Priebe's Travel

Archive for the ‘TelAviv, Israel’ Category

I loved visiting Jaffa, one of the oldest towns in Israel, believed to have been founded by Japheth, son of Noah. The city of Jaffa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, served as the ancient Israelite port during King Solomon’s time. Jonah embarked for Tarshish from Jaffa. Peter stayed in the home of Simon the Tanner, where he received the vision of the pure and impure animals and were he brought Tabitha back from the dead.

The ancient city of Jaffa has been partially restored with many buildings and historical sites from the Canaanite and Medieval periods. The front entrance gate to the original city still stands however it looks a bit different with the shops at its entrance. The stones you walk on are smooth from time, so be sure to wear good gripping soles. Walking the narrow alleys truly give you a feeling of what it was like living here so many years ago.

You can visit St. Peter’s Church or the House of Simon the Tanner. Today Jaffa is an artist’s colony and entertainment center. Also famous for its flea market and excellent restaurants. The restaurants are charming as you can see in my pictures below.

I had the opportunity to stay at the Sheraton TelAviv Hotel & Towers in TelAviv. I am pleased to say it was a very pleasant experience all around. From the time I witnessed a young security person greet two people by name while riding in the elevator together, and experiencing the kindness of each and every staff person who were very friendly and willing to help. In fact, they really came through for me when I sprained my ankle by having someone run out and get an ace bandage for it. That was beyond normal service, in my opinion.

The room had enough space for a very comfortable king size bed, a couch, a desk and plenty of closet space. It had a nice flat screened TV, overall lighting was good, and the self controlled room temperature was very comfortable. My room was on the sixth floor overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The view was absolutely beautiful and fun to experience. To my right was the marina, and an active beach and promenade runs as far as the eye can see. People were regularly up early and out late jogging, riding bikes, and walking their dogs.

The bathroom is modest and small but stocked with lots of towels, bathrobes and plenty of toiletries and extras. It had a nice sink and a wide shower head with good water pressure. It had a nice deep tub with hand rails for easier lifting. It was a tight squeeze with the door right at the toilet’s foot, however it was fine for one person at a time.

The Sheraton TelAviv Hotel & Towers is by far one of the nicest hotels to stay at while visiting Israel.