Thursday, March 08, 2007

Waiting in Tel-Aviv

Tel-Aviv Central Bus Station: I wait, together with other, at the central bus station in Tel Aviv. It takes some time to find your way around in this seven-store building. The Tel Aviv central bus station is the biggest central bus station in the world. Why Tel Aviv needs such a big and very confusing building is quite unknown, since most of the floors are not used. It was built sometime in the sixties, but the project ran out of money and so the station was first finished in the late eighties. Today the bus station in Tel Aviv is a symbol of how not to design a building. It is huge, but without any apparent system to it. There is no escalator running through all levels, so one has to take one level at a time and then run around and look for the next escalator. To be honest, this is the first building, where I take the stairs, if I manage to find them. The whole bus station is filled with a weird and moody feeling. Partly because it feels so big, but still there is no openness to it and partly because of all the falafel-stores playing loud electro music. Once I get into this building, I am always eager to get out again.
From here I want to take the bus to Jerusalem. Buses are the most common transportation in Israel, as the train is slower, more expensive and the train station in Jerusalem is way out of town. Egged, the main bus line of Israel is the second largest bus company in the world. So yes, Israel and buses, that is a superlative. Buses to Jerusalem leave every 15 minutes. Until then I wait, with the soldiers, who can go on buses for free. A funny thing, no one in Israel seems to be moving forward in these buses, whenever I ask them where they are going, they are going back. Back home, back to their base, back to school. But where do you want to go anyway in this all to confusing bus station, in the center of modern Israel.

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1 Comments:

Blogger Ivo Bozic said...

fahr doch vom arlozorov bus bahnhof. da ists total entspannt.
noch alles gute! beste wünsche für einen schönen frühling hier! ich muss ja nun am freitag leider heim... :-(
cu, ivo

2:57 PM  

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