Sitting Outside, All Year Round

Cafés are a staple of the Tel Aviv lifestyle. You can find at least one in every 2-3 block radius and down the street from my apartment there are 3 on each corner of a 4 way intersection. Some are on main streets while others are on side streets; some are open all night when others close in the evenings; some even have live music and other attractions while others stick to the basics. But there is one thing that nearly all of them have in common- outdoor seating. To me, sitting outside is a luxury that I never experienced before moving to Israel. In Boston there were only a handful of places with outdoor seating, and even then there were only a few months that this could actually take place. And in Connecticut, well, let’s just say that suburbia and the European style café don’t really go hand-in-hand.

In Tel Aviv, and all around Israel, cafés have more outdoor seating than indoor. People enjoy lounging in the sun and enjoying the fresh air while they sip cappuccinos and read the newspaper.

“What happens in the winter?” you might ask. Tel Aviv does have its share of windy and rainy days and chilly nights, but that is why there are outdoor heat lamps. Anyone who has been to Israel in the winter months has seen them. Some are large, cylinder shaped things with a gas tank on the bottom and a metal screen on top that protects the flames from flying out. Others actually look like oscillating fans but instead of cool air, they radiate heat (but do not blow). Of course, when it is the middle of a rain storm, you will not find people outside, but if it stops raining at 6:00 pm, by 7:00 after the tables have been wiped down and the lamps have been turned on, people are sitting outside.

These heat lamps are not only used for café patrons. It is not uncommon to see a lamp outside of a club or bar, keeping the security guard warm. While I am not a big fan of sitting outside during the winter, I still appreciate every time I go into a café on a sunny day and have my choice of seats outside. I don’t think that will ever get old.