15

Places like #4, 14 and 17 are in Florentin which is a very nice neighborhood, just like you are looking for. Two shortcomings- a bit isolated from the rest of the city and not near the beach.
http://www.telavivguide.net/Attractions/Neighborhoods/Florentine_Neighborhood_20051127217/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florentin,_Tel_Aviv
12 and 19 seem to be near Rothschild Blvd. which I've recommended
http://www.telavivguide.net/Attractions/Neighborhoods/Shenkin_Area_20051127222/

Around #1 is Qerem HaTeymanim
http://www.telavivguide.net/Attractions/Neighborhoods/The_Yemenite_Vineyard_20051130225/

16

You most obvious choices will be those around #1 and that bunch.
The pink dot near Old Jaffa could also be interesting.

As for courses - there are many such options, but they would probably be conducted in Hebrew. You need to check out Time Out in English once your're here to look for options - there is a large Anglo community here - but I'm not sure that's who you will want to hang out with.

17

I think I will try to shoot for the Floretin neighborhood if I can. Reading about it now... thanks so much for your help!

18

Note that Florentin is an old neighbourhood which has been only partially gentrified. Some streets are very run down, with car repair garages, etc, alongside the buildings.

I suggest that you post the address of any apt that you are considering and ask for our opinion. In addition, you can use Google "StreetView" to look at the building and the street.

19

Florentin was an old working class neighborhood set up partially by Greek Jews who brought their Sea Faring experience to build the port in Tel Aviv.

It was a working, lower middle class neighborhood for ages, and in the 80s became "the place" for young, pot-smoking kids after the army.

In the 90s it was regarded as "the next hot spot" for investors who bought up apartments hoping it would shoot up in value. But that didnt really happen (albeit in the past 6 years the whole city has shot up in value). But Florentine remains a good mix of old and new, traiditional and modern, it's not so clean, not so quiet, but has plenty of charm. And has a ton of restaurants and bars and even galleries and boutiques in recent years.

I'd say the down side is the distance from a decent beach (although it's probably only a 15 minute walk)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florentin,_Tel_Aviv

20

I'm ok with a neighborhood not being polished or totally up to date. I've stayed in funky neighborhoods in other places and as long as they're safe at night, I'm ok with it (though stayed in some places in Cape Town that weren't safe at night, either).

But in any case, the one thing that's discouraging me right now (feel free to make fun of me) is the weather. What I really like to do when I travel is bike around and take photos. Biking around in cold weather can be a drag, but what's worse is gray/drizzly skies that are neither nice to be out in, but don't provide much light and beauty for photography. I'm wondering whether I should push all the plans back to mid-Spring? Or just suck it up.

21

In a normal winter you have two-three days of rain followed by a week or two of sun, and so forth, pretty much what you would expect on the East Coast or north-west Europe. Some winters have more rain than the average, some have less. You can have an entire month of beautiful cool weather without a cloud in the sky or you can have a solid week of rain. A normal May has about 1 day of rain, but it will be warmer during the days, but still very comfortable. You can also get good pictures during the rain - big waves along the beach, etc. There is very little rain in the south or the Dead Sea, even in the winter.

22

Tel Aviv is a lovely city to chill out with a beautiful beach and an amazing sunset. Jerusalem is the experience of a lifetime, a both ancient and modern city which has a foot in Israel and another foot in the Palestinian territory. It all depends on what your personal interests are.

As has been said, public transport between both cities is excellent.

In Tel Aviv, I'd strongly suggest you stay in the south: Jaffa, areas around Rotschild boulevard, Neve Tzedek... the north of the city is rather boring.