In recent years, we have been inundated by books and articles arguing that Tel Aviv has long turned its back on the sea. The problem with this claim is that whoever made it has never set his foot on the sand, nor wants to. The truth is that Tel Aviv in the summer is a city entirely attuned to the sea, and many of its streets lead to the beach. All you have to do is walk on those streets.

Both Frishman and Bograshov streets take you, as though of their own accord, from the tumultuous city center to the beach. And although people tend to say that Tel Aviv is flat, Frishman and Bograshov are miraculously built on a slope. The closer you get to the sea, whether on foot or by bicycle, they urge you on, and at times it seems the water itself is drawing you forward with some unseen force.

Although the sea reveals itself in all its glory only at the corner of Ben-Yehuda Street, passersby can sense it from Dizengoff Street. The people are wearing less than pedestrians in the city center and are more suntanned. They're wearing flip-flops and have towels sticking out of their bags.