{"id":4410,"date":"2014-01-19T06:50:16","date_gmt":"2014-01-19T06:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/janetgover.com\/?p=4410"},"modified":"2014-01-19T06:50:16","modified_gmt":"2014-01-19T06:50:16","slug":"the-great-diamond-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/?p=4410","title":{"rendered":"The Great Diamond Hunt…"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"In<\/a>
In search of sparkly things<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Diamond District \u2013 the words leaped off the hotel website at me. If I was going to spend a couple of weeks working in Tel Aviv \u2013 the Diamond District was just the place for me to stay.<\/p>\n

So today \u2013 on a rare day off \u2013 I set out on the great diamond hunt, because after all diamonds are a girl\u2019s best friend \u2013 and a girl can\u2019t have too many friends \u2013 especially when she is away from home.<\/p>\n

Just up the road, according to Wikipedia, the world\u2019s largest diamond trading centre was waiting for me.<\/p>\n

The first signs of my elusive quarry were easy to spot\u2026 but it was all a tad confusing.<\/p>\n

Diamonds are all about glitter and glamour, and these slightly shabby buildings were not what I had imagined. Although the thick security bars on the windows did suggest there was something there worth protecting.<\/p>\n

\"first<\/a>
It wasn’t what I was expecting – but I had a lot to learn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But, dedicated hunter that I was, I kept following the signs.<\/p>\n

Suddenly \u2013 there it was.. a whole collection of buildings devoted to things that sparkle. I could hear my credit card calling softly to me.\u00a0 Who knew what wonders awaited behind the dark tinted windows.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This was more like it!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I knew this was mostly an area devoted to the diamond business – but surely there were some retail shops. I finally found a couple. Despite the inviting signs, it appeared the shops were shut. People inside waved me away and shook their heads. I might have been wearing jeans and a t-shirt \u2013 but I did have a very eager credit card.<\/p>\n

\"They<\/a>
They looked welcoming – but the doors were firmly shut.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leaving the gleaming towers behind, I bravely investigated a couple of nearby buildings that looked like they were not very smart apartments\u2026 and discovered their secret.\u00a0 Up those narrow stairways, behind locked doors \u2013 is a treasure trove. Or rather, several treasure troves.<\/p>\n

\"hidden<\/a>
Looks can be deceptive – but the message in the stairwell was clear.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Feeling daring, I rang a bell in a heavy metal door, an invisible person buzzed me through the door \u2013 and then through a second door. And I walked into Aladdin\u2019s Cave (which I didn\u2019t take any photos of \u2013 I thought the owner might not like it).<\/p>\n

My credit card was quivering in anticipation.<\/p>\n

Which is where I made the next discovery. If you are at the centre of the world\u2019s diamond industry, where the very best stones are traded \u2013 nothing is going to be cheap.<\/p>\n

There were so many stones, the glare was almost blinding. I found a small necklace… very pretty and probably the least expensive thing in the shop. How much, I asked.<\/p>\n

2700 shekels. The Shekel is an ancient currency \u2013 surely it\u2019s one of those currencies where a thousand equals about 10 pence? Not the modern Israeli shekel.\u00a05 shekels equals about\u00a0a pound. I started to do the maths, then smiled nicely at the shop owner and left.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>
I met this chap walking back to the hotel – not as sparkly as a diamond – but still very pretty.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So \u2013 like many a diamond hunter before me, I returned empty handed \u2013 and I might just have heard my credit card heave a sigh of relief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The Diamond District \u2013 the words leaped off the hotel website at me. If I was going to spend a couple of weeks working in Tel Aviv \u2013 the Diamond District…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-travels"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7g6jm-198","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4410\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/janetgover.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}