Azrieli center, Tel-Aviv

The first place to visit in Tel-Aviv is Azrieli Center, the complex of skyscrapers with a big shopping mall in the center. The complex consists of three buildings -  circular tower, triangular tower and square tower.

The tallest tower is circular tower, which is 187 meters in height, with 49 floors, which makes this building the tallest in Tel-Aviv and second tallest in Israel. The most important - the last floor of circular tower is the indoor observation deck, that gives the opportunity to observe Tel-Aviv from above. 

Do not forget to take pictures of the posters with amazing view of the city and the buildings!

The most exciting part, besides the observatory, is the shopping mall and cafes. The shopping mall in Azrieli mall is one of the largest in Israel, with brands like Forever 21, Zara, H&M, Mango, and others.

Continuing through safari park

In order to get to the safari part of Ramat Gan safari park, you should get your car, because no one is allowed to enter the safari park otherwise. The cars are entering the park one by one, waiting for their turn, since it is not allowed all the cars enter the territory at once, in order not to disturb the animals. 

One should know, that when entering the territory of the safari, it is recommended to keep the windows closed and not leave the car throughout the trip, since the animals are walking all over the territory and they are very curious. 

 Except for lions, all the other animals are walking around the park without the fence surrounding them. The lions on their turn have enough space to walk around without disturbing other animals. The management of the park tried to make it look as real as possible. 

Before entering the sight, make sure the windows of your car are clean enough to take good pictures =) 

Sincerely, 

Makhina

Tel-Aviv safari zoo

If you visit Tel-Aviv, don't forget to stop by the Ramat Gan Safari park/zoo. The park is divided into two parts - the zoo itself and the safari park. 

Starting with the zoo. One can rent one of these carts to make the trip more convenient, because the territory of the zoo is relatively large.  The entrance fee is around 19 USD (not including the special discounts for children, students, senior citizens, policemen, soldiers and handicaps) without cart renting fee. By the way, if you want to rent a cart, don't forget to present your driving licence. 

The creatures in the zoo are very friendly and pretty quite. What I liked about some of them - they don't care about you starring at them and children pointing their fingers and making noises to attract. If they are sleeping, they do not bother themselves to wake up and entertain the visitors. 

 The giraffes and kangaroos were very funny. The giraffes, for example, were trying to approach you through the fences and posing in front of the cameras.   

 The only thing I don't remember, whether visitors were allowed to feed the animals, but we didn't, so if you want to do that, you should check for information in advance.  

 By the way, in order to take a look at the crocodiles, you should spend a little more time searching for them in the water, grass and under the trees, because these guys know how to hide from the visitors' eyes =)

 Next stop - safari park! =)

Dinosaur park, Israel

If you want to watch some movie, do some shopping or just have fun, then Cinema City in Rishon LeZion is the right place to visit. Right in front of the mall there is a park with dinosaur figures of an actual sizes. Not only the dinosaurs are presented in the park, but also other species. It is something like a mini zoo with dinosaurs within it. The complex is quite big, with stores of various brands inside outside and alongside the mall. 

Inside the mall complex one can find clothing stores, jewelry stores, manicure corner, cafes and restaurants. Moreover, for those who love to take pictures, there are figures of different movie characters and celebrities. First, I thought they were wax-made statues, but I believe that they were rather plastic. 

One can watch movie in two languages - Hebrew and English with subtitles and before buying the ticket don't forget to ask what is the primary language of session. Tickets are sold on the first floor, and the cinema halls along with the popcorn and drinks corner are on the second floor (the whole second floor is dedicated to the cinema halls). 

Movies schedule Cinema City

Mini Israel Park, Israel

One of the attractive sights to visit in Israel is the Mini Israel park/museum with around 350 miniature models of most attractive places around Israel that are worth to visit.  All the models of the buildings are the exact replicas of the originals. Before starting the tour around the park one should watch the 3D movie about Israel and attractive sights around the country. The list includes not only the historical and archaeological places, but also the architectural ones. 

 The buildings are inhabited by the residents that are 7 cm in height and they are as close to the originals as the buildings. Not only they are moving around the buildings and their surrounded territories, but all the actions are accompanied by the music (if it is a festival presented), talks and songs.  Even the airport and the airplanes are looking real, moving around and imitating the flight. 

Some of the most significant buildings are of the size of an adult, for example the Azrieli center located in Tel-Aviv.  Looking at the Al'Aqsa mosque and the Western Wall (both located in Jerusalem) you can see the figures of people praying, moving around, holding their books, for example. 

 Walking around the park you can take a look not only at the historical, archaeological and architectural buildings and tourist sights, but also at the plants and factories, as for example the Coca-Cola and Bosch factories. Pressing on the button in front of the sights you can observe the movement, as for example, when you press the red button in front of the Coca-Cola plant, you can see how the production line supposedly works, how the trucks are loaded with the ready products and leave the factory. And the most fascinating is that, nevertheless, the bottles of the coke are tiny, you still can recognize the logo on the bottles colored in dark. 

Be ready to spend around 3 hours in the park and don't forget the hats, umbrellas and the sunscreen protector, because the territory of the park is open-aired. There you can find a small coffee place with refreshments, ice-cream, that is what you exactly need during the summer.  And before leaving the park, don't forget to visit the souvenir shop (by the way, ladies in the shop speak fluent Russian). And the best part of this park is a free parking, which is  unfortunately not protected from sun, nevertheless, the park is the place worth to visit!

Sincerely, 

Makhina 

Special offers and tours around Mini Israel 
Hotels in Jerusalem

Pamukkale, part II

So, continuing through Pamukkale. After you are done with the cosmetic procedures, applying masks and taking photos, you can continue further to the more dry surface where you can put on your shoes, finally, and make sure you will not slip.

The most interesting place to visit, besides the white hot springs, is Cleopatra's pool, that is called so because it is believed that Cleopatra used to swim here. Of course during her days there were no columns on the bottom of the pool, which were supposedly left here from the Temple of Apollo. 

[Available @ http://www.travelsignposts.com/Turkey/files/2012/07/AJP_1539.jpg]

We didn't manage to swim in the pool, because there were too many people, but we enjoyed the territory of the pool, which consists of beautiful pool itself, modern cafes and green sights surrounding the place - leaving you with the feeling as if you are in the exotic place.  

Moving further you can find the ruins of the ancient Hierapolis. There are a lot of interesting places to see, while crossing the old city to the exit at the end. Very smart decision, I would say, to place the exit at the end of the territory so that tourists will cross the whole complex. 

That is basically it for Pamukkale and Hierapolis city =) I would never stop advising to take care of your skin during your stay in Pamukkale, because I had an unpleasant experience of getting sunburn there, due to which I couldn't fully enjoy the Black Sea and spent most of our stay in Kemer in the pool. So, don't make the same mistakes! =) 

Sincerely, 

Makhina

Pamukkale, Turkey

Recently, I read a blog post on Distractify: "33 unbelievable places to visit before you die" and was fascinated by the natural beauties of our planet. Out of all 33 places, our family have visited only one so far - Pamukkale Hot Springs in Turkey.

[Available @Distractify]

Pamukkale is a beautiful natural site in Denizli Province, which contains hot springs and terraces of carbonate minerals, which supposedly have positive effect on skin and cure other health problems. What I can tell from our visit is that the skin really changes after the masks (you need to sit down into the one of the small pools and scrub the mud from its bottom) becoming more gentle and at the same time attractive for the sunburns, so, be careful and make sure to take the sunscreen protector with you to apply afterwards.

Before entering the site there is the post (small white single-room building on picture) where you would be asked to take off your shoes. Unfortunately, I do not remember about the payment procedures and rates, but take some cash in advance to prevent any inconvenient situation.

By the way, on the left there is a nice place with a pool and snacks place. Since it is private, you would have to pay for entering the territory, however, they have discounts for children up-to 12 or 16 years, as far as I remember. 

Try to walk very carefully when you enter the sight, because the road itself is very slippery due to its unique surface.

And don't forget the hats and sunglasses, because you will spend there at least 4 hours (hot spring is not the only place to visit on that territory) and it is pretty hot during summer season and due to the white and creamy colored surface the eyes feel burning. 

To be continued...

Where to stay?! =)  Hotels in Pamukkale