Tel Aviv – a bubbling city which is impossible to describe to people who have never been to, seen or experienced it.

How does one sum up in a few words this microcosm of existence, Tel Aviv?

Tel Aviv has always been one of my favorite places on earth. No amount of grit, sweat, smog, bad drivers, unbearable traffic or the impossible parking can ever diminish the love I feel for this charmed city.

There is magic in Tel Aviv. Something undefined, an energy that is resonated in those

who get it, those who have lived in it and those who have experienced it to its fullest.

At every stage of my life there seems to be a Tel Aviv. Exciting and different for the young kid exploring it with my parents. Renegade and rebellious for the teen who came to rub noses with its musical underground and bohemia. Sexy and passionate for the young adult in her early twenties – when I started living there.

Now that I am in my thirties, Tel Aviv still holds a mystique for me, returning annually to Israel from the glorious city of San Francisco (which definitely deserves its own accolades and its own article.)

What I find in Tel Aviv, time and again, is a sense of freedom. Walking in the middle of the night on Rothschild Boulevard, watching and viewing the beautiful people while walking with my wonderful friends, stopping at the numerous cafes and bars along the way represent freedom, an incomparable joie de vivre.

My friends in San Francisco intrigued to hear about Tel Aviv, will hear me proudly claim that it’s a place of acceptance like San Francisco. That there is love and positivity on the streets. One gets the impression that no one seems to be working here (much like San Francisco –visit Dolores Park on any sunny day– you’ll wonder who works…).

I am proud to tell them that Tel Aviv has the prestigious World Heritage status from UNESCO - named THE WHITE CITY for its vast amount of beautiful original Bauhaus architecture.

As a youngster, before Tel Aviv was awarded this prize and prior to the renovation of many of Tel Aviv’s wonderful Bauhaus apartment buildings, I would walk about starry eyed, looking at these beautiful buildings – mostly the worse for wear. In my mind’s eye I would paint a brilliant white paint over the grittiness, dirt and grayness.

Tel Aviv has always had such intrinsic beauty, if one would dare to dream and see beyond the first layer of dirt.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder – Tel Aviv is a gorgeous, wondrous city.

I wish it the most wonderful 100th birthday and many more to come.

Maya Zuckerman, a visual effects artist in San Francisco, USA, was born and bred in Israel and is the daughter of Pat and Moshe Zuckerman.

(Exciting and different for the young ; renegade and rebellious for the teen who rubs noses with its musical underground and bohemia; sexy and passionate for the young adult.)