The Simple Pleasures in Life

Today is a lovely spring day in Tel Aviv. Warm, sunny, slight breeze. Perfect. And it's a Saturday, which, in Israel, means most places are closed. I woke up this morning, trying to decide what to do. I had to take advantage of the weather. First thoughts, as always from a So Cal girl, beach? But I realized that if I thought it was a nice beach day, so would every single other Tel Avivi. Wandering and picture taking was out of the question since my shoulder's been hurting from the last two days of aggressive picture taking (not to mention my computer complaining about all the disk space I'm using). Hiking or traveling wasn't even an option, since the buses don't run on Saturdays.

And then I thought it would be nice to spend a day doing what many other Tel Avivi would be doing. Sit at a nice coffee shop. In my case, of course, this means bringing a book with me. So this is precisely what I did...


The hard part, is trying to find a cafe that's not packed full of people, because, as mentioned, this is what many other Tel Avivi do on the weekend. But I recalled passing a cute little coffee shop the previous week, that, despite being on Dizengoff (one of the busiest streets in Tel Aviv) there had been almost no one there the previous Saturday.

Crossing my fingers, I headed to Bar Giyora. I walk in, and there's only one other family in the bar. I sat down, ordered a Chai Latte and a bagel, and sat and read in the outdoor, covered patio. And while sitting there, feeling the slight breeze, enjoying my Chai, I couldn't help but smile.

I've always been one that gets amused easily. That tries to see the good and beauty in the simple things. I mean, look at my photography aesthetic. Talk about a simple pleasure!