

And then the sweets, every colour they make.

A market stall of sweets, trays of brightly coloured candies and jelly pieces in rows and boxes of more sweets stacked below them.

The spice bins, each one with its own little green price card and a scoop sitting in it.

Bins of ground spices in reds, yellows and browns, each with a small green price card and a metal scoop standing in it.

Pomegranates, a whole wall of them, with the stall's own board over the top.

A stall stacked high with pomegranates against a painted board, with a smaller painted sign below the fruit.

Back out to the beach for the last of the light. The flag on its pole over the sand, and the clouds stacked up behind it.

A flag on a tall pole above a beach at sunset, a wide band of cloud across the sky and people sitting on the sand below.

And the beach at dusk, the bar lit up along the front and everyone out at the tables.

A beach at dusk seen from a promenade, the sand and the sea below, a bar's lit umbrellas and tables along the front and a band of cloud over the water.

Dinner after that: pasta, close to the plate.

A white plate of ribbon pasta in sauce on a table, with a leaf of basil on top.

Then a slice of cake with cocoa shaken over it, the last thing of the night.

A slice of layered cake on a white plate, cocoa dusted over the plate around it and cream on the top.

And the last morning, one more coffee: a face in the foam and a good morning in the lettering.

A cup of coffee on a saucer with a cartoon face drawn in the foam and lettering beside it, a spoon resting on the saucer.

A landing, a market run, the seafront at sunset, and two quiet mornings.

Every photograph in this one is mine, from those days. The city pages live under Cities.

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