Before moving to Israel, David and I sold all our furniture, and left the rest of our household belongings in storage. We knew shipping a bunch of furniture to Israel would be very expensive, and wanted to wait until we bought an apartment before bringing our stuff in. The temporary place we rented in Haifa was furnished. It was a two-bedroom apartment. In one bedroom there was a bed frame with a mattress. The other bedroom had a bed frame and box springs used as a mattress. Really!
When we rented our first apartment in Haifa, the landlord gave us some furniture including a bed. The bed was really small and uncomfortable, and David's shoulder is all messed up because of sleeping on it. When the landlord sold the apartment we found a larger space in an apartment building in the same neighborhood. It was time to purchase a real bed.
First, David and I investigated beds in a local mall. Wow! The bed stores carried some really fancy beds that had some really cool features like being able to slant your legs and up upwards which was supposed to make for healthier sleeping. The frames were made so that you could store stuff underneath the mattress. Those beds cost over 10,000 shekels or about 2500 dollars.
Since we don't need a super-deluxe, fancy-dancy bed, David and I looked elsewhere. Hadar is a neighborhood in the older part of town, near the downtown area which is jammed packed with people and traffic. A few of the Hadar streets are lined with stores displaying their wares on the sidewalk, much like you often see in Mexico. You can bargain with owners on price for the so-so quality stuff. And, there is a bed store in Hadar. The clerks speak passable English.
The bed store was stuffed full of mattresses and basic frames, with a narrow aisle giving barely enough room to walk. In a regular bed store, there would be several sample beds set up so you could lay down on the beds and see how they might look in your house. This store had none of that, all the mattresses were lined on their sides and frames upended in the back room. The place also sold couches and chair beds which took up a lot of space.
We asked about a bed, and the shopkeeper showed us a nice mattress. Just pushing on it, David could tell it was too squishy to support his back.
"Something firm," he told the shopkeeper.
"Foam, yes we have foam mattresses."
"No, firm mattresses, hard."
"Ah, yes, strong."
The shopkeeper showed us another mattress that was indeed firmer. But David said, "I can't purchase a mattress without laying on it first." He looked around the store, "I've never seen anything like this, usually the mattresses are stored in the back, and you can lay on the beds."
"No problem, you can lay," the shopkeeper explained. He had one of his employees take the mattress outside where still more mattresses and chairs were on display. The employee took an upended frame and put it together then the men hauled out the mattress so David could lie on the bed.
Yep, outside on the sidewalk…
“Hey, this is really comfortable, you should try it,” David said to me.
“I can’t, there’s people walking by. We’re outside.”
“No, it’s okay. This bed is great.”
So I lay on the bed, and stared up the sky while people passing by stared at David and me.
He was right, the bed was really comfortable, so we bought it, and it cost much less than 10,000 shekels. We even negotiated the price down a couple of hundred shekels with same day delivery. You can’t beat that.
Jona Taylor is a massage therapist and freelance writer living in Haifa, Israel. For more of her misadventures in Israel you can read her blog at www.bumblingthruisrael.wordpress.com
When we rented our first apartment in Haifa, the landlord gave us some furniture including a bed. The bed was really small and uncomfortable, and David's shoulder is all messed up because of sleeping on it. When the landlord sold the apartment we found a larger space in an apartment building in the same neighborhood. It was time to purchase a real bed.
First, David and I investigated beds in a local mall. Wow! The bed stores carried some really fancy beds that had some really cool features like being able to slant your legs and up upwards which was supposed to make for healthier sleeping. The frames were made so that you could store stuff underneath the mattress. Those beds cost over 10,000 shekels or about 2500 dollars.
Since we don't need a super-deluxe, fancy-dancy bed, David and I looked elsewhere. Hadar is a neighborhood in the older part of town, near the downtown area which is jammed packed with people and traffic. A few of the Hadar streets are lined with stores displaying their wares on the sidewalk, much like you often see in Mexico. You can bargain with owners on price for the so-so quality stuff. And, there is a bed store in Hadar. The clerks speak passable English.
The bed store was stuffed full of mattresses and basic frames, with a narrow aisle giving barely enough room to walk. In a regular bed store, there would be several sample beds set up so you could lay down on the beds and see how they might look in your house. This store had none of that, all the mattresses were lined on their sides and frames upended in the back room. The place also sold couches and chair beds which took up a lot of space.
We asked about a bed, and the shopkeeper showed us a nice mattress. Just pushing on it, David could tell it was too squishy to support his back.
"Something firm," he told the shopkeeper.
"Foam, yes we have foam mattresses."
"No, firm mattresses, hard."
"Ah, yes, strong."
The shopkeeper showed us another mattress that was indeed firmer. But David said, "I can't purchase a mattress without laying on it first." He looked around the store, "I've never seen anything like this, usually the mattresses are stored in the back, and you can lay on the beds."
"No problem, you can lay," the shopkeeper explained. He had one of his employees take the mattress outside where still more mattresses and chairs were on display. The employee took an upended frame and put it together then the men hauled out the mattress so David could lie on the bed.
Yep, outside on the sidewalk…
“Hey, this is really comfortable, you should try it,” David said to me.
“I can’t, there’s people walking by. We’re outside.”
“No, it’s okay. This bed is great.”
So I lay on the bed, and stared up the sky while people passing by stared at David and me.
He was right, the bed was really comfortable, so we bought it, and it cost much less than 10,000 shekels. We even negotiated the price down a couple of hundred shekels with same day delivery. You can’t beat that.
Jona Taylor is a massage therapist and freelance writer living in Haifa, Israel. For more of her misadventures in Israel you can read her blog at www.bumblingthruisrael.wordpress.com
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