Jaffa, Israel

Where Tel Aviv Settles Always in Party


Castro
Jewish couple in front of a Jaffa clothing store.
Laughter
Wedding guests laugh in an alley in Old Jaffa
aloofs
Group of young people talk in front of Aloofs studio.
weddings-jaffa-israel-disco-telaviv
Disco patrons surround a Tel Aviv disco bar.
double photo
Grooms rehearse yet another nuptial situation for a plan devised by a pair of photographers.
kedumim
Passerby crosses Kedumin Square, at the entrance to Old Jaffa.
double session
Grooms from different weddings are photographed simultaneously in an alley in Old Jaffa.
Parra
Vine vine freshens the facade of one of Old Jaffa's homes.
weddings-jaffa-israel-painter
Pintora creates yet another work in her studio-gallery strategically located in a well-trodden alley in Jaffa.
blue mediterranean
One of the Mediterranean beaches that separate Tel Aviv from old Jaffa.
weddings-jaffa-israel-recant
Entrance to a typical old Jaffa house.
wedding dance
Grooms star in a dance suggested by the wedding photographer.
Cycling in Tel Aviv
Cyclist walks along Tel Aviv's oldest street
The door
Decorative doll pottery at the window over a Jaffa door.
Tel Aviv is famous for the most intense night in the Middle East. But, if its youngsters are having fun until exhaustion in the clubs along the Mediterranean, it is more and more in the nearby Old Jaffa that they tie the knot.

Fifty with white hair, Oded came from Egypt for Israel.

It arrived shortly after the founding of the Zionist nation. It helped, in fact, to defend it from the total enemy encirclement, in the Six Day War, and to consolidate it from kibbutz pioneers.

Dissatisfied, always a challenger, this Jew mizhraim irascible speeds up to scare pedestrians crossing the road outside the traffic lights. It also pisses us off with frequent sarcastic tirades about those it considers the country's rotten people.

"Me for me, we ran with them all!" roars when he finds one bunch of ultra-Orthodox Jews protesting against who knows what. “Bunch of privileged people who do nothing and are supported by everyone else”. Or he expresses his obvious disdain for President Benjamin Netanyahu, who accuses him of a thousand and one rascals.

When the salad arrives at the table we share, we are amazed at the tiny pieces in which the vegetables come. Oded rejoices: “I know that you in Iberia make them very well with the same ingredients as us. But no one cuts them as small as in Israel and Lebanon! Now they grind them mechanically, but before that, the restaurants only had women taking care of that.”

Conversation starts, Oded begins to despair. The light had long since ended. He wanted his free time undisguisedly.

Delivered to the Frantic Night of Tel Aviv

Jaim shows up late. It ends, immediately, with the anguish of the compatriot who sends us away as soon as possible. "Ready. Here is your host for the night. He knows everything and something else. Have fun!"

The newcomer fulfills his promise. Regular customer, he gets us into his favorite nightclubs at a glance and lets us investigate the different atmospheres.

Weddings in Jaffa, Tel Aviv disco, Israel,

Disco patrons surround a Tel Aviv disco bar.

Later, we move to a “disk” phase of the output. We explore several of these sophisticated venues, equipped with strategically located and popular drink stalls where thousands of ecstatic patrons refill their alcohol with patient eagerness.

There is almost no escaping it: most young couples in Tel Aviv, ready to dance and have fun until exhaustion, meet in this fascinating techno-trance interaction. The most stable and lasting relationships end in marriages celebrated in neighboring Jaffa.

The Relationship of Secular Jaffa with the Younger Good of Tel Aviv

Jaffa, in turn, lives in de facto union with Tel Aviv.

During the nearly 4.000 years that Tel Aviv was nothing more than Mediterranean dunes, Jaffa remained one of the main ports of the Mediterranean.

Weddings in Jaffa, Tel Aviv beach, Israel,

One of the Mediterranean beaches that separate Tel Aviv from old Jaffa.

It was Phoenician, Jewish, Roman, Arab frequent target of Cruzadas. After Ottoman, surrounded and taken by Napoleon, again Ottoman, British and disputed land.

Until the Jews intensified their Zionist efforts and, after a long period of conflict and diplomatic polemics, managed to incorporate it first into Israel, then in Tel Aviv municipality.

Over time, the Muslim population of Jaffa dwindled substantially, just 16.000 inhabitants against 30.000 Jews. Despite the fact that, from 1990 onwards, several Islamic monuments have been recovered, the Arabs continue to accuse the Israeli authorities of Judaizing the old city.

Certain sections of Jaffa remain degraded and problematic. Others have been restored and embellished. They gave way to theatres, restaurants, souvenir shops, bars, cafes and artists' studios lost in alleys and winding staircases that, at intervals, overlook the sea and the small port, both at the foot of the pastel houses.

Weddings in Jaffa, Israel, double photography

Pintora creates yet another work in her studio-gallery strategically located in a well-trodden alley in Jaffa.

The Biblical and Historical Nooks of Jaffa

The day after the Tel Aviv night raid, Oded leads us to the most convenient entrance to this domain.

Departing from the Clock Tower in New Jaffa, we enter a kind of open-air bazaar, occupied by antique shops and assorted Arab shops and, finally, by the local flea market.

Weddings in Jaffa, Israel, conversation

Jewish couple in front of a Jaffa clothing store.

We cross the HaPisgah gardens and advance to the front of the monastery of St. Peter, close to the house of Simon the Leather Tanner, where, according to the Bible, the apostle lodged after having resurrected Tabitha.

A colorful figure of Napoleon marks the monastery, later transformed into a Christian hostel, as a historical site. We noticed the warning. And in Jaim, who, already recovered from the evening, explains to a group of foreigners the general's overwhelming visit to those places and many other encyclopedic curiosities or not so much.

Weddings in Jaffa, Israel, Hostel

Passerby crosses Kedumin Square, at the entrance to Old Jaffa.

The guide is in the middle of a long dissertation. Unable to interrupt, he just waved and winked at us. We went down to the oldest section of Jaffa.

We pass street painters, countless stray brown cats and tourists who follow itineraries marked on their maps.

In Matchmaker Mode Through the Alleys and Alleys of Jaffa

But it's the weekend. Love and commitment took over that place. The vision that assaults us the most is that of grooms, brides and other parties involved in weddings starring in pompous photographic productions.

Weddings in Jaffa, Israel,

Grooms star in a dance suggested by the wedding photographer.

We come across a couple kissing in front of a millenary wall and looking at two telephoto lenses with which a pair of photographers frame them from the top of a wall. We also pass friends and family jumping as high as they can on either side of a stunning Jewish bride.

Weddings in Jaffa, Israel, double photography

Grooms rehearse yet another nuptial situation for a plan devised by a pair of photographers.

The photogenic streets are disputed by different pre-wedding sessions. Another bride has to abandon the pose that is asked of her, over and over again, because of the intrusion of visitors and despair.

When they finally seem to have the alley to themselves, we're the ones who step into the picture. Without us noticing it immediately, in the same image, we capture it. And, in the background, to another betrothed couple further away.

Weddings in Jaffa, Israel, Double Session

Grooms from different weddings are photographed simultaneously in an alley in Old Jaffa.

Two friends in tight, airy pink and purple dresses notice and call attention to her lush beauty: “What about us? It also took us hours to get ready.

We're amazing aren't we?” they ask without embarrassment, in a very good mood, under a sign that refers to the studio "aloofs”, subsidiary of a highly regarded homonymous doctor, Ph.D. in Behavioral Sciences.

Weddings in Jaffa, Israel, socializing

Group of young people talk in front of Aloofs studio.

From this last narrow alley, with the help of handcrafted signs, we take a zigzag descent to the seafront that we find at the bottom of a covered staircase.

End of the Day on Jaffa's Marginal Elegante

Despite a surprising coastal fog, we glimpse the cement and stone jetty. And, out to sea, a Israeli flag flying erected on rocks that exhibit the jurisdiction of the Star of David over those waters.

After numerous ups and downs, we needed to rest. Bars and restaurants abounded along the dock. We sat on a terrace. We appreciate its rustic yet refined atmosphere.

Weddings in Jaffa, Israel, entrance

Entrance to a typical old Jaffa house.

A huge roar inside the decked warehouse that served the tables outside catches our attention. We peek through the half-open door and unravel a drunken matchmaking hubbub still in incubation.

The atmosphere could hardly be compared to that of the clubs from the night before, but we believe that it didn't take long to get there.

The inhabitants of Tel Aviv can even be content with the inevitable maturation.

In Jaffa, like everywhere else, his debut at marital nights is supposed to honor the best singles binges.

Dead Sea, Israel

Afloat, in the Depths of the Earth

It is the lowest place on the surface of the planet and the scene of several biblical narratives. But the Dead Sea is also special because of the concentration of salt that makes life unfeasible but sustains those who bathe in it.
Saint John of Acre, Israel

The Fortress That Withstood Everything

It was a frequent target of the Crusades and taken over and over again. Today, Israeli, Acre is shared by Arabs and Jews. He lives much more peaceful and stable times than the ones he went through.
Jerusalem, Israel

Through the Belicious Streets of Via Dolorosa

In Jerusalem, while traveling the Via Dolorosa, the most sensitive believers realize how difficult the peace of the Lord is to achieve in the most disputed streets on the face of the earth.
Massada, Israel

Massada: The Ultimate Jewish Fortress

In AD 73, after months of siege, a Roman legion found that the resisters at the top of Masada had committed suicide. Once again Jewish, this fortress is now the supreme symbol of Zionist determination
Jerusalem, Israel

A Festive Wailing Wall

The holiest place in Judaism is not only attended by prayers and prayers. Its ancient stones have witnessed the oath of new IDF recruits for decades and echo the euphoric screams that follow.
Jaffa, Israel

Unorthodox protests

A building in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, threatened to desecrate what ultra-Orthodox Jews thought were remnants of their ancestors. And even the revelation that they were pagan tombs did not deter them from the contestation.
Las Vegas, USA

World Capital of Weddings vs Sin City

The greed of the game, the lust of prostitution and the widespread ostentation are all part of Las Vegas. Like the chapels that have neither eyes nor ears and promote eccentric, quick and cheap marriages.
Tokyo, Japan

A Matchmaking Sanctuary

Tokyo's Meiji Temple was erected to honor the deified spirits of one of the most influential couples in Japanese history. Over time, it specialized in celebrating traditional weddings.
Tsfat (Safed), Israel

When the Kabbalah is a Victim of Itself

In the 50s, Tsfat brought together the artistic life of the young Israeli nation and regained its secular mystique. But famous converts like Madonna have come to disturb the most elemental Kabbalist discretion.
Jerusalem, Israel

Closer to God

Three thousand years of history as mystical as it is troubled come to life in Jerusalem. Worshiped by Christians, Jews and Muslims, this city radiates controversy but attracts believers from all over the world.
Holy Sepulcher Basilica, Jerusalem, Israel

The Supreme Temple of the Old Christian Churches

It was built by Emperor Constantine, on the site of Jesus' Crucifixion and Resurrection and an ancient temple of Venus. In its genesis, a Byzantine work, the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher is, today, shared and disputed by various Christian denominations as the great unifying building of Christianity.
Believers greet each other in the Bukhara region.
City
Bukhara, Uzbequistan

Among the Minarets of Old Turkestan

Situated on the ancient Silk Road, Bukhara has developed for at least two thousand years as an essential commercial, cultural and religious hub in Central Asia. It was Buddhist and then Muslim. It was part of the great Arab empire and that of Genghis Khan, the Turko-Mongol kingdoms and the Soviet Union, until it settled in the still young and peculiar Uzbekistan.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beaches
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
A campfire lights up and warms the night, next to Reilly's Rock Hilltop Lodge,
safari
Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, Eswatini

The Fire That Revived eSwatini's Wildlife

By the middle of the last century, overhunting was wiping out much of the kingdom of Swaziland’s wildlife. Ted Reilly, the son of the pioneer settler who owned Mlilwane, took action. In 1961, he created the first protected area of ​​the Big Game Parks he later founded. He also preserved the Swazi term for the small fires that lightning has long caused.
Herd in Manang, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 8th Manang, Nepal

Manang: the Last Acclimatization in Civilization

Six days after leaving Besisahar we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). Located at the foot of the Annapurna III and Gangapurna Mountains, Manang is the civilization that pampers and prepares hikers for the ever-dreaded crossing of Thorong La Gorge (5416 m).
Treasures, Las Vegas, Nevada, City of Sin and Forgiveness
Architecture & Design
Las Vegas, USA

Where sin is always forgiven

Projected from the Mojave Desert like a neon mirage, the North American capital of gaming and entertainment is experienced as a gamble in the dark. Lush and addictive, Vegas neither learns nor regrets.
Salto Angel, Rio that falls from the sky, Angel Falls, PN Canaima, Venezuela
Aventura
PN Canaima, Venezuela

Kerepakupai, Salto Angel: The River that Falls from Heaven

In 1937, Jimmy Angel landed a light aircraft on a plateau lost in the Venezuelan jungle. The American adventurer did not find gold but he conquered the baptism of the longest waterfall on the face of the Earth
drinks entre reis, cavalhadas de pirenopolis, crusades, brazil
Ceremonies and Festivities
Pirenópolis, Brazil

Brazilian Crusades

Christian armies expelled Muslim forces from the Iberian Peninsula in the XNUMXth century. XV but, in Pirenópolis, in the Brazilian state of Goiás, the South American subjects of Carlos Magno continue to triumph.
Gray roofs, Lijiang, Yunnan, China
Cities
Lijiang, China

A Gray City but Little

Seen from afar, its vast houses are dreary, but Lijiang's centuries-old sidewalks and canals are more folkloric than ever. This city once shone as the grandiose capital of the Naxi people. Today, floods of Chinese visitors who fight for the quasi-theme park it have become take it by storm.
Cocoa, Chocolate, Sao Tome Principe, Agua Izé farm
Lunch time
São Tomé and Principe

Cocoa Roças, Corallo and the Chocolate Factory

At the beginning of the century. In the XNUMXth century, São Tomé and Príncipe generated more cocoa than any other territory. Thanks to the dedication of some entrepreneurs, production survives and the two islands taste like the best chocolate.
Sun and coconut trees, São Nicolau, Cape Verde
Culture
São Nicolau, Cape Verde

São Nicolau: Pilgrimage to Terra di Sodade

Forced matches like those that inspired the famous morna “soda” made the pain of having to leave the islands of Cape Verde very strong. Discovering saninclau, between enchantment and wonder, we pursue the genesis of song and melancholy.
Sport
Competitions

Man: an Ever Tested Species

It's in our genes. For the pleasure of participating, for titles, honor or money, competitions give meaning to the world. Some are more eccentric than others.
M:S Viking Tor Ferry-Wrapped Passenger, Aurlandfjord, Norway
Traveling
Flam a Balestrand, Norway

Where the Mountains Give In to the Fjords

The final station of the Flam Railway marks the end of the dizzying railway descent from the highlands of Hallingskarvet to the plains of Flam. In this town too small for its fame, we leave the train and sail down the Aurland fjord towards the prodigious Balestrand.
Tatooine on Earth
Ethnic
Matmata Tataouine:  Tunisia

Star Wars Earth Base

For security reasons, the planet Tatooine from "The Force Awakens" was filmed in Abu Dhabi. We step back into the cosmic calendar and revisit some of the Tunisian places with the most impact in the saga.  
Portfolio, Got2Globe, Best Images, Photography, Images, Cleopatra, Dioscorides, Delos, Greece
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

The Earthly and the Celestial

Front of Fort Christian, Charlotte Amalie's main defensive structure.
History
Charlotte Amalie, US Virgin Islands

From Denmark's Brewing Port to the Capital of the American Caribbean

The Danes founded Charlotte Amalie in 1666, and soon thereafter, beer halls abounded there. The town prospered until successive tragedies and the abolition of slavery condemned it to decline. In the early XNUMXth century, the United States acquired the Danish West Indies. Charlotte Amalie evolved into a busy cruise port.
Guest, Michaelmas Cay, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Islands
Michaelmas Cay, Australia

Miles from Christmas (Part XNUMX)

In Australia, we live the most uncharacteristic of the 24th of December. We set sail for the Coral Sea and disembark on an idyllic islet that we share with orange-billed terns and other birds.
St. Trinity Church, Kazbegi, Georgia, Caucasus
Winter White
Kazbegi, Georgia

God in the Caucasus Heights

In the 4000th century, Orthodox religious took their inspiration from a hermitage that a monk had erected at an altitude of 5047 m and perched a church between the summit of Mount Kazbek (XNUMXm) and the village at the foot. More and more visitors flock to these mystical stops on the edge of Russia. Like them, to get there, we submit to the whims of the reckless Georgia Military Road.
Couple visiting Mikhaylovskoe, village where writer Alexander Pushkin had a home
Literature
Saint Petersburg e Mikhaylovkoe, Russia

The Writer Who Succumbed to His Own Plot

Alexander Pushkin is hailed by many as the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. But Pushkin also dictated an almost tragicomic epilogue to his prolific life.
PN Timanfaya, Mountains of Fire, Lanzarote, Caldera del Corazoncillo
Nature
PN Timanfaya, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

PN Timanfaya and the Fire Mountains of Lanzarote

Between 1730 and 1736, out of nowhere, dozens of volcanoes in Lanzarote erupted successively. The massive amount of lava they released buried several villages and forced almost half of the inhabitants to emigrate. The legacy of this cataclysm is the current Martian setting of the exuberant PN Timanfaya.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, wildebeest on river
Natural Parks
Serengeti NP, Tanzania

The Great Migration of the Endless Savanna

In these prairies that the Masai people say syringet (run forever), millions of wildebeests and other herbivores chase the rains. For predators, their arrival and that of the monsoon are the same salvation.
Registration Square, Silk Road, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
UNESCO World Heritage
Samarkand, Uzbequistan

A Monumental Legacy of the Silk Road

In Samarkand, cotton is the most traded commodity and Ladas and Chevrolets have replaced camels. Today, instead of caravans, Marco Polo would find Uzbekistan's worst drivers.
female and cub, grizzly footsteps, katmai national park, alaska
Characters
PN Katmai, Alaska

In the Footsteps of the Grizzly Man

Timothy Treadwell spent summers on end with the bears of Katmai. Traveling through Alaska, we followed some of its trails, but unlike the species' crazy protector, we never went too far.
Plane landing, Maho beach, Sint Maarten
Beaches
Maho Beach, Sint Maarten

The Jet-powered Caribbean Beach

At first glance, Princess Juliana International Airport appears to be just another one in the vast Caribbean. Successive landings skimming Maho beach that precedes its runway, jet take-offs that distort the faces of bathers and project them into the sea, make it a special case.
Composition on Nine Arches Bridge, Ella, Sri Lanka
Religion
Yala NPElla-Candia, Sri Lanka

Journey Through Sri Lanka's Tea Core

We leave the seafront of PN Yala towards Ella. On the way to Nanu Oya, we wind on rails through the jungle, among plantations in the famous Ceylon. Three hours later, again by car, we enter Kandy, the Buddhist capital that the Portuguese never managed to dominate.
On Rails
On Rails

Train Travel: The World Best on Rails

No way to travel is as repetitive and enriching as going on rails. Climb aboard these disparate carriages and trains and enjoy the best scenery in the world on Rails.
Kente Festival Agotime, Ghana, gold
Society
Kumasi to Kpetoe, Ghana

A Celebration-Trip of the Ghanian Fashion

After some time in the great Ghanaian capital ashanti we crossed the country to the border with Togo. The reasons for this long journey were the kente, a fabric so revered in Ghana that several tribal chiefs dedicate a sumptuous festival to it every year.
Fruit sellers, Swarm, Mozambique
Daily life
Enxame Mozambique

Mozambican Fashion Service Area

It is repeated at almost all stops in towns of Mozambique worthy of appearing on maps. The machimbombo (bus) stops and is surrounded by a crowd of eager "businessmen". The products offered can be universal such as water or biscuits or typical of the area. In this region, a few kilometers from Nampula, fruit sales suceeded, in each and every case, quite intense.
Fishing, Cano Negro, Costa Rica
Wildlife
Caño Negro, Costa Rica

A Life of Angling among the Wildlife

One of the most important wetlands in Costa Rica and the world, Caño Negro dazzles for its exuberant ecosystem. Not only. Remote, isolated by rivers, swamps and poor roads, its inhabitants have found in fishing a means on board to strengthen the bonds of their community.
The Sounds, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Fiordland, New Zealand

The Fjords of the Antipodes

A geological quirk made the Fiordland region the rawest and most imposing in New Zealand. Year after year, many thousands of visitors worship the sub-domain slashed between Te Anau and Milford Sound.