Shalom Tel Aviv
I arrived into Tel Aviv this morning at 6am. I am here to give the keynote at The Marker conference, on the request of a JMA client called Mobixell.
Only 4 hours earlier I left Heathrow and although I was warned of the security, nothing can prepare you for how rigorous the guards are – nevertheless, they were extremely courteous and almost over-apologetic.
On the flight itself, the service was incredible. The crew were more like companions than staff and wherever I looked, passengers were striking up conversation with each other.
I arrived over Tel Aviv from the sea and looking down the place looks like Miami Beach! Beautiful. The airport itself is only 4 years old an immaculate. It lies equidistant to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Upon landing, I was greeted by a driver called Moshe who had lived in Tel Aviv all his life (born in 1948, I found out). We spoke of many things on our short drive but what I will always remember is watching the sun rise over the hills of Jerusalem as Moshe told me of the stories that lay within that undulating landscape.
I arrived here at the conference location 2 hours before my scheduled breakfast meeting. Luckily the conference hall was open so I walked in and spoke to the 1st person I found. It happened to be a guy setting up a stand called NGN (which stands for Next Generation Networks).
I explained my predicament and was immediately offered a local coffee blend that was literally the best coffee I have ever tasted. He allowed me to sit on the stand and I connected to their wireless network (from which this post is published!).
This is the stand I am on as I write:
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Although the day is just beginning, I feel completely at home in this country. The place is wonderful and the people have treated me so well.
I only have an hour left until my breakfast meeting now and I am enjoying watching the stands set up in this brilliant conference hall (called The Avenue), people smiling, joking and making sure everyone else is OK.
If you are going to turn up early somewhere, do it in Tel Aviv. So far, my experience is that it is a great place full of lovely people.
Today is gonna rock.
Shalom.
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Thanks a lot for the interesting post, i totally appreciate your work, keep posts like this coming.
Sounds like an awesome trip so far.
I went to Israel last Christmas – the security is overwhelming and whilst it can be a little intimidating when they look you in the eye and say “We think you have a bomb in your luggage” I still felt safer there than anywhere.
My experience of Tel Aviv only extended as far as the airport but Eilat was beautiful, literally the most relaxed place I have ever been to. The resemblance to the states is quite strange, Eilat looks like a mini California and many of the residents have these odd Israeli-American hybrid accents.
It's a shame that the conflict overshadows the beauty of the country. I will definitely be going back again this year.
Enjoy the rest of your trip…