Crowd-Watching, Cafe’s

The Mediterranean art of crowd-gazing can be perfected in Tel Aviv’s streets and cafes. The wide sidewalks of Dizengoff St. are still the most crowded showcase in town. The northern parts of the street, lined with many high-design, liigh-price boutiques, are fit for a relaxed early evening stroll; closer to Dizengoff Square (Kikkar Dizengoff) the crowds may be too dense to even watch. The Kikkar itself is neither pretty nor trendy, but even disdainful Tel Avivians, if asked, will have to point at this circle as the true center of their city. Not even the late-1970s erection of an ugly pedestrian overpass could wane the Kikkar’s appeal; it still is the site of an ever-changing human scene, from retirees basking in the midday sun to late-night punks and drifters cluttering the overpass stairs.

The revolving multi-leveled, multi-colored, water-spurting, fire-spitting fountain, designed by the illustrious Israeli artist Agam (yes, he did the Dan hotel coloring too), crowns the Square with an unsurpassed celebration of municipal entertainment. The times you hear don’t come from an eclectic boom-box; it is the fountain itself, orchestrating its own hourly multi-media show to music ranging from Ravel’s Bolero to Israeli folk songs. It’s like a traffic accident-you don’t want to look, but a morbid fascination takes over.

The Promenade is another favorite site for a lazy stroll, especially in summer nights; the many cafes in the stretch right below the end of Gordon St. make a pleasant early evening stop. HaHof haMa’aravi (the Western Beach), at the northern end of the Charles Core Park, still rocks every Thursday night with Brazilian music and more Israeli youth than you ever thought existed. The open cafes in the midrahov of Nahalat Binyamin St., particularly on the intersecting Rambam St. are a more quiet, relaxing evening hangout. With a car or a taxi you can also get to the hot summer spots by the beach of Giv’at haAliya, in the southern part of Jaffa. Bearing exotic names like Turquoise and Reef, the food in those bar-restaurants is not cheap, but the drinks are reasonable and the sea breeze is superlative indeed. Expect lines on weekend nights.